FASA Games, Inc.

Had a question of whether a weaponsmiths craftsman tools would be free since characters get free Artisan tools and the craftsman skills can be considered Artisan skills.

Then I did a bit of reading and realized that the craftsman talent is a huge - poorly thought out can of worms.

​The Craftsman Talent gives you ALL Craftsman Skills.
​Craftman Tools are specific to the Craft being used. Leather-working tools, Carpentry tools, metalworking tools, wheelwright tools, etc. Each and every kit costs about 25sp and weights about 5 pounds. I presume there are many exceptions to this (such as metalworking tools).
​You have all the skills, but how many tools do you need to use them all?
​And then the 5th circle Traveling Smithy talent seems to indicate you need magic to overcome the lack of proper tools.

So I consider myself a fairly generious GM, and here is what I am leaning towards, but would appreciate feedback.
General Handy-man tools cost 25sp and weigh 5 pounds. A Weaponsmith gets a set for free and they constitute adequate tools for very simple repairs, etc. But are inadequate for making most things from scratch.
The Weaponsmith can buy additional toolkits for specific crafts after negotiation with the GM over prices. Some crafts require much more expensive/heavy equipment than others.

So - The Weaponsmiths craftsman tallent gives all craftsman skills.
That means that if provided with proper tools he can use any of them to do any craftsman profession.
Without tools he can use none of them hardly at all - except to make simple repairs.

At 5th circle he can use the Traveling Smithy talent to magically provide tools for metelworking only?
A generous GM might allow the Traveling Smithy talent to magically provide any craftsman tools (leather-working, sail-making, etc.).
That sound about correct?​

I probably wouldn't give a starting Weaponsmith all craftsman tools. They might have access to them at home (or at a smithy, etc), but they would probably have a traveling toolkit (kind of like you describe) focused on their 'primary' trade (whatever that happens to be).

And yes, I wouldn't have a problem with the Traveling Smithy ability to provide access to other types of tools, subject to the same penalty.

The idea behind the "Craftsman" ability (like "Entertainer" for the Troubadour) is twofold:

1) Eliminate the need for the character to acquire/buy up skills in order to do stuff they should be able to do simply by being an adept of that Discipline.

2) Explicitly call out that ability, rather than leave it in the nebulous realm of half-magic.

Even though those talents effectively give the adept a broad array of skills, they are there largely for role-playing flavor (which is why they're free) and access to those things doesn't throw anything out of balance.

Within the setting, even though Troubadours/Weaponsmiths have this broad ability, most probably favor or focus on a couple of areas.

Yes, I would agree with everything you said, except that almost all PC Weaponsmiths are going to have the primary focus of crafting weapons, which not only requires tools, but a full forge.
I suppose a PCs 5 pound traveling toolkit can include light metalworking tools, just not a forge, bellows, anvil, and hammer.

On the third hand, you are correct. The craftsman ability needs to be broad to overcome it's lameness. If the PC needs to fix a cart, he has the knowledge and the tools. If he needs to build a barrel, he can. If he wants to forge a weapon, he needs a forge.

Yes, this ties the novice Weaponsmith back to a larger Forge, allowing access to trainers and embroiling them in the community the Forge is located in.

I would say a toolbox worth of stuff. Keep it simple. In modern times, if I was a mechanic and got my artisan tools, I would expect things like a socket set, not a hydraulic lift.

I would think a Weaponsmith toolkit would be pretty straightforward.

After all, it only contains two things:

Duct tape and WD-40.

Or Stick Together and Icy Surface, as the case may be.

Thx for the good laugh. Have nothing more to add, but just wow. It made me laugh for a couple of minutes.