Limits of the fabricate-spell

[Tim Bürgers]

Hello there,

is the following possible?

Wizard awakes downtime-morning. Wizard prepares fabricate. Goes to the market, buys a ton of alchemy supplies. Casts Fabricate and crafts 10 cubic-feet per Level. (which is a lot of... say... Antitoxin...)

...or is it still limited by the craft-check like when you craft items the normal way? (Check result x DC silver pieces)

Thanks.

[Brf]

You can't use Fabricate to make alchemical items. It is only changing the shape of the material you start with. It does not change its nature.

Fabricate wrote:

You convert material of one sort into a product that is of the same material.

[Wheldrake]

In general, if you think you have discovered a new use of a given spell that can generate quasi-infinite wealth in a short time, then it is 99% certain that the spell can't be used that way.

I wanted to say "100%", but you gotta leave at least a small margin for those DMs insane enough to allow it to work. In those 1% of cases where you *can* create quasi-infinite wealth from, say, a simple Fabricate spell, I would argue that you 100% likely to break the campaign world you're in beyond repair. <g>

[Mathius]

I have always limited fabricate to a single item or related set of items. A Nobel's outfit is fine while ten shirts is not. A pair of earrings works but not two bracelets.

By the rules fabricate in a magic item will allow repeated something for nothing castings. After 50 uses you are in pure profit. The fix is make the materials a target instead of a component.

[mardaddy]

What is broken (my opinion) is combining a PC with Fabricate with another PC with Masterwork Transformation and now you have instant ready-for-enchantment weapons, armor, and more without all that "investing skill, effort or time nonsense."

[Dr Styx]

Fabricate wrote:

You must make an appropriate Craft check to fabricate articles requiring a high degree of craftsmanship.

In my games anything over Craft Extremely Simple (DC 5) needs the appropriate Skill.

Extremely Simple (DC 5) wrote:

Alchemical Items: Casting plaster.

Mundane Items: Very simple items such as wooden spoons, other carved one-piece items.

Weapons: Manufactured clubs, quarterstaffs, slings.

Anything more complicated would need multiple castings on multiple materials, with appropriate Craft skill checks.

[Goth Guru]

There needs to be a processing spell. Thus 5 gallons of crude can be turned into 1 gallon of gasoline. Instead of toxic waste, the rest is consumed as a material component. Note that a wagon load of iron ore would be made into steal ingots so you would still need fabricate or a craftsman. Perhaps a 4th level spell.

[Hunterofthedusk]

I don't see how this would create infinite wealth, as the players are Adventurers (not merchants) and thus could not move say, 200 vials of anti-toxin without investing some serious time in finding people that want to buy it. As a GM, you can always have the local merchants take exception to someone horning in on their business, and react appropriately through having them arrested for selling without license, hiring goons from the local thieves guild, or whatnot. That, or just tell them that moving that much product will take weeks, and give them an adventuring deadline that doesn't allow for that much down time.

Personally, I've always seen the fabricate spell as being able to create as much of an item as you can fit within the spatial limit of the spell, but that you're not going to be able to just go back and sell that stuff for profit. Only make something that you'll actually need. If they want to game the system to make fake money, tell them to go play Monopoly

[Abadar's irritable Accountant]

The church of Abadar takes offense at your destabilization of global markets. There will be reprisal.

[Goth Guru]

The high priest of abadar is willing to trade goods for one future raise dead, full cost. You will quickly run out of whatever raw material source you found.:)

[Pizza Lord]

One thing I rule is that the spell does not apply heat or cold. You can't make a bucket of water into ice or turn a rock into lava. Similarly, a piece of coal turned into a diamond is going to be a diamond-shaped piece of coal... and since that doesn't make any sense, I rule that the spell doesn't apply the effects of pressure, heating, chemical treatments and additives, or time. You can't make a fresh-cut piece of lumber into an aged wooden bench nor could turn a piece of wood into a petrified piece of wood.

Also, if you have players turning piles of rotten wood or sawdust into desks, doors, or shields, they don't have nails, iron ribbing, or metal hinges or handles. Those can certainly be added in the usual way.

A door made from sawdust will be a door made of sawdust. If you want a strong oaken door, you need to use strong oak material. A rotten pile of planks will make a rotten chair. Even a masterwork chair that's rotten is still going to fall apart.

Similarly, I don't allow clay to be turned into pottery or sand into glass with this spell. That takes heat or pressure. You will end up with a clay pot (not ceramic) which could certainly be usable and could then dry to a suitable form or even then be fired in a kiln or a bottle made of sand that probably won't hold liquids very well.

Similarly, if you want a steel sword you would need steel ingots or something already made of the material. It won't add carbon or other alloys or chemicals similar to how forging something is normally done.

I tend to be very strict with it, since otherwise things can get out of hand or just require way too much judgement. This next one is more just a personal taste for me, I also don't allow it to work on living things. While there is an example of turning a corpse of trees into a wooden bridge (no nails or metal supports or anything) I don't allow it to be used for deforestation, I say those trees have to at least be cut down or lumbered to be considered a 'material' (as opposed to a 'resource'.) That is one is, again, just for my personal taste, however and not in any way meant to sway someone else's use.

Just sharing some experiences and observations on the subject.

[Goth Guru]

I would require the fuel for the fire.

Also, giving every tree it's own saving throw would discourage deforestation. Using green wood to make a bench would be disastrous.