Craft or Profession

When creating characters, players usually focus on fighting ability. They sometimes hold back on certain skills that may not seem glamorous but can prove very handy. The Craft and Profession skills in particular are excellent for defining what the character does and what sort of background he or she came from.

The craft skill may be helpful in identifying items and providing important adventure clues. In addition, it is the ability to create useful and or decorative items. A craftsman can tell if a particular item is the product of thier own culture (DC 10), and sometimes the nation of origin and or age of an item (DC 15).

Most Items in Tellene are of "normal" or "standard" quality. However, a character may also purchase items of greater or lesser quality.

The profession skill is a grad-bag of historical or semi-historical jobs that might prove useful for a character applicable skills or background details that make him or her more exciting and fun to play.

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Each professional knows certain people because of his business. A blacksmith knows adventures, merchants and other travelers because they frequently need horseshoes or weapons to defend themselves from highwaymen. A blacksmith also knows miners, because they bring him metal to work into finished goods. A scribe knows noblemen whose proclamations he copies, sages who want to check records and travelers that need maps and directions. And so it is with each profession.

The social standing of these professionals depends primarily upon these customers. The upper classes may look down upon a wealthy merchant of noble birth who decides to openly sell drugs and poisons to street thugs. On the other hand, a poor merchant whose shop is frequented by a king often has a good social standing among the upper class, for they will frequent his shop in hopes of associating themselves with the king.

Social class has much to do with where you can and cannot go in Tellene. If you are in the echelons of society, you can meet with kings and noble, deal with the head of merchant houses, and perhaps even get invited to the most exclusive parties. As a middle class merchant, you can get into any shop, you may be allowed into the palace on official business and you can be a part of most community organizations. If you are part of the lower class, you may be allowed in community organizations and may or may not be allowed to own property, but you are more likely to gain acceptance from those of your own social station or those of “less than savory” reputations.

Player characters, of course, have the opportunity to learn more than one profession, thus giving them multiple possible social standings. A wealthy lawyer who once worked as a pig farmer will still have a rustic, lower class stigma among other lawyers. However among pig farmers he may be regarded as someone who either “went to the big city and made it good” or “got too big for his britches,” depending on the character.

Source Notes: KOK, Player's Primer