Making Tools Useful in 5e: Woodcarver's Tools
There comes a time every two weeks when I come up with an idea for a set of tools and share it with all of you folks. Sometimes you have an idea set in stone, err wood, that you think something will work a certain way when you finally get to it. Well, way back a year ago when I did the Smith’s Tools, I assumed that the Woodcarver’s Tools would actually work the same way and I realized trying to put it together it just doesn’t. Instead, there just isn’t enough foundation made for wooden weapons and armor, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to build a tool like that… instead, we went for a system that allows you to build whatever you’d like similar to our Painter’s Supplies or our Weaver’s Tools.
For those that don’t care about the how of my tool:
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Woodcarver’s Tools
Xanthar’s Guide to Everything
Wow, I have two more tools after this one and then after that, I am going to be making my own tools that I feel are missing from the 5e system. Things like a scrollworker, a fletcher’s kit, wandmaker, gunsmith, enchanter’s kit, and more! It will be exciting to create a few more things that others haven’t realized they want until they read it… but in the meantime, let’s check out page 85 of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.
Woodcarver’s Tools
Woodcarver's tools allow you to craft intricate objects from wood, such as wooden tokens or arrows.
Components. Woodcarver's tools consist of a knife, a gouge, and a small saw.
Arcana, History. Your expertise lends you additional insight when you examine wooden objects, such as figurines or arrows.
Nature. Your knowledge of wooden objects gives you some added insight when you examine trees.
Repair. As part of a short rest, you can repair a single damaged wooden object.
Craft Arrows. As part of a short rest, you can craft up to five arrows. As part of a long rest, you can craft up to twenty. You must have enough wood on hand to produce them.
Where to start… Hmmm… I got nothing. I just think what they’ve provided here isn’t exactly exciting. You can examine wooden objects. Great. You can examine trees. Neat. You can repair a damaged wooden object, though it doesn’t specify how you’d do it, how damaged the object can be, or similar. Sure, it’s all DM discretion, and there are plenty of things in my own tools that specifically state it’s up to DM discretion, but… It’s just. Meh.
The final piece is that you can craft arrows over the course of a short rest or a long rest, which makes sense that the tool can do that, but I have only met one person (myself) who has ever kept track of their arrows. I just get a lot of groaning and complaining when I ask my players to track theirs and I just end up handwaving it except for specific arrows. A lot of people don’t like that nitty-gritty and tracking of their resources, and there are some hills worth dying on. I’m not sure that 5e is the system that is going to attract the type of people who love that tracking of their resources as it just doesn’t support that gameplay with all of its simplifications. All well, I’ll keep doing it for myself when I play as a character, and maybe then I’ll find that part of the tool useful.
Woodcarving
So, we’ve covered Xanathar’s opinions on the tool. Let’s jump over to how I see the tool being useful. First, we go over the components, adding a small mallet to this tool set because… how else are you supposed to use the gouge?
Next up, we are going to be using Dexterity for this tool set, this requires precise movements and steady hands, and Dexterity fits the bill for that… though isn’t it weird in 5e that if you are really competent with your hands, you are also very acrobatic? For some reason, a guy who has never exercised in his life can still have a high dexterity because they are really good at Sleight of Hand… though I suppose we suspend some disbelief as we don’t want a hundred attributes to keep track of.
After that, we move on to how we create an object, and this begins our project. Like a few previous tools, we are going to use a more abstract component when crafting wooden objects. Some tools require more abstraction than others, and Woodcarver’s became one of those tools.
When you create something, we have the detailed and scope of the project we must think about. Each component has three categories that fall under it. For Detailed, we have:
Vaguely Detailed is an object that takes on a basic shape, like a cylinder, square, or triangle. This has little to no detail and is quick to create; this could be a wooden token with no detail on it, arrow shafts, or a plain walking staff.
Lightly Detailed objects have some detail and take a more abstract form, like a humanoid or a beast. There are tiny details, but the object is made up of several basic shapes to create a more complicated one. This could be a figurine of a horse or a cutting board with some patterns on it.
Heavily Detailed is an object that has intricate patterns and details placed on it. This could be the feathers on an owl totem, tiny lettering on a wooden chit, or carvings of animals on a wooden throne.
Once you determine the level of Detailed you are going with your project, you then must determine the Scope of the project. We have three categories for that as well:
Minute projects are small and fit in the size of your hand. These are typically under 2 lbs and might be wooden tokens, figurines, wooden links, arrow shafts or other small objects.
Substantial projects are larger and typically require up to two hands to move about. They could be a 2-foot-tall statue of an owl, a quarterstaff, a bench, or anything else that weighs below 30 lbs.
Immense projects are the largest and can span in size from that of a table to a massive wooden throne. These projects typically require multiple people to work together to move it around or require great strength and work on your part to move about. These projects are going to be difficult to move around with you on your adventures, but if you have a home or a workshop in a city, a great place to store it.
Each level of detail and size of the scope affects how long it takes to produce an object. The minimum amount of time is 5 minutes for a Vaguely Detailed object and 5 minutes for a Minute object. To determine how long it takes, you simply add the amount of time it takes from the Detailed and then from the Scope for your project.
Vaguely Detailed requires at least 5 minutes, Lightly Detailed 1 hour and Heavily Detailed 8 hours. Minute projects require at least 5 minutes, Substantial projects 1 hour, and Immense projects 8 hours. To determine how long a project takes, you choose the level of detail and then the scope and combine their time requirements together. This is only the minimum amount of time, and the DM is free to determine that something takes far longer, like crafting a wooden throne with highly detailed animals carved into it, far longer than 16 hours.
To determine the DC of producing your object, it is found the same way, with each level of Detail and Scope increasing the difficulty of production. It starts at a DC 8, and you add to that based on your project choices: Vaguely Detailed +1 to the DC, Lightly Detailed +3, and Heavily Detailed +6. Minute Projects +1 to the DC, Substantial projects +3, and Immense projects +6.
This means if you build a minute throne for a sprite king and wish to make it heavily detailed, the DC would be 8 + 1 + 6 = 15. You would make the check after every 8 hours or when you finish the project, whichever comes first. The number of checks you must make is up to the DM, and you may choose to make them more or less frequent depending on your circumstances. This is just a rough guideline and recommendation.
Limits of the Tool
Carving up all this wood is assumed to be done with just the bare tools you have, but if you have access to a workshop, then it should be easier for you to produce larger and more detailed objects consistently. The DM may decide that having a workshop or more tools than the minimum may grant a bonus to your checks or advantage.
Material
Beyond the ability to carve, you also get a few different examples of wood and how it can change your project. If you are attempting to build a weapon, you might spring for the cheapest wood, softwood, to make your quarterstaff out of, and you would get what is provided in the Player’s Handbook, but what about hardwood? Or petrified wood? Or maybe something a bit magical?
In this case, you get weapons that are slightly more powerful, like hardwood deals +1 point of damage extra, or petrified wood deals an additional die of damage on a critical hit. But maybe normal wood, and even fossilized wood, just isn’t good enough for you. Instead, you want wood that has survived dragon fire and has become infused with the magical essence of dragons. Dragon Burned wood has the essence of fire inside of it and instead of dealing regular damage on a hit, it deals fire damage to the creature.
Of course, Dragon Burned wood could also come in different damage types for the different breath weapons of dragons and it is incredibly rare as wood rarely survives being burned by the intense ferocity of dragons.
Finishing Up
And that is the Woodcarver’s Tools, an artistic tool used to express your talents and abilities. Not only can you craft a few different weapons, but you can produce works of art fit for the asses of kings or for building totems of animals and the like. Though, if you are hoping to building a fortress with this tool, I’m going to point you over to my Carpenter’s Tools.
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Other tools: Potter’s Tools, Climber’s Kit, Thieves’ Tools, Weaver’s Tools, Painter’s Supplies, Calligrapher’s Tools, Jeweler’s Tools, Carpenter’s Tools, Forgery Kit, Disguise Kit, Herbalism Kit, Glassblower’s Tools, Navigator’s Tools, Leatherworker’s Tools, Cobbler’s Tools, Poisoner’s Kit, Cartographer’s Tools, Alchemist’s Supplies, Mason’s Tools, Gaming Sets, Tinker’s Tools, Healer’s Kit, Brewer’s Supplies, Smith’s Tools & Cook’s Utensils.
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