The Adventurer Conqueror King System makes the assumption that magic items should be rare and exceedingly difficult to make. There are a number of different aspects to magic item creation that all need to be considered at once. Here's an outline of the process from start to finish.
A general data table for costs, times, required spells, and suggested formula components can be found at this link. (I haven't had time to suggest recommended components for all the miscellaneous items.)
Step 1: Having a qualified researcher
Generally, any arcane or divine caster will be able to craft some kind of items at some point. For "full" casters (with spell advancement equal to a mage or cleric), the threshold levels are usually 5th level for making potions and scrolls, and 9th level for other magic items. At 11th level, full casters learn to create "ritual spells", powerful high-level spells (i.e., wish or resurrection) that can only be cast after being "created" into a magic item (usually a scroll or ring).
Arcane casters can create any item without restriction, unless the class description says otherwise. Divine casters can only make items they could personally use (i.e., a bladedancer can't wear plate armor, and so can't create plate +1).
Step 2: Having an appropriate facility
Magical items (including ritual spell items) are created in a workshop, a non-military structure that is usually located in a city or keep. The workshop must have a value of at least 4000 gp to create basic items that replicate the effects of a 1st level spell. For every additional spell level, another 2000 gp must be invested. For example, a workshop worth 4000 + 6000 = 10,000 gp could create magic items with spell effects equivalent to 1 + 3 = 4th level spells.
If a workshop exceeds this minimum by at least 10,000 gp, it gets a +1 bonus to the item creation dice throw, up to a maximum of +3. So a 4000 + 30,000 = 34,000 gp workshop would get a +3, but only when creating an item that duplicates a 1st level spell.
Step 3: Knowing necessary spells, or having a formula/sample
With a few exceptions, magic items typically reproduce spell effects. To create any magic item that reproduces a spell, a researcher must be able to cast that spell. Some items (particularly staves) reproduce multiple spells at once, requiring the caster to know all the necessary spells. For divine casters, this sometimes requires the use of the apostasy proficiency, to gain access to otherwise forbidden spells.
An alternative method (really the best one!) is to have a formula or sample to work from. A formula is a recipe for making the item. A sample is an existing example of the item. With access to either, it becomes unnecessary to have the required spells. A sample/formula also reduces the cost, time, and difficulty level of the creation process, cutting each of these in half!
Note that once you make an item once, you have an existing sample for any additional versions of the same item you want to make. This situation also applies if you have a wand that has used up its charges, and you want to recharge it.
Step 4: Paying research costs
Research is generally expensive. Duplicating a spell of level N costs 500*N gp, just for a single use item like a scroll. If an item is to be used multiple times, the cost will be increased by a further multiple. An "at will" item that can cast every round costs 50 times this base value!
It is permissible to add "precious materials" (gems, rare metals, etc) to the cost of research, to make a higher-quality item. For every 10,000 gp of additional precious materials, the dice roll modifier to create the item is improved by +1. This extra materials cost can't exceed the base cost of the item (before the halving for a sample/formula). For example, making a 35,000 suit of plate +1 could be enhanced by up to 30,000 gp of precious materials, giving a +3 to the dice roll.
Step 5: Acquiring magical components or divine power
A researchers needs special components from magical sources to make a magical item, even a scroll. Typically these are taken from foes, wild animals, or thematically appropriate monsters. For example, a ring of fire resistance might require the scales of a "flame salamander", a creature from the elemental plane of fire.
The quantity of components depends on the base cost of the item (before modifications for formula/sample or precious materials). Typically the components must come from a number of monsters with total experience equal to the base cost of the item. So a ring of fire resistance (costing 1000 gp) could be created from the scales of a single flame salamander, since this creature is worth 1,100 experience points. On the other hand, an item made from weak creatures (like giant rats) might require components from hundreds of different individual weak creatures!
Generally, hunting down all these creatures is very time consuming. Many mages prefer to build "dungeons", underground complexes that attract wandering monsters. To harvest body parts from an unwilling monster from his dungeon, a mage must be able to physically defeat that monster in combat or subdue it in some other clever way. Players should be prepared to demonstrate this capability upon request! Some mages will hire adventurers to do this dirty work for them, to the confusion of the adventurers. ("What does this wizard want with 100 giant rat spleens?!")
Note that once you start using a given formula, you can't switch to a new formula and still get the usual cost/time bonus. For example, if you started trying to make your rings with a formula that used hellhound hides instead of flame salamander scales, you'd have to successfully make another ring before you could apply the formula-based discount. (The new formula rings would still work the same way, though.)
As an alternative to magical components, every kingdom with an established church or faith slowly generates "divine power" based on the piety of the population. A high-morale domain population generates more divine power; the exact rate is calculated using a table in the rules. With average morale, a domain gets 4 divine power for every 10 families. Typically divine power is enough to slowly create a few weaker items like potions, but trying to use it to make more valuable items would be either very slow or require an enormous population. Divine power cannot be saved up from week to week, it must be spent out as the item is created. Each point of divine power replaces one xp of monster parts, on a one for one basis.
Step 6: Time
Magical items take time to complete. The standard rate is 1 week per spell level, for a single use item. Multi-use items can take much longer.
Step 7: A final roll for success
Doing all of the above doesn't actually get you an item, just a chance to roll to see if you can make one! This is based on the caster's effective level; a 9th level caster has a base target of 8+ to succeed, only slightly better than 50%. The target is increased by the spell-level of the item being made. The roll itself is modified by the INT bonus, certain proficiencies, and any of the above modifiers for workshop and precious material quality. (That is, all these would reduce the target.) A throw of 1-3 on a d20 is always a failure, regardless of any bonuses.
For example, a ring of fire resistance being made by a 9th level mage would have a target of 8+2, or 10. If the mage had an INT bonus of +2 and 2 ranks of magical engineering proficiency, this target would reduce down to 6. This would amount to a 75% chance of successfully making the ring.
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