The Magical Crafting System is Now Complete!

Hello everyone ~!
I have some great news today - after four days of working nonstop on Bastion, I have completed the magical crafting system that I promised in the last blog post.

"MagiCraft"

Working on potions and magical trinkets in an open-air laboratory

Every single detail that I described in the post has been accounted for -  players can now buy or find components and, depending on their character's skill or class, make some useful magical items to carry around. All of the crafted items are one-use only but the expense it takes to buy the materials is usually around only 50% or sometimes even just 15% of their "store price" counterparts.

There are about 50 different components, 8 sealants, 4 different containers and 2 tools. There are about 50+ different crafted items, only 30 of which will be revealed through conventional means (magical training or common sense). The others will be hidden throughout the module, and I am thinking of even making one or two  revealed through trial and error only (although I doubt any but the most bored, stubborn, die-hard players will go to such great lengths to make a few items, so this point is a maybe).

As I have said before, the basic rules for magic-craft are as follows:
Cantrip Items
- Free to make for anyone, so long as the basic recipe is followed

1st Level Spell Items
- Wizards, sorcerers and bards of any level do not suffer any checks.
- All other classes must pass a spellcraft and intelligence d20 check under a certain difficulty. If the player fails the check, the components will meld together in the wrong way and explode (non-damaging, however, unless there is a demand for more realism). You, of course, lose the components this way and will need more.
- If a book called the "Wizard's Brewbook" is obtained, the player no longer needs a check to make 1st level spell items.

2nd Level Spell Items
- Wizards, sorcerers and bards of any level do not suffer any checks.
- All other classes must obtain a "Wizard's Brewbook" before being able to create any 2nd level spell items.
- When any player that is not an arcane magic user attempts to create a 2nd level spell item, they must undergo a more difficult spellcraft and intelligence d20 check. If the player fails the check, they will botch the combination and the components will explode and be lost.

3rd Level Spell Items
- Characters must have at least 5 combined levels in the wizard, sorcerer, red dragon disciple, palemaster and bard classes before they can successfully create 3rd level spell items. (A level 2 wizard, level 2 sorcerer and level 1 bard, for instance, can create 3rd level spell items - the notion is that they have enough magical experience, if not training, to successfully create these items.)
- Characters without 5 combined levels in the arcane classes will botch the operation and the components mix into an explosion and be lost.
- Non-arcane classes will not be able to create 3rd level spell items. Happily, the components for non-arcane classes will not explode if some coincidence led a character to have an accidental combination. If an arcane magic user coincidentally has the components for a 3rd level spell item before 5 arcane levels, they will explode, unfortunately.

4th Level Spell Items
- Characters must have at least 7 combined levels in the wizard, sorcerer, red dragon disciple, palemaster and bard classes before they can successfully create 4th level spell items. The same rules as before apply.
- Failing to have at least 7 combined levels will cause the components to explode.
- Like before, non-arcane classes will not be able to create 4th level spell items. However, accidentally having the right components will not cause the components to explode for these classes. Arcane magic users under 7 arcane levels will have their components explode.

5th Level Spell Items and higher (at this point, information will be almost copied and pasted)

- Characters must have at least 9 combined levels in the wizard, sorcerer, red dragon disciple, palemaster and bard classes before they can successfully create 5th level spell items and greater. The same rules as before apply.
- Failing to have at least 9 combined levels will cause the components to explode.
- Like before, non-arcane classes will not be able to create 5th level spell items and greater. However, accidentally having the right components will not cause the components to explode for these classes. Arcane magic users under 9 arcane levels will have their components explode.



A few handy tips
If you are going to use a non-arcane class in Bastion's Break and want to create magical items, you will want points in spellcraft, as well as a pair of handy "Gloves of Magical Knowledge" (basically "Gloves of Spellcraft" for non-casters) or a pair of "Greater Gloves of Magical Knowledge" (basically "Greater Gloves of Spellcraft" for non-casters). Having 14 intelligence, the "Wizard's Brewbook," a pair of "Greater Gloves" and 2 spellcraft will allow your crafting to fail only 5% of the time. And of course, even greater statistics in this vein will reduce your failure rate to nothing. Despite not being able to create 3rd level items, you will be able to make some pretty darn useful goodies that other non-casters would never have access to. (Like the "Darkness" spell, cheaper "Invisibility" magic and "Balagarn's Iron Horn," as a little sneak peek.)

I am excited to see the implementation of this system in the greater Bastion plot and gameplay.
And as always, I'd love your feedback.

All the best,
linus