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I know the crafting rules say you have to spend gold to represent the cost of materials used in crafting something, but what about in a situation where you aren't in a city and can't reasonably just pay for materials? For example, if one were in a campaign where they were shipwrecked and stranded somewhere, but one party member had artisan's tools and ranks in craft arms and armor, could he be able to, say, melt down scrap metal of equal value to what he wants to make as the cost of his crafting attempt?

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Yes, you can craft without spending gold.

The description of the craft skill does indeed include paying one third of the item's price for the cost of the raw materials. This is an abstraction, a simplification of the crafting, relieving players and the DM of the shopping for the multitude of different ingredients required for the process.

If one can not just pay for the needed raw materials but, from DM's viewpoint, has the raw materials in question available from other sources (scrapping the ship's remains, following the shipwreck example), it is perfectly fine to allow him to craft, since the essential part is having materials and tools on hand, not spending gold.

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    \$\begingroup\$ This makes perfect sense, but if you want accuracy in your story it might be worth noting that a shipwreck probably does not include large fixtures you might need such as a smelter, forge, or anvil. A skilled craftsmen with a basic kit can probably get around that lack (perhaps by making improvised version), but it may come at a large cost in time and still increase the difficulty. \$\endgroup\$
    – TimothyAWiseman
    Jan 16, 2013 at 23:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ True, but straight by the rules you basically pound gold pieces into a bow without going anywhere to buy anything... \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Jan 17, 2013 at 1:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ Considering our campaign setting would mostly see me crafting musket/flintlock bullets, I don't suppose some of the larger fixtures would be that necessary. \$\endgroup\$
    – Cobalt
    Jan 17, 2013 at 3:29
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This should be possible. My suggestion to the DM would be to simply treat the raw materials salvaged as found treasure. You just happened to skip the intermediate step of hopping to town to sell it.

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