Making Items

Look around! You might find that there’s more of worth in your surroundings than you think. To the artisan’s eye, there is potential in everything, and realizing it is an important first step in the world becoming… well, your mollusc of choice!

• Steadman the Wright, Address to the Crafters Guild of Stelton (2020)

Although coin is king in most transactions, it simply stands in as a representation of value – and most people will agree that it makes poor armour, doesn’t swing well as a weapon, and that you can’t eat it. Most items, from jewellery to weapons and armour, to treasure chests, traps, and locks, are crafted by tradespeople – and while specific designs may vary between cultures, nations, and individual craftspeople, the results are recognizably the same.

To craft an item in the world of Fantasy Alive, you will require the appropriate Skill, the appropriate Tools and Materials, and sufficient Time.

Skill

In most cases, an item or items will fall under one trade skill or another. It takes a lot of effort to excel at multiple professions, so gathering the materials needed for an adventuring career – or for day to day life – will often involve many craftspeople of different skills working in conjunction. Whatever the main industry or trade of a settlement, there will usually be craftspeople pursuing a number of different paths in order to ensure that a settlement can meet its basic needs.

Some items are more complex than others, and require particular acumen. For some items – especially in the fields of alchemy and herbalism – creating an item requires a recipe, in addition to the base skill required to craft an item. Scrolls require the creator to know how to read magic, as well as to be able to cast the spell Scribe, and whatever spell they wish to make the scroll of. Acquiring materials may be easier if you have friends or colleagues who have the skills to make the those materials – but materials can also be purchased or found.

Tools and Materials

In order to make in-game items, you need the materials that the item requires, as well as tools suitable for working those materials in the way that you desire. Skill listings will usually describe what tools are required to craft an item.

In general, base ingredients like iron, wood, hide, stone, wool, and similar unprocessed materials are generated using appropriate labourer skills, and a place to work, such as a mine, or a forest. Materials that are more refined, such as lumber, rope, cloth, hardware, and leather, and similar goods are generated using base ingredients and appropriate craftsman skills. Some goods, such as herbal and alchemical ingredients, require the craftsman skill, but require at least some understanding of herbalism or alchemy before they can be created.

Most tools are created using the Craftsman: Smith skill, and some iron. Other tools may vary depending on the nature of the trade: alchemist tools require Craftsman: Glassblower, and Alchemist or Herbalist level 1. This reflects a need for an understanding of these trades in creating appropriate tool sets. Master crafted tools give an effective additional five hours per week through efficiencies and reduced need for tool maintenance.

More complicated tools can be created that help certain trades work more efficiently. Metal-working trades like Armour Smith and Weapon Smith can benefit from a Forge, heating metal to shape it more easily. A Master-Crafted Forge is more expensive both to build and maintain, but gives the smith a bonus 10 effective working hours during a week. Similarly, alchemists and herbalists can benefit from an Alchemical Laboratory, which allows them to make larger batches of mixtures or to brew potions.

Time

There are only so many hours in the day – and with the work involved in maintaining your equipment, getting food and securing shelter, and being a member of your community, it can be difficult to balance out having a job and a life at the same time.

Making things also takes time. Tradespeople of all sorts can choose to “work for a living” – trading their acumen and time for money, with an eight-hour shift earning them five copper pieces for every level of their relevant skill. Making a specific thing requires the time listed in an item’s description. Having high-quality tools can help you to use your time more efficiently – but even working as efficiently as possible, there’s only so many things that you can make in the course of a week.

Master Crafted Items

The acme of the craftperson’s art, a masterpiece is a work of art in itself. Under most circumstances, only those who have reached the top tier of their respective trade can create a masterpiece, and in formal apprenticeships, creating such a piece is a test to prove mastery and to be recognized as such by fellow practitioners of the same art. What constitutes a masterpiece may vary greatly from trade to trade, but the underlying test is one of quality – the work of a master dedicating themselves to their finest work is plain to see.

Some Master Crafted items have tangible in-game qualities. As mentioned before, master crafted tools allow someone to work more efficiently, but master crafted weapons hit just a bit harder, and master crafted armour is more effective at providing protection. However, any master crafted item is of higher quality and perceived value, and so some people may acquire master crafted articles of clothing or a master crafted saddle simply to show off their status and wealth. This can open some doors for people as well – bearing fine items or equipment may show that you are worth doing business with, and break down barriers with those whose first assessment of a person is on the quality of the clothes that they wear.

Authored by: Andrew Dunlop
Fantasy Alive Lore Team 2026
Copyright © Endless Adventures Ontario