7.5 Craft (Int)

The Craft skills represent your ability to construct objects from raw materials. Like Knowledge, Perform, and Profession, Craft is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Craft skills, each with a separate degree of training. Common Craft skills are listed below, with additional description for some skills. Other Craft skills exist in the universe, but are less generally useful for adventurers.

• Alchemy (Alchemist’s fire, tanglefoot bags, potions)
• Bone
• Ceramics (Glass, pottery)
• Leather
• Manuscripts (Books, official documents, scrolls)
• Metal
• Poison
• Stone
• Textiles (Cloth, fabric)
• Wood

A Craft skill is specifically focused on physical objects. If nothing can be created by an endeavor, it probably falls under the heading of a Profession skill. Complex structures, such as buildings or siege engines, may require Knowledge (engineering) in addition to an appropriate Craft skill.

7.5.1 Common Craft Tasks

Create Item: You can make a Craft check to create an item. For details, see Crafting Items.

Create Disguised Item: You can craft an item that superficially appears to function like a similar, but different, item. This functions like creating the item normally, except that you treat the item’s rank as being one higher than it actually is. A creature studying the item with the Identify Item task only identifies the item’s false purpose unless they get a critical success on the check.

Create Forgery: You can make a Craft check to create a false or defective version of an item. This functions like creating the item normally, except that you treat the item’s rank as being one lower than it actually is (to a minimum of 0). Forgeries which have a function, such as a weapon, are always defective in some way which makes them unsuitable for sustained usage. However, a forgery may function once or twice to pass cursory inspection.

Identify Forgery: If you succeed at an opposed Craft vs. Craft check, you can determine whether an object is a forgery.

Identify Item: You can make a Craft check to identify any unusual properties or functions of a magic item or esoteric mundane item. The difficulty value is equal to 5 + twice the item’s rank. Items that are particularly common in a particular setting may be easier to identify, which can reduce the difficulty value by 2 or more. Success means that you know the item’s general purpose, and how to activate its functions, including any magical effects. You also know the item’s rank, which lets you estimate its value.

Rebuild Item: You can make a Craft check to repair a destroyed item. This functions like creating the item normally, except that you treat the item’s rank as being one lower than it actually is (to a minimum of 0). Success means the item is restored to full hit points and functionality.

Repair Item: You can make a Craft check to repair a broken or damaged item. This takes as much time as creating an item two ranks lower than the item (to a minimum of 0), and does not require any raw materials other than the broken item. Success means the item is restored to full hit points and functionality.

7.5.2 Crafting Items

You can use the Craft skill to create an item by expending time and material components. Creating an item often requires multiple consecutive Craft checks. Success on a check means you make progress on completing the item. Failure means you failed to make progress, but can try again without penalty.

Each item takes a certain amount of working time to craft, as shown on Table 7.2: Craft Requirements. In addition, each item requires the expenditure of raw materials with a value equal to an item one rank lower than the item you are trying to craft (minimum rank 0). Note that raw materials for some items, particularly alchemical items, may be hard to come by in less civilized areas.

You can attempt to craft items from inferior or ad-hoc materials. The materials do not have to be well-suited to the item’s construction, but they must be physically capable of performing any necessary actions. For example, you could construct a simple arrow-throwing trap from bent sticks or creatively strung rope, but not from sand. Generally, using ill-suited materials increases the difficulty value of the Craft check by at least 5, and it may negatively impact the item’s function or longevity.

In order to craft an item, you must make a Craft check against the item’s Craft difficulty value, as shown on Table 7.2: Craft Requirements. If you succeed, you make progress on the item based on how long you spend crafting. For every 5 points by which you beat the Craft check, you accomplish twice as much work in the same amount of time. Once your total effective working time exceeds the time required to craft the item, you have finished the item.

All item creation requires artisan’s tools to give the best chance of success. If improvised tools are used, the check may be made with a penalty of -5 or greater, or it may be impossible, depending on the tools available and the item to be crafted. For example, crafting a bow with improvised woodworking tools would impose a -5 penalty, but cutting a diamond without specialized tools is impossible.

The time and difficulty involved in crafting an item depends on the item’s rank, as defined in Table 7.2: Craft Requirements.