Collaborative Crafting

One thing that I have been looking for is a collaborative crafting system, and not just a "buy item a from vendor so you can craft item b". I mean a truly team effort crafting system. Let me elaborate.

You are a blacksmith. You want to craft a fine enchanted sword. You do not possess the necessary skills to enchant the weapon to the degree you desire. So, during the crafting process, you have an enchanter (or suitable similar profession) which you have paid to enchant the sword with the spell you selected. This would create a more powerful item than you could have crafted on your own.
To expand this concept, the sword could then be taken to a leather crafter that could place a higher grade of grip wrap than you could do by yourself. The scabbard could receive beadwork, or the blade an inlay, each of which could add a stat bonus and a value bonus.

As a further concept, certain enchantments should require the efforts or more than one enchanter, or, adding more than one enchanter adds to the strength of the spell. Perhaps add cool downs of several days to the most powerful of group based enchants so as to keep them difficult to obtain without a huge logistical effort.

While single player crafting is a tried and true model, the multi player crafting system would add a huge new dimension to the crafting experience that would allow players to forge personal and PROFESSIONAL relationships in game.

 

I like this a lot. It goes beyond simply having crafters belonging to the same guild or living in the same area. They actually need each other in order to make become something more than just another [blacksmith,leathersmith,bowyer,fletcher,tailor,jeweler,enchanter,herbalist,potion-maker,scribe,bookbinder,baker,cook,innkeeper,etc]. It also may make the rarer, more powerful items truly rarer since it requires more players to come together to make them. A single player can't unilaterally decide that they're going to try to flood the market with a certain kind of "rare" item.

It also adds an incentive to living in a more heavily populated area since there would be a greater variety and choice of other crafters to work with. We already know that city living will be expensive but it may be more than worth it if that's the only way to make the higher quality items.

This could also work well for adventurers as an extra opportunity make a little gold on the side. They might even be able to use their craft to curry a little goodwill in villages or towns if the craft is in high enough demand and the adventurer isn't an extortionist.

 

This is an interesting idea. It's kinda like a production line in multiple locations. I can see both game play advantages and disadvantages. I may be back after I ponder this one.

Thanks for the idea.

 

I would *love* to see more RP-based interactions between players and something like this would accomplish that. Enchantments could be layered on simultaneously or sequentially and could even incorporate additional layers like having players complete a quest-line before the enchantment goes into full effect.

It puts more control in the receiver of the item as to exactly how it is modified. Does it glow, kill giants and hit harder? Perhaps it is a Flaming Flail of Bluntness. By allowing interactions and layering of multiple players and multiple steps, a weapon could evolve with a character or multiple characters (if looting is allowed). With a virtue system in place, certain qualities can only be attained by certain levels of virtue or corruption, and these limiters can be at any or all steps along the path of creation!