For years you labored under a master smith, enduring long hours and slowly learning the art of transforming raw materials into useful and practical tools. This intense and often repetitive practice allowed you to develop the skills you possess today. You might have honed your talent in a dwarven mine deep within the earth, or perhaps as part of an orc warband forging weapons of war, or maybe you're simply a small town's standard blacksmith. Either way, your hands bear the marks of your labor and the rhythmic sounds of clanging metal rings like music to your ears.
- Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, History
- Tool Proficiencies: Smith's tools or a set of tools related to your craft
- Languages: Dwarvish or the language of whoever taught you
- Equipment: A set of artisan’s tools with which you are proficient, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 15 gp
A blacksmith can create a great many things but will generally have a specialty of sorts. Roll on the following table to determine your specialty or choose one that best fits your character.
| d6 | Crafting Specialty |
|---|---|
| 1 | Melee - Bludgeoning |
| 2 | Melee - Piercing |
| 3 | Melee - Slashing |
| 4 | Ranged Weapons |
| 5 | Armor and Shields |
| 6 | Adventuring Gear (grappling hooks, ball bearings, etc.) |
You are intimately familiar with the tools, materials, and techniques required to craft items of your specialty. You can create such items in half the time normally required.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables below as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Your bond is almost certainly related to the master or the clan that instructed you in the ways of the forge, or else to the work that you produce. Your ideal might have to do with maintaining the high quality of your work or preserving respected traditions of high craftsmanship.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I'm full of witty aphorisms and have a proverb for every occasion. |
| 2 | I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can’t help it—I’m a perfectionist. |
| 3 | I tend to look down on those who can’t appreciate true craftsmanship. |
| 4 | I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick. |
| 5 | I enjoy nothing more than a long drink after a day of working at my forge. |
| 6 | I like to talk at length about my profession. |
| 7 | I don’t part with my money easily and will haggle tirelessly to get the best deal possible. |
| 8 | I’m well known for my work, and I want to make sure everyone appreciates it. I’m always taken aback when people haven’t heard of me. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any) |
| 2 | Devotion. Every piece I make must be my best work and I must charge fairly for it. (Lawful) |
| 3 | Generosity. My talents were given to me so that I could use them to benefit the world. (Good) |
| 4 | Freedom. Everyone should be free to pursue his or her own livelihood. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | Greed. I’m only in it for the money. (Evil) |
| 6 | People. I’m committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | The workshop where I learned my trade is the most important place in the world to me. |
| 2 | I created a great work for someone, and then found them unworthy to receive it. I’m still looking for someone worthy. |
| 3 | I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today. |
| 4 | I hope to become famous by my craft, have my name outlive myself. |
| 5 | One day I will return to my guild and prove that I am the greatest artisan of them all. |
| 6 | I will get revenge on the evil forces that destroyed my place of business and ruined my livelihood. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | My work is never good enough, there's always room for improvement. |
| 2 | I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless. |
| 3 | I care more about my craft and creations than about those around me. |
| 4 | I’d rather eat my hammer than admit when I’m wrong. |
| 5 | My blood boils like the forge when I'm provoked. |
| 6 | I’m horribly jealous of anyone who can outshine my handiwork. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals. |
As an apprentice to a master artisan, you spent countless hours honing your skills and nurturing a fledgling proficiency in your chosen trade. Having since become a master in your own right, nimble hands and a clever mind now channel your creativity and skill into high-quality products and works of art. You might draft precise, detailed maps of majestic mountain ranges and deep hidden dungeons or pen thoughtful prose with the deft, delicate strokes of a calligrapher's pen. Perhaps you spin intricate ceramics at the potter's wheel or carefully lay glistening gemstones into precious metals to produce elegant jewelry. Whatever your specialty, dedication and great talent are clearly made manifest in your handiwork.
You are intimately familiar with the tools of your trade, the goods they create, and the mannerisms of fellow artisans. You are well acquainted with local merchants and can easily recognize the quality products and materials related to your specialty.
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