Scrap Refinement is the process of upgrading lower-tier ⚪ Scrap into higher-tier materials. Raw metal becomes gears; gears become precision mechanisms. Refinement lets resourceful characters produce the advanced materials they need when scavenging alone isn’t enough.
Refinement is a sidegrade, not an upgrade
You give up total cap value to turn many pieces of common material into fewer pieces of specialized material. Refine when a recipe needs a tier you do not have — never to make a profit.
How Refinement Works
Scrap Refinement
Convert lower-tier ⚪ Scrap into higher-tier Scrap at a 🔧 Workbench.
Required Materials
- 5 ⚪ Common Scrap → 1 🟢 Uncommon Scrap
- 5 🟢 Uncommon Scrap → 1 🔵 Rare Scrap
📊 DC depends on the tier being produced: - ⚪ Common Scrap → 🟢 Uncommon Scrap: 📊 DC 10 - 🟢 Uncommon Scrap → 🔵 Rare Scrap: 📊 DC 15
On SUCCESS:
- Produce 1 piece of the higher-tier Scrap
- Consume the required input Scrap
On FAILURE:
- Consume half the input Scrap (rounded down)
- No output produced
- Example: Failed Common → Uncommon loses 2 Common Scrap (half of 5, rounded down) instead of all 5
Costs 1 hour of 🔨 Crafting Time per attempt
- Requires a 🔧 Workbench
- Free during the 🏕 Long Rest Repair/Craft activity (6 hours available); at any other time the game clock advances
- Cannot be performed in combat
What It Costs You
Refining loses cap value. You are trading total worth for the specific tier you need.
| Conversion | Input Value | Output Value | Loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ⚪ Common Scrap → 1 🟢 Uncommon Scrap | 10 caps | 5 caps | −5 caps |
| 5 🟢 Uncommon Scrap → 1 🔵 Rare Scrap | 25 caps | 15 caps | −10 caps |
Perk Interactions
Several perks and milestones interact with refinement:
🎖 Scrapper perk
The 🎖 Scrapper perk allows you to obtain higher-tier Scrap from dismantling. It does not reduce the cost or 📊 DC of refinement itself — refinement is a separate activity.
🎯 Efficient Repairs milestone (🔧 Repair +7)
On a successful refinement, reduce the Scrap cost by 1. A successful Common → Uncommon refinement consumes 4 Common Scrap instead of 5.
🎯 Master Technician milestone (🔧 Repair +10)
Once per 🏕 Long Rest, you may treat a successful 🔧 Repair Test as a 🎭 CRIT. When applied to refinement, this produces 2 pieces of higher-tier Scrap instead of 1.
Related Systems
- 🔨 Crafting — overview of all crafting activities
- 🔧 Repair — the skill used for refinement
- ⚪ Common Scrap / 🟢 Uncommon Scrap / 🔵 Rare Scrap — the materials themselves
- 🔨 Dismantling — alternative way to obtain higher-tier Scrap
- Scavenging — primary way to find Scrap in the wild