How are Magic Items created in Savage Worlds?

Question

In the Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion there is an Alchemist that can create a limited number of potions up to their power points. Unless there is a special Edge (like Wizard) there is no way for there to be lots of magic potions around (without lots of Alchemists with no power points which seams really silly).

There is mention in the Magic Item section of an Artificer but no rules that I can find.

As a referee, we can of course just hand wave the potion and magic swords into existence but what about when a player wants to make one?

Answer 1

As you've already worked out, there are no rules in the core rulebook or fantasy companion to deal with this.

The only setting that I am aware of that has any magical item creation rules at all is Hellfrost. This has an Edge, Alchemy, that allows a PC to create 'one-shot' magical items such as potions, scrolls, wands etc. The rules for this are well fleshed out and detailed, and having used them as a GM I think they work very well. There are even rules for how much it would cost to buy and sell created items. However, the setting does not allow people to create permanent magical items, which are instead treated as extremely rare ancient artifacts.

There are a few sets of rules that I've found either in fan-made conversions or as posts on forums. These include:

• Elder Scrolls
• Crafting Ruleset: An outline.
• Ritual/Enchanting Idea
• Crafting Mundane Items

Although I must stress that I have not used any of these, so cannot vouch for how well they play. At the very least, they might give you some ideas of a house rule you could use for your own campaign.

Answer 2

The rules for magic item creation seem to have been left up to individual setting authors to develop.

The one book I have access to that deals with magic item creation is Shaintar: Immortal Legends (a great Savage Worlds fantasy setting, by the way). It has three Edges that cover magic item creation, apart from its alchemy Edges.

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In summary (all from pp. 44-47 of Shaintar):

Enchant is a Power Edge that allows the character to create a magic item on taking the Edge. (Can be taken again to create a second item, again for a third, etc.) They can choose any Power they have to imbue in the item, and the item gets the Arcane skill and Power Points equal to half the character at the time of creation.

Improved Enchant is similar, but costs a permanent investment of Power Points from the caster, but in exchange the item has infinite Power Points for powering its imbued spell.

Items made with Enchant and Improved Enchant can be used by non-casters as well. Casters also have the option of using their own Power Points to power the item's Power if the item's Arcane Background matches theirs.

Arcane Artificer is a Professional Edge that lets the character create one item with a particular effect when taking the Edge. The effect can be +1 to a trait roll, a weapon's damage, or an armour's bonus; or the item can store Power Points as a sort of mystic battery. In addition, every time the Artificer ends a session by gaining an Advance, they may roll to see if they've managed to improve another item in their or a companion's possession through their constant fiddling over the past while. Items have a bonus cap of +2, as anything better is considered an artifact.

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I haven't reproduced the Edges here enough to just use them directly, but the overview does suggest a few ways that you can develop rules for item enchanting via Edges. (And you can always pick up the book and borrow them whole cloth. There's lots more in Shaintar that's excellent for a non-Shaintar fantasy game.) Notably, this design ties item creation directly to advancement, which is fairly in tune with the "Savage Worlds Way" of handling character power. It means that players can create things that are customised for their characters, but doesn't give them a license to print magic items.

Answer 3

The rules for magic item creation were presented in the original Fantasy Gear Toolkit, but were left out of the Fantasy Companion, a huge omission on Pinnacle's behalf, IMHO.

Essentially, it boiled down to about 5 Edges, all of which were technically Power Edges. Alchemy lets you create potions and scrolls. Arcane Artificer lets you enhance an item with a +1 bonus (up to +3) for a relevant Trait roll (Fighting, Shooting, Throwing) or a +1 Armor bonus. Improved Arcane Artificer lets you enhance an item with an Edge. Enchant lets you add a power to an item with its own pool of power points. Improved Enchant lets you add a power to an item with an "always on" effect.

All of the Edges except for Alchemy must be taken for each enhancement which can be applied to an existing item or to a new item.

The cost for creation (half the item cost) was also presented in the Fantasy Gear Toolkit but can be determined by the costs in the tables in the Fantasy Companion. There were also variables that affected the cost such as whether the item had a limitation (+1 against orcs only) which cut the cost in half.

Answer 4

In addition to the alchemical items mentioned by Phil, Hellfrost also has a free Legendary Relics supplement which covers creating permanent enchanted items. However, these are not items which are deliberately enchanted, but rather, as your character becomes Legendary, the items he uses on a regular basis absorb some of his awesomeness and become magical as a side-effect of being used by a great hero.