Hello, this is my first posting, just wondering, I’ve noticed that on page 243 the rules on how to make your own weapons in play are a little unclear. could a player theoretically make a sword with the usefull, deadly, and hooked traits? can one apply the same trait multiple times? and with a high enough success could you nix the negitive effects on any given weapon?
I don’t see why not. You’d just add up those factors. Useful (2) + Deadly (3) + Versatile (4). Now, that’s going to give you an Ob 9 test, so it’ll be extremely difficult, but then you’re making an extremely nice weapon.
There’s nothing in the rules about separating out weapon traits. As far as the text is concerned, Deadly grants you the boon and the drawback, and you can’t separate 'em.
Now, applying the same trait multiple times is trickier. If you wanted to make a sword that was 2x useful, that would be an Ob 4. To my inexperienced eye, that seems like a small price to pay for making it extra useful, granting you +2D in a conflict. So I don’t know.
For those not familiar with the rulebook, you kinda have to combine the stuff on p. 243 (Armorer Factors) with the stuff on pp 118-119 (Fighting Weapons).
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Agreed on that.
I honestly don’t know if you can even “double up” on factors.
A lot of the weapon traits obviously can’t get doubled up because they only “add their effect” once.
It is also interesting to see that some of the weapons on pp 118-119 suffer from bad workmanship. So the players are actually given a chance to improve on them. For example:
Shield (p.118) has both Protection and Heavy, implying that the average armorer seems to regularly fail at an Ob 2 test (inflicting Heavy)
I’m not quite sure what the deal is with Light and Heavy Armor (p.119). Perhaps additional words are needed to make the traits clearer? Maybe this should be used instead:
Light Armor
Light Armor: +1D to your disposition roll for the fight. Heavy: -1D to Health tests to resist fatigue
And that would mean that like the Shield, the average armorer regularly fails at an Ob 3 test (inflicting Heavy).
Oh … and that reminds me… on pp 118 and 119, Heavy is described as:
“Heavy: -1D to Health tests to resist fatigue”
However, on p. 243, Heavy is…
“Heavy: +1 Ob to Health tests to resist fatigue”
They’re not exactly equivalent. And if it is intentional, then it tells me that a player armorer who fails and gets a Heavy trait actually has something a lot worse than what they could get from a Resource roll.
Other things to think about if you want to get “craft-heavy” in the game:
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Resources. You can’t make something out of nothing, and as far as the RAW game goes, there’s no magic that would allow you to do so. So you may need to get some raw materials for your craft-work. There’s a guideline on p. 238 as to how much you need to get a finished product. It is rather interesting that the finished sword are at Ob 4, and the raw material for it is at Ob 3.
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Equipment. You may need special equipment. And these will likely be from a Smith. Under Smith factors (p. 253), you face a Ob 3 for “craftsmice tools”.
Depending on your GM, he may say that having the resources and/or equipment give you a bonus. But for me (and probably for many of us GMs), we want to give you a good (hard) time. And that means that if you don’t have the resources and/or equipment, then you either (a) can’t do the crafting at all, or (b) suffer some heavy dice penalties.
So, in “my world”, the weapon crafter would need to:
A. Procure tools of the trade, otherwise, you can’t do the trade.
A.1. If you are a smith, then …
A.1.a. … you’ll need to get resources to make the tool. (see #2)
A.2.b. … you’ll need to make the tool (Ob 3 for craftsmice tools … in this case “Armorer Tools”).
A.2.c. … if you want, you can increase the Ob to aim for a tool that gives you a bonus.
A.2. Or, you can Circle up a smith
A.2.a. … this may be at least an Ob 4 (non-laborer profession, at least mid-level power)
A.2.b. … and the smith may need resources to make the tool. (see #2)
B. Procure resources to make stuff, otherwise, you can’t make stuff.
B.1. Resource factors on p.238
B.2. If you want something special, you may need to go beyond the common stuff.
B.3. Failure is dangerous, as you can deplete resources!
C. Make stuff (using Armorer)
C.1. If you want something special, you may need better tools (#1) or better resources (#2).
C.2. If you want something special, you may need to increase the Ob (ie, going beyond the Factors described).
So … to answer my own question “Can you double up on factors?” … well, if I was GM, I’d say “Yes … but you need (a) better tools AND (b) better resources”.
Holy errata, Batman! How’d that get by the censors?
but what about the versitile trait? How could you apply that to anything but a halberd?