Perhaps crafting could require tools, stats, materials and time. For instance, i want to craft a sword. I would need good enough STR (To hammer the sword), CON (To have the energy to do it), and DEX (So i dont miss my hammer swings), albeit DEX would be a little lower. I would need a forge, ore, water, hammer, and other forging paraphernalia. The time might depend on the material, but i would say 2-4 hour minimum.

As for armor and weapons, here's an idea- Weapons have a modifier, i.e., +2. You would also need a minimum score in order to wield it- Greatswords might need a score of 5 out of 10 STR, Rapiers a score of 4 out of 10 DEX. When you attack, you roll 2d10+weapon modifier and check the defender. They can roll to dodge first if they want to maybe, but if the attack hits, it would deal damage equal to the earlier roll that the attacker made minus the Armor's bonus. Armor would have to have higher bonuses then, like +5 for lighter armor. And i would say that unless the dodge is successful, the defender always takes at least 1 damage.

How does that sound?