Hi, this feels like a bit of an ego trip, but it is meant as a place where experienced smiths can pool their thoughts and wisdom to help less experienced players in their quest to be "a great smith" (the thread that inspired this essay). It is not a post on how to GM asap, or what to make when.
So, the first question is starting skills, this is easy- mining 50, & smithing 50. As soon as you can afford it buy some magery (30 will just about let you recall- an essential skill).
Next problem is where to smith. In my opinion you should choose somewhere busy, the busier the better. This means 2 options worth considering- The Hammer and anvil in Brit, or Minoc. Why somewhere where it is busy? You gain several advantages- firstly players see you and get to know you-so your face is familiar-people will trust a well known face over someone new. Secondly there are other smiths around if you need help or advice. Thirdly as you train you can watch the other smiths at work and see how they sell, and very importantly get a good idea of prices. Finally if you need to buy ingots, miners come to these spots-this is important even if you plan to mine yourself.
So, you are now ensconsed at a busy forge making your items, what do you do? At first just train, but make an effort to talk to people. If players ask for repairs explain you are only training, but that when you are better you will be happy to repair for them. Watch the comings and goings of players-If a player is looking for a specific smith, tell him if you have seen him or not-basically get involved. When you log on, say hello to the other smiths, and goodbye when you leave. All this gets you known, and it is your reputation that you trade on as much as your skill (if not more). By doing this you will get to know the other smiths, the customers and the miners-essential knowledge for the future.
Whilst you are building skill, also build up some arms lore-this is a very useful skill for a training smith.
Once you get to 70-80 skill you can start to offer repairs. Hopefully your face will be familiar to many people by now, and some will start to ask for help. Always say yes, if you can-but always explain that you are not a GM. Don't give away your exact skill, but state you are an adept, or whatever (I told people I was a master smith from about 80 skill!). This is where that arms lore skill comes in- arms lore EVERYTHING! Anything badly damaged, do not repair it-ask the customer first-explaining its state. People will come to trust your judgement, and know that you are reliable. A lot will tell you to try anyway-if it breaks they knew the risk and will accept the loss as their decision. You should soon have a regular repair trade that will actually be bringing in some money.
By this stage the CHARACTER should be emerging. It is essential to roleplay your smith, and stay in character as much as possible-players do like it, even if they do not roleplay. This does not mean Elizebethan olde worlde English, if you don't want-but a style of your own-something to make you different. I played Yves as a very polite, slightly effeminate character-called everyone sir or madam, always said please or thankyou etc. I guess he was like those old tailors you meet if you get a decent suit made (no 15 year old will know what I mean by that!). Never charge for repairs. At this point it is more important to have a stream of customers, not a stream of 100gp's-many players tip anyway. It is also bad pactise to refuse a repair, if it is possible to do it. This becomes a problem during power hours, as to waste them is not a good idea. I used to log out at the forge, fully equipped for the next days power hour. The next day I logged in, and hid-I then worked the entire power hour whilst hidden, which avoided repair requests.
After 80, all the way to 99.9 you should continue as above, but you are capable of making an increased number of items to exceptional quality. Keep these, and sell them to players. If you make an exceptional katana, wait till you see someone shouting for a GM one, and sell him yours for 150gp. Exceptional are as good as GM, explain that to your customers. Heater shields are big business for all smiths.
At GM, you are there. Keep going, using the same character roleplay skills and you will be very successful-your reputation will proceed you, and your customers will recommend you to their friends. By now you will have a thriving business, and probably made a lot of friends. You will also have advance orders on suits of platemail for when you hit GM! Keep repairing, and personally if I break something I replace it-even though it is not my fault (these things happen) it is good for customer relations.
Miners
I have saved this for last. One very important aspect is your relationship with miners. Even if you GM mining, the chances are you will not have time to dig enough ingots to keep you in stock (I have had single orders for 30 suits of plate!). This means it is essential to have acess to miners. My approach was to buy all the time. Even now I set up deals with miners where I guarentee to buy ALL their ingots, at as cheaper price as I can manage. Unfortunately at the moment ingots are expensive, so I definately recommend training smiths dig their own where possible. This also allows you to start stockpiling coloured ingots, which are where the big bucks are. By the time you GM smithing, your mining should be pretty good too-so you have access to a number of sites with the coloured ores. Share these with any miners you buy from regularly. As their skill increases they need new sites, give yours to them-but only as long as they promise you first refusal, at a pre arranged price. This method is so good I had a GM miner digging for me who charged me 12gp for valorite, & 8 for verite! This meant I was making a very big profit margin on my suits, and could afford to throw in a FREE heater, or whatever to make them look better value, or make the customer feel special. Miners will look for long term deals, and it is up to you to tie them up as early as possible. If buying is becomeing expensive, sell them on-I sell iron at 9gp when I get too many-so I still make 4gp (80%) profit on an ingot, and have never let my miners down. I had an advantage here, because I had other characters that had money to kick start me, if you dont, then spend some time smithing items for gold (kite shields are good) and sell them to npc's. Just make sure of 2 things- (1) have enough ingots for the power hour, (2) you buy all the miners ingots. Remember dull copper are as good as iron if you are making weapons, or training-many miners throw them in for free, try asking for them.
The most important aspect is to have fun with a smith character. It is a game, and should be played as such, but hopefully these ideas will help you have fun and be "a great smith" at the same time.
This is not the be all and end all on smithing, by any stretch of the imagination, I might add more thoughts as they occur to me, and hopefully so will others. If you disagree then say so, if you agree-also say so.this is a post to set out my ideas into the forum, and for other ideas to be shared.
Yves st. Laurent - Royal Smith of Order of the Ebon Hand Europa Shard
A smith with a heart and a Grandmaster at his professions.
Favourite hangout: Trammel - Britain south forge
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