Craft
Typically used with: Intellect.
In short: make a thing. When you get that creative itch, the Craft skill lets you scratch it. If you're an artisan or an artist, this skill is your bread and butter.
Craft is used when a character wants to make something from raw materials or repair an existing creation. Your creative itch might come in the form of ammunition, knots, medicines, weapons, meals, suits of armor, or works of art. You might even require a a set of tools or a specialized workshop to produce your creation. The ability to find the tools of the trade and a place suitable for making the item is sometimes as difficult as acquiring the knowledge to construct the thing in the first place.
Your GM has the final say on whether you can attempt to create any given thing, but any creation reasonably within the purview your character's Occupations should be fair game. For instance a sailor can tie knots, but only a shipwright or a carpenter would be able to make ship repairs.
Some creations or repairs might use a Machinery check instead of Craft if those pesky moving and working parts are involved.
Difficulty
When Crafting, the higher the DL, the more valuable, noteworthy, or complicated the item is.
Anybody can try their hand at crafting, but it's only the extremely lucky or the very experienced who can make something truly remarkable. The bonus from ranks in an Occupation relevant to the item being made are what separate the amateurs from the masters. For every 5 points away from the DL to create the item (either up or down), the quality of the item is affected. Unlike most skill checks, a failed Craft check during item creation still results in an item being created — it just sucks. This table demonstrates how the difference between the roll and the DL affect the quality.
| Difference | Quality |
|---|---|
| −10 | Awful (easily ruined, unbearable, sickening) |
| −5 | Not great (sub-par, bland, boring) |
| 0 | Normal (completely average and functional) |
| +5 | Good (above-average, attractive, memorable) |
| +10 | Outstanding (desirable, durable, well-performing) |
| +15 | Perfect (flawless, highly valued, coveted, powerful) |
| +20 | Legendary (rumored far and wide, actively sought after, priceless, nearly impossible to copy) |
Time
Craft checks take a varied amount of time depending on the complexity and size of the object.
Retry
Craft checks can be retried, but any materials used in the process of creating the failure are ruined. Critical Failures are usually pretty comical when creating items (you've dumped the entire pepper shaker into the stew, you've sewn the sleeve on inside-out, or your wooden spoon has a hole in it).
