D&D 5e – Questionable Arcana – Crafting: Leatherworker’s Tools

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Although this crafting system leverages many existing mechanics published under the 5e SRD and OGL, the final product is completely home-brewed. The finer details of this system are still being revised, and those changes will slowly be introduced into this document. However, the system as a whole is totally functional and ready to be used in any campaign. Furthermore, the rules and concepts discussed are intended to work in-tandem with the expanded artisan's tools rules found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. If nothing else I hope this document and its siblings can be used as a source of guidance and inspiration for whatever crafting system you decide to go with.

Now that we’ve gone over how to create potions that can make an orc fall in love with a halfling, it is time to discuss the logic next step in this chain of events… whips and leather.

Facetiousness aside, the leatherworker’s tools are another one of those artisan’s toolkits that has a pretty good chance of being included in your campaign. Every fantasy gamer knows that if they want to create their epic jet black assassin’s armor for their stealth archer, then they will most likely need to master the art of stitching dead animal hides together. As usual before we dig into the mechanical goodness behind this kit, I want to make sure we all have an understanding of the definition and real world history of leatherworking.

Unfortunately, the Cambridge Dictionary isn’t sold on the idea of leatherworking being an actual word yet, so we’ll have to go with the fancy-schmancy Merriam-Webster definition:

A person who works in leather, such as:

• A worker who cuts, skives, sews, and otherwise prepares leather trim for automobiles.
• A maker of the leather parts of surgical appliances.
• A worker who makes and repairs gun slings, straps, and similar articles.

Although this description isn’t wrong, it is a bit too modern for my taste. Let’s grab the definition of leatherworking from merriam-webster for good measure:

The process or occupation of making things from leather.

Now we’re talking! With the important definitions settled on, let’s move on the history!

When In Doubt, Add Fire – A History of Leatherworking

Leatherworking is one of the oldest human activities. Early man relied on hides obtained from wild animals and livestock to create clothing and tents. While simple hides work well in temperate climates, they often ran into issues once they were exposed to temperature extremes. In low temperatures they would become stiff and make moving and hunting difficult, meanwhile high temperatures accelerated the rotting process, eventually destroying the garment.

Early man probably tried to smear animal fats on hides to make them stronger and more flexible. However the biggest breakthrough in the tanning process was (naturally) when they applied fire, or more specifically, smoke.

The key component of the tanning process is a tanning agent. Whenever green leaves and branches were used to dry the leathers they introduced the OG tanning agent known as… tannin. This simple process of drying and introducing a tanning agent extended the shelf life of leather goods considerably.

Over time more advanced techniques were developed which introduced a number of steps into the leather preparation process:

1. Skinning – Removing the skin from the animal body.
2. Curing – Covering the skin in salt to prevent putrefaction.
3. Soaking – Removing the salt and increasing moisture for further treatment.
4. Liming – Adding milk of lime to remove hairs, proteins, and natural grease; while swelling the fibers and preparing the collagen in the hide for tanning.
5. Unhairing and Scudding – Using more chemicals, machines, and manual labor to remove any hair you missed in the liming step.
6. De-liming and bating – Lowering the pH of the collagen and adding enzymes(historically via dung-water) that soften the leather.
7. Pickling – Adding salt and/or sulfuric acid to lower the pH further allowing for the penetration of the tanning agent.
8. Tanning – Adding the tanning agent to make the leather less water-soluble and more resistant to bacterial attack.

In the olden days the process of tanning would take between 8-12 months. For the longest time vegetable tanning was used due to the availability of floral tanning agents. However, once the chrome tanning process was discovered it became the most widely used tanning agent in the world.

Once the arduous process of creating leather is complete it is ready to be used by leatherworkers to create leather goods.

There is historical evidence of leather products being used in Egypt as far back as 1,300 BC, and they haven’t gone down in popularity since then. Romans used leather to make footwear, clothing, shields, and harnesses; while mongols used leather to create flasks, covers, masks, and caps. Over time leatherworking started to merge with other crafts such as carpentry in the form of leather-bound chairs.

Eventually enough advancements were made shortening the tanning process from nearly a year to only a few days. This allowed for the mass production of leather goods that fill the footwear and clothing stores we all know and love today.

Looking Good in Leather – Crafting

Although it is possible that your campaign could be based in a single location and span a number of years, I am generally going to assume that the party will be on the road most of the time. As a result the focus of the guide will be on what can be produced with leather goods, and not the production of leather itself.

However, if for some reason your players want to use the leatherworker’s tools to produce leather I would allow them to do so. I would just recommend you speed up the timeline somewhat via worldbuilding(example: gnomes have advanced leather tanning technology) or magical(a spell that quickly tans leather) means to minimize the book-keeping.

On the crafting front a leatherworker has a pretty solid list of mundane items they can lead and contribute to the creation of.

While I am assuming that most people will pick up the leatherworker’s tools to create armor, there are a couple of interesting items in this list I want to briefly discuss.

First off the ability to create spellbooks and component pouches cannot be overlooked. These are a relatively big-ticket item, especially early on in a campaign. This combined with the ability to create parchment makes the leatherworker’s tools a surprisingly strong choice for any wizards in the party, especially when paired with the calligrapher’s supplies.

If you are more of the exploring type, then the leatherworker’s tools also allow you to create a variety of survival gear. Being able to make all manner of backpacks, bedrolls, blankets, and even tents can be extremely useful, especially if you need to stock up on survival gear for a large expedition.

When it comes to creating magic items leatherworkers have an impressive number of items they can create:

I excluded The Cloak of Arachnida entirely from these lists because its description states that it is made from silk. Given the strong thematic tie between silk and spiders, I felt it would be best to avoid flexibility on this item and leave its creation to the weaver’s tools.

Using the Questionable Arcana Item Crafting System or another system of your preference, the actual process of creating magical leather goods is fairly straightforward. Once the player has a recipe to create the item and the necessary components, they can begin creating the item.

In this case we had an obvious creature to link to the item, but this concept of linking creature effects to item effects can be applied to all manner of standard and home-brewed magic items.

Below are a handful of examples:

The Takeway: The leatherworker’s tools can create a solid variety of weapons, light armors, and adventuring gear. On the magical item front they have a great variety of items they can craft, and there is a lot of potential for home-brewed equipment.

50 Shades of Art – Leather Artwork

Leather goods are very relevant in the world of art. People will spend incredible sums of money for something as simple as a well crafted leather bag. In the D&D world this is no different. Players with leatherworker’s tools proficiency can stand to make a hefty profit on leather goods.

The process of creating leather artwork is more or less the same as other art-forms. Using The Questionable Arcana Artwork Crafting System or similar you can attempt to leave your mark on the world of leather art, or at least add a few marks to your coin purse.

As alluded to above, high quality leather artwork is something that is generally in very high demand. This is because not only do they often serve a functional purposes such as holding objects, but they are also items that people frequently damage and need to replace.

As a result if you are using the Questionable Arcana Artwork Crafting System you can reduce the time needed to find a buyer for your goods. Mechanically this means that you can apply a -2(minimum 1) modifier to the “Time To Find A Buyer” roll.

The Takeaway: Leather artwork is a good way to make some extra coin on the side. Using the Questionable Arcana Artwork Crafting System leather artwork has a -2 modifier to the “Time To Find A Buyer” roll.

You Can Only Skin A Sheep Once… So Do It Right – Adventuring Utility

As we can see the leatherworker’s tools are a very strong choice on the crafting front, but they also have a couple of nice adventuring bonuses that can’t be completely overlooked.

The first bonus is how the leatherworker’s tools interact with harvesting creatures. A leatherworker will have a much stronger understanding of creature hides and what condition they need to be in if they are to be useful in crafting. As a result I recommend allowing a player with leatherworker’s tools proficiency to add their proficiency bonus to any checks made to harvest pelts from creatures. This bonus should also stack on top of any other existing proficiency bonuses.

Other bonuses include the ability to add your leatherworker’s tools proficiency bonus to any checks that involve leather products. For example if a shady looking halfling comes up to you promising that they have a genuine Laucian Vadan elven purse, you can add your leatherworker’s tools proficiency bonus to the check used to determine if the purse is a fraud.

The Takeaway: The main adventuring bonus provided by the leatherworker’s tools is the ability to add your tool proficiency bonus to any check made to harvest creature hides. Otherwise there are a handful of ancillary benefits gained when interacting with leather.

Conclusion

When it comes to crafting, the Leatherworker’s Tools is easily one of the strongest kits in the game. The balance between weapons, armor, and relevant adventuring gear puts it on the same level as the woodcarver’s tools when it comes to item creation. This ability is only enhanced further by the impressive list of magic items it can create.

On the artwork creation front it is a strong choice as well. The ability to create durable goods that are often high in demand is something that plays very well in a travelling party.

Last but not least the bonuses granted while harvesting pelts make this kit indispensable for any party looking to craft magical items that require creature components.

This kit is a popular kit in gaming, and for good reason. The variety and quality of gear it can create make it an extremely appealing choice for nearly any character. I can’t recommend this kit highly enough, especially if you are planning on using leather armor, or leather bound books.

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