Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Yuri_Zhivago 04-01-07, 12:01 AM	It has occurred to me that none of the sourcebooks I've read address a certain issue: any civilization of means will find a way to make something bland and useful into something pretty and... not useful. While a masterwork weapon or shield or instrument may be beautiful to an eye that knows what to look for, sometimes a noble wants to comission his livery engraved into the breastplates of his house guards, then colored with precious metal leaf and tiny worked gemstones. In that intrest, I've been thinking on a quality prefix for items, and cursory rules for it. Artisan Quality The artisan quality, like the masterwork quality, is something which may be added to a permanent creation that one could manufacture with the Craft skill. The crafter of an artisan's item must declare that the item will be of this quality before the crafting begins: the crafting requires materials not normally required for such an item (because they are unsuited for the item's normal function) which increase the price of the item (and, correspondingly, the cost of raw materials). Artisan quality items actually fall into two subsets: lesser and greater. Lesser Artisan Quality The lesser artisan quality can only be added to armor, instruments, weapons, and other relatively small creations. The market price a lesser artisan armor is the base price of the armor plus 300 gp, and the market price of a lesser artisan instrument, shield, or weapon is the base price plus 150 gp. Armors and shields of this quality impose a +1 increase to their Armor Check Penalties, and armors impose a -1 penalty to their Max Dex Bonuses. Instruments of this quality impose a -1 penalty to perform checks made with them. Weapons of this quality impose a penalty of -1 to any attack rolls made with them. The bearer of a lesser artisan item may count its value towards the value of any jewelry worn (for the purpose of determining the effeicacy of a courtier's, noble's, or royal's outfit, as well as other pertinent sums). A lesser artisan item may not also be masterwork. The DC to craft a lesser artisan item is 5 higher than normal. Greater Artisan Quality The greater artisan quality can be added to any permanent creation that one could manufacture with the Craft skill. This quality costs one third again extra for armor, instruments, weapons and the like (400 gp for armor, 200 gp for all else). in addition, a structure may be given this quality for an additional 5% of the structure's value. Small items of this quality grant the bonuses of lesser artisan quality without the penalties (and they can have the masterwork quality, as well). Structures of this quality provide the owner a +5 circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks made within them or within 50 feet of them. The DC to craft a greater artisan item is 10 higher than normal.
Yuri_Zhivago 04-04-07, 11:45 PM	A-hem. Teh Bump. A-hem.
TalRave 04-05-07, 01:54 AM	Sounds good for flavor. ^_^ Powergamers will look at this like it's an abomination though. Personally I think I'll be tweaking around with this and adding it to a few noble npcs. :D The negative modifiers are exactly as I would have expected them to be, but the greater class is a little quirky.... Frankly I think it can do without the greater/lesser tags and just be Artisan quality. And I probably won't use the structure rules personally.
Yuri_Zhivago 04-05-07, 03:45 AM	It is a little baroque, isn't it? My hope is not to appease power gamers: if anything, I think power gamers should get over themselves and play fantasy football, or something like, instead of wasting their energies on role-playing games. Seriously. But, that's a topic for another thread. I like the division of greater and lesser, because it IS possible to make something breath-stealingly beautiful without also making it useless, but far more common that it will be rendered useless by it's beauty. Thank you for your comments: I'm glad you like it, overall. Yuri
Watchman 04-05-07, 04:13 AM	I like the division of greater and lesser, because it IS possible to make something breath-stealingly beautiful without also making it useless, but far more common that it will be rendered useless by it's beauty.Not really as war gear goes. The people willing to shell out the dough for major decorative effect were also more often than not members of social and/or military elites and had a tendency on insisting the gear do its primary job properly if there was real chance it would need to. There's practically no end to the amount of extra "bling" you can work into a piece of armour or a weapon for impressive appereance (and to show off the owner's wealth) without compromising its functionality in any meaningful fashion. Gear purely for show is another issue - say, faux brigandine armour with just the layers of cloth and the "nails" but lacking the actual armour plates inside as Chinese military officials wore for ceremony at one point - but would in most cases count as something else instead (say, the above "armour" as something like Padded or Studded Leather tops instead of, well, whatever you now rate brigandine as) or of simply poor quality in spite of the level of craftsmanship that has gone into decorating it. D&D doesn't have rules for the latter phenomenom - ie. bad manufacturing standards - as is though. Personally I'd just treat such extra sumptuousness of appereance as a special effect. In certain situations a small skill bonus to for example Diplomacy and Intimidation could be justified as making an impression of a powerful and wealthy person, but most of the time it'd really be avoiding minor penalties for not "being dressed appropriately" at for example court - aristocrats and such were always expected to display their wealth and power in their appereance after all, and someone turning up in acoutrements inappropriate for his or her rank would naturally not be taken entirely seriously or as a major player. Anyway the bonus (and for that matter, Craft DC hike) could be tied to the amount of extra money spent on the decorations - on a scale with steeply diminishing return-of-interest to convey an idea of just how expensive this stuff can get for its own sake. Something along the lines of +1 for 500gp, +2 for 1,500gp, +3 for 5,000gp...
Yuri_Zhivago 07-29-07, 12:50 AM	Well, I recognize that D&D doesn't have those sorts of rules: that's why I made them. Your ideas seem good, but I wanted to know how well my rules seem, from a varied perspective. Yuri