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I've always been a bit annoyed with how a blacksmiths skill in crafting weapons is represented in pathfinder (and D&D), all we really have is MW, and it's not very impressive, or powerful, and doesn't represent blacksmiths of different skill (a legendary blacksmith should make better swords than a very good blacksmith).
So, now that I'm running a low-magic campaign, I'm trying to develop my own system, and I'd like some advice with balancing and pricing, and developing a equivalent system for wooden weapons.
For metal weapons:
Forged: +2 hardness, +50 gp to cost. Represents weapons forged by a blacksmith, and not “mass produced” as they used to did for soldier’s weapons in the middle ages.
Masterwork +n: +n to attack rolls, +n*300 gp to cost. represents weapons of superior quality and balance (n=1..5).
Dwarvencraft: +2 hardness, +10 hp, +300 gp cost. Dwarves have learned to craft weapons of superior durability.
Elvencraft: Items weigh 25% less, +300 gp cost. Elves lack access to metal ores in their woodland homes, due to this they have developed blacksmithing methods witch allow them to forge the same weapons using less metal.
Mastercraft: Mastercraft weapons represent a level of blacksmithing, and materials, so high it creates almost magical effects. All mastercraft weapons are unique, pricing and qualities at GM’s discretion.
All MW weapons are forged, all dwarvencraft, or elvencraft weapons are MW, and the bonuses from forged and dwarvencraft stack, so a dwarvencraft +2 MW longsword would cost 965 gp (15+50[forged]+300*2[MW +2]+300[dwarvencraft]), have a hardness of 14, 15 hp, and provide a +2 enhancement bonus on attack rolls.
So, if you could tell me your opinions, and give my your advise I'd be grateful :)
The Master Craftsman feat does allow a smith to enchant weapons - but its feat-heavy.
To me, those enhancements are incredibly cheap. Especially the Masterwork +n. I'd at least make it +n²*300 gp to cost. That would make a +5 to-hit sword cost an extra 7500gp, instead of 1500gp.
I have started a thread that harkens to this concept, but instead of quality weaponry being determined by the blacksmith's skill, it is by material.
Link
What about going the other way as well? 'Crude' could work as anti-masterwork, imposing a malus to attack rolls, but reducing the cost of the item (and, consequently, the time to make). A master craftsman should also be able to "fudge" the normal values for a weapon, such as making a Longsword that has increased crit range or some such. Maybe even, instead of just a simple "masterwork" (or "crude" as mentioned above) quality of weapon, maybe a broad range of ranks for the mundane qualities of the weapon. An E through A ranks would be crude through masterwork quality while S, SS, and SSS rank would be tiers above what we now consider masterwork.
E: Exceedingly low-quality, probably crafted by syphilitic monkeys. Suffers -3 to attack/+3 ACP, has half the normal HP and hardness, and has Fragile property. Barely counts as a weapon/armor.
D: Low-quality, a fine example of bugbear craftsmanship. Suffers -2 to attack/+2 ACP and has Fragile property.
C: Average, the work of an inexperienced journeyman. Suffers -1 to attack/+1 ACP.
B: Above-average, the work of an experienced journeyman. No bonus or penalty.
A: Masterwork, the quality that gets a journeyman recognized as a master. +1 attack/-1 ACP.
S: Superior, quality that only an experienced master can pull off. Weapons gain +1 attack and damage. Armor gains -1 ACP and +1 AC.
SS: Rare, limited edition quality produced by a highly experienced and competent master. Increase hardness and HP by 50%. Weapons gain +2 attack and +1 damage. Armor gains -2 ACP and +1 AC.
SSS: Legendary, the stuff of legends. If a Journeyman's masterwork gets him recognized as a Master, then this quality gets a Master recognized as a Legend. Doubles hardness and HP. Weapons gain +2 attack and +2 damage. Armor gains -2 ACP, +2 AC, and +1 max Dex. May also "fudge" one quality of the gear up or down by one increment, or "fudge" two up and one down. For example, the weapon may have one step larger damage dice, crit range, crit multiplier, an additional +1 damage, etc. Armor may have additional AC or max Dex, lower ACP, 10% lower ASF, etc. Either weapons or armor may have an additional 50% HP or Hardness (150% including the default bonus for this rank), or 25% less weight.
CraziFuzzy wrote: The Master Craftsman feat does allow a smith to enchant weapons - but its feat-heavy.
My problem with Master Craftsman is that it's still magical, and due to that effected by anti-magic fields and such, the way I see it a well crafted weapon is a well crafted weapon irregardless of magic, magic comes later.
CraziFuzzy wrote: To me, those enhancements are incredibly cheap. Especially the Masterwork +n. I'd at least make it +n²*300 gp to cost. That would make a +5 to-hit sword cost an extra 7500gp, instead of 1500gp. I think I'll use that for pricing. thnx.
in low magic would antimagic even come up?
christos gurd wrote: in low magic would antimagic even come up? well, yeah, low magic isn't no magic, it just means it's rare. so the PCs may come up against magic users, or magical beasts, but magic is just less abundant than in mid to high fantasy games.
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