I posted a system liker this before, but I thought I'd refine it a bit. I also added a guildstructure for a Smith's Guild to fit the new system.
Description:
- AW: Any non-magic weapon that is not special is made by the apprentices of smiths. Nothing special.
- QW: These are the bread and butter of the Smith's income. The better made, higher priced stuff that his better apprentices make. It's their training for the EW test.
- EW: Apprentices must be able to craft a weapon of this quality to become full smiths and recieve guild recognition and full member perks. Must have silver or other semi-precious metal embedded in the weapon during the process.
- MW: This level must be reached if a smith wants to take on apprentices for training and aid in his smith. These kind of weapons are ordered for or given to people of stature or position and are *always* unique. For instance, if it's a weapon for the mayor of a town, it will have a symbol of the town on it's hilt. If it's for a prince, it will have his name along its blade. Gold and precious stones must be used in the process, as the skill of the smith to make even soft materials rock hard can be proven by this.
- GMW: Nothing short of magical, this level must be reached if a smith ever desires to make it to the guild council level. This is his masterpiece, his "argument"as the smith's call it to prove the perfection of his skill. These items or weapons are presented to kings or highpriests. At the very least, adamantite or mithril must be used in this process, as hardness is no the thing they want to see proven. It must have the weight of a feather, but the strength of a thousand swords.
Enchantments:
Magical enchantments do not stack with a weapons natural qualities. It must at least be an EW weapon to be enchantable, and any weapon of +3 or greater weapon must be a MW weapon. For +5 or greater weapons, the weapon must be of GMW level.
Typical Guildstructure:
A smith's guild that uses this sytem of appraisal usually has - at its top - a Guildcouncil consisting of a Grandmaster of every item category. These are the Master of Weapons, the Master of Armor, the Master of Wondrous Items, the Master of Wands&Rods, the Master of Rings and the Master of Staves. The last one works closely with the Master of Weapons, as his focus is anything wielded two-handedly. They operate separately from the Daily Council who direct the different District Councils that fall under them. In essence the Daily council is the ruling member, and the Guildouncil is only used in matters of promotion and demotion of guildmembers, and when a particular complicated or demanding piece has been ordered.
Only Mastersmith's can be on the Daily Council and the Districts-councils, and can only become Grandmaster if one of the sitting Guildcouncil members resigns or dies. Guildcouncil membership is for life. (There is the possibility of demotion for a Guildcouncil member by the Daily Council, but that calls for a unanimous call from the Daily Council for a General Councilmeeting, which has not been used for over 160 years.)
A Districtcouncil can be of any size, as it holds all the Mastersmiths of a certain region. A Mastersmith is automatically part of a Districtcouncil.
Training:
Apprentices can only be taken by a Mastersmith, and then only one per MW item made by him, as the earnings for such a weapon partly pays for the apprentices tutoring. It is always a bit of a statussymbol to have lots of apprentices, though more than 5 per smith is regarded as too much, as the attention lessens per apprentice. However since a smithy can hold several Mastersmiths, some smithys can become quite renowned.
When an apprentice wants to become a regular smith, and thus become a full member of the smithsguild, he must make an EW item. This item will be graded by his mastersmith, and if found adequate, given to the Mastersmith as gratitude for the teachings he gave.
A Mastersmith may only go for Grandmastership if he is asked by the Guildcouncil, and then he has to make his "argument" for his position within the year. He must provide his own materials, and must use his own forge to do so. The "argument" made must be linked to his potential position, and if accepted, it will be stored in the Smith's Vaults until a moment presents itself where the piece can either be given to men of power or position as the Guildcouncil deems worthy.
There is one annual ceremony in the Smith's guild where the Most Promising Apprentice (MPA) is named and receives the honorary, though a bit sarcast title, Master of Artifacts. Nobody knows where this title comes from, but some say it used to be a real seat of office in the GuildCouncil. It was removed after a giant dispute between some Guildcouncil members, way back then, and since used to show that although a title may infer a certain degree of perfection, it must never be taken granted. That is why it is now used for the MPA ceremony. All documents pertaining to this title and its story are kept in the Smiths Vault, where only the Guildcouncil members have access.
Monetary sustenance
The way the Smiths Guild pays for its expenses is fairly simple. Any GuildSmith pays 30% of his profits to the guild. All the money collected in this way is kept in the Smiths Vaults, or in bank guilds across the countries. The Smiths Guild uses this monetery position to not only have political power through the union they form, but also from the monetary loans they can provide. This has always been a sore point between the bank guilds and the Smiths guild, but the Smiths guild has always been to big for the Bankguilds to stop this.
(Edited in latest cost cap and MW plusses.)
Locks: 18, Edits: 12.
Gosh, I love the smell of threadlocks in the morning.
- Thally, the joke mod -
Type, To hit/AC, To Damage, Special, Cost - AW: +0 /+0 +0 - Normal- QW: +1 /+0 +0 -1 ACP 3x base price- EW: +1 /+1 +1 -1 ACP +300 GP- MW: +2 /+1 +1 -2 ACP +750 GP- GMW: +2 /+2 +2 -1 size* +5000 GP(*= This means that the weapon or armor is considered one size type lighter)AW: Apprenticework DC: 12QW: Quality Work DC: 15EW: Expertwork DC: 21MW: Masterwork DC: 30GMW: Grandmasterwork DC: 42Add the following DC modifiers for item type:Everyday Item: +0Common Item: +2Unusual Item: +4Rare Item: +6Obscure Item: +8Unheard of Item: +10QW has a cost cap of 250 GP if base value is bigger than 100 GP.
Description:
- AW: Any non-magic weapon that is not special is made by the apprentices of smiths. Nothing special.
- QW: These are the bread and butter of the Smith's income. The better made, higher priced stuff that his better apprentices make. It's their training for the EW test.
- EW: Apprentices must be able to craft a weapon of this quality to become full smiths and recieve guild recognition and full member perks. Must have silver or other semi-precious metal embedded in the weapon during the process.
- MW: This level must be reached if a smith wants to take on apprentices for training and aid in his smith. These kind of weapons are ordered for or given to people of stature or position and are *always* unique. For instance, if it's a weapon for the mayor of a town, it will have a symbol of the town on it's hilt. If it's for a prince, it will have his name along its blade. Gold and precious stones must be used in the process, as the skill of the smith to make even soft materials rock hard can be proven by this.
- GMW: Nothing short of magical, this level must be reached if a smith ever desires to make it to the guild council level. This is his masterpiece, his "argument"as the smith's call it to prove the perfection of his skill. These items or weapons are presented to kings or highpriests. At the very least, adamantite or mithril must be used in this process, as hardness is no the thing they want to see proven. It must have the weight of a feather, but the strength of a thousand swords.
Enchantments:
Magical enchantments do not stack with a weapons natural qualities. It must at least be an EW weapon to be enchantable, and any weapon of +3 or greater weapon must be a MW weapon. For +5 or greater weapons, the weapon must be of GMW level.
Typical Guildstructure:
A smith's guild that uses this sytem of appraisal usually has - at its top - a Guildcouncil consisting of a Grandmaster of every item category. These are the Master of Weapons, the Master of Armor, the Master of Wondrous Items, the Master of Wands&Rods, the Master of Rings and the Master of Staves. The last one works closely with the Master of Weapons, as his focus is anything wielded two-handedly. They operate separately from the Daily Council who direct the different District Councils that fall under them. In essence the Daily council is the ruling member, and the Guildouncil is only used in matters of promotion and demotion of guildmembers, and when a particular complicated or demanding piece has been ordered.
Only Mastersmith's can be on the Daily Council and the Districts-councils, and can only become Grandmaster if one of the sitting Guildcouncil members resigns or dies. Guildcouncil membership is for life. (There is the possibility of demotion for a Guildcouncil member by the Daily Council, but that calls for a unanimous call from the Daily Council for a General Councilmeeting, which has not been used for over 160 years.)
A Districtcouncil can be of any size, as it holds all the Mastersmiths of a certain region. A Mastersmith is automatically part of a Districtcouncil.
Training:
Apprentices can only be taken by a Mastersmith, and then only one per MW item made by him, as the earnings for such a weapon partly pays for the apprentices tutoring. It is always a bit of a statussymbol to have lots of apprentices, though more than 5 per smith is regarded as too much, as the attention lessens per apprentice. However since a smithy can hold several Mastersmiths, some smithys can become quite renowned.
When an apprentice wants to become a regular smith, and thus become a full member of the smithsguild, he must make an EW item. This item will be graded by his mastersmith, and if found adequate, given to the Mastersmith as gratitude for the teachings he gave.
A Mastersmith may only go for Grandmastership if he is asked by the Guildcouncil, and then he has to make his "argument" for his position within the year. He must provide his own materials, and must use his own forge to do so. The "argument" made must be linked to his potential position, and if accepted, it will be stored in the Smith's Vaults until a moment presents itself where the piece can either be given to men of power or position as the Guildcouncil deems worthy.
There is one annual ceremony in the Smith's guild where the Most Promising Apprentice (MPA) is named and receives the honorary, though a bit sarcast title, Master of Artifacts. Nobody knows where this title comes from, but some say it used to be a real seat of office in the GuildCouncil. It was removed after a giant dispute between some Guildcouncil members, way back then, and since used to show that although a title may infer a certain degree of perfection, it must never be taken granted. That is why it is now used for the MPA ceremony. All documents pertaining to this title and its story are kept in the Smiths Vault, where only the Guildcouncil members have access.
Monetary sustenance
The way the Smiths Guild pays for its expenses is fairly simple. Any GuildSmith pays 30% of his profits to the guild. All the money collected in this way is kept in the Smiths Vaults, or in bank guilds across the countries. The Smiths Guild uses this monetery position to not only have political power through the union they form, but also from the monetary loans they can provide. This has always been a sore point between the bank guilds and the Smiths guild, but the Smiths guild has always been to big for the Bankguilds to stop this.
(Edited in latest cost cap and MW plusses.)
Locks: 18, Edits: 12.
Gosh, I love the smell of threadlocks in the morning.
- Thally, the joke mod -
Other than that, the system looks very interesting and I might have to "borrow" it for my own games.
