Yes. Maybe some variant trapmaking rules, tips on crafting, etc.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Yay, I'd love to see more of crafts discussed...my current group is interested in doing stuff themselves, both magical and mundane, so any articles discussing those are welcome (as would articles about herbology and mineralogy...)
I like the idea of crafters that aren't adventuring spell casters. Forges over elemental fire, Exotic materials with unique properties, locations with specific power to draw on for the creation of items. All are ideas that could be explored it much greater detail - enough for a whole supplement.
In gaming terms though most people would find actually play such a character boring, 4 days at the forge, 2 days haggling over raw materials, one day at rest, yahoo.
There is also room for specific on the creation of low magic and artifact level items.
I like to create items that have some flair in their creation, rather than the wizard made it on his week off.
The best solution I think was hit upon by a friend of mine, he set up a crafter of weapons who could make anything, charged a premium, enforced the creationtimes, and this crafter had a backlog of orders to work through. He did explain how the NPC gained this ability they simply had it. It is the approach I have used since.
Until I played in an Oriental Adventures campaign, I never really gave much attention to Craft. In OA, it seemed like "the right thing to do" to "waste" skill points on a Craft variant, such as (poetry). Now, though, I don't see it as a waste. You can get some great mileage out of a skill that many seem as useless. Sure, it takes away from other skills, but I've never been a power gamer. I've always been more about the story and character development. Perhaps that is the niche that Craft() fills in D&D. It allows a crunchy way to add character depth.
That said, Craft needs some help. I like how the first Wyrm Food article in support of AoW was basically a treatise on using Craft disguised as a map. Similar articles would indeed be heplful...
That said, when I do think like a munchkin, I always group Craft in with those nifty item creation feats. Why take them? They drain resources and improvements away from the PC. Why not just pay someone to do all that stuff for you?
I've just learned that some skills / feats are not meant for everyone. D&D is versatile enough to find a home for the story-loving character developer who wants to Craft away. It has room (obviously) for the "I'll just kill the monsters, loot their hoards, and pay someone off with my winnings" types as well.
Yeah!
But back to your point. Yes, more useful info on Craft would be good. And, if ANYONE can come up with a reason for the Profession skill, please let me know.
I once had a character who I started at 3rd level - I have always been sort of uncomfortable with that, but when I do I try to take skills that make sense for the character background I write for to explain the levels. In this characters case profession: soldier/NCO. I wrote up what that meant to my thinking (I have a little military experience so I don't think my write-up was completely clueless). The DM liked it and found ways to incorporate it into the game.
I think professions and crafts are one of the way to really make your character a character as opposed to simply playing stats. But the group I have spent the most time with (though we liked combat) always liked downtime and character development stuff. Further there were always XP bonuses for roleplay and the use of non-combat skills.
but I agree, the use of crafts, professions, and other soft skills (knowledge, perform, could be elaborated on. That said I am okay with the current descriptions it is a chance for the palyer and the DM to consense on what a given skill means, to work together to develop and balance that aspect of the character. Which for me is part of the fun of picking those skills.
When I play - because those skills are "soft" and don't impact combat/survival much - I lobby to have those skills count for more. So for example: Craft Art (in my campaign) would grant the character 1 +their intelligence bonus of arts that the rank applied to. So a character with an intelligence of 14 who invested ranks in art could apply those ranks to (for example) pen and ink, calligraphy, and charcoal sketches. Or with perform could apply his ranks to (for example ballads, lute, and harp). I think thats fair and encourages players to create more interesting characters.