One of the characters in a campaign I'm running took Jeweler's Tools proficiency expecting to put it to some use during the campaign. I looked in the DMG and XGE to see how it's treated. There's some Crafting there but nothing specific for a Jeweler. So, based on that, I wrote this.
Crafting an Item: Jeweler's Tools Can be used to melt precious metal and make jewels (requires a forge, smithy or equivalent setup), recut an available gem to increase its value, or combine an available piece jewelry and gem to create a new jewelry embedded with the gem for increased value. A character with Jeweler's Tools proficiency may spend a tenday working on recutting, crafting and forging jewels to generate additional value defined by the Jeweling Table. Roll a d20, add your Jeweler's Tools bonus. One more character can Help on the roll (provide Advantage) if they have proficiency with Jeweler's Tools.
Jeweling Table
Natural 1: The gum is scratched beyond repair and can't be worked on further. It is now worth half its initial value. The jewel is bent and broken beyond repair. You must reforge it with additional cost of half its initial value. <5: You made too many mistakes. Just fixing them took the rest of your tenday. 6-10: You scratched it too much. The value of the gem/jewel is halved. But it's still workable. 11-17: You created 50gp of additional value. 18-23: Created 100gp of additional value. 24<: Created 200gp of additional value.
I think less than 5 shouldn't do anything. I also think that a natural 1 should have consequences, even though that's not RAW. Otherwise, I quite like it: it's simple, elegant, and useful.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
As the simple activity just requires time and provides value, i don't want to take all of that away. But Critical results are a good notion. Any ideas?
I have no issue with the idea, I use it in my game, I had them working on magical stones to improve the functionality of it's innate properties.
I'd look into a risk/reward here, what happens if they roll under a 10, do they mar the surface and create a blemish that increases the time to craft by a few days? What if they roll a 4, do they crack and break the stone and make it's value drop significantly?
Just fine, as long as they're aware that there is a risk. Ones that I described when I implemented kit use tables that went beyond the blurbs in the core books. However, that's my table, and my game, I don't kid myself that all tables will work that way.
The analogy I'd like to present: there's a risk to taking a mallet and chisel to marble to make the Venus de Milo. Had there been one mis-step the marble would have been ruined and the project started over. Crafting a raw stone into a polished and faceted gem would harbor similar pitfalls.
Now, as I said in the previous post, a 10 causes a small scratch that would take time to buff and polish out, nothing serious, just a little more time. Could you make that threshold lower, to say maybe a 4 or 6, sure. Could you make it so that the gem is broken, sure, could you make that a 1, sure. What I was suggesting wasn't a punishment for the player, and that's where I think the hiccup is here. I wanted to present a psychological trick to make a mundane skill feel like it had a bit more life. If you only get rewarded from a task, there is a large loss in the sense of accomplishment after a scant few iterations of that task. If you add even the shadow of risk or failure, those successes carry more weight.
Thanks for these ideas! I created a character around being a jeweler because I thought experience with delicate work would be beneficial to a gunsmith/slinger, but I couldn't find any info on what he could actually do besides appraise gems.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Can be used to melt precious metal and make jewels (requires a forge, smithy or equivalent setup), recut an available gem to increase its value, or combine an available piece jewelry and gem to create a new jewelry embedded with the gem for increased value.
A character with Jeweler's Tools proficiency may spend a tenday working on recutting, crafting and forging jewels to generate additional value defined by the Jeweling Table. Roll a d20, add your Jeweler's Tools bonus. One more character can Help on the roll (provide Advantage) if they have proficiency with Jeweler's Tools.
<5: You made too many mistakes. Just fixing them took the rest of your tenday.
6-10: You scratched it too much. The value of the gem/jewel is halved. But it's still workable.
11-17: You created 50gp of additional value.
18-23: Created 100gp of additional value.
24<: Created 200gp of additional value.
Check out all my important links here.
May we live in Less Interesting Times
I think less than 5 shouldn't do anything. I also think that a natural 1 should have consequences, even though that's not RAW. Otherwise, I quite like it: it's simple, elegant, and useful.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
As the simple activity just requires time and provides value, i don't want to take all of that away. But Critical results are a good notion. Any ideas?
Check out all my important links here.
May we live in Less Interesting Times
I have no issue with the idea, I use it in my game, I had them working on magical stones to improve the functionality of it's innate properties.
I'd look into a risk/reward here, what happens if they roll under a 10, do they mar the surface and create a blemish that increases the time to craft by a few days? What if they roll a 4, do they crack and break the stone and make it's value drop significantly?
How would your players react if you took an activity that takes time and produces value and turn it on its head Like that?
Check out all my important links here.
May we live in Less Interesting Times
Just fine, as long as they're aware that there is a risk. Ones that I described when I implemented kit use tables that went beyond the blurbs in the core books. However, that's my table, and my game, I don't kid myself that all tables will work that way.
The analogy I'd like to present: there's a risk to taking a mallet and chisel to marble to make the Venus de Milo. Had there been one mis-step the marble would have been ruined and the project started over. Crafting a raw stone into a polished and faceted gem would harbor similar pitfalls.
Now, as I said in the previous post, a 10 causes a small scratch that would take time to buff and polish out, nothing serious, just a little more time. Could you make that threshold lower, to say maybe a 4 or 6, sure. Could you make it so that the gem is broken, sure, could you make that a 1, sure. What I was suggesting wasn't a punishment for the player, and that's where I think the hiccup is here. I wanted to present a psychological trick to make a mundane skill feel like it had a bit more life. If you only get rewarded from a task, there is a large loss in the sense of accomplishment after a scant few iterations of that task. If you add even the shadow of risk or failure, those successes carry more weight.
Edited.
Check out all my important links here.
May we live in Less Interesting Times
Thanks for these ideas! I created a character around being a jeweler because I thought experience with delicate work would be beneficial to a gunsmith/slinger, but I couldn't find any info on what he could actually do besides appraise gems.