Making of Magic Weapons

Between work and the book, and normal routine, I've also been working on this for a patron supporting my $30 tier, "Wiki Request."  This is a bit of freelance writing, this month related to the creation of magical weapons:

Some have wondered at my method for doing this.  I've wondered myself, since I've never sat down to design the particulars, ever.  Obviously, throwing a lot of money at the problem is not included.  In fact, the rules describe exactly NO coins to be spent in any way, though obviously there would be costs involved, as characters must eat and pay staff, maintenance and taxes.  But those are other matters having nothing precisely to do with the making of weapons.

For those who haven't read the above, yes, it means virtually any weapon, though the examples given are all from the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide.  There's two pages of special powers also listed in that book, any of which could be adapted for a weapon, and I'm an open minded fellow.  If someone wants to bring me a weapon idea from 5th edition, one that isn't plainly ridiculous, I'd certainly consider it.

Sorry to say the rules aren't cut-and-dried ... mainly because the powers aren't cut and dried.  It does explain what you'd need to make, say, a Holy Avenger, without answering the question in solid terms.  You need something else that possesses that power.  What would that be?  Not for me, the DM, to say.  I'd expect a player bent on creating a +5 Holy Avenger from scratch to explain just exactly how the sword ends up being "holy" ... and no, holy water alone ain't gonna cut it.  Still, there's got to be a way.  It takes some imagination, is all.

It does tell me that if and when I start writing out magic items in my wiki, I'll have to include passages on how that item comes into existence.