Weaponsmithing discipline
Weaponsmithing is a discipline of the Forging skill. There are places to practice it at the Riverhaven Forging Society, Crossing Forging Society, and Shard Forging Society.
It should be noted that until the skill split for lores, weaponsmithing has a heavy penalty applied to those who do not have it as a career or hobby.
Basics
The smelting and shaping processes are identical to those used when making tools, but with an additional step of polishing on a grinding wheel.
Polishing
When it comes time to polish, first TURN GRINDSTONE until it is up to speed, then PUSH GRINDSTONE WITH <weapon>.
Techniques
See Weaponsmithing Techniques.
Products
Weapon Enhancements
Enhancements are applied to the weapon after the final oiling.
The difficulty of performing these enhancements is one to three categories harder than the difficulty of crafting the base weapon. Failure in the process will damage the weapon sufficiently to require repair in a repair shop, though it will not cause any lasting damage.
Enhancing a weapon *requires* the appropriate weaponsmithing technique, though it can be done by a crafter other than one that created the weapon.
Honing
Honing requires a grindstone, a wire brush, and some oil.
Honing a finished weapon will reduce it's weight by 8% (round up), but will not drop the weapon down below it's 3 density equivalent, or by more than 5 stones. For each stone of weight removed, one point of impact is lost (point, not category).
- Note: a weapon can be honed or balanced, but not both!
Begin by STUDYing the appropriate page in your weaponsmithing book. Next TURN GRINDSTONE until it is up to speed, then PUSH GRINDSTONE WITH <weapon>. Periodically, you may be required to remove the metal shavings by RUBbing the weapon with a wire brush.
Tempering
Tempering requires a forge and tongs. Tempering will improve the durability of a weapon and increase it's resistance to damage, if successful.
Begin by placing the weapon on the forge itself. The base activity requires TURNing the weapon with a set of tongs. Periodically, the crafter may be required to perform bellows and shovel actions as indicated in basic smelting or pounding.
Balancing
Balancing is an identical process to honing, but it will increase a weapon's balance, at the expense of suitability.
- Note: a weapon can be honed or balanced, but not both!
Follow the same procedure as honing, just begin with the appropriate weaponsmithing book page.
Cleaning
RUBing a weapon with a cleaning cloth will allow you to bring out different aspects.
- a <metal> <weapon>
- a <metal> <weapon> with a tempered blade/head
- a <metal> <weapon> with a <mod> blade/head/design/finish
- a tempered <weapon>
- a tempered <weapon> with a <mod> blade/head/design/finish
- a <mod> <weapon>
- a <mod> <weapon> with a tempered blade/head
- a <weapon> with a tempered blade/head
- a <weapon> with a <mod> blade/head/design/finish
- a <weapon>
In this case <mod> means either "honed" or "balanced."
The blade/head/design/finish depends on weapon type and mod.
Behind the Scenes
Damage is affected by two stats, the hardness of the metal used, and the weight of the weapon.
- Base damage is set by the template, modified by metal hardness.
- For each stone of weight, one additional point of damage is added to a category, in a pattern determined by template.
Balance and suitability are also affected by hardness but also by the density (stones per volume).
- Balance and suitability share a pool of points, set by template and metal hardness.
- The inital ratio is set by the template.
- As the density of the metal increases past 5, the proportion of points is skewed towards suitability. As it decreases, it skews towards balance.
The construction of a weapon is solely dependent on the material's durability. So far, no weapon templates affect construction.