9.29 FORGING

Command Summary:
FORGING LIST
FORGING SHOW <descriptor>
FORGINGCOMMS [descriptor1] [descriptor2] <weapon/armour>
FORGE FOR [descriptor1] [descriptor2] <weapon/armour>


This help file describes how Forging works and applies to both Weaponsmithing and Armoursmithing.

Both the tradeskills of Weaponsmithing and Armoursmithing are forms of Forging and work substantially the same, except, of course, that weapons are made in one and armour in the other. Anytime this file refers to either weapons or armour, you can assume that the other works the same unless called out otherwise.


Summary
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This is a summary of how the system works. Full details are further down the help file.

The Forging tradeskills (Weaponsmithing and Armoursmithing) allow you to create weapons or armour out of commodities such as steel, iron, obsidian, leather, and so on.

In the skills of Weaponsmithing and Armoursmithing, you'll gain the ability to forge different kinds of weapons and armour.

To let you customise the appearance of these, you can select up to two adjectives called 'descriptors' from a list you can access via FORGING LIST. Descriptors are words like sharp, radiant, magenta, gigantic, and so on.

Descriptors are assigned to a Smithing Rank, from Apprentice Blacksmith up to Master Blacksmith, with more advanced descriptors costing substantially more to use. These correspond to Smithing Ranks, and you must be of at least that Smithing Rank to use descriptors of that rank.

Descriptors may also have category-based restrictions, such as being usable only on edged weapons or soft armour.

As you forge items with descriptors, you gain a chance of producing an item with that descriptor more cheaply than otherwise. Eventually, with enough mastery over that descriptor, you gain an opportunity to add 1-3 stat points to that item.



How to Forge
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1. Find a forge. You can find these in many places around Achaea. Cities have them, Houses often have them, Temples often have them, and so on.

2. Make sure you have the required commodities for what you'll forge.
You'll discover this by doing FORGINGCOMMS [descriptor1] [descriptor2] <weapon/armour>

Note that while the cost for a weapon or piece of armour with low-level descriptors is relatively small, the price for high-level descriptors is very high. The fancier you want your armour or weapons to be, the costlier it will be.

3. FORGING LIST will tell you what descriptors you have access to.

4. FORGING SHOW <descriptor> will show you the base cost for that descriptor and other info where relevant. Note that the cost to use that descriptor on an item is multiplied by the size of the item.
   4(a). Item size for a given item type can be viewed in FORGINGCOMMS <weapon/armour>.

5. You'll now FORGE FOR [descriptor1] [descriptor2] <weapon/armour>. The descriptors are both optional.

6. You will then go about forging the item. If you do most other actions or are interrupted too much, your forging will also be interrupted, and you'll have to start over, though your comms will not have been used up.

7. Your item is now done!


Smithing Rank
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All Smiths start out as Apprentice Blacksmiths. From there you may rise to:
 * Journeyman Blacksmith
 * Blacksmith
 * Artisan Metalworker
 * Virtuoso Blacksmith
 * Master Blacksmith

Your Smithing Rank will increase as you forge items, and each new rank unlocks a new set of descriptors for you to use. Generally, the more expensive the item you're forging, the more it'll help you move to the next rank.

There are also two more ranks:
 * Grandmaster Blacksmith
 * Legendary Blacksmith

See below for information on these ranks, as they're not achieved in the same way as other ranks.



Mastering Descriptors
---------------------
Every time you forge an item with a particular descriptor, you increase the chance that the next time you forge an item with that descriptor, it'll be cheaper and eventually, you start getting chances for your item to have extra stat points added onto it. For weapons, this ranges from 1 to 3; for armour, it ranges from 1 to 2.

All the various types of items you can forge have a size, with that size helping to determine how many comms an item will cost to forge (along with the descriptors used). Whenever you forge an item with a descriptor, let's say 'radiant'. The first time you forge it, you have 0 points in 'radiant'. After forging one item of size 6 with the radiant descriptor, you'd have 6 points in
'radiant'.

Each time you forge an item with 'radiant' going forward, you'll have a chance equal to (points/6), with a max of 50%, of having the item cost you in comms as if it were one size less. In this case, that's only a 1% chance, but as you forge further items with radiant, that chance will increase until you get to 300 points and hit the effective max.

Once you get to 300 points in a descriptor, you're considered Expert in it and may begin working towards Master in that descriptor, which requires an additional 300 points for a max of 600 points.

After you have some Master points in a descriptor, you start having a chance to get an extra stat point on that item. If you have two descriptors that you're already Expert in and working towards Master on, you have a chance for up to three extra stat points, which are randomly assigned except for the fact that all three will never end up on the same stat. It works as such:
 * Each descriptor gives you a chance of ((points-300)/6) to get an extra stat point.
 * If both descriptors give your item an extra stat point AND you are a Grandmaster Blacksmith, there's a 50% chance for a third point. If you're a Legendary instead of a Grandmaster Blacksmith, the chance goes up to 75%.


Grandmaster and Legendary Ranks
-------------------------------
However, these advanced ranks are not achieved in the same way as the other ranks. You must be a Master Blacksmith to attain these two ranks in addition to:

 * For Grandmaster, you acquire 60 Grandmaster points. These are obtained through mastering descriptors (see below). For every descriptor mastered, you'll get the following Grandmaster points:
   Rank 1 Descriptor = 0 points
   Rank 2 Descriptor = 1 points
   Rank 3 Descriptor = 2 points
   Rank 4 Descriptor = 6 points
   Rank 5 Descriptor = 20 points
   Rank 6 Descriptor = 30 points

 * For Legendary Blacksmith, you must achieve 200 Grandmaster points.

 * As a Grandmaster Blacksmith, your chances of getting stat bonuses due to Mastered descriptors are 65% per descriptor instead of 50%, AND when you get two additional stat points, you have a 50% chance of a third.

 * As a Legendary Blacksmith, your chances of getting an additional stat point when both your descriptors produce one are up to 75%. Plus, ALL descriptors are treated as mastered for the extra stat point calculation (but not regarding the chance of creating an item that costs as if it were one size smaller).

These are the abilities available in Weaponsmithing.
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Fire                How to set forges to burning.
Dirk                A weapon made for stabbing.
Spear               The standard weapon of the footman.
Shortsword          A smaller version of the longsword.
Axe                 The handaxe; made for throwing.
Dagger              Obsidian throwing daggers.
Whip                The feared weapon of those who practice serpentry.
Lash                A lighter style of whip.
Talons              Steel talons to equip falcons with.
Morningstar         An iron ball connected to a handle by a chain.
Warhammer           A large bludgeoning weapon.
Rapier              The weapon of the cultured urbanite.
Javelin             Nothing hurts quite as much as being hit by a javelin.
Flail               A wicked-looking variation on a morningstar.
Trident             Oftentimes the favourite weapon of gladiators.
Battleaxe           Favoured weapon of the mountain dwarves.
Bastard             The famous Delosian bastard swords.
Lance               Weapon of the mounted knight.
Scimitar            A very effective curved sword favoured in the south.
Broadsword          A popular variation on the longsword.
Longsword           The standard against which all is based.
Smelting            Smelt a weapon back to some useful commodities.
Pry                 Create a tool suitable for removing paragons from armour.


These are the abilities available in Armoursmithing.
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Fire                How to set forges to burning.
Buckler             The smallest shield.
Leatherarmour       A suit of leather armour.
Cavalry             A small shield, but more effective than the buckler.
Ringmail            Armour composed of overlapping rings of metal.
Banded              A shield of reasonable effectiveness.
Clotharmour         The most basic of armours.
Scalemail           Armour made of overlapping scales of metal and leather.
Kite                A large, protective shield.
Chainmail           Armour made of interlocking rings of metal.
Tower               The largest and most cumbersome shield.
Splintmail          Good armour made of strips of metal and leather.
Fieldplate          The most common, but still very good, form of platemail.
Tank                The deadly weapons of war.
Restore             Repairing damaged gear.
Fullplate           The most magnificent armour.
Smelting            Smelt a piece of armour back to some useful commodities.
Embrasuring         Add an embrasure to a forged piece of armour.