This saga uses the Combat Rules from Lords of Men, including the rules for Arms & Armor. The House Rules below expand upon Quality of Armaments, with minor modification to application. Following that House Rules inconsideration of the time required to craft high quality items. Finally, there is a revised rule pertaining to purchasing quality armaments during CharGen.
Quality Arms & Armor
Referencing Lords of Men page 136, there are four ranks of Quality (shoddy, standard, superior, and excellent). I have expanded upon this, mainly by adding adjectives so as to avoid using the words "+3 Long Sword" ever again. Excellent Quality Weapons add to both Attack and Damage (instead of defense). High Quality Weapons, especially Swords, deserve a name.
Levels of Quality
- Shoddy: Shoddy items break easily and are destroyed after a single failed stress test.
- Standard: The basic default for all weapons.
- Superior: Superior armor grants +1 to Protection, a Superior Shield grants +1 Defense, and a Superior Weapon grants +1 Attack.
- Excellent: Excellent Quality armaments offer a bonus up to +3. Beyond that is considered a Wondrous Item. For Weapons the bonus is applied to both Attack and Damage. For further description (and to avoid labeling weapons by their modifier), use the following terms.
- Excellent: +1 (or +1/+1); Uncommon. Excellent Weapons add +1 to Attack and Damage. In the context of this saga, this is intended to represent swords of Toledo Steel (a combination of superior craftsmanship and superior raw materials; more on that below).
- Exceptional: +2 (or +2/+2); Rare; Colada, Grus, Legbiter
- Extraordinary: +3 (or +3/+3); Very Rare; Durendal, Tizon, Lobera
- Wondrous: Armaments of greater potency are legendary and unique. Think Excalibur, Stormbringer, or the Sword of Mars
For Weapons: The bonus is added to Attack & Damage
For Shields: The bonus is added to Defense & Soak
For Armor: The bonus is added to Soak & Defense
Availability & Acquisition
Only those with access to Expensive Armaments may purchase Superior & Excellent Quality armaments. The Covenfolk of Andorra all have Superior Armaments. Custos and Magi may have Excellent Armaments. During CharGen, these are purchased with experience points (or qp for magi). Cost is as follows.
- 2xp/qp, or 6 £ silver: Superior (+1)
- 4xp/qp, or 12£ silver, or a Pawn of Vis: Excellent (+1/+1)
- 12xp/qp, or 36£ silver, or three Pawns of Vis: Exceptional (+2/+2)
- 24xp/qp, or 72£ of silver, or six Pawns of Vis: Extraordinary (+3/+3)
The purchase of Enchanted Items requires some sort of contact or affiliation with the Order of Hermes. In many cases this can be easily be presumed. Certain Virtues may indicate this as a certainty (such as Custos, Hermetic Experience, and so forth). Ask the troupe for other questions of availability.
Shields
The shape of your shield (round/kite/heater/rectangle) is just fluff. Looking at the four types; Buckler, Round, Heater, and Infantry; you can alternatively call these Tiny, Small, Medium, and Large. Thus you can have a Medium Kite Shield (Heater), or a Small Kite Shield (instead of a Round Shield. A Round Shield can be Small (as standard), Medium (same as a Heater), or a Large Hoplite Shield (Infantry).
Toledo Steel Swords
Toledo Steel is the result of master craftsmanship and the inclusion of a rare metal known as Vanadium. The Craftsmanship grants a +1 bonus to Attack, and is not uncommon for blades of quality in the region. Vanadium is expensive and is usually reserved for long swords, though occasionally for short swords, but only the wealthy can afford to make their daggers this way. The metal makes the weapon stronger and better able to hold an edge, granting a +1 bonus to Damage. Thus, the famous Toledo Longsword has a natural bonus of +1 to Attack and Damage. Such fine weapons often have other precious materials included in their ornamentation.
Crafting Quality Items
The following House Rules apply to expanded considerations of City & Guild, as pertain to Quality Armaments.
The Workshop C&G, p. 65
The Workshops Innovation + Raw Materials total must equal or exceed the sum bonuses of the item.
Thus, a Superior Item (+1) requires one of these scores to be 1 or better.
An Excellent Item (+1/+1) requires both scores to be 1 or better, or one score to be at least 2. Exceptional Item (+2/+2) requires both scores to be 2 or more, or one score of 3 and the other to be 1 or better.
Extraordinary Items (+3/+3) requires a score of 3 in both Innovation and Raw Materials.
Finished Goods C&G, p. 67
The Quality of the Item determines the Craft Level, which is the Workshop Level required to craft the Item. Further, the Craftsman’s Ability score places a hard limit on the maximum potential Quality, regardless of the Workshop Total.
The base Craft Level required is 3 for Shoddy Items, 6 for Standard Items, and 12 for Superior Items. For Excellent Items, the requirement is 9 + (3 x the sum of bonuses).
The minimum Ability score required is 1 for Shoddy, 5 for Standard, and 6 for Superior. For Excellent Items, the minimum Ability score required is 5 + (the sum of the bonuses).
No single bonus may exceed one-third of the Ability score. A single bonus greater than 3, or a bonus total of 7 or higher, requires the crafting of a Wondrous Item (see below).
- Shoddy Item: Minimum Ability 1, Craft Level 3
- Standard Item: Minimum Ability 5, Craft Level 6
- Superior Item (+1): Minimum Ability 6, Craft Level 12
- Excellent Item (+1/+1): Minimum Ability 7, Craft Level 15
- Exceptional Item +2/+2): Minimum Ability 9, Craft Level 21
- Extraordinary Item (+3/+3): Minimum Ability 11, Craft Level 27
Modifiers C&G, p. 69
Pertaining to the insert text, instead of adding to the Craft Level, subtract these modifiers from your Workshop Total. The math works the same. It makes it easier to incorporate additional modifiers, including bonuses.
-1 Distant war, famine, plague
-3 Active war, famine, plague
-1 Scarce materials
-2 Severe or multiple interruptions
-1 Losing an employee
-1 Gaining a new employee (first season only)
-1 Working in an Infernal, Faerie, or Magical aura (unless attuned via Supernatural Virtue or Flaw)
+1 Per qualified Assistant: Must have at least half minimum required craft score for project, maximum assistants equals half your Leadership.
+1 Access to rare, exotic, &/or high quality materials (such as vanadium)
+1 Per Pawn of Vis (Wondrous Items only, Pawns not to exceed Craft score)
Items constructed per Season C&G, p.68
The chart featured on that page refers to Standard Quality Items, presuming an Ability score of 5. Further given is a formula to determine how many Standard Items a more skilled craftsman could make. Expanding upon that, this House Rule takes into account variables of Quality and Workshop. Presuming you have the minimum Ability score and Workshop Total for the intended bonuses and Craft Level.
Divide your Workshop Total by (Craft Level + three-times the sum of bonuses). Then multiply this amount by the quantity indicated by Standard Quality chart (C&G. p. 68), and round Down. This is the number of Items of that Quality you can produce in a Season. If this is not a whole number, and presuming you have the minimum requirements, you may continue working a number of Seasons until you get to one.
Three Example Smiths making Longswords
Using the above formula, the divisors are; Shoddy 3, Standard 6, Superior 15, Excellent 21, Exceptional 33, and Extraordinary 45. Divide Workshop Totals by this amount, then multiply by 2 for Longswords per season.
- Joe: Weaponsmith (axes) 6, Strength +1, Innovation 0, Raw Materials 1; Workshop Total = 8
- 5 Shoddy, 2 Standard, 1 Superior
- Sam: Weaponsmith (swords) 9, Strength +2, Innovation 2, Raw Materials 2; Workshop Total = 16
- 10 Shoddy, 5 Standard, 2 Superior, 1 Excellent, two seasons for Exceptional
- Don: Weaponsmith (swords) 13, Strength +3, Innovation 3, Raw Materials 3, three Qualified Assistants +3, Exotic Materials +1; Workshop Total = 27
- 18 Shoddy, 9 Standard, 4 Superior, 2 Excellent, 1 Exceptional, 1 Extraordinary