Hullo!
I was just wondering how you would cover metallurgy?
Would it go under craft arms and armor? Knowledge (Engineering)? Or a third thing?
Is it already covered and I'm just blind?
And what would DCs be to identify them? Some metals are readily recognizable, I suppose, via Appraise but would a skill like Knowledge(Metallurgy) even make sense, since it is sort of limited...
Looking forward to hearing from you!
I personally go knowledge (engineering).
However, if the metal is still in "ore" form, knowledge (dungeoneeing).
I use knowledge (engineering) a lot as a GM.
Hullo!
I was just wondering how you would cover metallurgy?
What exactly do you consider metallurgy to be? I know some professional metal-workers who can't tell me the difference between austenite and cementite. I also know some very good materials scientists who can draw me pictures of austenite, but can't open a bottle of beer without help.
My understanding is that the word metallurgy originated as an alchemical term (hence the -urgy, as in thaumaturgy or theurgy, meaning "magic") and that it's technically a branch of chemistry, so it should be encompassed in Craft (Alchemy). But this would be the type of metallurgy that can't open a beer.....
would a skill like Knowledge(Metallurgy) even make sense, since it is sort of limited...
Further to above: Proliferating knowledge skills beyond measure is usually not a good thing for an RPG.
I was thinking that metallurgy was knowledge of the properties of different types of metals; melting points, how they react if put together, what to put into metal to strengthen it, iron=>steel and such. But I suppose it'll be easier to let engineering cover it.
I agree that we don't want more skills to eat our precious skillpoints ;)
For that matter, Knowledge (nature) might cover some of it, like figuring out what some common minerals are and what they mean. Profession (miner) or Craft (choose a smith) could also potentially cover it, if you include smelting ore under one of those. If you're looking to make up cool new materials, I think Craft (alchemy) is the best bet though.
Not looking at it from a particularly scientific method, during medieval times there wouldn't have been "metallurgy" as we conceptualize it today. It just wasn't a thing.
Most likely you would have smiths, who would understand that by incorporating this amount of carbon into iron you make steel. Or by adding in others metal you can make it more ductile, but reduces it's strength and load rating.
I would say craft(smith) is the most likely candidate. Knowledge(engineering) would likely know the theoretical part behind it, but not how to actually apply it.
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Dungeoneering.
"Identify mineral, stone, or metal".
DC 10.