Artisan vs Masterwork vs 'Good'
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 1:43 pm
At our last staff meeting we as staff had a lively discussion about Masterwork vs Artisan, especially as regards to performances vs crafting.
I should start by saying that the system originally only allowed for Masterwork or Artisan features to exist on weapons and gear. Not on armor, and not on anything that wasn't tangible. In the original BNS system, it was not possible to create a Masterwork performance.
Because BAM had a history of wanting to objectively quantify how good something was on an artistic level, we decided to implement Artisan and Masterwork on intangible things, such as performances.
However, this reintroduced an old bias from the old system, and introduced a new problem - crafting bias. Let me explain.
In the old system, we would say that something was made with X craft - such as a Craft 5 painting. That meant that using the ro machine, the person got 5 successes on the crafting check to make that thing. (Usually only possible if they had 5 in the skill.) A Craft 5 Painting was objectively cooler than a Craft 4 Painting. We also had a line that if you made something crafts 6 or better, it was "obviously supernatural."
Now in the new system, we have normal, Artisan, and Masterwork. There is no longer a "clearly supernatural" line, except occasionally as part of the extra masterwork effect that occasionally comes up.
To get normal, you just need to succeed at making an item. To get Artisan, for almost everyone*, you need to get an exceptional success. This is important - to get an exceptional success, you must:
a) have a pool large enough that you would win the difficulty on a tie, and
b) you must outright win the first Ro.
You CANNOT get an exceptional success on a Willpower Retest.
To get Masterwork, you need the same qualifiers, and also must have a 5 in the skill you are using.
That means that at the very best*, only 1/3 of your work can possibly be Exceptional.
Ok, with all of that out of the way, I can now explain the crafting bias.
Because crafting (vs Performance) is only done in downtime, you can throw away the 2/3 items that don't come out as Exceptional. Thus you can create the illusion that everything you make is amazing.
Performers don't get this benefit. Every time they perform, they throw a chop. But since they have witnesses, they are unlikely to always get Exceptional performances. But that DOES NOT mean that they are not good! It just means that they are not Exceptional.
I am not sure that there is a solution to this problem - or even if it's a problem that needs to be solved. I think mostly I just wanted folks to know the following:
* Artisan and Masterwork pieces are Exceptional for a reason. They are not easy to make.
* Something can be good without being Exceptional.
* By nature of how they are created, Exceptional Performances are much more impressive (to me?) than Exceptional items.
* If you have a skill of 6 or more, you can get Artisan on a standard success. However most people can't get a skill of 6, so this is not taken into account for the purpose of this post.
I should start by saying that the system originally only allowed for Masterwork or Artisan features to exist on weapons and gear. Not on armor, and not on anything that wasn't tangible. In the original BNS system, it was not possible to create a Masterwork performance.
Because BAM had a history of wanting to objectively quantify how good something was on an artistic level, we decided to implement Artisan and Masterwork on intangible things, such as performances.
However, this reintroduced an old bias from the old system, and introduced a new problem - crafting bias. Let me explain.
In the old system, we would say that something was made with X craft - such as a Craft 5 painting. That meant that using the ro machine, the person got 5 successes on the crafting check to make that thing. (Usually only possible if they had 5 in the skill.) A Craft 5 Painting was objectively cooler than a Craft 4 Painting. We also had a line that if you made something crafts 6 or better, it was "obviously supernatural."
Now in the new system, we have normal, Artisan, and Masterwork. There is no longer a "clearly supernatural" line, except occasionally as part of the extra masterwork effect that occasionally comes up.
To get normal, you just need to succeed at making an item. To get Artisan, for almost everyone*, you need to get an exceptional success. This is important - to get an exceptional success, you must:
a) have a pool large enough that you would win the difficulty on a tie, and
b) you must outright win the first Ro.
You CANNOT get an exceptional success on a Willpower Retest.
To get Masterwork, you need the same qualifiers, and also must have a 5 in the skill you are using.
That means that at the very best*, only 1/3 of your work can possibly be Exceptional.
Ok, with all of that out of the way, I can now explain the crafting bias.
Because crafting (vs Performance) is only done in downtime, you can throw away the 2/3 items that don't come out as Exceptional. Thus you can create the illusion that everything you make is amazing.
Performers don't get this benefit. Every time they perform, they throw a chop. But since they have witnesses, they are unlikely to always get Exceptional performances. But that DOES NOT mean that they are not good! It just means that they are not Exceptional.
I am not sure that there is a solution to this problem - or even if it's a problem that needs to be solved. I think mostly I just wanted folks to know the following:
* Artisan and Masterwork pieces are Exceptional for a reason. They are not easy to make.
* Something can be good without being Exceptional.
* By nature of how they are created, Exceptional Performances are much more impressive (to me?) than Exceptional items.
* If you have a skill of 6 or more, you can get Artisan on a standard success. However most people can't get a skill of 6, so this is not taken into account for the purpose of this post.