Blacksmith O.C.C.

By

Lord Draegar

Iron and steel. These two elements (okay, one element and one alloy) are absolutely essential to the formation of any advanced society. They are the most useful metals in the world that can be easily acquired and processed. The uses of these metals and their place in an even mildly advanced society are obvious. nails, horseshoes, weapons, axles, hinges, and gates all require metal in their construction. And who makes these modern miracles of invention? The blacksmith.

A blacksmith is a person who works iron and other metals into useful shapes, such as latches and morningstars. This requires long hours of backbreaking labor over a blazing hot fire, giving Smiths a high tolerance to pain and heat. They are skilled laborers and essential to any community or kingdom. Who else is going to keep the kingdom's swords or the village's plows in good repair?

Smithing is also a difficult trade to learn properly. Making a horseshoe isn't as easy as it might appear. Students may spend years learning in an apprenticeship, practicing the techniques used by masters to make even simple objects. Once trained, though, can make a decent living wherever they may go. Some people also may have a knack for making things, a natural talent for pounding metal into a workable shape. If training is added to this talent, the result can lead to astonishingly strong items and tools.

Becoming an adventurer may seem difficult for a blacksmith, but not overly difficult. The usual methods of getting the character on the road work, such as having the local priest send him on a quest or burning down his village. Alternately, the Smith could work for a travelling mercenary or military group, repairing their weapons and armor. Perhaps they are travellers, packing up their shop and going from town to town, selling their wares like merchants do. Or just make the character a Dwarf and have him toss back some moonshine in the local tavern (all kinds of trouble will result...).

Attribute Requirements: PE 12 or higher, and a PS of 13 or higher.

Attribute Bonuses: +1D4 to PE, +2 to PS, and is slightly more resistant to high temperatures.

O.C.C. Abilities/Skills:

Forging: Forging, also known as smithing, is the practiced art and skill of creating metal items by hand. This is accomplished by heating the object and then pounding, welding, or otherwise shaping the metal into a desired shape. Common objects made be smiths include horseshoes, nails, hinges, latches, harnessess, and metal weaponry. Base Percentage: 50% + 5% per level

Object			Time Required	Average Price	
Nail 			10 min 			1/2 gp each 	
Horseshoe 		2 hours 		5 gp 	
Small Latch 		4-5 days 		10 gp 	
Medium sized Latch 	1 Week 		20 gp 	
Large Latch 		7-10 days 		30 gp 	
Hinge 			2-4 days 		15 gp 	
Large Hinge 		3 Weeks 		30-50 gp 	
Chain 			1 Week 		15 gp per foot 	
Axle 			3 Weeks 		60 gp 	
Harness 		3 Weeks 		55 gp 	

Arrowhead 		30 minutes 		1/2 gp 	
Spearhead 		1 hour 			10 gp 	
Dagger 		6 hours 		See Book 	
Short Sword 		2 weeks 		See Book 	
Long Sword 		3 weeks 		See Book 	
Large Swords*		4 weeks 		See Book 
(Claymore, Bastard, Broadsword) *		
Pole arm 		1 week 		See Book 	
Iron Ball 		3-4 days 		30 gp
(for maces, flails, cannonshot, and shotputs)  	
Miscellaneous Parts/Tools 10 min and up depending on complexity 1/2 to 50
gp Cast Iron Objects 1-4 weeks depending on size 50-200 gp (plows,anvils,
crappy swords) Unusual Designs (depending on how complex the design) x1.5
to x3 of above +40 to +1000 gp 

(for maces, flails, cannonshot, and shotputs) Miscellaneous Parts/Tools
10 min and up depending on complexity 1/2 to 50 gp Cast Iron Objects 1-4
weeks depending on size 50-200 gp (plows,anvils, crappy swords) Unusual
Designs (depending on how complex the design) x1.5 to x3 of above +40 to
+1000 gp

Armor: See Book

Enhance Object:
Only about 5% of all blacksmiths exhibit this ability. Those that have it are capable of ehancing a weapon or object they make by infusing it with their own PPE. These objects are more resistant to damage, sharper, last longer, and are just generally better than their normal counterparts. Smiths with this ability can command at least twice as much as a normal smith for their products, with exceptional items gaining as much as Dwarven items. Each point of PPE infused into an object grants an additional 5% to all positive stats; meaning SDC, damage, range, and life span; or -5% to weight. Stats cannot be increased or decreased more than 50% of their original values. Alternately, the smith can expend 10 PPE and decrease the time it takes to forge an item by half, with no detriment to the quality of the item (no increase/decrease are possible in this case).

Additional Bonuses: +10% to all skills of a mechanical or repair nature +4D6 to PPE

O.C.C. Skills:
Language: Native + one of choice (98%)
Basic Math (+20%)
General Repair (+20%)
Cook (+10%)
Field Armorer (+10%)
Recognize Weapon Quality (+15%)
Sculpting/Whittling (+10%)
Hand to Hand: Basic

*Hand to Hand: Basic can be traded for Hand to Hand:Expert at a cost of two OCC Related or Secondary skills or Martial Arts at a cost of three. Assassin is not available. Specialized martial arts such as Ripclaw, Te, Aikodo, etc are subject to the Games Master's approval, cost is four OCC Related or Secondary Skills and the "time" investment. NOTE: If the character is going to be learning a specialized martial art then it is best for them to learn at level one, i.e. when the character is first rolled up.

O.C.C. Related Skills: Select Seven other skills.Gets two more at levels 3, 6, 8, 11, 13 , and 15.

Communications: Language and Public Speaking only
Domestic: Any
Espionage: Detect Concealment/Traps and Pick Locks only (+10%)
Horsemanship: General only
Medical: Animal Husbandry, Brewing, and First Aid only
Military: Heraldy only
Physical: Any except; Acrobatics and Gymnastics (+10% where applicable)
Rogue/Thief: Streetwise, Locate Secret Compartments (+10%), and Prowl only
Science: Archaeology only
Technical: Any (+10% to Gemology and Masonry)
W.P.: (Weapon Proficiencies) Any
Wilderness: Any (+10% to Boat Building and Carpentry)

Secondary Skills: Select five from the previous list. No bonuses.

Standard Equipment: A selection of hammers, chisels, and tongs. Also has a knife sharpening kit (whetstones, oil, rag, ect..), a handful of steel wool, and personal items Presumabley, the character will also have a shop somewhere that contains a number of anvils, furnace, a greater assortment of tools, iron stock, and a number of premade sellable objects on hand. Adventurers (or ex-adventurers) will also have two sets of travelling clothes, a hatchet, survival knife, 100' of cord or rope, tent, bed roll, backpack, 1D4 sacks, a water skin, emergency food rations (two weeks worth), a and a tinder box.

Armor: Will start out with a suit of studded leather armor (AR: 13, SDC: 38).

Weapons: Starts with a short sword, a dagger, his hammers, and one other weapon of choice. All are presumably made by the character or the character's master, and are medium to high quality. Magic weapons and other equipment must be made or otherwise aquired later.

Money: Has 4D6x100 gold in ready cash, plus will usually have a small assortment of sellable items worth 6D6x10+40 gold.

Experience Table: 
	 1          0   - 1,900
	 2       1,901  - 3,900
	 3       3,901  - 8,000
	 4       8,001  - 15,900
	 5       15,901 - 24,900
	 6       24,901 - 36,700
	 7       36,701 - 50,500
	 8       50,501 - 71,000
	 9       71,001 - 96,000
	10       96,001 - 131,500
	11      131,501 - 180,750
	12      180,751 - 241,500
	13      241,501 - 285,000
	14      285,001 - 330,000
	15      330,001 - 391,000



Jim's House Rules Modification: The Blacksmith uses 1d12 for hit dice, gaining 3d12 at first level.

For questions or a complete set of "Jim's House Rules" Click here.