Trade Classes
Adapted from Witch+Craft by Astrolago Press
Trade classes are a way to introduce crafting elements into the game. The details of creating your trade class are detailed below, with additional information for how crafting works in the side panel. Visit the Mediums and Techniques pages for additional information you will need for character creation, but that was too much information for this specific entry.
All trade classes share the same progression, detailed below. Your trade class level increases by tiers, beginning with tier 1 at combat class level 1. You gain a new tier whenever your proficiency bonus goes up (at combat class levels 5, 9, 13, and 17). You gain the following features when you unlock new tiers:
| Tier | Craft Dice | Stamina | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6 | 3 | Language Proficiency, Media, Stamina, Technique, Tool Proficiency, Workshop |
| 2 | 2d6 | 4 | Finishing Touches, Technique |
| 3 | 3d6 | 5 | Technique, Additional Tool Proficiency, Second Nature, Tool Proficiency Upgrade |
| 4 | 4d6 | 6 | Finishing Touches II, Technique |
| 5 | 5d6 | 7 | Insightful Talent, Technique |
Language Proficiency
At tier 1, you gain proficiency in one additional language of your choice. This language should reflect a lingua franca of your chosen Media, and may require consulting with your GM to determine what’s accurate to your campaign setting.
Media
At tier 1, after you’ve selected your trade, you must choose both a primary and secondary medium that focuses your chosen trade. Your primary medium covers the materials you will use in every project, while the secondary medium supplements the first. For example, as a blacksmith you would choose Metals as your primary medium and you might pick Textiles as your secondary, so that you can add leather fasteners, straps, and embellishments to your projects. Media are broken down into categories based on shared properties between materials:
- Crystals: stonework, gemcutting, mineral work, ceramics, and glass.
- Drafting: drawing, painting, cartography, penmanship, or even the crafting of words.
- Living Arts: flower arrangement, gardening, and the culinary arts, as well as hairstyling & cosmetic art;
- Metals: all metalwork, including gears and machinery;
- Textiles: all fabric, leather, and needlework.
- Wood: all wood & paper.
Note that these are general categories; selecting a medium doesn’t mean you’re fully versed in the scope of all its materials: a tapestry weaver is not the same as a leatherworker, a goldsmith is not a farrier, and a make-up artist is not a chef. This means that when you work on a project that falls outside the scope of either your Media or your chosen trade, you’ll use the “Crafting Generalism” rules and you will not gain the benefits of your trade class features and techniques.
For more information on Media and example trade class builds, go here.
Stamina
Starting at tier 1, you gain a total of 3 stamina, which is expended whenever you work on a project at a rate of 1 stamina per Difficulty Level multiplied by the project size, minimum of 1 (see the table below).
Your daily stamina is fully replenished at the end of each long rest, and your total daily stamina increases with your crafting tier. If a project requires more stamina than you could spend in one day, then the project dictates the number of days (and long rests between them) required to complete it: 6 stamina requires two days, 9 requires three, etc. The crafting action is only taken once, at the end of the duration. An entire day’s allotment of stamina equates to 8 hours’ work. Crafting times in smaller increments are determined by the GM.
| Project Size | Stamina Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Tiny | 0.5x |
| Small | 1x |
| Medium | 2x |
| Large | 3x |
| Huge | 4x |
Technically Talented
At tier 1 you gain two techniques of your choice from the “Techniques” section. You gain one additional technique at every new tier. At each new tier, you may choose one of the techniques you know and replace it with another technique for which you meet the prerequisites.
For more information on Techniques, go here.
Tool Proficiency
At tier 1 you gain proficiency in one set of tools relevant to your chosen trade.
At tier 3 you gain another tool proficiency of your choice. Additionally, choose one toolkit that you are proficient with; you now gain double your proficiency bonus when you use that toolkit during a craft action.
Workshop
At tier 1, if required by your trade, you take possession of a modest workshop. This workshop includes larger tools necessary for the practice of your craft, but nothing advanced, magical, or highly specialized. Your workshop may have personal decorations or embellishments and is likely to reflect your back - ground and origin, but at tier 1 is a humble operation, such as a backyard shed, a rented attic suite, or a small corner of a busy workshop. Some tier 1 workshops may even have portable components, such as a folding easel for plein air studies, a tripod for astronomy, or a seed collection kit.
Finishing Touches
At tier 2, you learn to relax and achieve greater control of the craft action. During the fine-tuning stage, you may reroll one d6 and use the second result, reduce the flaw stack of the project by one, or increase the boon stack of the project by one. You can use this feature twice per project starting at tier 4.
Second Nature
At tier 3, you can choose to forgo the craft action on a DL 1 project. If you do, the project is automatically created with no boons or flaws. Time, base materials, and craft stamina are required and spent normally.
Insightful Talent
At tier 5, you may choose to double the stamina cost of a project, allowing you to roll all your crafting dice twice and choose your result. When you do so, roll your total craft dice at once, tally the total including boons and flaws, and then roll again: you may pick your result from either total.
Crafting
Crafting rolls require only a d6 and six steps:
- Blueprint. You propose a project.
- Challenges. The GM imposes a Difficulty Level based on the specifications of the project. They will also list the base materials required to make the crafting attempt at all.
- Preparation. You may prepare for the project in order to improve your chances of success.
- Craft Action. You begin the project, rolling to qualify your success.
- Fine-tuning. After the rolls are in, you may choose to expend bonuses to alleviate any potential flaws.
- Appraising. When all is said and done, the item is created, and its features and flaws known.
Craft Rolls
All crafting attempts by default start with a base 1d6 + a related tool kit modifier and proficiency you might have. Successfully beating this DC creates an item; failing to do so destroys your materials.
Each advantage that you gained from the preparation stage grants an additional d6 which may be added to your roll, significantly improving your odds of success. You may roll these d6 all at once, or one at a time, stopping when you beat the DC if you so choose. Once a die has been rolled it can’t be removed from your crafting attempt.
Any d6 that lands on a one introduces a flaw, and likewise, any d6 that lands on a six introduces a boon. Flaws and boons can stack to create unintended (and potentially dangerous) side effects of your crafting attempt and should therefore be considered carefully. The more flaws an object has, the worse; and the more boons, the better.
Challenges
The difficulty is set based on the following levels:
Level 1-2 Basic/Simple
Items of this difficulty are simple or routine items that even an apprentice should be able to tackle, such as a woven leather bracelet, a simple sewn tunic, a horseshoe, or a grilled cheese sandwich.
Level 3-4 Intermediate/Advanced
Items of this difficulty require time, technique, and experience to construct. For example: a beautifully embroidered shirt, a non-magical weapon, or a flambé.
Level 5-6 Complex/Master
These items demand a commitment of time and energy, require a master’s hand, and may even be magical. Attempting this project without the relevant proficiencies or even trade classes is likely impossible (at your GM’s discretion). For example: an enchanted sword, a bejeweled crown, or a sea-worthy keelboat. Projects of DL 5 or higher can only be created one at a time (i.e. one glove, one cupcake) regardless of convention.
Level 7+ Exemplary/Legendary
These items require cross-disciplinary training unattainable by most tradespeople. The base materials themselves are difficult to acquire, and the project requires a certain amount of preparation or high-quality materials as part of its base materials. A collaboration between at least two masters is a necessity, and each of you must make and succeed on the craft action checks independently of the other (though you may share resources in your respective preparations). The resulting creation will have latent magic built into its foundation just from the crafting effort alone.
The DC of a project is determined by its level, and is calculated like so: {Difficulty Level × 5} + 5 Therefore, a DL 1 project will have a DC of 10, and a DL 7 project will have a DC of 40.
Preparation
Once the challenge has been set, you can begin to prepare. Preparation falls into the following categories:
- Knowledge. You study the subject in advance, either from source materials or an NPC mentor (either of which may be difficult to access).
- High-Quality Materials. You spend time finding high-quality materials that can’t be easily acquired from a shop.
- Assistance. You recruit a fellow player or an NPC of an appropriate complementary skill to lend a hand or provide guidance in the effort. The NPC must be different from your mentor (if you have one) and the skill cannot be identical to your own.
- Sacrifice. You willingly sacrifice something of personal value in order to improve the quality of the craft. Think of this less as the demands of your work and more as your priorities changing as your character develops and matures. The severity of the sacrifice should match the level of the challenge.
- Generosity. It’s the thought that counts. You will always gain a benefit whenever the item is being crafted for someone else, as the act of consideration makes the domestic magic more powerful. This does not apply when the item is going to be sold or has been commissioned, when the materials have been provided by the intended recipient with an expectation of some form of return, or when the item will benefit only you even in the hands of another (such as a healing potion that may be used to heal you). It definitely doesn’t apply for objects intended to harm the recipient: a poisoned pie, while intended to be given away, does not exactly count as generous.
You may choose to acquire one or all of these preparation advantages before you begin your craft action. However, you can only earn each advantage once per project (unless a technique provided by your trade class states otherwise).
Furthermore, a GM may choose to award 1d6 for inspiration to any crafter who goes the extra mile to find creative, immersive solutions to crafting problems. Inspiration d6s cannot be sought and crafters should only possess one use of inspiration at a time.
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