Post by king of hyrule on Aug 29, 2005 21:20:15 GMT -5
Artisan
Bombs, boomerangs, hook shots, bombchus, ladders, and rafts; these are staple items in the world of the Legend of Zelda, and it is the artisan who creates them. While there are certainly more mundane craftsmen willing and able to make such items, it is the artisan who truly shines in his ability to craft and design unique tools and items. Masters of skills and true geniuses of creation, artisans fill the creative niche in the world of the Legend of Zelda that fuels so many incredible adventures.
Adventures: Artisans have many reasons to get out and see the world. First, what better place is there for the testing and experimentation of their newest gadgets? Artisans thrive on the opportunities adventuring present to
test out their latest wares and creations. Adventures also help fuel an artisan’s creative aspirations by providing a
means of income. Inventions can be expensive, and the
plundering of ancient tombs, labyrinths, and dungeons has
the possibility to provide a hearty income of rupees. Of
course, experimentation and income are not the only
reasons for artisans to adventure. Many seek the rush
of a life on the road and the thrills that follow. Like any
adventurer, an artisan may choose a life of danger and
action simply for the thrill of it, and of course, for the
rewards in fame, wealth, and experience it may bring.
Characteristics: Artisans are masters of skills, no question
about it. When it comes to a task that seems impossible, it is up to the artisan to figure it out. Whether through the
creation, use of an invention, or use of skills, the artisan is by far the most adaptable member of any party. While no true warrior, the artisan can hold his own in combat, and when employing gadgets as weapons, artisans can be downright deadly. Artisans tend to be an inquisitive lot.
Aggressive in their search for knowledge and creativity, but focused. Some artisans tend to be cluttered and clumsy, while others appear meek and orderly. Each artisan is as different and unique as the inventions they create, be they
hover boots, magnetic gloves, bombchus, or something simple as a spring blade. Others forgo exotic inventions for the mundane weaponry, armor and equipment, seeking to enhance and refine them to their most efficient.
Focus: Artisans have a strong pull toward the light focus. For the most part, they work to create things that improve life around them or help others with tasks. This is not to say that some shadow-focused artisans do not use their
talents for warfare or plunder. However, the creation of weapons is not an aspect of dark focus itself. Many artisans lean towards the shadow focus as well, utilizing their craft solely for personal purposes.
Background: Artisans hail primarily from a middle class background. For many, the life of a worker or farmer presents no challenge. Their ambition ranges far beyond such menial tasks, and their creativity is stifled by such blunt labor. Many also come from upper class or noble
backgrounds as well. The luxuries of wealth and time the upper echelons of society afford a budding artisan are invaluable in honing and shaping their creative abilities.
Understandably, very few artisans come from lower class or peasant backgrounds. Perhaps the majority come from the merchant niche of society, where the sale of goods and
items is a regular part of daily life for many folk.
Races: Most races have artisans to some degree or another. Gorons, dekus, and subrosians seem to have
more than other races do due to their love of arts, crafts, and the mercantile trades. Gerudo artisans are rare, as are zoran artisans. The two races have little love for such
ingenuity outside of their personal trades and are, for the most part, solitary folk. There are a fair number of hylian artisans as well. They are often found scattered throughout the shops and cities of the world, plying the latest creations for sale.
Other Classes: When it comes to artisans, no one can touch them in the skill department, except maybe academics. Their ability to acquire cross-class skills and make them class skills makes them valuable members
of any team. When put in a party, artisans are easily the most adaptable. Their decent combat abilities lend them good favor with warriors and wilderfolk. Their skill mastery and support abilities through inventions and odd items make them great partners with drifters and performers as well. Nobles sometimes have trouble getting along with artisans due to the occasional hiccup in outlook and focus, and some wizzrobes feel the artisan’s skills are weak and simple compared to the power of the Tri-Force.
Game Rule Information
Abilities: Intelligence is by far the most important ability for artisans, since this leads directly to additional skill points to put into both his Craft skills and his designs. Dexterity and
Constitution are both relatively useful as well, since these allow him to add fine detail to his creations, and to concentrate and work on them all day.
Hit Die: d6
Starting Rupees: 5d4 x 10
Class Skills
The artisan’s class skills (and the key abilities for
each) are Alchemy (Int), Appraise (Int),
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device
(Int), Knowledge (arcane), Knowledge
(architecture and engineering) (Int), Open Lock
(Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Use Magic
Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at First Level: (8 + Int mod) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 8 + Int
mod
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An artisan is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, and light armor.
Master Craftsman: An artisan is a master of building things. At 1st level, an artisan is proficient in all crafts, and may use craft skills even if he has no ranks in them.
Versatility: The artisan is a student in a vast range of skills, from the practical to the downright eclectic. Therefore, the artisan can choose an extra skill to be a class skill at 2nd
level, and an extra skill every three levels after that.
Weapon Familiarity: The artisan is not only a creator and inventor of items and weapons; he is a user of them as well. Starting at 2nd level, an artisan suffers only a -2 penalty when wielding weapons he is not proficient with.
Skill Focus: An artisan’s life and trade revolve around the creating of items and their use. Starting at 3rd level, the artisan receives the feat Skill Focus feat for any single Crafts skill or the Alchemy skill.
Determine Composition: An artisan is familiar with many substances and elements. By spending a full round in study and taking no actions except total defense action, the artisan may make an Alchemy check (DC 15 + monster’s
CR) to determine what subtype a monster is (aberration, undead, construct, etc).
Fast Creation: The artisan may halve the time it takes for item construction. This ability is automatically used in the construction of items. Improved Skill Focus: At 7th level and every four levels afterwards, the artisan receives an additional +1 stacking bonus from his Skill Focus feat on his Alchemy or Craft skills.
Impromptu Creation: An artisan may attempt a hasty creation of an item when in tight circumstances. By passing his Craft or Alchemy check, the artisan may cut reduce the item’s creation time by ¾. However, there is a cumulative 10% chance per use that the item will break when used.
Determine Weakness: As an artisan progresses in his studies of elements and substances, he becomes familiar with pinpointing weaknesses in living creatures. By spending a full round in study and taking no actions except the total defense action, the artisan may make an Alchemy check (DC 15 + monster’s CR) to determine what a monster’s weakness is (energy type or otherwise).
Magic Infusion: The artisan eventually learns to hone his designs to a near perfect level. For every five permanent magic points the artisan spends, he may increase the bonus of any masterwork item he creates by +1, up to a
maximum masterwork bonus of +5. This bonus is not magical, and is treated as a normal masterwork weapon. The spent magic points may never be recovered or recouped in any way.
Bombs, boomerangs, hook shots, bombchus, ladders, and rafts; these are staple items in the world of the Legend of Zelda, and it is the artisan who creates them. While there are certainly more mundane craftsmen willing and able to make such items, it is the artisan who truly shines in his ability to craft and design unique tools and items. Masters of skills and true geniuses of creation, artisans fill the creative niche in the world of the Legend of Zelda that fuels so many incredible adventures.
Adventures: Artisans have many reasons to get out and see the world. First, what better place is there for the testing and experimentation of their newest gadgets? Artisans thrive on the opportunities adventuring present to
test out their latest wares and creations. Adventures also help fuel an artisan’s creative aspirations by providing a
means of income. Inventions can be expensive, and the
plundering of ancient tombs, labyrinths, and dungeons has
the possibility to provide a hearty income of rupees. Of
course, experimentation and income are not the only
reasons for artisans to adventure. Many seek the rush
of a life on the road and the thrills that follow. Like any
adventurer, an artisan may choose a life of danger and
action simply for the thrill of it, and of course, for the
rewards in fame, wealth, and experience it may bring.
Characteristics: Artisans are masters of skills, no question
about it. When it comes to a task that seems impossible, it is up to the artisan to figure it out. Whether through the
creation, use of an invention, or use of skills, the artisan is by far the most adaptable member of any party. While no true warrior, the artisan can hold his own in combat, and when employing gadgets as weapons, artisans can be downright deadly. Artisans tend to be an inquisitive lot.
Aggressive in their search for knowledge and creativity, but focused. Some artisans tend to be cluttered and clumsy, while others appear meek and orderly. Each artisan is as different and unique as the inventions they create, be they
hover boots, magnetic gloves, bombchus, or something simple as a spring blade. Others forgo exotic inventions for the mundane weaponry, armor and equipment, seeking to enhance and refine them to their most efficient.
Focus: Artisans have a strong pull toward the light focus. For the most part, they work to create things that improve life around them or help others with tasks. This is not to say that some shadow-focused artisans do not use their
talents for warfare or plunder. However, the creation of weapons is not an aspect of dark focus itself. Many artisans lean towards the shadow focus as well, utilizing their craft solely for personal purposes.
Background: Artisans hail primarily from a middle class background. For many, the life of a worker or farmer presents no challenge. Their ambition ranges far beyond such menial tasks, and their creativity is stifled by such blunt labor. Many also come from upper class or noble
backgrounds as well. The luxuries of wealth and time the upper echelons of society afford a budding artisan are invaluable in honing and shaping their creative abilities.
Understandably, very few artisans come from lower class or peasant backgrounds. Perhaps the majority come from the merchant niche of society, where the sale of goods and
items is a regular part of daily life for many folk.
Races: Most races have artisans to some degree or another. Gorons, dekus, and subrosians seem to have
more than other races do due to their love of arts, crafts, and the mercantile trades. Gerudo artisans are rare, as are zoran artisans. The two races have little love for such
ingenuity outside of their personal trades and are, for the most part, solitary folk. There are a fair number of hylian artisans as well. They are often found scattered throughout the shops and cities of the world, plying the latest creations for sale.
Other Classes: When it comes to artisans, no one can touch them in the skill department, except maybe academics. Their ability to acquire cross-class skills and make them class skills makes them valuable members
of any team. When put in a party, artisans are easily the most adaptable. Their decent combat abilities lend them good favor with warriors and wilderfolk. Their skill mastery and support abilities through inventions and odd items make them great partners with drifters and performers as well. Nobles sometimes have trouble getting along with artisans due to the occasional hiccup in outlook and focus, and some wizzrobes feel the artisan’s skills are weak and simple compared to the power of the Tri-Force.
Game Rule Information
Abilities: Intelligence is by far the most important ability for artisans, since this leads directly to additional skill points to put into both his Craft skills and his designs. Dexterity and
Constitution are both relatively useful as well, since these allow him to add fine detail to his creations, and to concentrate and work on them all day.
Hit Die: d6
Starting Rupees: 5d4 x 10
Class Skills
The artisan’s class skills (and the key abilities for
each) are Alchemy (Int), Appraise (Int),
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device
(Int), Knowledge (arcane), Knowledge
(architecture and engineering) (Int), Open Lock
(Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Use Magic
Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at First Level: (8 + Int mod) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 8 + Int
mod
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An artisan is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, and light armor.
Master Craftsman: An artisan is a master of building things. At 1st level, an artisan is proficient in all crafts, and may use craft skills even if he has no ranks in them.
Versatility: The artisan is a student in a vast range of skills, from the practical to the downright eclectic. Therefore, the artisan can choose an extra skill to be a class skill at 2nd
level, and an extra skill every three levels after that.
Weapon Familiarity: The artisan is not only a creator and inventor of items and weapons; he is a user of them as well. Starting at 2nd level, an artisan suffers only a -2 penalty when wielding weapons he is not proficient with.
Skill Focus: An artisan’s life and trade revolve around the creating of items and their use. Starting at 3rd level, the artisan receives the feat Skill Focus feat for any single Crafts skill or the Alchemy skill.
Determine Composition: An artisan is familiar with many substances and elements. By spending a full round in study and taking no actions except total defense action, the artisan may make an Alchemy check (DC 15 + monster’s
CR) to determine what subtype a monster is (aberration, undead, construct, etc).
Fast Creation: The artisan may halve the time it takes for item construction. This ability is automatically used in the construction of items. Improved Skill Focus: At 7th level and every four levels afterwards, the artisan receives an additional +1 stacking bonus from his Skill Focus feat on his Alchemy or Craft skills.
Impromptu Creation: An artisan may attempt a hasty creation of an item when in tight circumstances. By passing his Craft or Alchemy check, the artisan may cut reduce the item’s creation time by ¾. However, there is a cumulative 10% chance per use that the item will break when used.
Determine Weakness: As an artisan progresses in his studies of elements and substances, he becomes familiar with pinpointing weaknesses in living creatures. By spending a full round in study and taking no actions except the total defense action, the artisan may make an Alchemy check (DC 15 + monster’s CR) to determine what a monster’s weakness is (energy type or otherwise).
Magic Infusion: The artisan eventually learns to hone his designs to a near perfect level. For every five permanent magic points the artisan spends, he may increase the bonus of any masterwork item he creates by +1, up to a
maximum masterwork bonus of +5. This bonus is not magical, and is treated as a normal masterwork weapon. The spent magic points may never be recovered or recouped in any way.