Crafting Time

[Joe Sansone]

Has the subject of Crafting Time been discussed somewhere?  Trying to come up with a fair amount of time that also allows time to actually build and play something in game.

If there is an exact rule, let me know.  Otherwise, I was thinking of (Height+Skill Required) x Cost to Build = Days.  It might mean somethings could be built rather quickly and might require a FM call on it, but trying to give a basic idea to the players.

Thanks.

 

 

[solkan]

From a different thread:

On 6/20/2016 at 3:16 PM, Mason said:

As for Craft times, I didn't put a set time in there because I think it's more important that the time spent crafting matches the game's flow. Nobody should be standing around waiting for the crafting to finish, so I think it's easier for the GM to decide how long it takes and go from there.

As far as crafting time formulas guidelines go, different types of crafting would need to have different multipliers. Because different types of things take different amounts of time to make, often not dependent on cost.  

And, really, if the players are trying to do crafting to fit the schedule, you should be looking at a sustained challenge, so there’s more opportunity for control over the time.

[Mason]

15 hours ago, Joe Sansone said:

Has the subject of Crafting Time been discussed somewhere?  Trying to come up with a fair amount of time that also allows time to actually build and play something in game.

If there is an exact rule, let me know.  Otherwise, I was thinking of (Height+Skill Required) x Cost to Build = Days.  It might mean somethings could be built rather quickly and might require a FM call on it, but trying to give a basic idea to the players.

If you're adding in Height, I assume you mean crafting a Construct?

If so, the rules are pretty clear about how long it takes.

Core Rules, Building a Construct, pg. 311:

"Building a Construct takes one day of construction time."

[Joe Sansone]

I was really trying to come up with some base formula for crafting gear from the book that would allow the players to do it in a reasonable enough time to still enjoy the game.  Most small gear would be size 0 but if they were coming up with something bigger, I might rule it size 1 or larger.  Basically, if someone wants to craft the gear, it states, you need the required skill level, a quarter of the price, but no time frame is provided.  Trying to come up with something fair but also that prevents a single man factory.

 

[solkan]

The thing about crafting time estimates is that they aren't consistently based on size or price.

For instance, look up "How long does it take to make a sword?"  Doing it the hard way runs somewhere between a few days, a week, or months.  A chainmail shirt takes about seventy five days.  Sewing a shirt together is somewhere between a few hours to a few days, depending on how ornate it is.  On the other hand, a dresser takes on the order of a day or two, or more depending on how ornate it's going to be.

On the other hand, various explosives might take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much safety is being observed, and the price is mostly just reflecting the nature of the components.  

[Joe Sansone]

Thanks all, just trying to find a happy medium between one day construct and someone asking to create enough guns to outfit a militia in a day.  It doesn’t sound like there are official rules on this, so as you indicated, I may have to do research on occasion baring in mind that a complex construct can be completed in a day or at least 24 hours by a professional.  

 

[Lithaine]

It sounds like you're trying to balance the character's ability to outpace the economy (item and action, if construct). The ability to spend 1/4 the cost of things is powerful. I think TtB is less of a 'kill the monster, get better gear, rinse, repeat" kind of game, but crafting could allow you to quickly outfit yourself pretty well (given time!) compared to your party. Not sure if it helps, but I try to shift my thinking towards "when will it be available to that character, given what they are currently and will be doing?" So it may take 2 days to make something, but that could be a couple of sessions: the character is adventuring, has to sleep, maybe has a day job (or at least has to spend the time to pay for food/lodging). They probably don't have 48hrs straight to dedicated to constructing things, maybe just a couple hours per day. They may have to choose between working on their items or completing a timely activity: you have to find the real killer before sunset, or the wrongfully accused is going to be executed!

Instead of having to spend the effort to create a formula or determine build times for everything, just use the game's breakpoints as reference: 1 session, before they set off to track the bad guy in the morning, when they get back from Ridley, etc. This allows you to set the pace you feel comfortable with in terms of the players becoming economically or mechanically powerful too fast, without it feeling like you are taking away the value of their skills and talents (as someone who tried to craft, this is the worst). It also may allow you to adjust for their skill level, if they are particularly skilled it might take less time, without having to do modifiers to calculating. 

You could also consider whether they have the tools, space, and access to materials (not just the 1/4 cost) to do this - they probably will need a workshop space to craft most things. If they are spending a couple days in the bayou, they probably don't have access to the best materials for example and can't carry much beyond hand tools - no lathes for gun barrels! Obviously, it's a fantasy game and magic/skill let them fudge a lot via mad science, but there still should be some limits.

Hope this helps!

[Le gob]

In our games, we were many to take some crafting skills so much that everything was accessible for a ridiculously low price.

So it felt unbalanced and too easy, even after we houseruled it to half price insetead of 1/4.