Jewelcrafting and Refining
Not all adventurers occupy the realms of sword and sorcery. There are many people in Arvendon working tirelessly day and night to improve their craft, wither it be smithing, painting, singing, enchantment or the making of fine jewelry. These rules will allow you to construct marvelous accessories, turning rough uncut gems and raw metals into beautiful works of art in their own right.
What is needed?
In order to make custom accessories and refine jewels you will need Jeweler’s Tools. These are common items worth roughly 25 gold found all over the world usually sold as a kit. Once you have the tools you will be able to start Refining the gems, components and materials that you will need to build your creations.
How does Jewelcrafting work?
Accessories require at least one Material and a Setting for their construction, something to build with and a structure to make. A creation may include any number of materials, components, or gems but only the finest three will matter when determining how beautiful the final product is. When crafting a Creation or refining anything you will need to make a Jewler’s Tools skill check. This check can be made with either your Dexterity or your Intelligence modifier, adding your proficiency bonus if you are proficient with Jewler’s Tools. The difficulty of the skill check will be described in greater detail later.
Determining Beauty and Artistic Rating°
Not all gems and materials are created equal. Some are worth more than others, both in gold and in aesthetic value. All materials, components and gems have an Artistic Rating°. A number, starting from zero, that represents how beautiful, breathtaking or inspiring something is. As a Jewler you can increase your components Artistic Rating°(AR), given enough time and attention to detail, by Refining them. More refined materials mean a more beautiful, and more valuable, creation once finally constructed.
Refining Jewels
Uncut gems become beautiful, polished, faceted jewels in a skilled craftsmen’s hands with some time and effort. When refining gems you make a Jewler’s Tool skill check, the DC of which can be found below. Should you successfully pass the skill check the jewel will become more refined, gaining a level of Artistic Rating°. You may refine a jewel through six stages of refinement. Starting at Uncut a refined jewel becomes Cut, then Polished, then Faceted, then Brilliant, all the way to Resplendent.
Should you fail the skill check required while refining a jewel then that jewel may no longer be refined any further, in addition it suffers –1AR°. This means that a failed attempt to refine a Polished jewel into a Faceted jewel will leave you with a Rough Polished jewel, which has the same AR as it did when it was a Cut Emerald, and now it may no longer be refined.
Certain Gems, even in their base uncut form, are more valuable than others even before refinement. In these cases the AR° of the gem is added to the refinements to determine the jewels total AR°.
Should you wish to, you may speed the refining process along by skipping ahead levels of refinement. If you do so, however, the difficulty of the skill check required goes up by 5 for every refinement stage skipped.
Refinement Stage Difficulty AR
Uncut - -
Cut DC10 1°
Polished DC12 2°
Faceted DC15 3°
Brilliant DC18 4°
Resplendent DC21 5°
Example Unrefined Gems and their Artistic Values
Throughout an adventurer’s travels many riches are accrued, some of these riches may take the form of a gem. Any proficient individual can appraise a jewel using Jeweler’s tools to find its base worth, AR°, and any refinement levels it may have. The chart below holds some examples of such gems and their most common values.
Type Value AR Rarity
Azurite, Agate, Blue Quartz, Hematite
Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Obsidian, 10gp - common
Turquoise, Tiger Eye, Rhodochrosite
Bloodstone, Carnelian, Chalcedony,
Citrine, Jasper, Chrysoprase, Moonstone, 50gp 1° common
Onyx, Quartz, Sardonyx, Zircon
Amber, Amethyst, Chrysoberyl, Jet, Jade, 100gp 2° uncommon
Garnet, Coral, Pearl, Spinel, Tourmaline
Alexandrite, Aquamarine, Peridot, Topaz, 500gp 3° rare
Black Pearl, Blue Spinel
Black Opal, Blue Sapphire, Emerald,
Fire Opal, Opal, Star Ruby, Star Saphire, 1000gp 4° very rare
Yellow Saphire, Diamond
Black Saphire, Diamond, Ruby, Jacinth 5000gp 5° legendary
Refining Materials
Wither you are creating a circlet of silver and gold or an adamantine bangle, all materials can be taken from the basic form required to fill a setting and elevated into something truly awe-inspiring. Much like jewels, materials may be Refined as well, increasing their value and artistic rating. Unlike gems, however, materials will be lost should a Refining check fail to improve them.
Materials have six stages of refinement, starting from Unworked, the become Simple, then Sleek, then Detailed, then Intricate, to finally becoming Ornate. Each stage requires a Jeweler’s Tools skill check of increasing difficulty. Should you wish to skip ahead levels of refinement the difficulty of the skill check required goes up by 5 for every refinement stage skipped. If a Jeweler’s Tool check is failed while refining a material, then the material is destroyed and their value is lost.
Some materials are more difficult to work with than others. The more stubborn or inflexible the material the more challenging it is both to refine it and to craft creations involving it. A material may be rated between a zero to two Δ difficulty. Each Δlevel increases the difficulty of all the Jeweler’s Tools skill checks require to refine and craft creations involving this material.
Material Refinement Difficulty Chart
Refinement Stage Difficulty 0Δ Difficulty 1Δ Difficulty 2Δ AR
Unworked - - - -
Simple DC10 DC11 DC12 1°
Sleek DC12 DC14 DC16 2°
Detailed DC15 DC18 DC21 3°
Intricate DC18 DC22 DC26 4°
Ornate DC21 DC26 DC31 5°
Types of Materials
Accessories may be made of all manner of metals and exotic commodities. A platinum ring might be interlaced with mithril and bronze, an amulet might be set within a hand-carved wooden frame. All materials have a value associated with them, some are more difficult to utilize than others, and some are inherently more appealing by nature. Below you will find a chart detailing the most commonly used materials, their difficulty of use, the price an amount to craft a creation would cost, along with their AR and rarity.
Material Value Difficulty Rarity AR°
Iron, Steel, Bronze 20 silver 1Δ common -
Copper, Brass, Wood
Silver 2g - common -
Gold 20g - common 1°
Electrum 100g - uncommon 1°
Platinum 200g 1Δ uncommon 1°
Mithril 500g - rare 2°
Adamantine 1000g 2Δ very rare 3°
Ferrotia 100g 2Δ rare 2°
Refining Components
Sometimes an ambitious jeweler will wish to add something a little extra to their creations. A touch of magic, a hint of enchantment, a trace of illusion. These magical effects can be as dazzling as they are difficult to construct, and each one requires some kind of component. Components can be magical reagents, arcane focuses, or even entirely unique magical items in their own right. Each component does something unique and will increase the difficulty of crafting a creation, they are renown for being difficult to refine as well.
Much like any other part of a creation, components may be refined to increase their value and beauty. Some components may even be elevated through refinement, unlocking previously hidden magical potentials. Unlike Gems and Materials, however, should the refinement of a Component fail then that component will regress back to its original, raw state, losing all previous levels of refinement and resetting it’s AR°.
As varied as components may be, there is a unifying appeal they all have due to their rarity. For each level of rarity, starting from common and going all the way to legendary, components have an AR°. This is in addition to any AR° added through refinement and is not lost due to a failed refining check.
Different components have different difficulties, starting from 1Δ and going to 3Δ. Each difficultyΔ increases the required DC for refinement and crafting anything involving the component. Below is a chart detailing the Jewler's tools skill checks required to refine each level of component.
Component Refinement Difficulty Chart
Refinement Stage Difficulty1Δ Difficulty 2Δ Difficulty 3Δ AR°
Raw - - - -
Set DC11 DC12 DC13 1°
Decorated DC14 DC16 DC18 2°
Embellished DC18 DC21 DC24 3°
Gilded DC22 DC26 DC30 4°
Ornate DC26 DC31 DC36 5°
Crafting a Creation
If a Jewler is satisfied with the refinement of their materials, components, and jewels they may decide at any time to combine them all together into one cohesive Creation. To do so you will need to select a Setting and at least one Material to serve as the Primary Material to combine into a final product. Creations may include any number of Jewels, Materials, or Components but only the Prime Material and the two highest AR° pieces will count towards the Creations total Artistic Rating.
Once the setting, prime material, and any other pieces being added to the creation have been selected it’s time to actually combine them together, this requires a Jewler’s Tools skill check. The difficulty of the check is determined by the type of setting desired and is increased by 5 for every difficultyΔ of all materials and components that are being combined. Should the skill check fail, any Material involved is destroyed and all other pieces are returned undamaged. Should the skill check meet or exceed the required DC then the creation is successfully complete, and the pieces may no longer be used in any other creation until the one they currently occupy is disassembled. If the skill check exceeds the required DC by five or more the creation gains an additional AR° for each full five points in excess.
Types of Settings and their Difficulty
Acessories come in many shapes, sizes and exotic patterns. From anklets to nose rings, crowns, coins, and many more in between. In general, though, there are four categories of settings that an accessory might fall under, they are as follows.
Small Setting Jeweler’s Tools Skill Check
Rings, Earrings, Piercings, Coins, Buttons, Pins, Hairclips DC 10
Large Setting
Amulets, Bangles, Bracers, Bracelets, Medallions, Medals, Belts DC15
Carried Setting
Staffs, Scepters, Rods, Wands, Focuses, Scroll Cases, Spell Book Covers DC18
Form-Fitting Setting
Circlets, Crowns, Tiaras, Masks, Chokers, Girdles, Corsets DC20
Determining a Creations Artistic Rating and Value
Some Jewelers ply their trade for their love of beauty and the desire to make others happy, while others see it as a means of making a tidy profit off of their effort and expertise. Either way even the most artistic passion project may carry some value, and even the most workmen-like accessory might contain some intricate hidden details. Once your Creation is complete, it’s time to determine how valuable it may be, as well as how beautiful.
A creations beauty is measured by its total Artistic Rating. You determine the total rating by adding the AR° of the Prime Material to the two other highest AR° pieces within the creation and then adding any additional AR° gained from exceeding the final jewelcrafting skill check.
A creations value is the base cost of all of its pieces combined, times the total AR° of the creation. This also applies to refined jewels and components, but not materials.
Disassembling a Creation
Sometimes to begin anew it is necessary to destroy the past. If you wish to retrieve a jewel or component from a creation you can do so by destroying any materials involved in its construction. The jewels and components are returned undamaged, but the materials and their value is lost.
Making a Creation from a Design
Not every creation needs to be a wholly original piece, a master Jewler can take a simple common design and elevate it beyond its original form. Designs can be found, learned, or received as divine inspiration. Regardless of how a design is discovered, once learned they can be created any number of times by fulfilling the requirements, which usually include a specific mixture of refined materials, jewels, or specific components. The Design replaces the need for a setting and will have its own skill check DC to craft. Aside from that, treat the Designed creation exactly like any other. Its pieces can be refined, any number of additional materials, jewels or components may be added. The total AR° is calculated the same way, as is the value, except that each design may add additional AR° or Value if its requirements are met during creation. If they do add value it is added after all other AR° and Values are totaled for the creation.
Should the skill check to craft the design succeed while meeting all of the design's requirements then the creation takes on the form and effects of the design. This can potentially transform magical components used as pieces of the design into completely different magical items.
Example Design
Ring of Good Fortune Uncommon
Requirements:
Must be in a “Ring” setting
Prime Material must be of “Sleek” refinement or better of at least uncommon rarity
Must contain one “Brilliant” level refinement Agate (base cost at least 10g)
Must contain a Luck Stone that has been refined to be “Decorated”
Design Crafting DC: 15
Results:
The creation becomes a magical ring that requires Attunement. This ring provides a +1 bonus to saving throws and ability checks as well as allowing its wielder to re-roll a d20 once per dawn.
The creation gains an additional 300 gold total value.
