Artisan Tradecrafts

Introduction

This is part one in a series of four posts written to expand on the tradecraft information listed in the rulebook. This is intended to be used as a reference rather than read straight through (though you’re certainly welcome to do that as well); it is meant to be a way to access more detailed information on a craft to both support its use and help players decide what tradecrafts to take next.

For general tradecraft rules, see the post on tradecrafts and advice; for other trade groups, see their respective posts.

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General Artisan Craft Information

Artisan Crafts tend to function in two ways: crafting and general knowledge.

Crafting Rules: An artisan can craft an object that falls within their domain (eg, a blacksmith and sword) with a value of up to their level in that craft. This costs half the usual gold amount in materials and takes an amount of time realistic for that object – some projects can be done relatively quickly while others might take a mission or even a full month. When unknown, a reasonable estimate is that it takes the duration of one mission per ten gold’s value of the item.

• Crafting Large Objects: Some tradecrafts, such as carpenter, allow you to craft large objects (such as houses). The rules for this are currently pending (as of Dec 2019), and this post will be updated when large object rules are settled.
• Repairing Damaged Objects: Repairing a damaged or shattered object is generally an undertaking with half the “BR” of the whole object. Example: a longsword is usually 10g. Repairing a shattered longsword would be a lvl 5 job and take 2.5g in materials to do. Magic items are an exception and follow their own rules.
• Tools, Resources, and Workshops: Many items cannot be crafted without the prerequisite resources to do so – for example, you generally cannot make items with blacksmith without metal or access to a forge. This means that many crafting projects have to be undertaken in a town, and some projects may incur a severe penalty or be altogether impossible while on a mission. On the other hand, access to certain tools or workspaces can improve your effective crafting ability in small ways. In all cases, materials and circumstances matter for artisan crafts.

General Knowledge: Artisan Crafts can also be used to access the general knowledge of that craft. A builder can tell the source of damage to a road; a carpenter can tell if a damaged house is safe to enter; a tailor can tell what region’s style an item of clothing is made in; and so on.

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Individual Tradecrafts

Blacksmith
Blacksmith has to do with forging and manipulating metal. In an adventuring context, it is most often used to make weapons and armor; but it can also be used to make a variety of everyday items such as nails, tools, silverware, pipes, knobs, horseshoes, and plenty else. Blacksmiths typically work with iron but can also work with other metals – bronze, silver, gold, lead, copper, and plenty else. Typically, in order to forge an item, your level in blacksmith must be equal to the gold value of the item.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Metal (eg: iron, tin, silver); Type of Technique (eg: smelting, casting, folding); Type of Object (eg: swords, tools, armor); etc.

Carpenter
Carpenter has to do with shaping and building with wood. It tends to be used most often for building wooden structures such as houses or carts; but it can also be used for whittling or crafting smaller wooden objects, making wooden sculptures or other art pieces, or to take raw wood and prepare it for other uses (building materials, splitting logs, firewood, etc). Because crafting with carpenter can make objects of wildly varying sizes, level-to-craft rules vary depending on the item made.
Small Items (ie, chair): Your carpenter lvl must be equal to the gold value of the item.
Large Items (ie, house): Coming Soon.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Wood (eg: cherry, pine); Type of Object (eg: wheels, nesting dolls); Type of Craft (eg: construction, whittling, seasoning); etc.

Stonemason
Stonemason is in many ways a counterpart to Carpenter – it has to do with shaping and building with stone rather than wood. Like carpenter, it is often used for building houses and other large structures such as walls; as well as smaller objects such as tools, road markers, tiles, and statues. It can include not just carving stone but inspecting it for flaws or damage, polishing or repairing it, quarrying it, or working with gemstones.
Small Items (ie, counter): Your stonemason lvl must be equal to the g. value of the item.
Large Items (ie, wall): Coming Soon.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Stone (eg: granite, limestone); Type of Object/Structure (eg: tiles, statues, arches) ; Type of Technique (eg: cementing, polishing, cleaving); etc.

Fine Arts
Fine Arts is a broad category that encompasses all the arts that produce physical objects: painting, drawing, ceramics, jewelrymaking, glassblowing, and more. You may choose to either put your fine arts levels directly into one of these categories or to put them into the broader “fine arts” category. Fine arts can be easily combined with other artisan crafts to make an object that is both functional and beautiful; or, simply used on its own when the goal is just to make something pretty or to decorate an already-crafted object. Fine arts can also be used to evaluate another person’s art to gain a sense of their materials, training, or background. As with all artisan crafts, your level in fine arts determines the gold value you can sell your art at.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Art (eg: drawing, painting); Type of Material (eg: pigments, charcoal); Type of Style (eg: Ardellian, realistic, landscapes); etc.

Cooking
Cooking, like fine arts, is a broad category that encompasses anything to do with food and drink. It also includes brewing, baking, candymaking, cheesemaking, and more. When putting levels into cooking, you can put them either into one of these narrower categories or into cooking in general. Cooking is most often used to prepare meals; but can also be used to evaluate or prepare ingredients, plan menus or pair food and drink, or evaluate the work of another cook to gain a sense of their training, ingredients, or background. You can cook items worth a total of up to your level in cook; for example, as a lvl 5 cook, you’re probably not making cookies that cost 5g each – more likely, you’re managing a huge batch of cookies that adds up to a total of 5g in quantity.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Technique (eg: stewing, roasting, drying); Type of Food (eg: sauces, meats, bread); Type of Cuisine (eg: Eldspeli, coastal, street food); etc.

Tailor
Tailor encompasses most crafts that either result in a worn item of clothing or accessory, or which involve working with textiles. Cobbling, spinning, embroidering, rope-making, dying, basket-weaving, and leatherworking are all examples of crafts that fall under the tailor umbrella. Tailor is most often used to make or repair clothes, but can also be used to process and prepare materials; it can also be used to evaluate another person’s clothes to gain a sense of their background or recent activities (depending on how distinctive or damaged the clothes in question are). You can make items with a gold value of up to your level in tailor; in some cases this may mean individual items of clothing that sell for a high gold value, but in many cases – as with cooking – you are likely making several items that add up in gold value to your level.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Material (wool, cotton, leather); Type of Technique (spinning, dying, weaving); Type of Item (hats, shoes, cloaks); Type of Background (by region, social status, or function); etc.

Alchemist
Alchemist involves identifying, processing, and combining ingredients to create potions and other concoctions. Alchemists are the makers of many essential everyday items: glue, ink, paint, dye, polish, and so on. They are also the maker of a variety of potions useful to adventurers – glow potions, antidotes, smokescreens, and the like. Alchemists can craft potions with a gold value of up to their level in alchemy, whether by quantity or by quality. Experienced alchemists can also craft their own potions – although this process is fraught with a variety of dangerous (and at times hilarious) side effects. Alchemist is a more complicated craft than many listed; a followup post will outline the rules for alchemy in more detail.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Ingredient (flowers, rocks, horns); Type of Effect (colors, scents, fire); Part of Process (ingredient evaluation, safety, recipes); etc.

Locksmith
Locksmith, as the name suggests, allows you to make (and pick) locks. It also encompasses a variety of related items: hinges, latches, knobs, shackles, safes, and other items relating to the mechanics of security. Locksmith can also be used to identify mechanical traps – and disarm them, if of a sufficient level. Of these uses, locksmith is used most often by far to pick locks. Like other artisan tradecrafts, locksmith also includes elements of trade knowledge – in this case being able to match locks and keys, identify characteristics of one based on the other, or discerning mechanical features of a security system. As with all artisan crafts, you can make objects worth a gold value up to your level in Locksmith.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of Object (lock, key, shackle); Type of System (doors, windows, vents); Method of Crafting (casting, forging, copying); etc.

Builder
Builder has to do with other forms of infrastructure not covered by the other crafts: building roads, connecting plumbing, evening out or filling in terrain, digging wells, and so on. It also has to do with the maintenance of these objects and includes cleaning and repair work. Though builder overlaps in many ways with other artisan crafts such as stonemason or carpenter, builder is slightly different in that it looks at construction in the form of connective systems rather than as individual buildings. Because of this, it can also be used to assist in or assess city planning – which can in turn yield clues about the layout and everyday life in a city or section thereof.
Small Jobs (ie, street sweeping): Earn gold equal to the difficulty of the task, up to lvl.
Large Jobs (ie, paving roads): Coming Soon.
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Possible Fluencies Include: Type of System (roads, plumbing, water); Step of Process (planning, construction, repair); Scale of System (building, neighborhood, city); etc.

Additional Artisan Crafts
These are the nine artisan crafts that we use regularly throughout the game. There are many more not listed here. Some of them, such as Ceramics, could be considered sub-crafts of listed trades; others, such as Tinker, are difficult to obtain and can only be trained when the craft is locally available. The list of other artisan crafts and sub-crafts that come up in the game from time to time includes but is not limited to: Ceramics, Jewelrymaking, Basketry, Glassblowing, Leathworking, Trapmaking, Fletching or Bowyer, and Papermaking or Bookbinding.