Best crafting rules?

The recent preview about the new crafting rules made me curious, and, since I don’t know every game out there, I thought I would ask the opinion of the experts found on this esteemed hall of knowledge: What RPG out there has a good crafting system? Are there any held as the best in the genre?

Can you tell me a game with what you consider a great crafting system and what makes it particularly good? Maybe a few lines of overview if you can be bothered. It often feels like EVERYBODY wants good crafting rules but they’re just as often found lacking. It also feels like computer games are just way better at all the accounting needed for this sort of systems (like all the types of materials you can get in Monster Hunter).

The ones I've liked best are those in FFG Star Wars (specifically, in AoR: Fully Operational and EotE: Special Modifications... but those are not really crafting so much as modding.

Traveller 5 (T5) has the most comprehensive, but I find it infuriatingly obtuse.
Traveller: The New Era (TTNE) and Marc Miller's Traveller (T4) have Fire, Fusion & Steel (FF&S), which covers weapons, armor, and vehicles (including spacecraft), but has a hefty bit of clunkiness and excess detail.
GURPS Vehicles is focused on just vehicles.
CORPS we get CORPS VDS which is again just vehicles, but its native weapon design is 3G³ Guns Guns Guns, all three by Greg Porter. They're consistent. Technically, 3G³ is for Timelords, but the CORPS conversions are very simple; it's got conversions to a lot else, too.
Mekton Zeta with Mekton Zeta Plus is very comprehensive, but not as much as T5; it's not as real world grounded as 3G³, FF&S nor G:V. While anime focused, MZ is capable of being used for most genres. It uses the same task mechanics and attributes as Cyberpunk. (Which CP? 2013, 2020, v3, and Red.)


For fantasy... they all suck. The best of the lot IME is D&D 3e. And that's only because it's simple.

aramis erak said:

The ones I've liked best are those in FFG Star Wars (specifically, in AoR: Fully Operational and EotE: Special Modifications... but those are not really crafting so much as modding.

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Thank you for answering! What do you like about them?

Ars Magica. They're' quite detailed and nicely consistent with the rest of the magic system.

They aren’t necessarily inherently flavorful, but most decent toolbox RPG systems have eminently usable crafting rules. And some will even let you customize the process for your specific campaign goals.

I’m a big HEROphile. In HERO, gear is mostly made the same way as powers & abilities for characters. In fact, most gear is created as part of a character. Those rules are a little clunky when doing vehicles or bases, though, and the bigger those get, the less…satisfying & intuitive they can seem.

So while you might enjoy crafting an NPC’s Staff of Elemental Flame to realize your vision, that same character’s Flying Hut might be a design nightmare.

But again, you could mold the creation rules for your campaign basically any way you want. If creating or recharging certain magic items requires sacrificing a sentient being, you can make it so. If you wanted well-crafted but otherwise mundane items to acquire magic attributes and abilities when used a certain way- say, getting exposed to demonic ichor- you could do that. And both could coexist within the same campaign

My preference is Level Up's system, combined with the Complete Craftsman from Mage Hand Press. I can expand on these if anyone's interested.

3E is pretty detailed but convoluted in execution. I do like that you have a myriad of effects and stat bumps and skill enhancements, etc..

Though, im in the same boat as OP and think crafting is best left to video games. Specifically MMOs as Ive grown tired of them in single player games as well.

Undrave said:

Can you tell me a game with what you consider a great crafting system and what makes it particularly good? Maybe a few lines of overview if you can be bothered. It often feels like EVERYBODY wants good crafting rules but they’re just as often found lacking. It also feels like computer games are just way better at all the accounting needed for this sort of systems (like all the types of materials you can get in Monster Hunter).

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Computer games are way better. There's no arguing about that, because they automate all the aspects (especially the boring ones) of crafting. And sometimes you get a cool animation of a character working a forge.

Modos RPG uses a skill/roll for crafting, called "craftsman" no less, with the GM deciding how much difficulty the PC faces (hopefully for factors like tools, raw materials, and time allowed).

The GM can also set up an extended conflict for crafting, that could require multiple PCs to roll Pros (successes) and Progress. In the case of magic item crafting (is that what OP was getting at?), the wizard could make enchantment rolls, the thief could roll for security, the bard could roll for finding bargains on materials, and the ranger could roll for staff whittling. Rolling Cons would indicate problems (adventures!) along the way, and the number of rolls before reaching max progress would tell the GM about how long the whole process takes.

GMMichael said:

In the case of magic item crafting (is that what OP was getting at?)

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Not specifically, just 'crafting useful items' in general. 'Magic Items' are only a special thing because DnD doesn't have mundane gear that does cool stuff, but in a modern or future campaign, you can just build gizmos.

In this discussion I don't really make a difference.

I too would like to understand what people want in a crafting system. There's lots of elements that could be part of a crafting system, but it's tough to tell which are safe to exclude or abstract.

Raw materials
Usable materials
Dyes
Monster parts
Recipes
Patterns
Blueprints
Techniques
Tools
Workshop
Character skill
Character level
Luck
Supply chain
Marketplace (how to sell, how long it takes to sell, how much it sells for)
Labor (time/employes/contractor?)
Gathering
Storage
Transportation
Economy
Magic
Item lists
Item rarity
Mod/bonus lists
Item types (normal items, item+, magic items)
Item sockets
Gems/Runes

It seems to me some people just want to make their own weapons/armor, some want to mix an infusion of wormwood with powdered root of asphodel to make a sleeping potion, some want to stew an eye of dragon and the tusks of an umber hulk to infuse their armor with a magical effect/bonus, some want to run a business as a master craftsman, and some want to play a full economic game (or so it seems to me.)

To me, a good crafting system is one that lets players play the characters they want to play and introduces unique options. I think it's best if a crafting system is more a part of the travel and exploration pillar than the combat pillar.

To me, a bad crafting system is one that doesn't sync with the rest of the rules. Or one that allows gamification. Like one pet peeve of mine in D&D is having races with different longevity and different backgrounds have the same starting gold & equipment. I can have a master craftsman background but there's no mechanical impact from that choice - it's largely a ribbon feature without some extra effort to make it a functional feature over time.