TUGs Blueprints To Smithing in D&D
TUGs Blueprints To Smithing in D&D
he ’s
T
Blueprints
TO
SMITHING
IN
dUNGEONS
& dRAGONS
BY GABRIEL GALWAY
DISCLAIMERS
This is Playtest Content! As such, it might change in time, this is not a final release.
This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of
America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork
contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of its
author.
This product is a work of fiction.
INTRO
Weapon crafting is such a huge part of many video games, and it allows a player to
further develop and customise their character to their hearts desire. The weapons
you wield and the armour you wear tells your story. And unfortunately, in D&D 5e,
there is a very scarce selection of non-magical weapons and even fewer armour
options. And sadly, there is little to no crafting to be had in D&D, bar maybe the
“unofficial” artificer class, or maybe- what little potion craft there can be found
scattered amongst the 50 odd books in D&D 5th Editions collection.
It is such a shame, that in the worlds where MAGIC exists, we never get to
experience what kind of meals can be made from their rich array of weird and
wonderful ingredients.
Let’s see if we can fix that and put the creativity in the hands of YOU the player.
CRAFTING ITEMS
So, during a long rest, a player can make a check using smithing tools to modify a
weapon, or if they are at a forge/workshop, they can attempt to forge a new
weapon. You can make or modify weapons using monster materials you have
harvested, or using other ores or other rare materials you’ve mined or gathered in
the wild. (Mining & Foraging will be covered in my Roleplay Skill Tree at a later
date, so for now I will be excluding the use of gemstones, ores etc, and sticking
exclusively to monster materials for this document. I promise there will still be
PLENTY to work with).
MATERIALS
All materials listed below hold the potential to give a wide range of beneficial
properties to any weapons you craft (See Monster Material Blueprints).
Different materials may be more difficult to work with than others, and so
might require better work environments to refine the material. Not just any
old forge will do for some of these materials, and working with them in the
wrong environments will lower their quality.
In the tables provided for each monster material blueprint, you will see that
they are categorised by CR level. The CR level of a material is usually equal
to that of the monster it was harvested from. However, as mentioned in
“Harvesting Materials”, below, this CR level may be lowered or raised
depending on how well it was salvaged. Other factors that might affect a
material’s CR level, is refining it at an inappropriate workshop (see Refining
Materials below). Materials of a certain CR will require a specific tier of
workshop to refine it correctly, and some may be impossible to refine if the
workshop is too low a tier.
For example, one would assume the bones of a demon, that naturally resist
heat, would be near impossible to smelt down in a regular furnace.
HARVESTING MATERIALS
At the end of an encounter, each party member can salvage 1 monster
material each. These monster materials can either be ingredients for cooking
or Alchemy, or material for smithing or runecraft. Make sure your players
specify which they are harvesting at this time, as ingredients can expire, while
materials will not, but require a different skill check.
When salvaging materials from a creature you must make a survival check
(DC 5 + the monster’s CR level). If you fail this check, you still harvest the
material but it is considered “Flawed”, and its CR level is reduced by 2. If you
succeed, however, the material is unaffected. Succeeding the check by 5 or
more will ensure that the material is of “Flawless” quality, increasing its CR
level by 1.
MATERIAL CR LEVEL
& ITEM QUALITY
When a weapon or armour is created, it will have an item quality, based on the
original creature it was taken from, the quality of the material when
harvested, and finally how well the material was refined, as well as how many
other refined materials were added to the item itself.
And so when you craft a weapon or piece of armour, the end result of its item
quality will typically be equal to the CR level of the material used. However, as
mentioned in “Harvesting Materials”, the CR level of the material may not
equal that of the creature it was harvested from, depending on how well the
harvesting process went.
After this, you have a chance to either raise or lower the quality of the
material a second time during the “Refining Process” (see Refining Materials
below). After the refining process is complete, the material’s quality is set and
it changes from CR level, to “Item Quality”. This material is now ready to be
combined with any other refined materials and made into a weapon.
When a material is refined, it gains the properties from the “Monster Material
Blueprint” table equal to the material’s CR Level, after any bonuses are added
or subtracted from the workshop it is refined at. When this material is used to
create a weapon or armour, that weapon or armour will gain the property of
this refined material.
Once a material is refined, it gains a set “item quality” equal to the final CR
level it had once refined. This “item quality” cannot be changed.
However, if this part of the weapon is reforged into a new shape for any
reason, it can only be done so at a workshop with a tier equal to or lower than
the workshop it was refined at. When this is done, the properties of the
material remain the same.
CR OF MATERIAL
CR of Material 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-19 20+
Rare +2 +1 0 -5 Unrefinable
Legendary +5 +4 +3 +1 0
SAMPLES OF FORGES
It might be hard to imagine what each tier of forge mentioned above might
look like, and so I have given some examples below for each tier of forge.
COMMON
This is just your every day, run of the mill forge. There is nothing magical or
unique about it in any way. It has your standard furnace anvil and a few tools,
and that’s about it. It might not even have an anvil! Maybe there’s just a lump
of stone that you work on.
UNCOMMON
Uncommon workshops are not typically magical in any way, but they are a cut
above most. These establishments have typically had a lot of money put into
them to ensure they can produce good quality equipment. You might find a
king, queen or other lord’s blacksmith tending to one of these just within the
castle walls.
In bigger cities, some of the high end blacksmiths might have worked up
enough gold in their lifetime to upgrade their workspace to something of this
quality.
RARE
These are the first forges to have something magical going on with them.
These workshops typically have just one central magical effect taking place
within an otherwise, simple enough looking forge. Such magical effects could
be a series of small arcane glyphs carved into the stones of the forge.
Perhaps the fire of an elemental or spirit heats this forge. It may have been
blessed by a minor deity or perhaps the location itself in which the forge was
built was somewhat magical in nature.
These forges might have legends or folktales associated with them, and
many can be found on the outskirts of civilization, or are kept secret so as not
to have anyone tarnish their magic.
Most of these workshops will typically be found on the material plane, but
this does not diminish their awesome power. These forges would not only be
capable enough of forging high quality materials, but consider having them
grant boons or even sentience to the items forged at them. Perhaps a soul
bond has to be made with the item you forge here; sacrificing a part of
yourself, so as to give life to this ring of power.
LEGENDARY
This is a forge you can build an entire campaign around. Have this location be
a place lost in the stars that the party must journey to in order to fuse the
heart of a dying angel into the bones of titan in order to create a weapon
strong enough to fell a new born god.
These forges burn with the power of a dying star, or perhaps they do not burn
at all. Perhaps this forge somehow utilised the power of a blackhole and can
condense and warm materials in wild ways. Maybe this workshop has been
built within the ribcage of a long lost elder god and the heart at its centre is
what infuses materials with divine energies so as to change it into a more
malleable form.
DURATION OF THE SMITHING PROCESS
The time it takes to refine a material equals a number of hours equal to the
CR Level of that material, before any bonuses are added or subtracted from
the workshop it is to be refined at. This process can be shared by other
creatures proficient in smithing tools, but cannot be interrupted in any way. If
the process is interrupted by any means, it must be started again from the
beginning.
For example, if you are forming a sword from 3 refined materials (bone blade,
a leather guard and a golden pommel), the process will take you 2 hours.
After each hour of work, you may rest and return to the process later, but the
item will be unusable until this process is complete.
CRAFTING A WEAPON
When crafting a weapon, it can only consist of a number of refined materials
equal to half of your proficiency modifier, rounded up. As you level up, you will
learn how to add additional materials to an item. Any other materials used to
make this weapon, such as grips and pommels will be made out of
unnoteworthy materials that do not grant any additional benefits.
Note: Other benefits granted by my future crafting skill tree will be able to
increase this number.
ALTERING ITEMS
During a long rest, you always have the option to alter items you already
have. This can be done using any Refined Materials you already have. It
works in a similar way to forming an item. The time it takes you to alter an
item is equal to 1 hour per new refined material being added to the item.
Up to 1 item can be altered per long rest.
MONSTER MATERIAL “BLUEPRINTS”
Below is a list of Blueprints for what benefit a refined material can provide
that has been taken from a specific creature. These benefits are based on
that material’s CR Level, which is typically the same as the CR level of the
creature it was taken from. But as previously mentioned, this CR Level can
vary based on how well it was harvested and the quality of the workshop it
was refined at.
Take note that you will find blueprints for making both weapons and armour,
and each use a separate table from the other.
Have fun!!
ABERRATIONS
*Requires an Uncommon or Rarer Workshop/Forge in order to be refined*
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
ABERRATIONS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
20+ (LEGENDARY) You can change the shape of this weapon at will
and turn it into any weapon you desire.
This weapon is now sentient and can act
independently. It has a climbing speed of 25ft,
and can make attacks as though it were wielding
this weapon. When it does, it takes your limb
with it and shares the same attributes as a
Gibbering Mouther.
ARMOUR BLUEPRINTS
ABERRATIONS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) An eye and mouth emerge from this armour. It has
a perception modifier of +2 and speaks common.
11-15 (RARE) When you make melee attack, you can choose to
have this armour can sprout a tentacle and make an
unarmed attack that uses your strength modifier.
BEASTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
11-15 (RARE)
each other refined material added to it that would
also grant additional benefits.Your movement speed
increases by an additional +5ft while attuned to this
weapon.
BEASTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
20+ (LEGENDARY)
bathe in the blood of your enemies for 10 minutes to
change one of your ability scores to the ability score
of the creature’s. This effect lasts for 1 hour.
CELESTIALS
*Requires an Very Rare or Rarer Workshop/Forge in order to be refined*
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
CELESTIALS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
6-10 (UNCOMMON) You can use this effect a number of times per day
equal to the amount of additional refined material
attached to this weapon that also grant it additional
properties.
20+ (LEGENDARY)
A creature reduced to 20 or less hit points with this
weapon is immediately killed.
CELESTIALS
ARMOUR BLUEPRINTS
CELESTIALS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
16-19 (VERY RARE) You gain a flying speed of 40ft, while you are
attuned to or wearing this armour.
CONSTRUCTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
CONSTRUCTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) While not wearing this armour it can stand on its
own and acts similarly to the unseen servant spell,
only it can be seen. When it drops to zero hit points
the armour collapses in a heap on the ground and
remains unanimated until you equip it and unequip
it again.
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
DRAGONS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
Additionally, any time a benefit mentions “dragon damage” it refers to the damage type that
dragon was immune to, if any, before this material was harvested from it. If it had more than
one immunity, you can choose which one counts towards this weapon’s “dragon damage”
when you first refine this material.
DRAGONS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
Additionally, any time a benefit mentions “dragon damage” it refers to the damage type that
dragon was immune to, if any, before this material was harvested from it. If it had more than
one immunity, you can choose which one counts towards this weapon’s “dragon damage”
when you first refine this material.
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
ELEMENTALS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
Any time a benefit mentions “elemental damage” it refers to the damage type that elemental
was immune to, if any, before this material was harvested from it. If it had more than one
immunity, you can choose which one counts towards this weapon’s “elemental damage”
when you first refine this material.
6-10 (UNCOMMON)
minute, or until you “deactivate” your armour as a
bonus action. When your armour “deactivates” it
loses any of the following benefits:
You become incorporeal and gain resistance to
bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage
from non-magical attacks.
You gain a flying speed of 30ft.
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
FEY
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) You must be attuned to this item to use any of its
properties.
This item has 3 charges. This item regains 1d4+1 charges
after you finish a long rest.
When you are hit with an attack, but before damage is
dealt to you, can spend 1 charge as a reaction to have the
attacker reroll the attack. The attacker uses the new
6-10 (UNCOMMON) result.
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
FIENDS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) While wielding this weapon in the open, you gain a
+2 bonus to all charisma checks.
FIENDS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
You can reduce your maximum hit points (Max HP) by X amount to use any of the abilities
provided by this armour. The amount you must reduce Max HP by is referred to the “Blood
Price”. Spending a blood price is done so as part of the action listen in the abilities
description. (eg. a “Blood Price: 10” would mean you you need to reduce your Max HP by 10
in order to gain the abilities listed after the Blood Price.)
Any hit points reduced in this way return after a long rest.
Blood Price: 10
6-10 (UNCOMMON)
You can spend this blood price as a reaction whenever
you take damage to have the creature who dealt that
damage take the same amount but as fire damage.
Blood Price: X
Whenever you make an attack but before dealing
11-15 (RARE) damage you can spend this blood price to have your
attack deal an additional X amount of fire damage. X
can be no higher than twice your level.
Blood Price: 20
When you deal damage to a creature you can spend
this blood price as a reaction to curse that creature for 1
16-19 (VERY RARE) minute. A creature cursed in this way gains a
vulnerability to a damage type of your choosing. A
creature cannot be cursed again in this way until their
current curse is removed or has ended.
20+ (LEGENDARY) within 15ft of you is dealt fire damage equal to the
blood price you paid.
GIANTS
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
GIANTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
GIANTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) While wearing this armour you can throw objects
twice as far and you can add your proficiency bonus
to the damage rolls made with thrown objects.
MONSTROSITIES
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) This weapon has your choice of: a speaking mouth,
a seeing eye or a listening ear. The weapon is
sentient and can understand language. It can also
make tiny movements but does not have a
movement speed.
16-19 (VERY RARE) Once per turn, after making an attack with this
weapon, you can make one additional attack.
*A glide speed allows you to fly horizontally and not upwards. Once you run out of glide
speed you will glide straight down a number of feet equal to your glide speed (not taking
fall damage), after which you will fall the remaining amount. A glide speed cannot be
used as a reaction.
MONSTROSITIES
ARMOUR BLUEPRINTS
MONSTROSITIES
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
WEAPON BLUEPRINTS
OOZES
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
OOZES
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
PLANTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
1-5 (COMMON) This weapon cannot be disarmed from you and has
a reach of +5ft.
6-10 (UNCOMMON)
AC but your entire arm is covered by this weapon.
Because of this if you wish to drop or sheath this
weapon, you must spend an action to do so.
PLANTS
Any rarer materials (of a higher CR Level), grant the abilities given by any materials of a
lesser rarity (CR Level) listed above them on this table, in addition to the abilities they
provide.
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