Artificing

Systems and Tools

Artificing is the art of creating magic items using transmutation magic. Four types of artificing are possible: an artificer may scribe a scroll, create a wand, create a minor artificing kit which can be used by anyone to add a bonus property to ammunition and thrown weapons, or create an artificing kit or ioun stone which can be used by a crafter to add a permanent bonus property to a crafted item.

General Features of the Artificing System

Requirements to Become an Artificer

No feats are required in order to become an artificer on Avlis. A character need only possess a certain number of levels in a single spellcasting class. Pale Master effective caster levels (+1 for every odd palemaster level) are counted as levels of bard, sorcerer or wizard, and effective caster levels from Avlis holy warrior classes are counted as levels of cleric, druid, or ranger for this calculation. The requirements by class are as follows:

• Cleric, druid, sorcerer, or wizard: 7 class levels
• Bard: 13 class levels
• Paladin or Ranger: 17 class levels

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)

Progressing as an Artificer

Every time an artificer succeeds at making an item, they gain artificing XP. As with character XP, whenever a character gains a certain amount of artificing XP their artificing level increases. A character's number artificing levels plays a role in determining the difficulty of artificing items, and also determines whether or not they are able to attempt to make artificing kits.

Scribing Scrolls

Materials

To scribe a scroll you need special paper. Not just any paper will do. The better the paper you use, the better the spell you can put on the paper. All spells are scribed at the minimum level required to cast them - not your caster level. For example, a fireball scroll will be scribed with a caster level of 5. It is possible to scribe a scroll with a higher caster level, but you will need to use special inks to do this. You can reserve multiple ink bottles for use with a single scroll. Further information on paper and ink must be gained ICly. Information about paper, inks, their in-game locations and how to use them in scribing scrolls should be treated the same way as crafting recipes. This information can only be shared ICly.

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 rods and spell focii will be included in the duration, DC, etc. of a resulting scroll. However, the paper used must be able to hold the full power of the modified spell.
• AMS bonuses to DC and caster level from AMS will be applied to the resulting scroll, as will meta-magic effects activated through psi-magic. No other AMS bonuses or effects will be applied.

Determining Success

The base DC for scribing a spell is listed below. This DC is increased by 1 for every 4 caster levels invested in the scroll.

• Trivial (Base DC 10) - The level of the spell you are attempting to scribe is lower than your artificer level. Creation of these scrolls fails only about 1% of the time, but grant you no artificer experience upon completion.
• Easy (Base DC 15) - The level of the spell you are attempting to scribe is equal to your artificer level. Creation of these scrolls fails only about 2% of the time and grant you artificer xp equal to 25% of the xp you expend in the scroll's creation.
• Challenging (Base DC 20) - The level of the spell you are attempting to scribe is one greater than your artificer level. Creation of these scrolls will fail about 5% of the time, even if you are well-versed in magic. Scribing a challenging scroll will grant artificer xp equal to 60% of the xp you expend in the scroll's creation.
• Difficult (Base DC 30) - The level of the spell you are attempting to scribe is two greater than your artificer level. Creation of these scrolls will fail 10% of the time even if you are very well-versed in magic. Scribing a difficult scroll will grant artificer xp equal to 100% of the xp you expend in the scroll's creation.
• Improbable (Base DC 40) - The level of the spell you are attempting to scribe is three levels greater than your artificer level. Creation of these scrolls will fail 50% of the time even if you are extermely well-versed in magic. Scribing an improbable scroll will grant artificer xp equal to 120% of the xp you expend in the scroll's creation.
• Impossible (Base DC 100) - The level of the spell you are attempting to scribe is four or more levels greater than your artificer level. Attempted creation of these scrolls will fail 100% of the time.

Examples:

A fireball scroll, of 5th caster level, scribed by a level 1 artificer, will have a DC of 31 and a minimum failure rate of 10%.

A fireball scroll, of 5th caster level, scribed by a level 2 artificer, will have a DC of 21 and a minimum failure rate of 5%.

A fireball scroll, of 10th caster level, scribed by a level 2 artificer, will have a DC of 22 and a minimum failure rate of 5%.

When attempting to scribe a scroll, an artificer makes an artificing check with a DC based on the difficulty of the scroll being scribed. 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:

+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)

+2 for the Scribe Scroll feat

XP Cost

As with all artificing, every scroll carries with it an XP cost, the formula for a given scroll is:

(Adjusted spell evel) x (Caster level) x 0.75.

Cantrips and orisons are consdiered 1st level spells for artificing and so do cost XP.

As of Avlis Spellhooking version 1.6.0.3, additional XP is spent based on caster level per PnP rules.

The minimum XP cost for scribing a scroll are as follows:

0th - 1 x 1 x 0.75 = 1 XP

1st - 1 x 1 x 0.75 = 1 XP

2nd - 2 x 3 x 0.75 = 5 XP

3rd - 3 x 5 x 0.75 = 12 XP

4th - 4 x 7 x 0.75 = 27 XP

5th - 5 x 9 x 0.75 = 34 XP

6th - 6 x 11 x 0.75 = 50 XP

7th - 7 x 13 x 0.75 = 69 XP

8th - 8 x 15 x 0.75 = 90 XP

9th - 9 x 17 x 0.75 = 115 XP

Sorcerers and other casters that have different spell progression tables than wizards will find these minimums slightly higher, due to the higher minimum caster level for those classes.

Important OOC Information

Player-created scrolls will not stack with Bioware scrolls. They will only stack with themselves, and only if the caster level, spell DC and metamagic feats used to create the scroll were the same. If scrolls from two different casters are combined, the entire stack will look as if it was created by one of the two casters. Also note that when scribing, the scrolls never automatically stack. Even if two scrolls should stack, you will have to manually stack them as you scribe them.

Player-created scrolls are p-merchant, ep-chest and p-chest safe. Putting player-created scrolls in p-merchants and ep-chests will erase the information about who created the scroll, but not the other information. Also, scrolls will be distinguished by DC, even for spells that have no use for their DC. For p-merchants and ep-chests, there is a special format for the entry that will describe the power of the scroll, it is:

(Caster Level) [Metamagic Feats] DC# (Quantity)

The metamagic feats are abbreviated as:

• X: Extended
• E: Empowered
• M: Maximized
• a: Acid
• c: Cold
• f: Fire
• l: Lightning
• s: Sonic

So an 11th caster level, extended, sonic substituted Flame Weapon scroll would show up as:

Flame Weapon (11) [Xs] DC21 (1)

Player-created scrolls are not split safe! If a stack of scribed scrolls is split then the new stack will not have any special properties on the scrolls in the new stack, i.e. meta-magic feats and caster level.

Note that artificing is intended to be a gold sink. You are not meant to make money scribing scrolls and selling them to Bioware vendors for large markups. Don't sell any scroll with a Bioware caster level higher than the caster level you invested in the scroll. So if you use the scroll viewer on the scroll and the level it reports is equal to or greater than the Bioware level on the scroll, you can sell it. Selling scrolls with a higher Bioware caster level than the caster level on the scroll is exploiting the engine and is a bannable offense.

Crafting Wands

Materials

To craft a wand you need special base wands. Not just any stick will do. The better the base wand you use, the better the spell you can put into the wand. Wands are limited in the range of spells they can hold. Wands have minimum caster levels and minimum charges varying with the base wand used, minimum caster level for a given spell is not applicable. It is possible to increase both caster level and the number of charges in the crafted wand with gems. Each base wand can hold a certain number of gems. Further information about base wands and gems must be gained ICly. Information about base wands, gems, their in-game locations and how to use them in wand crafting should be treated the same way as crafting recipes. This information can only be shared ICly.

When crafting wands, it is gems that enhance the spells as they are released, the wand itself only stores the base magic of the spell. When crafting a wand, you need not cast the spell with any metamagic feats, with the exception of energy substitution. All metamagic for a wand requires a certain kind of gem, however with energy substitution you still must substitute the energy to atune the gem to the proper energy.

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 rod uses, i.e Darkfire with a metamagic cold substitution rod will produce a wand of Darkfire with cold damage in place of fire.
• AMS bonuses to DC and caster level from AMS will be applied to the resulting wand, as will some meta-magic effects activated through psi-magic. No other AMS bonuses or effects will be applied.

Determining Success

Crafting a wand is the same difficulty as scribing a scroll of a spell four levels higher. However there is no base DC for the different difficulty categories. The DC for crafting a wand depends on its adjusted spell level, caster level, number of charges and its difficulty for the artificer.

There is also no minimum chance of failure, if the DC is lower than your modifier then you will always succeed.

When attempting to craft a wand, an artificer makes an artificing check with a DC based on the difficulty of the wand 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:

+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)

+2 for the Scribe Scroll feat

XP Cost

To reflect the fact that an artificer imbues each wand with a portion of their own power, every wand carries with it an XP cost. The formula for a given wand is:

(Adjusted spell level) x (Caster level) x (Charges) x 0.5

Important OOC Information

Player-created wands are p-merchant, ep-chest and p-chest safe. Player-created wands in these types of storage will retain their power. There is no extra information about wands when they are put in p-merchants or ep-chests.

Note that artificing is intended to be a gold sink. You are not meant to make money crafting wands and selling them to Bioware vendors for large markups. Bioware vendors are ingorant of wands true power or lack thereof and do not adjust their prices accordingly.

Artificing Kits

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.

Minor Artificing Kits for 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

• The system for scribing scrolls and crafting wands is based on the 3rd edition PnP system, with a few twists.
• Artificing was renamed from the "Enchantment system" to avoid confusion with the Enchantment school of spells.
• 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).

---

Magic System
Main Page