Building assemblies

An assembly is a crafting recipe that turns a set of component objects into a new object via a skill check. Players use assemble (or craft depending on tree) to invoke the recipe. You build them with assedit.

Open the editor

assedit 8500      Create or edit assembly vnum 8500

Assemblies are vnum-addressed. Pick a vnum aligned with your zone’s component objects — typical convention: components in 8500-8549, assemblies referencing them in 8550-8599.

Main menu

-- Assembly Number : [8500]
 1) Recipe Name    : Forge an iron sword
 2) Result Object  : [3050] an iron sword
 3) Required Skill : SMITHING
 4) Skill DC       : 15
 5) Crafting Time  : 30 ticks
 6) Components     : (3 listed)
    [0] iron ingot       (vnum 8500, qty 2)
    [1] wooden grip      (vnum 8501, qty 1)
    [2] leather wrapping (vnum 8502, qty 1)
 7) Components menu
 8) On-failure result : salvage (partial components returned)
 9) Failure object  : [-1]
 A) Required tools  : (anvil object [3500])
 B) Required room flag : FORGE
 Q) Quit

Concepts

Result object

The vnum of the object created on a successful craft. Built via oedit ahead of time. The crafted instance is a fresh copy of the prototype.

Required skill + DC

The player must have the named skill at level ≥ DC to attempt. The DC roll is then 1d20 + skill_modifier ≥ DC.

Common crafting skills:

• SMITHING — metalwork, weapons, armor
• LEATHERWORKING — leather goods
• TAILORING — cloth goods
• ALCHEMY — potions, scrolls
• ENCHANTING — magical infusion
• WOODCRAFT — bows, staves, wooden items

Skill DC

Difficulty class. Higher = harder roll. Tier guide:

Crafting time

Ticks the craft takes. The player is locked in a crafting state during this time. Typical:

• 10-20 ticks for simple items
• 30-60 ticks for moderate items
• 100+ ticks for masterwork

Components

The list of objects consumed by the craft. Each entry:

• Component vnum — the required object’s prototype id.
• Quantity — how many copies are consumed.

Components are removed from the player’s inventory at craft start. If the craft fails, see the on-failure result for what happens to them.

On-failure result

One of:

SALVAGE is most player-friendly. DESTROY discourages low-skill attempts at expensive recipes. FAILURE_OBJECT is useful for “you didn’t make a sword, but you have a chunk of bent metal” outcomes.

Failure object vnum

If on-failure is FAILURE_OBJECT, this vnum is what the player gets. Often a “ruined” or “spoiled” variant of the intended result.

Required tools

Optional list of object vnums that must be in the player’s inventory or in the room. Tools are NOT consumed — they’re checked but stay.

Common tools:

• Anvil (for smithing)
• Loom (for tailoring)
• Alchemy kit (for alchemy)
• Workbench (general crafting)

Required room flag

Optional. Forces the craft to happen in a room with a specific flag. Useful for “forge” rooms, “alchemy lab” rooms.

Combine with required tools — a forge room with no anvil shouldn’t allow smithing.

Workflow

A typical assembly build:

1. Build the result object with oedit. Test that it’s balanced.
2. Build the components with oedit. Place them in the world (zone resets, shop inventories, monster drops).
3. Build any tools/locale as objects/rooms with the necessary flags.
4. assedit <vnum> the assembly.
5. Set the result, components, skill, DC, and locale requirements.
6. Test — verify each component blocks the craft if absent; verify the right skill is checked; verify success returns the result; verify failure mode behaves correctly.

Common patterns

Simple weapon craft

Recipe: 2x iron ingot + 1x wooden grip → iron sword.

• Skill: SMITHING DC 12.
• Tools: anvil (room object).
• Locale: FORGE-flagged room.
• On failure: SALVAGE (give back grip + 1 ingot).

Multi-step craft chain

Master crafts often chain:

• Recipe A: iron ore + coal → iron ingot (skill: SMELTING)
• Recipe B: 2x iron ingot + grip → iron sword (skill: SMITHING)
• Recipe C: iron sword + magic dust → enchanted sword (skill: ENCHANTING)

Each recipe stands alone. Players choose which step to do — they can buy ingots at a shop instead of smelting their own.

Alchemy potion

Recipe: 3x mushroom + 1x vial + alchemy kit → potion.

• Skill: ALCHEMY DC 18.
• Tools: alchemy kit (held).
• Locale: any (alchemy is portable).
• On failure: DESTROY (botched potions explode).

Re-rollable enchantment

Recipe: weapon + magic dust → enchanted weapon.

• Skill: ENCHANTING DC 25.
• Tools: enchantment rod.
• On failure: SALVAGE — player gets weapon back, dust consumed.
• Players retry until they succeed.

Player commands

assemble                     List available recipes
assemble <name>              Begin crafting the named recipe
assemble status              Show current craft + time remaining
recipes                      What recipes do I know?
recipes <skill>              Filter by required skill

Some trees use craft instead of assemble — check the in-game help for the canonical command.

Recipe discovery

Players typically learn recipes by:

• Skill threshold — having the skill at a certain level auto-grants recipes up to that DC.
• Recipe scrolls — read a scroll, learn a recipe permanently. The scroll is consumed.
• Trainer NPCs — pay a trainer to teach a recipe.

Set this up via the recipe scroll item (oedit an ITEM_OTHER with custom values) + a DG trigger on quaff/read that grants the recipe.

Save + test

Q → y saves the assembly. Reload the zone or restart for the new recipe to take effect.

Test:

1. recipes shows the new recipe (if your skill qualifies).
2. assemble <name> without components → error message.
3. assemble <name> with components → craft begins, time counts down.
4. Successful craft → result object appears in inventory.
5. Failed craft → on-failure handling kicks in.
6. Required tools / locale flags block correctly.

Balance

Crafting is the single most-broken sub-system if not balanced carefully:

• Result must not be cheaper than shop-bought. Otherwise crafting is a strict upgrade with no trade-off.
• Components should be findable but not trivial. A component you can buy 100 of for 10 gold each makes the craft a money fountain.
• DC scales with result power. A +5 sword recipe should require skill 25+, not skill 5+.
• Watch dual-purpose loops. “Sell crafted item for more than component cost” is the classic infinite-money exploit.

See also

• Building objects — your result + components + tools.
• Building zones — place crafting stations via zone resets.
• Building rooms — flag rooms as FORGE, alchemy labs etc.
• Building triggers — custom recipe-discovery scrolls.