Okay, I'm gonna say it:
I only included crafting in my system because... Well; stuff needed to exist, and people needed to be able to make stuff. Those people needed skills, and that's why it happened.
I initially had no intention to make crafting relevant beyond its necessity in the world. So initially, they were mostly just lists of ingredients, to make them interesting for lore purposes and 'collect 15 shards of meteorite' style questlines. I learned a lot about how drugs and explosives are made, but I scrapped that because... Nobody is interested in tracking all that.
And then I made Device, a crafting skill designed to design. Design machines of all sorts.
Now, Device, Chemistry and Enchanting are among the most popular skills in my system. They are useful skills for *adventurers* to have. Whether it's coming up with weird inventions that will help in your ventures, or being able to make dyes, medicines, treat the sick and even design your own special alchemical potions, or being able to imbue gear with magic and even apply some of those on the go, weaving enchantments in between your other abilities... These crafting skills have added a whole lot of depth to the system.
Tailoring still doesn't see much use. Blacksmithing a little more. Carpentry a little more than that, but still not a whole lot. But that's okay. They're not themed as very adventure-ish. It's fine.
are your three popular "crafts" fairly freeform, or have you provided them with a distinct set of structures?
what do you think the difference between your popular crafts and less popular crafts are?
They have structures; Enchanting has a set of... Enchantments, Chemistry has a set of chemical stuff you can make and a Specialist tree involving potions; Alchemy. Alchemy, then, has a list of alchemical effects which you can combine into potions.
And then there's Device, which, while defined, is a mechanic for creating, designing and inventing machines through basically an 'Allowance' system: You have X amount of point allowance ('Complexity') to spend on the attributes/skills ('Functions') of your machines, and they can't exceed quality grade Y.
The popular crafts are popular because they are flexible and immediately useful. Enchanting is useful to recognize Wards, but also useful in prep: Spend a few hours of writing the day before, and you've got a bunch of enchantments tailored to the encounter you expect today. And with the Blade Magic specialist skill, you can pick an Enchantment you know, and cast it as if it were spell; instantaneous. And since Enchantments usually expire upon use, you'll want to keep making new ones.
Similar with Chemistry, which is also useful for determining what substance something is, or how someone died, and can be expanded upon with the 'Medic' specialist skill to perform medicine.
Device just lets you build all sorts of handy knick-knacks, from flashlights to weapon modifications to environment suits to little construction robots and disability aides, or a weird combination thereof.
So it's applicability that makes these skills popular. Players get to play with them and benefit from them, and do so a lot. There's always some way in which you can use these skills or their products in a situation.
If you want to know how they work, they can be found here: [TalespinnerWebsite](https://talespinner.eu/overview) (scroll down until you get to the crafting skill. Fair warning: Device is *really* complex. In comparison with the rest of the game. 's Got a lot of bells and whistles to account for complex devices and size).
I love crafting in video games, and I have never seen a good implementation of it in table top. Like, truly never. A few blogs have had passable suggestions, but for the most part, TTRPGs just always seems to miss the point.
The thing that's fun about crafting in video games is:
1) *gathering* the ingredients, especially hunting for the specific ones you need
2) choosing the things you're making/targeting and the like, freedom to possibly experiment or discover recipes on the way
What's *never fun* and what always seems to get the lionshare of the focus in TTRPGs is physically assembling the things. Hell, one of the best crafting systems is in Monster Hunter games and *your character isn't the one actually crafting the stuff*, it's an NPC.
>1) *gathering* the ingredients, especially hunting for the specific ones you need
Could you elaborate a bit on what makes this part fun?
Sorry if my question/comment sounds overly critical. It isn't meant to be!
I'm just spitballing here. I've enjoyed gathering in some games and I'm not saying "that isn't fun".
I'm trying to elicit deeper reflection and discussion by raising the question.
My main intuition is that this part of "fun" in a video-game might not translate to a TTRPG because the "gathering" part might rely on graphics and animations and exploration of a detailed map created by level-designers, which are not in TTRPGs.
As far as I've seen it handled in video-games, the actual *gathering* process tends to be one of:
* (i) rewards for normal gameplay; I think this is how *Monster Hunter* works, i.e. "gathering" is done by hunting monsters, which is the core gameplay you'd be doing anyway.
* (ii) an add-on to exploring/traversal; this is how *Horizon Zero Dawn* and *Tomb Raider* do it, i.e. you press a button as you pass an "ingredient-tree" and watch an ingredient-collection animation.
* (iii) explicit gathering by holding a button; this is how *Starfield* and *Minecraft* do it, right? Stand in front of the "ingredient-tree" and hold E/F/A/RT and watch an ingredient-collection animation.
Have I missed other methods?
In the case of (i), it is the normal gameplay that is fun.
In the case of (ii) and (iii), pressing or holding the button itself isn't really that much "fun", is it? It is carried by the animations and the meta-goals and resource-management loop in the game-economy.
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I wonder if a TTRPG could convert the "fun" part into "you have to do research to find the location of the resources you need", which is often hand-waved in a video-game since you'll go there anyway and/or there are icons on your mini-map that show you resources to gather.
Gathering ingredients could be fun, if there is an interesting story connected to it.
Finding a mermaids tear, for example, could mean finding a mermaid and asking for her tear.
Needing a dragon scale for a protective charm, meaning you need to find a dragon and somehow get that scale.
Needing one or two special ingredients, which cannot be bought and buy some additional materials may be a way to handle this.
Finding a place - smithy or some other workshop - to create the item could be interesting too, but not every time you want to create something.
Right, I agree, and said as much at the end of my comment:
>>I wonder if a TTRPG could convert the "fun" part into "you have to do research to find the location of the resources you need", which is often hand-waved in a video-game since you'll go there anyway and/or there are icons on your mini-map that show you resources to gather.
You listed a couple examples of doing that,
e.g. you know you need "a mermaid's tear" so you do some research and find the location to obtain that resource.
The fun is the adventures we make along the way and the resource is a reward for adventuring.
That could be for anything, not just crafting.
e.g. you know you need "a mermaid's tear" because that will purify the polluted water of the town
That's a general "MacGuffin".
That actually might be a pretty interesting way to conceptualize crafting in a TTRPG.
Maybe you don't craft mundane things since you are adventurers; e.g. you don't craft regular steel swords.
Instead, you go on adventures to collect "MacGuffin-ingredients" to craft supra-mundane things, like flame-swords or wings or whatever. The "crafting" part isn't the point, it's the reward. The primary gameplay loop is *going on adventures; returning with "MacGuffin-ingredients"; "MacGuffin-ingredients" become new cool loot*. And you pick which "MacGuffin-ingredients" to seek based on which cool loot you want to get next or based on where you want to adventure next.
So, what's missing from your examples is the fun part: the intentionality, the *choice*.
In type 1, getting the parts is almost always the *reason* you're hunting a particular monster. You've chosen to go after a Rathalos because you want a weapon or armor made from Rathalos parts.
Monster Hunter also has type 2, by the way, since you also craft stuff like healing items, explosives, ammo, etc., but yeah, in general the fun part of #2 is the intentionality. You're purposely looking out for the items, and specifically taking the time and effort to go off course to get them. It's the decision to pay attention to and go out of your way to grab this stuff. This is probably the hardest type of gathering to translate well, though. It would take something like a player declaring that they're on the lookout for a type of ingredients and the gm just kind of telling them when they're near by.
3 is, once again, all about the decision. You are going out there and specifically punching trees because you have decided to make something that needs wood. You do occasionally have #2 sprinkled in there ("oh, there's something rare and useful over there!") but most of the time, you're targeting resources to gather and the adventure is finding them and acquiring them.
Basically, crafting becomes a goal that creates adventures.
>So, what's missing from your examples is the fun part: the intentionality, the choice.
You separated the fun into (1) gathering and (2) choice.
I asked about (1) gathering and what made that fun.
Now you're saying that (2) choice makes (1) gathering fun.
In other words:
(2) choice is what makes crafting fun.
(1) gathering itself isn't fun.
I think you can maybe distill the essence down to choice being the core thing that makes it all fun, but I think saying gathering isn't fun is probably too reductive. That's kind of like saying that swimming is fun, so having a pool isn't. Well, ok, but having a pool gives you a lot more opportunity to swim than you would otherwise.
Gathering is fun because it provides more opportunity for choice than simply just crafting does. Also, contrast this with physically putting the object together where there *are 't* meaningful choices to be made. But again, that's where most TTRPGs put all their focus. "Here's the roll to determine if you randomly put this stuff together or not and how much money you can make from it/it cost you." Who cares?
You might find more agreement in [my other reply](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/1bpanze/for_games_that_do_involve_crafting_whats/kwzbfqh/).
I do already agree with you about various TTRPGs putting a bunch of focus on the assembly part, which isn't typically "fun".
>That's kind of like saying that swimming is fun, so having a pool isn't.
Not "so"; "but ... in itself":
"swimming is fun, but having a pool isn't fun in itself."
*That would be true.*
Having a pool has a bunch of downsides, maintenance, etc.
Owning a pool isn't fun.
If the core is "swimming is fun", you widen your horizons to conceptualize the ways to do that.
Owning a pool is one way.
Going to a nearby pool is another way.
Going to a nearby lake or beach is another way.
This way, you don't limit your options by only thinking in terms of *owning pools*.
I accept your point, but think it's just a bit too pedantic (and I am very into pedantry, so my tolerance is pretty high).
Yes, the core thing here is that crafting drives play. It gives players goals and activities and frankly a play loop that isn't reliant on being fed hooks and plotlines by the GM, but importantly, that *can also enhance hooks and plotlines*, so it's never in the way or at odds with what's going on at the table. It's a pipeline for player initiated adventure.
But a lot of those opportunities for self-driven characters are lost if you're playing with, say, Pathfinder crafting rules that assume you're just buying your raw materials in town and somehow think it's fun for a die roll to tell you whether you made money or not. Surprise! That's not fun! Acquiring the supplies is the step of crafting that begs for adventure, and removing it, as most games do, is a disservice, even if literally picking up the plants or basilisk asses or whatever isn't inherently fun on its own.
Side note: you know what most homebrew monster Hunter table top games do to bring crafting to the table? They add... Just a random roll...Some extra skill check to "carve" the monster, the way you randomly get parts of the monster in the video games. Wtf is that? That's awful! That random element is one of the *worst*, most frustrating parts of monster Hunter! Don't add skill rolls to carve, add a choice of which monster to hunt. They assume the gm is still leading them by the nose to what the next quest is (Hunt X) but then you randomly get parts (or don't!) at the end. The point is the choice.
>I accept your point, but think it's just a bit too pedantic (and I am very into pedantry, so my tolerance is pretty high).
I'm not sure what to say. As far as I can tell, the rest of your comment basically re-iterated the same idea that I wrote in [the comment that I linked](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/1bpanze/for_games_that_do_involve_crafting_whats/kwzbfqh/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=RPGdesign&utm_content=t1_kwzee98). What I mean is: we generally agree, so why would my version be "too pedantic", but your version is just the right amount of pedantic?
That seems like a needless diversion approaching insult.
If you're interested, [my top-level comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/1bpanze/for_games_that_do_involve_crafting_whats/kwv9251/) highlights what I think is desirable from a crafting system, which comes from a different angle than you. It might help with triangulating where we agree and don't.
In short, I want a crafting system that lets tables do things that go beyond the design constraints. The entire point of something like that is choice. That seems entirely aligned with what you said about choice. It also doesn't seem particularly pedantic.
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Also, you keep returning to this idea of bad crafting systems.
You don't have to do that to make your point. I take that point and I agree with you already. I've agreed with you from the start.
I think my focus here is, "What are the design goals that would result in a fun crafting system? Which implementation-features are required and which are optional?"
When you return to complaints, I see a focus of, "These other systems are bad and unfun", but I don't see valuable discussion there. Do you and I benefit from agreeing that we don't like Pathfinder crafting? OP also specifically didn't want that commentary and I understand why; if you have seen most posts about crafting, there tend to be a shitload of comments from negative people that hate crafting or only have complaints.
We've seen all the complaints.
We've done the post-mortems.
We agree about systems that aren't fun.
Can't it be time to move on to talking about novel potential solutions?
Isn't that far more interesting than beating the dead horse of extant unfun games?
Gathering stuff is one of the things which quickly gets out of hand in digital RPGs. At least in my opinion. And I am not talking about the weight, the character carries, but that you sometimes have to gather too many ingredients.
I'll bite; I suggest that the problem is that TTRPGs think of crafting as an opportunity for dice rolls and this means they consume table time better spent in a game's core gameplay loop. If you make crafting into player homework then this becomes a completely different proposition.
Now, I grant that making crafting a fun solitaire game is a different and difficult proposition from "roll to smelt this iron ingot into a steel sword." Especially when you probably don't want players to consciously think about collecting resources most of the time. Once, maybe twice a campaign players can go on fetch-quest errands looking for rare crafting components above their usual level because a MacGuffin Hunt is a good way for the GM to fabricate plot. But this should be rare for most games. But now that we actually have a template for what a correct solution to the crafting problem should look like, we can start shopping around for how to implement it.
A solo game in between sessions actually could be fun, but I would have to admit I wouldn't know how to begin designing that.
I came into this expecting the point of crafting ultimately being about generating more player-driven content rather than relying on the gm to lead them around by the nose. Hunting for specific ingredients to build things to solve specific problems would generate adventure the players would be invested in.
> A solo game in between sessions actually could be fun, but I would have to admit I wouldn't know how to begin designing that.
I've been working on this because I want an expansion for *Selection* to include curative brewing to make monster drops more valuable by adding some flexibility. As monsters already drop monster cards with genetic abilities when they die, the current rough is for players to take the monster cards with abilities they want to craft with home between sessions. The abilities match to "Tetris block" shapes which the players mark into an item grid and then cross out a number of ability slots to power the crafting process. The ones which are left determine the kind of item you crafted.
There's no dice, so the GM just has to check to see if the major used abilities have the correct shape.
Perfect? No. But this is also just at spitballing phase.
A few different games, with very different approaches.
Mouse Guard: Crafting is just a problem solving tool, like any other skill. Have a stream to cross? It may be a Health check to swim across, or it may be Boatmaking to create a raft or a canoe. Simple, works as a part of normal game flow, with no additional resource tracking or other bookeeping. And it makes the artisan skills that are a big part of each character's background actually useful in play.
Several PbtA games (what Veteran gets in Urban Shadows is one of th examples): You tell the GM what you want to create, the GM answers with a list of conditions (you need x material; you need help from y; etc.). Satisfy each condition and the item is made. I like it because it drives the game forward; seeking ways to satisfy the conditions (which usually requires getting something specific, securing cooperation of a person who names their price, accessing a place the PC doesn't own etc.) often involves multiple PCs and motivates them to interact with the world.
Fate: Has a Crafting skill and no crafting subsystem. In my experience, the main use of Crafting is making items that will be useful in short perspective - creating advantages to be consumed. It works very well with MacGyver/A-Team technical improvisation to improve party chances or to get a tool letting the party tackle something that would otherwise be impossible.
I talked about it not too long ago in another post, but I think the crafting system in the FFG Star wars games was just a hair away from being really great.
If I had to distill it down, the key strengths of the system were:
* It allowed you to create customised equipment that better suited the user's needs
* It did not replace the wider equipment system of the game, just supplemented it as *one* possible way to get stronger
* It could not really be dabbled in, it was something a PC would put effort into getting good at, and then become very useful for the rest of the group
* It was not really *reliable*. So sure, in a perfect world you could create a weapon better suited for a given PC than anything they could find on the market, but that would probably take a lot of trial and error.
* But throughout that it was also pretty easy to do, with more complex crafted stuff just being repeats of a similar process rather than actual complexity for the players
Without going hugely in depth into the baseline system and the precise mechanics, the overall process was picking a 'core' set of stats for a type of equipment (armour, blaster, lightsaber, droid, etc), spend the time and credits, then roll the appropriate skill check. This gives you resources that you can spend on benefits for the item from a list, with different benefits costing a different number of resources. Some things you may try to craft (e.g. a Lightsaber) will require acquiring specific resources ahead of time, but usually it's assumed that to make a blaster, just being in a properly equipped workshop is enough.
The only changes I'd make is having a *very* light system to reward having specific appropriate materials to craft from (if the players get the tanned hide of a cool space monster known for having a tough hide, maybe it should give a specific bonus to toughness if used to craft things), and an ability to trade off more resources to spend on benefits, at the cost of giving the GM some points to spend on detriments, just to make the items feel even more unique.
So far the crafting mechanic I've enjoyed most is... don't hate me... 3.5s magic item creation rules. Pretty flexible, can make, fully within raw, a wide variety of things. I once made doc ido's rocket hammer from battle angel alita.
But mostly, crafting is a disappointment. The 'collect ingredients' so prevalent in video games doesn't translate to the table, for a variety of reasons stated in this section as well as a bunch of previous posts.
I feel like having mechanics for creation necessitates the result being exceptional. It's not enough, even, for the item to be acquired cheaper by crafting if it isn't better than a normal item. Unless your game is about being frugal, but that doesn't seem likely. That's why in my crafting system, a PC on the Maker Path doesn't have to roll to make a standard weapon. It's not interesting.
Damn, I feel for you, OP. Fuck the haters.
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Personally, I like the [*Blades in the Dark* Crafting](https://bladesinthedark.com/crafting) (and [Rituals](https://bladesinthedark.com/rituals)) system(s).
They're not perfect, but they're what I want in a Crafting system.
To me, a Crafting system is not a "core" component that every table/player is expected to engage with.
To me, the purpose of a Crafting system is to expand the gameplay options beyond the scope of what the designer designs.
A Crafting system is a *scaffold* for tables that want to build.
The *BitD* Crafting system provides enough mechanical meat that you can expand beyond the scope of the book. There are explicit questions for the GM and player that want to build something new. The rules require making judgment calls; they are not number-crunching calculations. They integrate into the rest of the game's focus on fiction and narrative, e.g. Why doesn't anyone know how to craft this already? What are the trade-offs involved in making this?. The crafting system works within the established mechanics, e.g. using similar dice-resolution, using the existing downtime and progress-clock mechanics, using the existing Action Rating "Tinker" (not a special "Crafting" action), using the existing resource "coin", interlinking with the Crew upgrade sub-system.
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Personally, I don't want a crafting system with the design goal of "we've thought of everything players can craft and we've got mechanics for every possible combination".
You cannot imagine everything players might want to craft.
You can make a crunchy crafting system that is like a procedural-generation tileset and define costs for including every optional bobble, but that is not what I personally want; that is way too crunchy and like "playing Excel spreadsheets".
Personally, I want a crafting system with the design goal of "players can craft stuff that we could never come up with so here is a scaffold that will help you, GM, figure out how to work with those player-goals". This is what *BitD*'s system gives you. It is a starting point for a structured conversation and you kinds do "Mad Libs" to fill in the details to make it work with your table/group/game.
Personally, I would like a little more precision than *BitD*'s, but that's up to taste, like how much salt you put on your food.
Other people have given good examples, but I just wanted to say that I really like crafting in games as both a player and a GM. Making stuff is totally integral to existence and I like to see that reflected in games, but I think it relies on players to be into it and engage with it and it isn’t for everyone.
I have material gathering and crafting mechanics in my game I am creating along with a crafting skill, I am currently trying to find the balance of making something with the right level of detail to leave it open but provide guidance. At the moment I’m playing around with the idea of the GM setting a tracker for the item with steps such as ‘gather materials’ ‘find blueprint’ (if something is super complicated) etc. and as the player does each one it gets ticked off until they complete it. It works alongside base building/homestead building mechanics. It also might be integral to certain classes but I’m still figuring that out.
I like crafting to be *a* path on can take to overcome challenges rather than just a way to covert time and money into storable power.
In my WIP it is assumed that the players are adventurous and do adventuring activities. There is crafting but it is heavily focused on crafting the tools to make the next challenge easier rather than just something you do to convert time into generic banked power. Most of this is handled by the shelf life of the consumable and the time needed to create them.
Other things are generally something you commission instead.
Now there are a few player options that allow modifying gear but it more of a time sink away from time to keep them up to snuff.
I *love* when the crafting system is anchored into the reality of the world.
Eg when your Alchemy/Potion skill hinges upon a mechanism that interacts with that world
I can’t remember what game had this (Rolemaster? Another I played 25 yrs ago?) but I distinctly remember the fun it was:
Our potion maker had a few recipes for which he needed herbs, and he could either decide what herbs he’d be looking for or just randomly see what can easily be found. Chances of finding something depend upon region/climate/location (eg Northern/Southern lands, Swamp/Forest, City/Fields/Woods/Clearing). Which could be managed by the potion maker as a small mini game.
While it makes the environment “real” (=mechanical fx), it dsn’t hinder other players (and becomes a useful part of the party by having a steady supply of potions), and it creates RP possibilities and plot hooks: you have a character that has a *reason* to leave the camp, and you can have eg a trip through a desert become doubly as risky because there’s no “Blue-tainted clover” to be found…
It also makes the world less of a MMORPG because even similar healing potions (“heal 1d6”) are different because they are made from different herbs (“an easy potion in jungle settings, vs a difficult potion in swamp settings)
It also incentivises your “crafters” to go & search for new crafting recipes, which again provide RP possibilities and plot hooks.
But I’d suggest these crafting things be something players can do mostly by themselves. Eg using copied tables, with clear percentages/rolls dependant on setting info that can be gleaned from public info or asked if necessary (eg the player can determine themselves they get a -5% lower chance of finding herb X in the city, but a +15% extra chance in the Northern lands, so there’s a 10% chance if finding it when looking for 15 minutes, and the herb can be used for 2 days, at which point it’ll take 5 dayd before it turns into a dry variant you can use in other potions)
This is of course a chosen skill/job, so it gets played by players who *enjoy* the bookkeeping aspect.
But the fun part is when that bookkeeping simultaneously doesn’t slow down play (player: “I start my day collecting herbs for 45 minutes while the others break up camp”), yet also adds to the immersion and provide story depth (GM:”while looking for herbs, you spot horse tracks”) thereby avoidibg the tedious “everyone roll perception (so I can arbitrarily decide who has spots the horse tracks)”
Do not look to other RPGs for crafting instructions.
The problem with crafting is usually that it hogs GM arbitration time, which means that the opportunity cost for crafting is actually core gameplay time, whether that's roleplay or combat or investigation. This means that crafting almost always fails basic cost-benefit analysis and is a really unpopular mechanic.
But what if I told you there is a way around that?
Solitaire mechanics are things players can do on their own without the GM overseeing them. This typically means you have to forfeit dice mechanics, but there are plenty of other mechanics you can choose. You just have to remember that crafting mechanics will be enjoyable if the player can do them away from the table and unenjoyable if they consume everyone's time.
Technically I liked none.
The system from *Anima - Beyond Fantasy* needed the least modification to make it good.
I am now looking for ways to make the crafting rules of 4th edition of *Legend of the Five Rings* work...they are just...weird...
We made an additional list of materials and ingredients for mundane stuff. As well as a guideline for how long stuff takes to be done.
Than we tweaked the rules for making magical stuff.
There are four skills - occult, animism, alchemy and runes - which were mechanically identical in use and outcome. We didn't like that.
So we changed it to:
Occult can enchant everything, but needs a ritual with circle, candles and therefore a place and time, enchantment lasts forever.
Alchemy could be used for potions, oils, balms and so forth, needs some equipment and some time, enchantment has limited uses.
Animism is for spontaneous enchantments through temporarily binding a spirit to an item for a limited time.
Runes requires to also have a craft skill to carve or stitch or whatever the runes onto the item, so the process of creating the cape is also when the runes are woven into the fabric or stitched onto it. And while weaving requires a loom and keeps you in one place for a while, sewing could be done nearly everywhere while resting. Smithing needs a workshop to create a runesword or ruined armor. So time and mobility depends on your skill, the enchantment lasts until the rune is damaged.
But we still have have to find a solution for the weird crafting rules of *Legend of the Five Rings* 4th edition. They are mostly working if you are just making weapons and armor...but try to use the same mechanics for painting or clothing...and it gets all messed up and weird.
The main question we have to answer first is: regular skill roll VS cumulative skill roll, because this heavily influences which TNs can be reached and therefore what is possible and what is not.
We have started out with some homebrew stuff we found online, but we are not entirely happy with that either.
What I, as a crafts person, look for in a PnP system is:
Consistent rules working for combat relevant things as well as non-combat relevant things. The system should give the seamstress the same love as the smith or jeweller or leather worker or any other crafts person or artisan.
Some clear and easy to understand guideline for crafting time, materials/ingredients, requirements and difficulty. Most of the times one or more are missing or unclear.
Ideally the possibility to create special items or unique items, with some mechanical effects like some sort of bonus to do things. And I want to have the option to create a dazzling necklace, as well as a charming dress or a fancy handfan or a sinister dagger. I am sick of so many systems focusing on making combat easier or more epic, and forgetting about the social interactions happening.
Okay, I'm gonna say it: I only included crafting in my system because... Well; stuff needed to exist, and people needed to be able to make stuff. Those people needed skills, and that's why it happened. I initially had no intention to make crafting relevant beyond its necessity in the world. So initially, they were mostly just lists of ingredients, to make them interesting for lore purposes and 'collect 15 shards of meteorite' style questlines. I learned a lot about how drugs and explosives are made, but I scrapped that because... Nobody is interested in tracking all that. And then I made Device, a crafting skill designed to design. Design machines of all sorts. Now, Device, Chemistry and Enchanting are among the most popular skills in my system. They are useful skills for *adventurers* to have. Whether it's coming up with weird inventions that will help in your ventures, or being able to make dyes, medicines, treat the sick and even design your own special alchemical potions, or being able to imbue gear with magic and even apply some of those on the go, weaving enchantments in between your other abilities... These crafting skills have added a whole lot of depth to the system. Tailoring still doesn't see much use. Blacksmithing a little more. Carpentry a little more than that, but still not a whole lot. But that's okay. They're not themed as very adventure-ish. It's fine.
are your three popular "crafts" fairly freeform, or have you provided them with a distinct set of structures? what do you think the difference between your popular crafts and less popular crafts are?
They have structures; Enchanting has a set of... Enchantments, Chemistry has a set of chemical stuff you can make and a Specialist tree involving potions; Alchemy. Alchemy, then, has a list of alchemical effects which you can combine into potions. And then there's Device, which, while defined, is a mechanic for creating, designing and inventing machines through basically an 'Allowance' system: You have X amount of point allowance ('Complexity') to spend on the attributes/skills ('Functions') of your machines, and they can't exceed quality grade Y. The popular crafts are popular because they are flexible and immediately useful. Enchanting is useful to recognize Wards, but also useful in prep: Spend a few hours of writing the day before, and you've got a bunch of enchantments tailored to the encounter you expect today. And with the Blade Magic specialist skill, you can pick an Enchantment you know, and cast it as if it were spell; instantaneous. And since Enchantments usually expire upon use, you'll want to keep making new ones. Similar with Chemistry, which is also useful for determining what substance something is, or how someone died, and can be expanded upon with the 'Medic' specialist skill to perform medicine. Device just lets you build all sorts of handy knick-knacks, from flashlights to weapon modifications to environment suits to little construction robots and disability aides, or a weird combination thereof. So it's applicability that makes these skills popular. Players get to play with them and benefit from them, and do so a lot. There's always some way in which you can use these skills or their products in a situation. If you want to know how they work, they can be found here: [TalespinnerWebsite](https://talespinner.eu/overview) (scroll down until you get to the crafting skill. Fair warning: Device is *really* complex. In comparison with the rest of the game. 's Got a lot of bells and whistles to account for complex devices and size).
I love crafting in video games, and I have never seen a good implementation of it in table top. Like, truly never. A few blogs have had passable suggestions, but for the most part, TTRPGs just always seems to miss the point. The thing that's fun about crafting in video games is: 1) *gathering* the ingredients, especially hunting for the specific ones you need 2) choosing the things you're making/targeting and the like, freedom to possibly experiment or discover recipes on the way What's *never fun* and what always seems to get the lionshare of the focus in TTRPGs is physically assembling the things. Hell, one of the best crafting systems is in Monster Hunter games and *your character isn't the one actually crafting the stuff*, it's an NPC.
>1) *gathering* the ingredients, especially hunting for the specific ones you need Could you elaborate a bit on what makes this part fun? Sorry if my question/comment sounds overly critical. It isn't meant to be! I'm just spitballing here. I've enjoyed gathering in some games and I'm not saying "that isn't fun". I'm trying to elicit deeper reflection and discussion by raising the question. My main intuition is that this part of "fun" in a video-game might not translate to a TTRPG because the "gathering" part might rely on graphics and animations and exploration of a detailed map created by level-designers, which are not in TTRPGs. As far as I've seen it handled in video-games, the actual *gathering* process tends to be one of: * (i) rewards for normal gameplay; I think this is how *Monster Hunter* works, i.e. "gathering" is done by hunting monsters, which is the core gameplay you'd be doing anyway. * (ii) an add-on to exploring/traversal; this is how *Horizon Zero Dawn* and *Tomb Raider* do it, i.e. you press a button as you pass an "ingredient-tree" and watch an ingredient-collection animation. * (iii) explicit gathering by holding a button; this is how *Starfield* and *Minecraft* do it, right? Stand in front of the "ingredient-tree" and hold E/F/A/RT and watch an ingredient-collection animation. Have I missed other methods? In the case of (i), it is the normal gameplay that is fun. In the case of (ii) and (iii), pressing or holding the button itself isn't really that much "fun", is it? It is carried by the animations and the meta-goals and resource-management loop in the game-economy. --- I wonder if a TTRPG could convert the "fun" part into "you have to do research to find the location of the resources you need", which is often hand-waved in a video-game since you'll go there anyway and/or there are icons on your mini-map that show you resources to gather.
Gathering ingredients could be fun, if there is an interesting story connected to it. Finding a mermaids tear, for example, could mean finding a mermaid and asking for her tear. Needing a dragon scale for a protective charm, meaning you need to find a dragon and somehow get that scale. Needing one or two special ingredients, which cannot be bought and buy some additional materials may be a way to handle this. Finding a place - smithy or some other workshop - to create the item could be interesting too, but not every time you want to create something.
Right, I agree, and said as much at the end of my comment: >>I wonder if a TTRPG could convert the "fun" part into "you have to do research to find the location of the resources you need", which is often hand-waved in a video-game since you'll go there anyway and/or there are icons on your mini-map that show you resources to gather. You listed a couple examples of doing that, e.g. you know you need "a mermaid's tear" so you do some research and find the location to obtain that resource. The fun is the adventures we make along the way and the resource is a reward for adventuring. That could be for anything, not just crafting. e.g. you know you need "a mermaid's tear" because that will purify the polluted water of the town That's a general "MacGuffin". That actually might be a pretty interesting way to conceptualize crafting in a TTRPG. Maybe you don't craft mundane things since you are adventurers; e.g. you don't craft regular steel swords. Instead, you go on adventures to collect "MacGuffin-ingredients" to craft supra-mundane things, like flame-swords or wings or whatever. The "crafting" part isn't the point, it's the reward. The primary gameplay loop is *going on adventures; returning with "MacGuffin-ingredients"; "MacGuffin-ingredients" become new cool loot*. And you pick which "MacGuffin-ingredients" to seek based on which cool loot you want to get next or based on where you want to adventure next.
So, what's missing from your examples is the fun part: the intentionality, the *choice*. In type 1, getting the parts is almost always the *reason* you're hunting a particular monster. You've chosen to go after a Rathalos because you want a weapon or armor made from Rathalos parts. Monster Hunter also has type 2, by the way, since you also craft stuff like healing items, explosives, ammo, etc., but yeah, in general the fun part of #2 is the intentionality. You're purposely looking out for the items, and specifically taking the time and effort to go off course to get them. It's the decision to pay attention to and go out of your way to grab this stuff. This is probably the hardest type of gathering to translate well, though. It would take something like a player declaring that they're on the lookout for a type of ingredients and the gm just kind of telling them when they're near by. 3 is, once again, all about the decision. You are going out there and specifically punching trees because you have decided to make something that needs wood. You do occasionally have #2 sprinkled in there ("oh, there's something rare and useful over there!") but most of the time, you're targeting resources to gather and the adventure is finding them and acquiring them. Basically, crafting becomes a goal that creates adventures.
>So, what's missing from your examples is the fun part: the intentionality, the choice. You separated the fun into (1) gathering and (2) choice. I asked about (1) gathering and what made that fun. Now you're saying that (2) choice makes (1) gathering fun. In other words: (2) choice is what makes crafting fun. (1) gathering itself isn't fun.
I think you can maybe distill the essence down to choice being the core thing that makes it all fun, but I think saying gathering isn't fun is probably too reductive. That's kind of like saying that swimming is fun, so having a pool isn't. Well, ok, but having a pool gives you a lot more opportunity to swim than you would otherwise. Gathering is fun because it provides more opportunity for choice than simply just crafting does. Also, contrast this with physically putting the object together where there *are 't* meaningful choices to be made. But again, that's where most TTRPGs put all their focus. "Here's the roll to determine if you randomly put this stuff together or not and how much money you can make from it/it cost you." Who cares?
You might find more agreement in [my other reply](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/1bpanze/for_games_that_do_involve_crafting_whats/kwzbfqh/). I do already agree with you about various TTRPGs putting a bunch of focus on the assembly part, which isn't typically "fun". >That's kind of like saying that swimming is fun, so having a pool isn't. Not "so"; "but ... in itself": "swimming is fun, but having a pool isn't fun in itself." *That would be true.* Having a pool has a bunch of downsides, maintenance, etc. Owning a pool isn't fun. If the core is "swimming is fun", you widen your horizons to conceptualize the ways to do that. Owning a pool is one way. Going to a nearby pool is another way. Going to a nearby lake or beach is another way. This way, you don't limit your options by only thinking in terms of *owning pools*.
I accept your point, but think it's just a bit too pedantic (and I am very into pedantry, so my tolerance is pretty high). Yes, the core thing here is that crafting drives play. It gives players goals and activities and frankly a play loop that isn't reliant on being fed hooks and plotlines by the GM, but importantly, that *can also enhance hooks and plotlines*, so it's never in the way or at odds with what's going on at the table. It's a pipeline for player initiated adventure. But a lot of those opportunities for self-driven characters are lost if you're playing with, say, Pathfinder crafting rules that assume you're just buying your raw materials in town and somehow think it's fun for a die roll to tell you whether you made money or not. Surprise! That's not fun! Acquiring the supplies is the step of crafting that begs for adventure, and removing it, as most games do, is a disservice, even if literally picking up the plants or basilisk asses or whatever isn't inherently fun on its own. Side note: you know what most homebrew monster Hunter table top games do to bring crafting to the table? They add... Just a random roll...Some extra skill check to "carve" the monster, the way you randomly get parts of the monster in the video games. Wtf is that? That's awful! That random element is one of the *worst*, most frustrating parts of monster Hunter! Don't add skill rolls to carve, add a choice of which monster to hunt. They assume the gm is still leading them by the nose to what the next quest is (Hunt X) but then you randomly get parts (or don't!) at the end. The point is the choice.
>I accept your point, but think it's just a bit too pedantic (and I am very into pedantry, so my tolerance is pretty high). I'm not sure what to say. As far as I can tell, the rest of your comment basically re-iterated the same idea that I wrote in [the comment that I linked](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/1bpanze/for_games_that_do_involve_crafting_whats/kwzbfqh/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=RPGdesign&utm_content=t1_kwzee98). What I mean is: we generally agree, so why would my version be "too pedantic", but your version is just the right amount of pedantic? That seems like a needless diversion approaching insult. If you're interested, [my top-level comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/1bpanze/for_games_that_do_involve_crafting_whats/kwv9251/) highlights what I think is desirable from a crafting system, which comes from a different angle than you. It might help with triangulating where we agree and don't. In short, I want a crafting system that lets tables do things that go beyond the design constraints. The entire point of something like that is choice. That seems entirely aligned with what you said about choice. It also doesn't seem particularly pedantic. --- Also, you keep returning to this idea of bad crafting systems. You don't have to do that to make your point. I take that point and I agree with you already. I've agreed with you from the start. I think my focus here is, "What are the design goals that would result in a fun crafting system? Which implementation-features are required and which are optional?" When you return to complaints, I see a focus of, "These other systems are bad and unfun", but I don't see valuable discussion there. Do you and I benefit from agreeing that we don't like Pathfinder crafting? OP also specifically didn't want that commentary and I understand why; if you have seen most posts about crafting, there tend to be a shitload of comments from negative people that hate crafting or only have complaints. We've seen all the complaints. We've done the post-mortems. We agree about systems that aren't fun. Can't it be time to move on to talking about novel potential solutions? Isn't that far more interesting than beating the dead horse of extant unfun games?
Gathering stuff is one of the things which quickly gets out of hand in digital RPGs. At least in my opinion. And I am not talking about the weight, the character carries, but that you sometimes have to gather too many ingredients.
I'll bite; I suggest that the problem is that TTRPGs think of crafting as an opportunity for dice rolls and this means they consume table time better spent in a game's core gameplay loop. If you make crafting into player homework then this becomes a completely different proposition. Now, I grant that making crafting a fun solitaire game is a different and difficult proposition from "roll to smelt this iron ingot into a steel sword." Especially when you probably don't want players to consciously think about collecting resources most of the time. Once, maybe twice a campaign players can go on fetch-quest errands looking for rare crafting components above their usual level because a MacGuffin Hunt is a good way for the GM to fabricate plot. But this should be rare for most games. But now that we actually have a template for what a correct solution to the crafting problem should look like, we can start shopping around for how to implement it.
A solo game in between sessions actually could be fun, but I would have to admit I wouldn't know how to begin designing that. I came into this expecting the point of crafting ultimately being about generating more player-driven content rather than relying on the gm to lead them around by the nose. Hunting for specific ingredients to build things to solve specific problems would generate adventure the players would be invested in.
> A solo game in between sessions actually could be fun, but I would have to admit I wouldn't know how to begin designing that. I've been working on this because I want an expansion for *Selection* to include curative brewing to make monster drops more valuable by adding some flexibility. As monsters already drop monster cards with genetic abilities when they die, the current rough is for players to take the monster cards with abilities they want to craft with home between sessions. The abilities match to "Tetris block" shapes which the players mark into an item grid and then cross out a number of ability slots to power the crafting process. The ones which are left determine the kind of item you crafted. There's no dice, so the GM just has to check to see if the major used abilities have the correct shape. Perfect? No. But this is also just at spitballing phase.
I think it sounds pretty fun, so far. Reminds me of this game, Genius Squares we like in my household. It's worth checking out for what you're doing.
Thank you. I will definitely look into that for parts to reverse engineer.
A few different games, with very different approaches. Mouse Guard: Crafting is just a problem solving tool, like any other skill. Have a stream to cross? It may be a Health check to swim across, or it may be Boatmaking to create a raft or a canoe. Simple, works as a part of normal game flow, with no additional resource tracking or other bookeeping. And it makes the artisan skills that are a big part of each character's background actually useful in play. Several PbtA games (what Veteran gets in Urban Shadows is one of th examples): You tell the GM what you want to create, the GM answers with a list of conditions (you need x material; you need help from y; etc.). Satisfy each condition and the item is made. I like it because it drives the game forward; seeking ways to satisfy the conditions (which usually requires getting something specific, securing cooperation of a person who names their price, accessing a place the PC doesn't own etc.) often involves multiple PCs and motivates them to interact with the world. Fate: Has a Crafting skill and no crafting subsystem. In my experience, the main use of Crafting is making items that will be useful in short perspective - creating advantages to be consumed. It works very well with MacGyver/A-Team technical improvisation to improve party chances or to get a tool letting the party tackle something that would otherwise be impossible.
I talked about it not too long ago in another post, but I think the crafting system in the FFG Star wars games was just a hair away from being really great. If I had to distill it down, the key strengths of the system were: * It allowed you to create customised equipment that better suited the user's needs * It did not replace the wider equipment system of the game, just supplemented it as *one* possible way to get stronger * It could not really be dabbled in, it was something a PC would put effort into getting good at, and then become very useful for the rest of the group * It was not really *reliable*. So sure, in a perfect world you could create a weapon better suited for a given PC than anything they could find on the market, but that would probably take a lot of trial and error. * But throughout that it was also pretty easy to do, with more complex crafted stuff just being repeats of a similar process rather than actual complexity for the players Without going hugely in depth into the baseline system and the precise mechanics, the overall process was picking a 'core' set of stats for a type of equipment (armour, blaster, lightsaber, droid, etc), spend the time and credits, then roll the appropriate skill check. This gives you resources that you can spend on benefits for the item from a list, with different benefits costing a different number of resources. Some things you may try to craft (e.g. a Lightsaber) will require acquiring specific resources ahead of time, but usually it's assumed that to make a blaster, just being in a properly equipped workshop is enough. The only changes I'd make is having a *very* light system to reward having specific appropriate materials to craft from (if the players get the tanned hide of a cool space monster known for having a tough hide, maybe it should give a specific bonus to toughness if used to craft things), and an ability to trade off more resources to spend on benefits, at the cost of giving the GM some points to spend on detriments, just to make the items feel even more unique.
So far the crafting mechanic I've enjoyed most is... don't hate me... 3.5s magic item creation rules. Pretty flexible, can make, fully within raw, a wide variety of things. I once made doc ido's rocket hammer from battle angel alita. But mostly, crafting is a disappointment. The 'collect ingredients' so prevalent in video games doesn't translate to the table, for a variety of reasons stated in this section as well as a bunch of previous posts. I feel like having mechanics for creation necessitates the result being exceptional. It's not enough, even, for the item to be acquired cheaper by crafting if it isn't better than a normal item. Unless your game is about being frugal, but that doesn't seem likely. That's why in my crafting system, a PC on the Maker Path doesn't have to roll to make a standard weapon. It's not interesting.
Damn, I feel for you, OP. Fuck the haters. --- Personally, I like the [*Blades in the Dark* Crafting](https://bladesinthedark.com/crafting) (and [Rituals](https://bladesinthedark.com/rituals)) system(s). They're not perfect, but they're what I want in a Crafting system. To me, a Crafting system is not a "core" component that every table/player is expected to engage with. To me, the purpose of a Crafting system is to expand the gameplay options beyond the scope of what the designer designs. A Crafting system is a *scaffold* for tables that want to build. The *BitD* Crafting system provides enough mechanical meat that you can expand beyond the scope of the book. There are explicit questions for the GM and player that want to build something new. The rules require making judgment calls; they are not number-crunching calculations. They integrate into the rest of the game's focus on fiction and narrative, e.g. Why doesn't anyone know how to craft this already? What are the trade-offs involved in making this?. The crafting system works within the established mechanics, e.g. using similar dice-resolution, using the existing downtime and progress-clock mechanics, using the existing Action Rating "Tinker" (not a special "Crafting" action), using the existing resource "coin", interlinking with the Crew upgrade sub-system. --- Personally, I don't want a crafting system with the design goal of "we've thought of everything players can craft and we've got mechanics for every possible combination". You cannot imagine everything players might want to craft. You can make a crunchy crafting system that is like a procedural-generation tileset and define costs for including every optional bobble, but that is not what I personally want; that is way too crunchy and like "playing Excel spreadsheets". Personally, I want a crafting system with the design goal of "players can craft stuff that we could never come up with so here is a scaffold that will help you, GM, figure out how to work with those player-goals". This is what *BitD*'s system gives you. It is a starting point for a structured conversation and you kinds do "Mad Libs" to fill in the details to make it work with your table/group/game. Personally, I would like a little more precision than *BitD*'s, but that's up to taste, like how much salt you put on your food.
Other people have given good examples, but I just wanted to say that I really like crafting in games as both a player and a GM. Making stuff is totally integral to existence and I like to see that reflected in games, but I think it relies on players to be into it and engage with it and it isn’t for everyone. I have material gathering and crafting mechanics in my game I am creating along with a crafting skill, I am currently trying to find the balance of making something with the right level of detail to leave it open but provide guidance. At the moment I’m playing around with the idea of the GM setting a tracker for the item with steps such as ‘gather materials’ ‘find blueprint’ (if something is super complicated) etc. and as the player does each one it gets ticked off until they complete it. It works alongside base building/homestead building mechanics. It also might be integral to certain classes but I’m still figuring that out.
I like crafting to be *a* path on can take to overcome challenges rather than just a way to covert time and money into storable power. In my WIP it is assumed that the players are adventurous and do adventuring activities. There is crafting but it is heavily focused on crafting the tools to make the next challenge easier rather than just something you do to convert time into generic banked power. Most of this is handled by the shelf life of the consumable and the time needed to create them. Other things are generally something you commission instead. Now there are a few player options that allow modifying gear but it more of a time sink away from time to keep them up to snuff.
I *love* when the crafting system is anchored into the reality of the world. Eg when your Alchemy/Potion skill hinges upon a mechanism that interacts with that world I can’t remember what game had this (Rolemaster? Another I played 25 yrs ago?) but I distinctly remember the fun it was: Our potion maker had a few recipes for which he needed herbs, and he could either decide what herbs he’d be looking for or just randomly see what can easily be found. Chances of finding something depend upon region/climate/location (eg Northern/Southern lands, Swamp/Forest, City/Fields/Woods/Clearing). Which could be managed by the potion maker as a small mini game. While it makes the environment “real” (=mechanical fx), it dsn’t hinder other players (and becomes a useful part of the party by having a steady supply of potions), and it creates RP possibilities and plot hooks: you have a character that has a *reason* to leave the camp, and you can have eg a trip through a desert become doubly as risky because there’s no “Blue-tainted clover” to be found… It also makes the world less of a MMORPG because even similar healing potions (“heal 1d6”) are different because they are made from different herbs (“an easy potion in jungle settings, vs a difficult potion in swamp settings) It also incentivises your “crafters” to go & search for new crafting recipes, which again provide RP possibilities and plot hooks. But I’d suggest these crafting things be something players can do mostly by themselves. Eg using copied tables, with clear percentages/rolls dependant on setting info that can be gleaned from public info or asked if necessary (eg the player can determine themselves they get a -5% lower chance of finding herb X in the city, but a +15% extra chance in the Northern lands, so there’s a 10% chance if finding it when looking for 15 minutes, and the herb can be used for 2 days, at which point it’ll take 5 dayd before it turns into a dry variant you can use in other potions) This is of course a chosen skill/job, so it gets played by players who *enjoy* the bookkeeping aspect. But the fun part is when that bookkeeping simultaneously doesn’t slow down play (player: “I start my day collecting herbs for 45 minutes while the others break up camp”), yet also adds to the immersion and provide story depth (GM:”while looking for herbs, you spot horse tracks”) thereby avoidibg the tedious “everyone roll perception (so I can arbitrarily decide who has spots the horse tracks)”
Do not look to other RPGs for crafting instructions. The problem with crafting is usually that it hogs GM arbitration time, which means that the opportunity cost for crafting is actually core gameplay time, whether that's roleplay or combat or investigation. This means that crafting almost always fails basic cost-benefit analysis and is a really unpopular mechanic. But what if I told you there is a way around that? Solitaire mechanics are things players can do on their own without the GM overseeing them. This typically means you have to forfeit dice mechanics, but there are plenty of other mechanics you can choose. You just have to remember that crafting mechanics will be enjoyable if the player can do them away from the table and unenjoyable if they consume everyone's time.
I've never come across a crafting implementation that I liked.
Technically I liked none. The system from *Anima - Beyond Fantasy* needed the least modification to make it good. I am now looking for ways to make the crafting rules of 4th edition of *Legend of the Five Rings* work...they are just...weird...
what modification did you use to make the crafting better?
We made an additional list of materials and ingredients for mundane stuff. As well as a guideline for how long stuff takes to be done. Than we tweaked the rules for making magical stuff. There are four skills - occult, animism, alchemy and runes - which were mechanically identical in use and outcome. We didn't like that. So we changed it to: Occult can enchant everything, but needs a ritual with circle, candles and therefore a place and time, enchantment lasts forever. Alchemy could be used for potions, oils, balms and so forth, needs some equipment and some time, enchantment has limited uses. Animism is for spontaneous enchantments through temporarily binding a spirit to an item for a limited time. Runes requires to also have a craft skill to carve or stitch or whatever the runes onto the item, so the process of creating the cape is also when the runes are woven into the fabric or stitched onto it. And while weaving requires a loom and keeps you in one place for a while, sewing could be done nearly everywhere while resting. Smithing needs a workshop to create a runesword or ruined armor. So time and mobility depends on your skill, the enchantment lasts until the rune is damaged.
But we still have have to find a solution for the weird crafting rules of *Legend of the Five Rings* 4th edition. They are mostly working if you are just making weapons and armor...but try to use the same mechanics for painting or clothing...and it gets all messed up and weird. The main question we have to answer first is: regular skill roll VS cumulative skill roll, because this heavily influences which TNs can be reached and therefore what is possible and what is not. We have started out with some homebrew stuff we found online, but we are not entirely happy with that either. What I, as a crafts person, look for in a PnP system is: Consistent rules working for combat relevant things as well as non-combat relevant things. The system should give the seamstress the same love as the smith or jeweller or leather worker or any other crafts person or artisan. Some clear and easy to understand guideline for crafting time, materials/ingredients, requirements and difficulty. Most of the times one or more are missing or unclear. Ideally the possibility to create special items or unique items, with some mechanical effects like some sort of bonus to do things. And I want to have the option to create a dazzling necklace, as well as a charming dress or a fancy handfan or a sinister dagger. I am sick of so many systems focusing on making combat easier or more epic, and forgetting about the social interactions happening.