Armor Crafting

Armor Crafting at The Blacksmith is where you can create your own armor. Much like weapon crafting, this can seem complex at first, but once you understand the system you will be able to create armor tailored exactly to your character's needs,  and it will always be better than what you can buy off the shelf.

How To Use The Blacksmith

Before you can start to use the blacksmith for crafting armor, you will want to understand how to do so. The more you understand, the easier the process will be and the better the armor you will be able to have made.

Reading This Page

This page is divided into two main sections: Armor Designs and Armor Materials.

• Armor Designs: The design is the shape, form, and construction of the armor piece, be it a chain mail, a plate breastplate, a leather cowl, and so on. The design determines how many dice of protection the armor provides, its base Defense and Spirit values, its Evade Modifier, and its weight. Designs also have Design Enhancements that can be applied to improve or modify the finished piece. Every armor piece must have a design.
• Armor Materials: The material is what the armor is made from such as steel, leather, manna silk, and so on. The material determines the type of dice used for Physical and Magical Armor, as well as any special properties the finished piece may have. Every armor piece must have a material.

Each component is listed on a table with the following fields: Component, Crafting Level, Physical Armor, Magical Armor, Defense, Spirit, Evade Modifier, Weight, Space Taken, Other Information, Build Time, and Cost. A few that might need explanation:

Crafting Level: The crafting skill required to work with this component. Components are listed as Basic, Novice, Better, or Advanced. The highest level component used determines the skill required for the entire piece.

Physical Armor / Magical Armor: These are listed as either a flat number or a dice expression. Designs provide the number of dice; materials provide the dice type. When combined, the design's dice count uses the material's dice type. For example, a Chain Mail Design provides 2 dice of Physical Armor. If you use Steel (a d8 material), the result is 2d8 Physical Armor.

Build Time: this is the time it takes to make that component. It is listed in hours.

The Basics of Making Armor

Making armor is simpler than making a weapon because it only has two steps: choose a design and choose a material, then combine them. Let's walk through an example by crafting a Argentum Chain Mail.

First Step: Choose Your Design

The design tells the blacksmith what kind of armor piece to make. Let's choose the Mail - Chain design.

The Chain Mail gives us 2 dice of Physical Armor and 2 dice of Magical Armor. The actual die type is determined by the material.

Second Step: Choose Your Material

Now we choose what the helmet is made from. For this example build we want Argentum.

Argentum gives us d8 for Physical Armor and d6 for Magical Armor.

If you were to add enhancements that would be the next step, but that is simple addition, similar to as it is found in the armor shops. For now, we will move on to the final step.

Third and Final Step: Combine Design and Material

Now we combine them. The design's dice count uses the material's dice type:

Behold, the completed Argentum Chain Mail! Notice that it is significantly cheaper than what is in the shop. That is the benefit of going through the blacksmith, you are spending more time but less money. It can be even cheaper if you have the skill to do it yourself, as then you wouldn't have the blacksmith fee. It is also possible to make your armor even better than what is in the shop, especially with the right enhancements. 

Simply remember the following:

• Always add before you multiply. If a component has a multiplier, apply it after adding all flat values together.
• Round up Defense and Spirit. These cannot have decimals. Round up even for 0.1 differences so nothing is lost.
• Every armor piece needs a design and a material. You cannot use a material without a design or vice versa.
• Design enhancements are applied before combining with the material. Enhancements modify the design's values first; then the material dice type is applied to the modified design.
• Flat armor values are not affected by material dice. A design that says "flat 1 Physical Armor" always gives exactly 1, regardless of material. The material's die type only applies to values listed as "dice."
• Materials with no Physical or Magical Die produce no armor of that type. Steel has no Magical Die, so Steel armor never has Magical Armor regardless of design.
• You must increase the total cost by 25% (x1.25) to pay the blacksmith for labor and taxes, unless you have the crafting skill to make the armor piece yourself. Certain settings may add an additional fee.
• The armor you craft could be better and cheaper than what you can buy already made. Crafting is worth the effort.

Armor Design Components

These are the designs you can choose from when crafting armor. The design determines the armor slot, the number of protection dice, and the base Defense, Spirit, Evade, and weight values.

Head Design Components

These are your helmets and other headwear.

Cape & Cloak Design Components

These are to create your cape and cloaks.

Body Design Components

These are your body armor.

Shield Design Components

These are to make your shields.

Hand Design Components

These are your gloves and gauntlets

Foot Design Components

These are for crafting your armored footwear and specialized combat footwear.

Armor Enhancement Components

These enhancements can be applied to any armor design before combining with the material. Enhancements modify the design's values first; the material die type is then applied to the modified totals.

Armor Materials

These are the materials you can use to craft your armor designs. The material determines the die type for Physical and Magical Armor, the weight of the finished piece, any special properties, and the cost per pound.