Item Crafting in The Temple of Elemental Evil
A how-to guide by Lord Plothos
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Important note: This guide is based on the patch 2 and temple.zip setup. With
the exception of adding the empty craft staff and forge ring feats (see
below), these fixes do not modify the game with respect to crafting, so far as
I am aware, and so this should be a good guide to any patch configuration that
leaves these things more or less as they originally were. There are fan mods
that may change aspects of the crafting process; if you are running a differ-
ent configuration, you may therefore experience a difference from what is
reported here.
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1. Introduction.
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In all cases, unlike in the Dungeons and Dragons version 3.5 rule-set upon
which ToEE is based, crafting in ToEE is instantaneous. No spell slots are
used/exhausted, and no time elapses, though you do have to be in a safe area.
For more information on crafting in 3.5, visit the hypertext version of the
core rule-set at http://d20srd.org/indexes/magicItems.htm.
For details, explanation, and clarification (with some interpretation) visit
the Wizards of the Coast-sponsored "Rules of the Game" column by Skip Williams
at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/rg.
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2. Why Craft?
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Why craft? Well, the stat-enhancing wondrous items, the wand and scrolls speak
for themselves. Why bother with weapons, though? Okay, let's consider that.
Let's say you find a +3 longsword and you've got a big ol' half-orc fighter
with a 20 strength. That's 1d8+3+5 = 9-16 on a normal hit, and 18-32 on a
critical. Dandy, but what'll you do against the galeb duhr, who have some 85
hp and 15 points of damage reduction. Without a crit, you have just a 1 in 8
chance of doing 1 point of damage! A crit will do 3-17, and will average
around 10. Not too bad, but you can't depend on crits. If you can add the
three burst effects to that same sword, though, your damage will be 1d8+3+5+
1d6+1d6+1d6 = 12-34. That's an average of 23. 0-19 for an average of 8 against
the galeb duhr on even a normal hit. (Nearly as good as your old crits!) With
a crit, you'll do 2d8+6+10+1d10+1d10+1d10 = 21-62, 6-47 = 26.5 on average
against the galeb duhr. Plus, adding keen to the weapon will mean twice as
many crits! You've gone from chipping away for 40 hits or more to possibly
killing him in just 2 or 3.
A +3 great cleaver with holy and the three bursts can do the following on a
crit: 3d10+9+3(strenth bonus)+2d6+6d10 = 20+3(str)-111+3(str). Give the same
half-orc +6 strength gloves, and he can do 135 damage with one hit! Damage
reduction of 15 won't even make a dent in that. Believe me, this stuff is
worth using a feat!
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3. Crafting Weapons.
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In ToEE, any masterwork or magical weapon can be "crafted". The presence of
previous enhancements will not prevent you from adding more, with one excep-
tion noted below. Non-masterwork weapons cannot be enhanced, so if you can't
get a magic or masterwork version of a weapon, you're simply out of luck.
(Although the console can be used to spawn masterwork items fairly easily.)
Crossbows are a notable example of a weapon of which you may want to have a
magic version, but won't be able to find a single enchantable one.
When crafting a weapon or suit of armor/shield, you will be given the oppor-
tunity to change the name of the item. This will not have any effect on its
capabilities, but is only a label. It is a good way to keep track of what
enhancements you have added to your weapons. You can use your crafting feat
to alter for free the name of any magic or masterwork weapon or piece of
armor. Call your greatsword "Wanda", if you like. It won't matter.
There are three basic types of enhancements that can be added to a weapon:
straight/pure enhancements (+1, +2, +3), weapon-modifying enhancements (keen
and mighty cleaving), and damage-producing enhancements (frost, shocking
burst, holy, etc.). It has been reported that in some configurations, adding
one or more of the last type will prevent the further addition of pure en-
hancements. That is, adding shock to a +1 longsword will prevent you from
making it +3 later. I personally do not have this problem (although see the
EEL cap limitation detailed below), but if you make it +3 first, there will
surely be no problems. For this reason, it is advisable to make everything
+3 before adding anything else.
Adding any of these enhancements requires certain things:
1. An appropriate item in the inventory of the crafter.
2. The "craft arms and armor" feat (hereafter CA&A).
3. A minimum caster level (the levels your crafter has in his spell-casting
class, hereafter CL).
4. Enough money to pay for the enhancement.
5. Enough experience for the caster above the point required for his last
level-up (i.e., if crafting a weapon would cause you to lose so much xp
that you'd lose a level, ToEE will not allow you to make the weapon).
6. In some cases, a spell (often one from a list of several).
When a spell is required, it is only required that your crafter have this
spell available for memorization, not that he has it currently memorized. For
wizards, this just means having the spell in their spellbook and being of
sufficient level to use it. For a cleric, it only means having the spell on
the general cleric list or the list of one of his two domains, and being of
high enough level to use it. Similarly for druids, bards, sorcerers, etc.
Not all crafters will have all spells available to them, so they won't be
able to add all enhancements. Adding Holy, for instance, requires the spell
Holy Smite, which can only be gained by a cleric who has taken the "good"
domain. Picking domains or specializations for clerics and wizards at creation
can be a decision with far-reaching implications. It is often advisable to
have multiple crafters with the CA&A feat. The best 2-man combination is prob-
ably one cleric (who has access to domain spells unavailable to anyone else)
and one wizard (who can learn to cast many more spells than, say, a sorcerer).
If using only one crafter, a druid is a nice choice, as they have a great
variety of spells to choose from, making them potent weapon crafters and adept
at making wondrous items as well.
Pure enhancements according to D&D 3.5 require a caster level of 3 times the
enhancement (3rd level for +1, 9th level for +3), but in ToEE, there appears
to be no such requirement. Neither is there any spell requirement. Thus, all
you need is the item in the crafter's inventory, CA&A, enough money, and
enough excess experience for the crafter (requirements 1, 2, 4, and 5 above).
The maximum pure enhancement in 3.5 is +5, but in ToEE, the maximum is only
+3. (However, it is possible to use the console to spawn weapons with a +5.
I am not sure what effect this will have on crafting, if you attempt to add
enhancements to these weapons.)
Weapon-modifying enhancements require all 6 of the requirements listed above.
The effect, required caster levels (CLs), and required spells for each are
listed below (spell lists separated by an "or" require only ONE of the listed
spells):
>Keen (doubles critical threat range): CL = 10th; Keen Edge.
>Mighty Cleaving (allows wielder one additional cleave per round IF they have
the cleave feat): CL = 8th; Divine Power.
Damage-producing enhancements also require all 6 requirements. According to
3.5, burst weapons function like the non-burst weapons of the same element,
except on a critical hit, which seems to imply that a flaming burst weapon
will not benefit from the addition of the flaming enhancement (the damage
should not stack), but in ToEE, the effects do stack. A +1 flaming, flaming
burst longsword will do 1d8+1+1d6+1d6 on a normal strike. The descriptions of
burst weapons in 3.5 seem to imply they do 1d6 additional damage on ALL
strikes, and another 1d10 on criticals, but in ToEE, the 1d6 is replaced by
the 1d10 on a critical. Thus, the same longsword will do 2d8+2+1d6+1d10 on a
critical strike. (For weapons with a x3 critical modifier, the damage done by
a burst is 2d10, not 1d10; see the totals for the cleaver example given at
the end of section 2 above.)
Damage calculations in ToEE seem to work according to the following formula:
weapon's base damage+any fixed damage additions+any non-fixed damage addi-
tions. This would not really matter, but the last class of rolls seems never
to number more than four, and includes all damage-producing enhancement damage
AND sneak attack damage as well. You will never benefit from more than four of
these things, even if more are present in the attack. That is, a +3 holy,
frost, flaming, shock, shocking burst longsword should do 1d8+3+2d6+1d6+1d6+
1d6+1d6 on a non-critical strike against an evil creature; but of the five
rolls that are supposed to follow the +3, only four will show up and be
counted. This matters for crafting, because adding more than four damage-
increasing enhancements will result in one of them always going unrolled.
Moreover, when used for a sneak attack, only three of the enhancements will
be rolled, as the sneak damage counts towards the total of four rolls, and
seems always to get rolled first. Bear this in mind when crafting for a
rogue; you may be wasting your effort. Also, because of this, it is often
going to be best to hold off on enhancements like shock if you plan on adding
shocking burst, because it can happen that on a critical the burst effect is
not rolled because the lesser shock effect was rolled instead: your damage may
effectively be REDUCED by the presence of an enhancement.
The caster levels (CL) and required spells for each are listed below (spell
lists separated by an "OR" require only ONE of the listed spells):
>Anarchic (+2d6 damage against lawful creatures): CL = 7th; Chaos Hammer.
>Axiomatic (+2d6 damage against chaotic creatures): CL = 7th; Order's Wrath.
>Flaming (+1d6 fire damage): CL = 10th; Flame Blade, Flame Strike, OR Fire-
ball.
>Flaming Burst (+1d6 or 1d10 fire damage): CL = 12th; Flame Blade, Flame
Strike, OR Fireball.
>Frost (+1d6 cold damage): CL = 8th; Chill Metal OR Ice Storm.
>Holy (+2d6 damage against evil creatures): CL = 7th; Holy Smite.
>Icy Burst (+1d6 or 1d10 cold damage): CL = 10th; Chill Metal OR Ice Storm.
>Shock (+1d6 electricity damage): CL = 8th; Call Lightning OR Lightning Bolt.
>Shocking Burst (+1d6 or 1d10 electricity damage): CL = 10th; Call Lightning
OR Lightning Bolt.
>Unholy (+2d6 damage against good creatures): CL = 7th; Unholy Blight.
Finally, in 3.5, all enhancements carry with them an "effective enhancement
level" (EEL). The EEL for each point of pure enhancement is 1. The EEL for
Keen, Mighty Cleaving and all the non-burst elemental damage enhancements is
1. The EEL for each of the burst enhancements and the alignment-centered
enhancements is 2. Thus, the total EEL of a +3 holy shock longsword would be
3+2+1=6. The total modifications made to a weapon cannot exceed 10, according
to 3.5, but it appears it can go to 13 in ToEE (probably because the develop-
ers neglected the EEL for the pure enhancements at some point). When you craft
a weapon with an EEL above 10, the cost in money and experience will be nega-
tive. That is, you will GAIN money (a ton of COPPER pieces, to be precise) and
experience for crafting a hugely powerful weapon. This is a bug that seems
hard-coded, and isn't likely to be fixed anytime soon. Beware of it, if you
don't wish to cheat.
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4. Crafting Armor.
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Armor crafting works much the same as weapon crafting. You need:
1. A craftable item in the crafter’s inventory.
2. Enough money.
3. Enough excess experience for the crafter.
4. For the non-pure enhancements, a minimum caster level and a spell (though
you’ll shortly see why this doesn’t matter).
The first thing to note is that the two non-pure enhancements that can be
added to armor in ToEE don’t seem to work, so I won’t even bother listing the
requirements for them here. Don’t ever put them on. They won’t help, and since
they’re buggy you’ll just be asking for unexpected issues to arise.
The pure enhancements, as with weapons, have a maximum value of +3.
The other big thing to know about armor crafting is a bug you can exploit. Any
magic shield and most magic armor you find that is not +3 already can be made
into a +3 for free. This includes the suits of elven chainmail that are scat-
tered around the game. These have an armor value of 5 and a max dex of 4
(hereafter written as 5/4) plus anywhere from a +1 to a +3 on top of that,
making them range from 6/4 to 8/4. Those not already 8/4 can be made 8/4 for
free. Another example is Lareth's magic breastplate: normally a +1 for a value
of 6/3, it can be made 8/3 for free.
To do this, simply put the item in the crafter's inventory and craft. You'll
bring up the menu and when you pick the armor or shield, it'll have all the
pure enhancements on the bottom of the menu appear as if they've been applied
already (they're present and grayed out in both the left and right windows).
If you cancel, nothing will happen, but if you click create instead, the armor
or shield will be made +3, and at no cost to you. Thus, for a character with a
high dex, as soon as you get to Emridy Meadows, you've got access to a piece
of armor that's as good as or better than pretty much anything else you'll
find the rest of the way. It's LIGHT, making it ideal for rogues, barbarians,
and rangers, and great for tumbling in. Even +3 full plate is only 11/1, which
is the same total exactly so long as you're not flat-footed (plus it reduces
your movement and prevents you from tumbling, etc.).
As with weapons, you can change the name of armor you're crafting. Remember to
alter the names of the pieces you're getting the free enhancements for, or you
may confuse yourself.
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5. Crafting Wondrous Items.
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Making Wondrous Items is slightly different from crafting arms and armor in
that you don't need to have any item in your inventory and in that an already
existing item cannot be further enchanted. If you have +2 gloves of dexterity,
you can't make them +6. You have to make a brand new +6 pair (leaving you the
+2 pair to either sell or use elsewhere).
You need:
1. Enough money.
2. Enough excess experience for the caster.
3. In most cases, a spell.
4. In some cases, another attribute (being elven, having a CL of 8, etc.).
The requirements for each item are listed clearly in-game, so I won't put them
here. If one of the requirements is printed in red, it means you have failed
to meet that requirement.
ALL craftable wondrous items in ToEE are listed here, so if it's not on the
list, it can't be crafted (at least with your current mod/patch setup), though
it may still be possible to spawn the item you're looking for with the
console. Grayed-out items are those that cannot be made by your crafter at
the current time, and selecting them will typically show you in red where
you're lacking.
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6. Crafting Rods.
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Making rods works just like crafting wondrous items, except you need the craft
rod feat and apparently the CA&A feat as well. There are only three rods
available without further modding: the staff of striking, the rod of the
python, and the rod of the viper. The requirements, like those for wondrous
items, are listed clearly. Again, there are only three, and they are not
particularly spectacular items. The feat, therefore, isn't so great.
Items with charges (including rods and wands) cannot be recharged in ToEE.
Once it's used, it's used.
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7. Crafting Staves and Forging Rings.
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The temple.zip fix added the option to craft staves and to forge rings, but
did not create files for any staves or rings. Thus, there's nothing to craft:
the list is empty. The feats were left out by the designers, who were working
on a game that was to have a level cap at 10, but with temple.zip you are able
to take characters all the way to level 20, and so it was foreseen that mod-
ders would want to make crafting staves and rings a part of their mods.
Moebius2778 (author of the fix) thus added the feats purely to accommodate
future modding. Without that modding, they are useless. You are able to take
the feats at level 12, but you will not be able to make anything with them.
Mods adding staves and rings to forge abound, however, so if you wish to make
these things, it should not be hard to locate the necessary files and/or learn
how to make your own. The modders at www.co8.org are particularly adept in
this department. A single post there can be a strong first step into the
modding community.
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8. Crafting Wands.
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No item is needed. Experience, money, and the requisite spell are all that's
required. The wand will reflect the level of the caster at the time of the
crafting. Thus, if you are 7th level and make a wand of fireballs (which does
7d6 damage), and then gain three levels to become a 10th level caster, the
wand will remain a generator of 7th level, 7d6 fireballs, and will not in-
crease in power with you. If, however, you then make a new wand, it will be a
10d6 one, in accordance with your level. Wands found are assumed to be the
minimum level necessary to cast the spell (e.g., 5th level for a wand of
fireballs = 5d6).
Wands can only be created for spells of 4th level or lower (though your per-
sonal caster level can of course be much higher). Thus, you can have a wand of
ice storm, but not a wand of cone of cold (and the wand of chain lightning - a
6th level spell - that can be found in the temple should not exist).
According to 3.5, you are supposed to expend additional experience and/or
money, if the spell you are putting into a wand has an experience cost and/or
an expensive material component. In ToEE, though, this is not the case. Clear-
ly, this can work to your advantage. A wand of identify, for instance, will
carry multiple uses of the identify spell, which, if cast normally from spell
slots, would each cost 100gp due to their expensive material component. To
craft that wand in ToEE costs the same as it does to craft a wand of any other
first level spell (around 330gp and 30xp). This alone will save you money. On
top of this, the right merchants will buy a wand from someone with a good
appraise score for nearly twice what it cost to make it (650gp or more), and,
best of all, they'll pay this price even if you've used up most of the
charges, So, by saving the last charge or two, you can actually profit from
identifying items, losing only about 30xp for each wand. Many new mods have
changed this, so don't be surprised if you can't do it with another configur-
ation. It was high on many a modder's list of things to fix.
Wands in 3.5 are supposed to have 50 charges when new, but in ToEE, they
appear to have more on the order of 20. Wands cannot be recharged.
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9. Scribing Scrolls.
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Again, no items are necessary. You need only the feat, the spell to be put on
the scroll, and the money and experience to spare. In D&D and ToEE, when you
find a scroll (or wand), it is assumed to be the minimum level necessary to
cast that spell (5th level for a fireball scroll). When you create the scroll
at a higher level, though, the spell will reflect your increased power. As
scrolls stack in the inventory, though, the computer may have trouble sorting
out which ones have which level. I am at present unsure what putting two
scrolls of differing levels of the same spell into one character's inventory
will do. (My guess is it will make a stack of 2 with the level equalling that
of the scroll that was originally in the inventory, but this is speculation.)
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10. Brewing Potions.
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Like Scrolls, potions require only experience, money, and the requisite spell.
Not all spells can be turned into potions. The full list of possible potions
is displayed. A potion not on the list cannot be brewed in your version of
ToEE. Potions are another area where modders have done some work. Don't be
surprised if your configuration results in potions with exobinant costs in gp
or xp if the spell it effectively casts has a expensive component or an exper-
ience cost.
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11. Thanks.
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I'd like to thank Troika (RIP) for making this great game, and Moebius2778 for
creating his wonderful temple.zip patch. Without his work this game might very
well have been too unbearable for the fans to stick with it, and it might have
vanished entirely, which would have been a shame.
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12. Legal.
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This guide is written exclusively for use by the player of Temple of Elemental
Evil and may not be used, posted, or distributed through any website without
express consent of the author.
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13. Contact Info.
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I welcome any comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email me at
the address formed below when the *s are removed:
h*o*l*o*p*a*n*i*e*n*@*j*u*n*o*.*c*o*m
