Rules Index | GM Screen

Pathfinder Unchained / Alternate Crafting and Profession Rules / Crafting

Alternate Crafting Rules

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 72
While the rules for crafting in the Core Rulebook are perfectly suitable for the needs of most campaigns, they can sometimes be cumbersome to use. Those rules assume that a character spends a full week crafting an item. They also involve complex multiplication to determine the degree of success and speed with which the item can be crafted. Not only are these rules significantly different from those for other skill checks, but they can slow down play at the table and give rise to strange circumstances where it takes an unreasonably long time to create relatively simple items that happen to have a high gold piece cost. Furthermore, while the system features rules for attempting daily checks, these rules can be cumbersome for players.

The following system presents crafting rules that are a little easier to use, especially in conjunction with the downtime system.

With this alternative system, use the following version of the Craft skill instead of the one presented in the Core Rulebook.

Craft (Int)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 72
You are skilled in the creation of a specific group of items, such as armor or weapons. Like Knowledge, Perform, and Profession, Craft is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Craft skills, each with its own ranks. The most common Craft skills are alchemy, armor, baskets, books, bows, calligraphy, carpentry, cloth, clothing, glass, jewelry, leather, locks, paintings, pottery, sculptures, ships, shoes, stonemasonry, traps, and weapons.

A Craft skill is specifically focused on creating something. If an endeavor does not result in a created product, it probably falls under the heading of a Profession skill.

Check: You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning your check result in silver pieces per day. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the craft’s daily tasks, how to supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems. (Untrained laborers and assistants earn an average of 1 silver piece per day.)

The basic function of the Craft skill, however, is to make an item of the appropriate type. Most items created with a Craft skill fall into one of several broad categories of complexity. Others have Craft DCs based on CR (in the case of traps) or on the Fortitude saves required to avoid or minimize their effects (in the case of poisons).

Before crafting an item, you must have tools and an appropriate workshop or area. If you don’t have access to artisan tools, you can still attempt a Craft check, but you take a –2 penalty when attempting a check without such tools or with improvised tools. If you have masterwork artisan tools, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on the skill check.

After you have a suitable area to craft and you’ve gathered your tools, you must then acquire raw materials whose value is equal to 1/4 the cost of the item or items you wish to craft. Given the necessary tools, materials, and workspace, you can attempt a Craft check of the appropriate DC each day. If you succeed, you make an amount of progress equal to the silver piece or gold piece value listed in the appropriate entry in the Base Progress per Day column of Table 2–4: Crafting DCs and Progress Values. If you exceed the DC by at least 5, your progress doubles. If you exceed the DC by at least 10, your progress triples, if you exceed it by at least 15, you quadruple your progress, and so on. When your total progress equals the cost of the item, that item is completed. Any remaining progress can be applied to a similar item; otherwise, all excess progress is lost.

If you fail the check, no progress is made that day. If you fail the check by 5 or more, you waste an amount of your raw materials equal to the item’s base progress per day, up to a maximum of the initial cost of the raw materials. Such wasted material must be replenished before you can continue crafting the item.

Setting Aside Crafting Items: As long as you can store an item in a secure and safe place, you can set aside an item that you began crafting and return to it again later with little or no effect. Your GM may rule that this is not possible, especially in the case of volatile alchemical items or perishable goods.

Crafting Masterwork and Special Material Items: When you’re crafting a masterwork item or an item made of a special material, its crafting difficulty increases by one step. For example, a longsword (which has a base difficulty of normal) is considered a complex item when crafted as a masterwork item (DC 20; 4 gp base progress per day). In the case of items crafted from special materials that also count as masterwork (such as adamantine armor and weapons), the complexity of the item increases by two steps.

Repairing Items: You can use the appropriate Craft skill to repair items of that type. Repairing an item with the broken condition or that has taken damage (or both) requires tools and a work area, and you must pay 1/10 the item’s cost in raw materials. Repairing an item has the same DC as crafting the item, but takes an amount of time based on the item’s complexity. Extremely simple items take an hour to repair. Simple and normal items take 1d4 hours to repair. Complex and intricate items take a day to repair, and all other items take 1d4 days to repair.

Table 2-4: Crafting DCs and Progress Values

Crafting Difficulty	Craft DC	Base Progress per Day
Extremely simple	DC 5	5 sp
Simple	DC 10	1 gp
Normal	DC 15	2 gp
Complex	DC 20	4 gp
Intricate	DC 25	8 gp
Very intricate	DC 30	16 gp
Extremely intricate	DC 35	32 gp
Poisons	DC = the Fortitude DC of the poison	32 gp
Traps	Based on complexity, see text	32 gp

Item Crafting Difficulties

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 73
The following are the categories of crafting difficulties and the items within those categories. The items are split into general categories. Alchemical items and poisons require Craft (alchemy) checks. Armor and shields require Craft (armor) checks. Weapons require Craft (weapons) checks for melee weapons, thrown weapons, nonsiege firearms, crossbows, or crossbow bolts; Craft (bows) checks for bows or arrows; Craft (alchemy) checks for firearm ammunition; and Craft (siege engines) checks for all forms of siege engines. The Craft checks for mundane items depend on the item being crafted, with the most common ones being baskets, books, calligraphy, carpentry, cloth, clothing, glass, jewelry, leather, locks, paintings, pottery, sculptures, shoes, and stonemasonry. Crafting vehicles requires Craft (carpentry) for most land-based vehicles, Craft (ships) for seaborne vessels and airships, and Craft (alchemy) for alchemical dragons and steam giants. Crafting traps requires Craft (traps).

Extremely Simple (DC 5)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 73
Alchemical Items: Casting plaster.

Mundane Items: Very simple items such as wooden spoons, other carved one-piece items.

Weapons: Manufactured clubs, quarterstaffs, slings.

Simple (DC 10)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 73
Alchemical Items: Light detector.

Armor: Light armor, wooden shields.

Mundane Items: Typical household items such as iron pots.

Vehicles: Cart, raft.

Weapons: Simple weapons (except crossbows).

Normal (DC 15)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 73
Alchemical Items: Acid; alchemical cement; alchemical grease; armor ointment; bladeguard; buoyant balloon; chill cream; glowing ink; invisible ink, simple; keros oil; liquid blade; marker dye; soothe syrup; water purification sponge.

Armor: Medium armor, steel shields.

Mundane Items: Most adventuring gear.

Vehicles: Chariot, light; chariot, medium; chariot, heavy; rowboat; sleigh; wagon, light; wagon, medium; wagon, heavy.

Weapons: Martial weapons and crossbows.

Complex (DC 20)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 73
Alchemical Items: Alchemical glue; alchemical solvent; alchemist’s fire; alchemist’s kindness; alkali flask; blackfire clay; candlerod; flash powder; foaming powder; ghast retch flask; impact foam ; invisible ink, average; invisible ink, good; meditation tea; nushadir; paper candle firework; scent cloak; shard gel; smoke pellet; smokestick; star candle firework; tindertwig; vermin repellent; weapon blanch, cold iron; weapon blanch, silver; wismuth salix.

Armor: Heavy armor.

Mundane Items: Jewelry, kits, locks, complicated adventuring gear.

Traps: All traps CR 1–5.

Vehicles: Carriage, glider, keelboat, longship.

Weapons: Early firearm ammunition, early one-handed firearms, early two-handed firearms, exotic weapons.

Intricate (DC 25)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 74
Alchemical Items: Alchemical glue accelerant; antiplague; antitoxin; bloodblock; bottled lightning; burst jar; defoliant; embalming fluid; fire ward gel; frost ward gel; fuse grenade; invisible ink, superior; itching powder; liquid ice; mending paste; padzahr; pellet grenade; skyrocket firework; smelling salts; sneezing powder; starfountain firework; sunrod; tanglefoot bag; thunderstone; twitch tonic; weapon blanch, adamantine.

Mundane Items: Clocks, other intricate items.

Traps: All traps CR 6–10.

Vehicles: Galley, sailing ship, warship.

Weapons: Advanced firearm ammunition, advanced firearms, nonalchemical and nonfirearm siege weapons.

Very Intricate (DC 30)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 75
Alchemical Items: Banshee ballerina firework, flame fountain firework, rusting powder, soul stimulant, tangleburn bag, troll oil.

Traps: All traps CR 11–15.

Vehicles: Airship.

Weapons: Alchemical siege engines, siege firearms.

Extremely Intricate (DC 35)

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 75
Traps: All traps CR 16+.

Vehicles: Alchemical dragon, steam giant.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

Table 2-4: Crafting DCs and Progress Values