Post by Hematite on Jan 2, 2014 13:22:03 GMT
“Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.”
-Tom Stoppard
Unlife Imitates Art – Crafting Basics
To craft an item, the player first declares the item they wish to attempt to craft and the quality they wish to craft it at. The qualities are Basic, Uncommon, Rare, Ultra-Rare, or Masterpiece. The player then spends a variable number of Downtime Actions based on the quality of the item. Once all of the actions have been completed, the player makes an Attribute + Crafts roll. If physically crafting an item, the roll will either be Dexterity + Crafts or Strength + Crafts depending on the item. Items created using a mechanical fabricator use Intelligence, regardless of the original Attribute. For Intelligence-based Crafts, the player adds one die per level of either their Computer or Science knowledge as appropriate to the item. The test is made at difficulty 6, modified appropriately for applicable merits.
In addition to the normal roll, Specialties affect crafting more than other systems. A master painter will likely know next to nothing about mechanical engineering. As such, unless the user has an applicable Crafts specialty to the type of item being crafted, all Crafts rolls are made at a penalty of between +1 and +3 difficulty depending on how related his nearest applicable specialty is (+1 if a closely related specialty such as Masonry applying to a sculpture project, +2 if within a general type of craft such as Blacksmithing applying to Carpentry, and +3 if no even tangentially related specialty exists such as Painting applying to Mechanical Engineering).
The different qualities of items are defined below:
Basic: The average item of its kind. Can be purchased in most stores without difficulty.
Uncommon: High quality item. Can only be purchased from specialist dealers and usually extremely expensive.
Rare: Peak of normal human capability. Always custom made to order from a master craftsman. Not available in any store.
Ultra-Rare: Beyond normal human capability without the aid of advanced technology. Human craftsmen have only achieved this level of mastery on a fluke or in truly legendary cases. Not available for purchase anywhere.
Masterpiece: This transcends mundane craftsmanship, creating something so legendary it takes on mystical qualities. This is the Wayland blade, Excalibur’s sheath, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or the Walls of Troy.