Artificing

Systems and Tools

Introduction

Artificing is the art of creating magic items. The system is based on the 3rd edition PnP system, with a few twists. First, no metamagic feats are required to make magic items - however, there are other requirements to be met. To be an artificer, a character must have at least 7 caster levels - more for some classes. To create a particular item, and artificer must make an artificing check, which is very similar to a skill check. Every time an artificer succeeds at making an item, they gain a percentage of the character experience invested as the item as artificing experience. As an artificer gains artificing experience, they grow in artificing level and are able to make more complicated items.

Artificing was renamed from the "Enchantment system" to avoid confusion with the Enchantment school of spells. Artificing is transmutation magic, but can be done by any spell caster of sufficient level - regardless of their ability to cast transmutation spells.

There are currently three types of artificing possible. These are Scribe Scroll, Craft Wand and permanent enchantment of crafted items such as melee weapons, armor, helms, shields and some accessories (rings, cloaks, amulets, boots, bracers, and gloves).

Minimum Caster Levels

To use the Avlis Artificing System, you must have a certain number of levels in a spellcasting class. Palemaster effective caster levels (+1 for every odd palemaster level) are counted as levels of bard, sorcerer or wizard for this calculation. The requirements by class are as follows:

Cleric 7

Druid 7

Sorcerer 7

Wizard 7

Bard 13

Paladin 17

Ranger 17

Levels from multiple spellcasting classes do not stack. So a multiclassed PC with 10 druid levels and 10 ranger levels will be able to scribe druid scrolls, but not ranger scrolls- as they do not have enough ranger levels required (17)

XP Cost

Artificing is the act of placing a small amount of your power into an object as a receptacle. Thus every artificed item carries with it an XP cost.

Determining Success

Just as with the crafting system, the artificing system has its own xp and levels. An artificer must have experience with simpler items before attempting more powerful items. When attempting to create magic items, an artificer makes an artificing check with a DC based on the difficulty of the items being crafted. Modifiers to this roll are gained based on the caster's primary spell casting ability bonus (WIS, CHA, or INT), and various skills (Spellcraft) and pertinent feats that the caster has.

General Artificing Modifier Components

+1 per your spell casting ability modifier bonus

+1 per 5 points (ranks plus bonuses) in Lore

+1 per 5 points (ranks plus bonuses) in Spellcraft

+2 for Spell Focus (Transmutation)

+2 for Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation)

+2 for Epic Spell Focus (Transmutation)

Wands

Spells up to and including 4th level can be added to wands, including NwN generic spells and Avlis' added spells. A wand's description will list its DC, CL and number of charges. All pertaining spell focus feats will be included in the DC of a resulting spell.

• Wands will reflect SOME metamagic feat and wand uses, i.e Darkfire with a metamagic cold wand will produce a wand of Darkfire with cold damage in place of fire.

Scrolls

Spells up to and including 9th level can be added to scrolls, including NwN generic spells and Avlis' added spells.

• Only scrolls of the same type (DC and Caster Level) can be stacked in the inventory.
• A magnifying glass can be purchased in-game to find out the DC and CL of crafted scrolls.
• All pertaining metamagic feats, metamagic wands and spell focii will be included in the duration, DC, etc. of a resulting scroll.

Permanent Items

To artifice permanent items such as weapons, armor and accessories the artificer must use an artificing kit. These kits are for sale at various merchants. There are different types of kits ranging from Basic to Advanced; more powerful (and expensive) kits can be used to bestow more powerful properties on an item. Only certain items can be artificed; these items are made by high-level crafters. The more finely made the item, the more enchantments it can hold.

Ammunition and Thrown Weapons

Ammunition (arrows, bolts, and bullets) and thrown weapons (darts, shuriken, and throwing axes) are artificed in a slightly different manner than permanent items. Minor artificing kits are used on these items; minor kits only work on ammo and thrown weapons, and only minor kits can be used to enchant them. Like other kits, minor kits are for sale at merchants. Unlike permanent item artificing, any ammo or thrown weapon item can be artificed; it doesn't matter if the item was bought, crafted, or found in treasure.

Priming a Minor Kit

A minor kit must be primed before it can be used. To prime a minor kit a single gem must be placed inside it and then a spell must be cast upon the kit. The type of gem and the spell cast determine what kind of property the primed kit will be able to add to an item. Some spells can be used on different gems to prime different types of kits. Not all spells can be used to prime a kit. Spellcasters will have to use trial and error to figure out which spells work with which gems to create which types of primed minor kits.

Not all gems can be used to prime a minor kit. Only gems of low value (greenstone, fluorspar, malachite, etc.) and small gems of higher value (small alexandrite, small ruby, small diamond, etc.) can be used to prime the minor kits which are used to artifice ammunition and thrown weapons.

Once the an appropriate gem has been inserted into the minor kit and a proper spell cast, the caster will make an artificing check. This check is similar to the one used to scribe scrolls and is subject to the same modifiers. If the check is successful the caster may receive some artificing XP depending on the DC of artificing check. The DC to prime a minor kit depends on the PC's caster level, artificing level and the spell level of the spell cast.

Example: Twilligur purchases a Minor Kit. He places a giant diamond into the kit and casts a spell on it. This fails to prime the minor kit because the gem is too large. He tries again with a small diamond. He casts Magic Missile on the minor kit but this fails to prime it. He tries another spell, this time casting Magic Weapon, which primes the kit and turns it into a Minor Kit of Minor Enhancement Bonus.

Kit Tiers

Primed kits have six tiers, from Minor to Uber. The higher a kit's tier, the more powerful the enchantment it can bestow upon an item. A primed kit's tier is determined by the caster's artificer level and the level of the spell used to prime the kit.

Example: Twilligur is a low-level artificer. He places a small garnet into a minor kit and casts Burning Hands on it to prime it, transforming it into a Minor Kit of Minor Fire Damage. Years later after much study and sacrifice Twilligur becomes an archmage and a high-level artificer. He places a small garnet into a minor kit and casts Meteor Storm on it, priming the kit and turning it into a Minor Kit of Uber Fire Damage.

Applying Primed Kits to Items

To apply a primed kit to an item, simply use it on the ammunition or thrown weapon to be artificed. Applying a primed kit to artifice the item requires a cost in the form of character xp. The xp cost depends on the tier of the primed kit and the power level of the item. Any character can apply a primed kit to an item, as long as that character has enough excess xp above his current level to pay the xp cost. (You can't pay the xp cost if it would force you to lose a level.) The xp cost also depends on how many items are in the stack you are trying to artifice: it costs more xp to artifice a full stack of 99 arrows than it does to artifice a stack of only 10.

Example: Twilligur takes the two kits he made in the example above and gives them to his friend Fanny the Fletcher. Fanny uses the Minor Kit of Minor Fire Damage on a full stack of mundane Arrows. She is able to pay the xp cost and the arrows get a permanent +1 fire damage bonus. She uses the Minor Kit of Uber Fire Damage on another full stack of arrows. This costs her more xp than the previous kit, but the arrows are granted a permanent +1d12 fire damage bonus. Time to go adventuring and get some more xp to spend!

Example: Twilligur makes two Minor Kits of Minor Fire Damage. He gives them both to his friend Sam the Slinger. Sam uses one of the primed kits on a full stack of Bullet +1. He pays the xp cost and the bullets get a permanent bonus of +1 fire damage. Sam then tries to use the second primed kit on a full stack of Inner Planar Bullets, a powerful crafted item. But he is unable to use the kit successfully, because he does not have enough extra xp to spend! He splits the stack and uses the kit on a single bullet, granting it a permanent +1 fire damage bonus.

Unlike permanent items, ammunition and thrown weapons can only be artificed once.

Example: Twilligur makes a Minor Kit of Minor Fire Damage and a Minor Kit of Minor Enhancement Bonus. He uses the former kit on a stack of 50 mundane throwing axes, granting them a permanent +1 fire damage bonus. He then tries to use the latter kit on the same stack of axes, but is unable to because they have already been artificed once.

Other Notes

• Some primed minor kits can only be used on thrown weapons and will not work on ammunition. Those kit types are: Enhancement Bonus, Attack Bonus, Massive Crits, & Keen.
• Some primed minor kits do not have tiers. Those kit types are: Keen, Extra Ranged Attack Slashing, Extra Ranged Attack Piercing, & Extra Ranged Attack Bludgeoning.
• When an item is artificed it is marked as stolen. This is to prevent arbitrage at Biomerchants. Artificed ammo and thrown weapons can still be sold to fences (Biomerchants who buy stolen items).

Notes

• Spell focus feats for artificing modifiers stack.
• 2022 update: Artificing kits allow for +3, +6 and +9 skill bonus to enchanted gear, depending on tier (used to be +2, +4 and +8).

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