03-04-2021, 05:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-05-2021, 02:46 AM by GM Anthraxus.)
In Transit Spelljammer Downtime Options
Crafting an Item
A character who has the time, the money, and the needed tools can use downtime to craft armor, Weapons, clothing, or other kinds of nonmagical gear.
Resources and Resolution. In addition to the appropriate tools for the item to be crafted, a character needs raw materials worth half of the item’s selling cost. To determine how many workweeks it takes to create an item, divide its gold piece cost by 50. A character can complete multiple items in a workweek if the items’ combined cost is 50 gp or lower. Items that cost more than 50 gp can be completed over longer periods of time, as long as the work in progress is stored in a safe location. The GP cost of planned construction must be spent before the ship leaves port to acquire the needed materials.
Multiple characters can combine their efforts. Divide the time needed to create an item by the number of characters working on it. Use your judgment when determining how many characters can collaborate on an item. A particularly tiny item, like a ring, might allow only one or two workers, whereas a large, complex item might allow four or more workers.
A character needs to be proficient with the tools needed to craft an item and have access to the appropriate Equipment. Everyone who collaborates needs to have the appropriate tool proficiency. You need to make any judgment calls regarding whether a character has the correct Equipment. The following table provides some examples.
If all the above requirements are met, the result of the process is an item of the desired sort. A character can sell an item crafted in this way at its listed price.
Crafting Magic Items. Creating a magic item requires more than just time, effort, and materials. It is a long-term process that involves one or more Adventures to track down rare materials and the lore needed to create the item.
Potions of Healing and spell Scrolls are exceptions to the following rules. For more information, see “Brewing Potions of Healing” later in this section and the “Scribing a Spell Scroll” section, below.
To start with, a character needs a formula for a magic item in order to create it. The formula is like a recipe. It lists the materials needed and steps required to make the item.
An item invariably requires an exotic material to complete it. This material can range from the skin of a yeti to a vial of water taken from a whirlpool on the Elemental Plane of Water. Finding that material should take place as part of an adventure.
The Magic Item Ingredients table suggests the Challenge Rating of a creature that the characters need to face to acquire the materials for an item. Note that facing a creature does not necessarily mean that the characters must collect items from its corpse. Rather, the creature might guard a location or a resource that the characters need access to.
Magic Item Ingredients
If appropriate, pick a monster or a location that is a thematic fit for the item to be crafted. For example, creating mariner’s armor might require the essence of a Water Weird. Crafting a Staff of Charming might require the cooperation of a specific Arcanaloth, who will help only if the characters complete a task for it. Making a Staff of Power might hinge on acquiring a piece of an ancient stone that was once Touched by the god of magic—a stone now guarded by a suspicious Androsphinx.
In addition to facing a specific creature, creating an item comes with a gold piece cost covering other materials, tools, and so on, based on the item’s Rarity. Those values, as well as the time a character needs to work in order to complete the item, are shown on the Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost table. Halve the listed price and Creation time for any consumable items.
Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost
*Halved for a consumable item like a potion or scroll
To complete a magic item, a character also needs whatever tool proficiency is appropriate, as for Crafting a nonmagical object, or proficiency in the Arcana skill.
If all the above requirements are met, the result of the process is a magic item of the desired sort.
Complications. The only really impactful complication that can occur on ship for crafting is drifting magic fields or simple physical mishap cause the final product to be useless or unpredictable. Any crafting attempt has a 10% chance of having some kind of complication.
Brewing Potions of Healing. Potions of Healing fall into a Special category for item Crafting, separate from other Magic Items. A character who has proficiency with the Herbalism Kit can create these Potions. The times and costs for doing so are summarized on the Potion of Healing Creation table.
Potion of Healing Creation
Gambling
Games of chance are a way to make a fortune—and perhaps a better way to lose one.
Resources. This activity requires one workweek of effort plus a stake of at least 10 gp, to a maximum of 1,000 gp or more, as you see fit.
Resolution. The character must make a series of checks, with a DC determined at random based on the quality of the competition that the character runs into. Part of the risk of gambling is that one never knows who might end up sitting across the table.
The character makes three checks: Wisdom (Insight), Charisma (Deception), and Charisma (Intimidation). If the character has proficiency with an appropriate Gaming Set, that tool proficiency can replace the relevant skill in any of the checks. The DC for each of the checks is 5 + 2d10; generate a separate DC for each one. Consult the Gambling Results table to see how the character did.
Gambling Results
Complications. Gambling with crewmates can lead to hard feelings and active grudges when somebody goes on a losing streak. For each downtime week spent gambling there is a 10% of worsening your relationship with a crewmate. This chance increases by 5% if you got 3 successes.
Relaxation
Sometimes the best thing to do Between Adventures is relax. Whether a character wants a hard-earned vacation or needs to recover from Injuries, relaxation is the ideal option for adventurers who need a break. This option is also ideal for players who don’t want to make use of the downtime system.
Resources. Relaxation requires one week. A character needs to maintain at least a modest lifestyle while relaxing to gain the benefit of the activity.
Resolution. Characters who are relaxing gain several benefits. While relaxing, a character gains advantage on Saving Throws to recover from long-acting Diseases and Poisons. In addition, at the end of the week, a character can end one Effect that keeps the character from regaining Hit Points, or can restore one ability score that has been reduced to less than its normal value. This benefit cannot be used if the harmful Effect was caused by a spell or some other magical Effect with an ongoing Duration.
Repair
Repairs can be made while sailing or at a shipwright.
Repairs while sailing can happen so long as someone on board has the proper proficiencies. Carpenter’s tool proficiency is required for ships made of wood or wood-like materials, blacksmith’s tool proficiency is required for ships of metals, and stonemason’s tools are required for ships of stone or crystal. With raw tonnage of materials available, repairs can be much more effective by consuming these resources.
If the crew on a ship cannot repair, shipwrights of all varieties can be hired at most ports.
Repairing a Hull
Each repair workday requires 50gp worth of repair material. These materials are typically bought in tons worth 250gp, where one ton can make 5 repairs. Any repair on a ship with less than half health requires twice the material to make of for the large damage. For each workday spend repairing a hull, roll a d10 and the Proficiency bonus of the person with tool proficiency working on the ship. The ship is repaired for that many hit points. One ton of raw ship material can be used to improve the hit points restored to a ship for five workdays. The next five repairs on the ship’s hull use a d20 instead of a d10. For ships without a crew member trained in repairs, this service can usually be bought at ports for a slight service fee per day; on top of the material costs.
Repairing a Weapon
Weapons disabled by a Weapon Damaged Critical can be repaired back to working order with one day’s worth of work and 1/4th the weapon’s cost in materials.
Repairing a Shearing
One day of work can be spent repairing the intricate rigging and steering of a ship to remove one point of Shearing from a ship. This takes 50gp worth of rope and scrap per fix.
Research
Forewarned is forearmed. The research downtime activity allows a character to delve into lore concerning a monster, a location, a magic item, or some other particular topic.
Resources. Typically, a character needs access to a Library or a sage to conduct research. If research materials on a topic are available on board, time can be spent on using that material to research. These research materials can be purchased for 50 gp per 1/4 ton of materials on a topic.
Resolution. The character declares the focus of the research—a specific person, place, or thing that there are research materials available about. After one workweek, the character makes an Intelligence check with a +1 bonus per 50 gp value of the onboard research materials beyond the first 50gp, to a maximum of +6. In addition, a character who has access to a particularly well-stocked Library or knowledgeable sages gains advantage on this check. Determine how much lore a character learns using the Research Outcomes table.
Research Outcomes
Each piece of lore is the equivalent of one true statement about a person, place, or thing. Examples include knowledge of a creature’s resistances, the password needed to enter a sealed dungeon level, the Spells commonly prepared by an order of wizards, and so on.
Complications. The greatest risk in research is uncovering false information or depleting the usefulness of the materials. At the completion of research there is a 10% chance that any given piece of lore you have uncovered is incorrect or some other event has occured that negative impacts the materials. For every piece of lore uncovered there is a cumulative (over all uses of research on this topic with these materials) 10% change that all of the materials on this topic have been thoroughly read through and nothing new can be learned from these supplies. Research materials can be sold for 30 gp per 1/4 ton of materials.
Scribing a Spell Scroll
With time and patience, a Spellcaster can transfer a spell to a scroll, Creating a Spell scroll.
Resources. Scribing a Spell Scroll takes an amount of time and money related to the level of the spell the character wants to Scribe, as shown in the Spell Scroll Costs table. In addition, the character must have proficiency in the Arcana skill and must provide any material Components required for the casting of the spell. Moreover, the character must have the spell prepared, or it must be among the character’s known Spells, in order to Scribe a scroll of that spell. The cost of the scrolls to be scribed must paid before the ship debarks from port.
If the scribed spell is a cantrip, the version on the scroll works as if the caster were 1st level.
Spell Scroll Costs
Complications. For each scribed scroll there is a 10%+level of the spell scribed-INT mod chance for an issue to develop with the scroll.
Training
Given enough free time and the Services of an Instructor, a character can learn a language or pick up proficiency with a tool.
Resources. Receiving Training in a language or tool typically takes at least ten workweeks, but this time is reduced by a number of workweeks equal to the character’s Intelligence modifier (an Intelligence penalty doesn’t increase the time needed). Someone must be on the ship that can act as an instructor. The instructor must spend the downtime teaching, but can be learning something from the student at the same time.
Crafting an Item
A character who has the time, the money, and the needed tools can use downtime to craft armor, Weapons, clothing, or other kinds of nonmagical gear.
Resources and Resolution. In addition to the appropriate tools for the item to be crafted, a character needs raw materials worth half of the item’s selling cost. To determine how many workweeks it takes to create an item, divide its gold piece cost by 50. A character can complete multiple items in a workweek if the items’ combined cost is 50 gp or lower. Items that cost more than 50 gp can be completed over longer periods of time, as long as the work in progress is stored in a safe location. The GP cost of planned construction must be spent before the ship leaves port to acquire the needed materials.
Multiple characters can combine their efforts. Divide the time needed to create an item by the number of characters working on it. Use your judgment when determining how many characters can collaborate on an item. A particularly tiny item, like a ring, might allow only one or two workers, whereas a large, complex item might allow four or more workers.
A character needs to be proficient with the tools needed to craft an item and have access to the appropriate Equipment. Everyone who collaborates needs to have the appropriate tool proficiency. You need to make any judgment calls regarding whether a character has the correct Equipment. The following table provides some examples.
| Proficiency | Items |
|---|---|
| Herbalism Kit | Antitoxin, Potion of Healing |
| Leatherworker’s tools | Leather Armor, boots |
| Smith’s tools | Armor, Weapons |
| Weaver’s tools | Cloaks, robes |
If all the above requirements are met, the result of the process is an item of the desired sort. A character can sell an item crafted in this way at its listed price.
Crafting Magic Items. Creating a magic item requires more than just time, effort, and materials. It is a long-term process that involves one or more Adventures to track down rare materials and the lore needed to create the item.
Potions of Healing and spell Scrolls are exceptions to the following rules. For more information, see “Brewing Potions of Healing” later in this section and the “Scribing a Spell Scroll” section, below.
To start with, a character needs a formula for a magic item in order to create it. The formula is like a recipe. It lists the materials needed and steps required to make the item.
An item invariably requires an exotic material to complete it. This material can range from the skin of a yeti to a vial of water taken from a whirlpool on the Elemental Plane of Water. Finding that material should take place as part of an adventure.
The Magic Item Ingredients table suggests the Challenge Rating of a creature that the characters need to face to acquire the materials for an item. Note that facing a creature does not necessarily mean that the characters must collect items from its corpse. Rather, the creature might guard a location or a resource that the characters need access to.
Magic Item Ingredients
| Item Rarity | CR Range |
|---|---|
| Common | 1-3 |
| Uncommon | 4-8 |
| Rare | 9-12 |
| Very rare | 13-18 |
| Legendary | 19+ |
If appropriate, pick a monster or a location that is a thematic fit for the item to be crafted. For example, creating mariner’s armor might require the essence of a Water Weird. Crafting a Staff of Charming might require the cooperation of a specific Arcanaloth, who will help only if the characters complete a task for it. Making a Staff of Power might hinge on acquiring a piece of an ancient stone that was once Touched by the god of magic—a stone now guarded by a suspicious Androsphinx.
In addition to facing a specific creature, creating an item comes with a gold piece cost covering other materials, tools, and so on, based on the item’s Rarity. Those values, as well as the time a character needs to work in order to complete the item, are shown on the Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost table. Halve the listed price and Creation time for any consumable items.
Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost
| Item Rarity | Workweeks* | Cost* |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 1 | 50 gp |
| Uncommon | 2 | 200 gp |
| Rare | 10 | 2,000 gp |
| Very rare | 25 | 20,000 gp |
| Legendary | 50 | 100,000 gp |
To complete a magic item, a character also needs whatever tool proficiency is appropriate, as for Crafting a nonmagical object, or proficiency in the Arcana skill.
If all the above requirements are met, the result of the process is a magic item of the desired sort.
Complications. The only really impactful complication that can occur on ship for crafting is drifting magic fields or simple physical mishap cause the final product to be useless or unpredictable. Any crafting attempt has a 10% chance of having some kind of complication.
Brewing Potions of Healing. Potions of Healing fall into a Special category for item Crafting, separate from other Magic Items. A character who has proficiency with the Herbalism Kit can create these Potions. The times and costs for doing so are summarized on the Potion of Healing Creation table.
Potion of Healing Creation
| Type | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Healing | 1 day | 25 gp |
| Greater Healing | 1 workweek | 100 gp |
| Superior Healing | 3 workweeks | 1,000 gp |
| Supreme Healing | 4 workweeks | 10,000 gp |
Gambling
Games of chance are a way to make a fortune—and perhaps a better way to lose one.
Resources. This activity requires one workweek of effort plus a stake of at least 10 gp, to a maximum of 1,000 gp or more, as you see fit.
Resolution. The character must make a series of checks, with a DC determined at random based on the quality of the competition that the character runs into. Part of the risk of gambling is that one never knows who might end up sitting across the table.
The character makes three checks: Wisdom (Insight), Charisma (Deception), and Charisma (Intimidation). If the character has proficiency with an appropriate Gaming Set, that tool proficiency can replace the relevant skill in any of the checks. The DC for each of the checks is 5 + 2d10; generate a separate DC for each one. Consult the Gambling Results table to see how the character did.
Gambling Results
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| 0 successes | Lose all the money you bet, and accrue a debt equal to that amount. |
| 1 success | Lose half the money you bet. |
| 2 successes | Gain the amount you bet plus half again more. |
| 3 successes | Gain double the amount you bet. |
Complications. Gambling with crewmates can lead to hard feelings and active grudges when somebody goes on a losing streak. For each downtime week spent gambling there is a 10% of worsening your relationship with a crewmate. This chance increases by 5% if you got 3 successes.
Relaxation
Sometimes the best thing to do Between Adventures is relax. Whether a character wants a hard-earned vacation or needs to recover from Injuries, relaxation is the ideal option for adventurers who need a break. This option is also ideal for players who don’t want to make use of the downtime system.
Resources. Relaxation requires one week. A character needs to maintain at least a modest lifestyle while relaxing to gain the benefit of the activity.
Resolution. Characters who are relaxing gain several benefits. While relaxing, a character gains advantage on Saving Throws to recover from long-acting Diseases and Poisons. In addition, at the end of the week, a character can end one Effect that keeps the character from regaining Hit Points, or can restore one ability score that has been reduced to less than its normal value. This benefit cannot be used if the harmful Effect was caused by a spell or some other magical Effect with an ongoing Duration.
Repair
Repairs can be made while sailing or at a shipwright.
Repairs while sailing can happen so long as someone on board has the proper proficiencies. Carpenter’s tool proficiency is required for ships made of wood or wood-like materials, blacksmith’s tool proficiency is required for ships of metals, and stonemason’s tools are required for ships of stone or crystal. With raw tonnage of materials available, repairs can be much more effective by consuming these resources.
If the crew on a ship cannot repair, shipwrights of all varieties can be hired at most ports.
Repairing a Hull
Each repair workday requires 50gp worth of repair material. These materials are typically bought in tons worth 250gp, where one ton can make 5 repairs. Any repair on a ship with less than half health requires twice the material to make of for the large damage. For each workday spend repairing a hull, roll a d10 and the Proficiency bonus of the person with tool proficiency working on the ship. The ship is repaired for that many hit points. One ton of raw ship material can be used to improve the hit points restored to a ship for five workdays. The next five repairs on the ship’s hull use a d20 instead of a d10. For ships without a crew member trained in repairs, this service can usually be bought at ports for a slight service fee per day; on top of the material costs.
Repairing a Weapon
Weapons disabled by a Weapon Damaged Critical can be repaired back to working order with one day’s worth of work and 1/4th the weapon’s cost in materials.
Repairing a Shearing
One day of work can be spent repairing the intricate rigging and steering of a ship to remove one point of Shearing from a ship. This takes 50gp worth of rope and scrap per fix.
Research
Forewarned is forearmed. The research downtime activity allows a character to delve into lore concerning a monster, a location, a magic item, or some other particular topic.
Resources. Typically, a character needs access to a Library or a sage to conduct research. If research materials on a topic are available on board, time can be spent on using that material to research. These research materials can be purchased for 50 gp per 1/4 ton of materials on a topic.
Resolution. The character declares the focus of the research—a specific person, place, or thing that there are research materials available about. After one workweek, the character makes an Intelligence check with a +1 bonus per 50 gp value of the onboard research materials beyond the first 50gp, to a maximum of +6. In addition, a character who has access to a particularly well-stocked Library or knowledgeable sages gains advantage on this check. Determine how much lore a character learns using the Research Outcomes table.
Research Outcomes
| Check Total | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | No Effect. |
| 6-10 | You learn one piece of lore. |
| 11-20 | You learn two pieces of lore. |
| 21+ | You learn three pieces of lore. |
Each piece of lore is the equivalent of one true statement about a person, place, or thing. Examples include knowledge of a creature’s resistances, the password needed to enter a sealed dungeon level, the Spells commonly prepared by an order of wizards, and so on.
Complications. The greatest risk in research is uncovering false information or depleting the usefulness of the materials. At the completion of research there is a 10% chance that any given piece of lore you have uncovered is incorrect or some other event has occured that negative impacts the materials. For every piece of lore uncovered there is a cumulative (over all uses of research on this topic with these materials) 10% change that all of the materials on this topic have been thoroughly read through and nothing new can be learned from these supplies. Research materials can be sold for 30 gp per 1/4 ton of materials.
Scribing a Spell Scroll
With time and patience, a Spellcaster can transfer a spell to a scroll, Creating a Spell scroll.
Resources. Scribing a Spell Scroll takes an amount of time and money related to the level of the spell the character wants to Scribe, as shown in the Spell Scroll Costs table. In addition, the character must have proficiency in the Arcana skill and must provide any material Components required for the casting of the spell. Moreover, the character must have the spell prepared, or it must be among the character’s known Spells, in order to Scribe a scroll of that spell. The cost of the scrolls to be scribed must paid before the ship debarks from port.
If the scribed spell is a cantrip, the version on the scroll works as if the caster were 1st level.
Spell Scroll Costs
| Spell Level | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrip | 1 day | 15 gp |
| 1st | 1 day | 25 gp |
| 2nd | 3 days | 250 gp |
| 3rd | 1 workweek | 500 gp |
| 4th | 2 workweeks | 2,500 gp |
| 5th | 4 workweeks | 5,000 gp |
| 6th | 8 workweeks | 15,000 gp |
| 7th | 16 workweeks | 25,000 gp |
| 8th | 32 workweeks | 50,000 gp |
| 9th | 48 workweeks | 250,000 gp |
Complications. For each scribed scroll there is a 10%+level of the spell scribed-INT mod chance for an issue to develop with the scroll.
Training
Given enough free time and the Services of an Instructor, a character can learn a language or pick up proficiency with a tool.
Resources. Receiving Training in a language or tool typically takes at least ten workweeks, but this time is reduced by a number of workweeks equal to the character’s Intelligence modifier (an Intelligence penalty doesn’t increase the time needed). Someone must be on the ship that can act as an instructor. The instructor must spend the downtime teaching, but can be learning something from the student at the same time.
