Talk:Blacksmith

Do we need a class, codicil, or at least a skill suite for a Blacksmith character?



I made two related skill suites on the forums, Armor-Smith & Swordsmith.



Apprenticeship time
Top-tier blacksmiths might have something like this, but it would be rather rare. Most of your workaday metalwork can be done by anyone with journeyman or even apprentice blacksmithing alone. Pricing and wage schema are based on this. Most occupations are single-skilled, and journeymen are sufficiently professional and competent.

Once a smith's skills get to the 'I can pretty much make anything' level, there really isn't room to improve upwards. However, since depth is fully plumbed, the master smith can resort to breadth. That is, rather than simply capping out at master+, or collecting a series of master-level specialisations, a master blacksmith can learn to craft weapons or armour, become a skilled engraver, etc. This is largely what your prospective suites do, but their existence implies that these broader skills are learned at the beginning of one's career rather than at its zenith.

As it is currently, one studies for a minimum of 400 hours to become a blacksmith. Few junior apprentices would have high enough Wits or Common Sense scores to make testing the time down something to seriously consider. Also, the average student only has a 40% chance-to-learn. Factoring in the From One Many guideline, the handful of students who would have significant Wits or Common Sense scores (or a lucky roll), and adult learners who put a few points into Knowledge, we can round up the pass/fail rate to 50%. That's actually a bit generous, but it makes our example math easier to grasp. In other words, after 400 hours of instruction, study, and practice, half of our would-be blacksmiths need to start over with the whole block of instruction again.

400 hours is quite a bit, even if it's dedicated time with a qualified teacher, whether one-on-one or in a classroom environment. Even if all possible hours of the day were dedicated to learning blacksmithing (such a cram-style environment really only suitable for a spy who desperately needs to pose as a smith and distinguished expertise wouldn't cut it, or maybe, possibly, military engineering training) then over two months of constant effort would be needed. Half of those attempting would need over four months, and half of those would need 6 1/4 months. Just for the apprentice level of the skill. The cost for the teacher (not including coal, tools, or metal for practice) would be 570₲, or enough for three warhorses with gear.

Far more likely is that the prospective apprentice blacksmith learned during a traditional apprenticeship. On-the-job training counts toward study at a 4:1 ratio, or two hours a day. This is 250 days, or most of the year, for lucky/sharp students. Half of them would need 500 days, and half would need over two years. Again, this is just to get to the basic entry-level apprenticeship, the point where the apprentice can actually do useful work instead of just sweeping up ash and coal dust. When one considers that most apprenticeships start during knuckle-headed adolescence, the learning time slows further. Four or five years just to the apprentice level is not unheard of. Progressing into journeyman level of crafting takes considerably longer. Considering that an apprentice is, at best, a competent assistant, most apprentices will stay with their master until they are journeymen sometime during early adulthood.

This is all just for the one skill. It's certainly possible for a dedicated university-level scholastic smithing program could be developed. Caerwyn or Darkmouth University could create something akin to the ceolsige guild. It would be quite intensively time-consuming, and an expensive investment, not to mention would likely have a large dropout rate, but it could be done.


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