So, it came up in my game that a player rolled a Triumph trying to locate a merchant. In spending it, he suggested that maybe the merchant has access to some sort of specialized goods. I said I'd think of something before too long.

My plan all along was for the merchant to have had experience trading with natives of Zanaga, including the Mahkim (four-armed lizard men) and Lizardmen (their degenerate relatives). So, I thought, maybe he offers goods that feature Mahkim craftsmanship, similar to Ancient, Elven, or Dwarven? With that in mind:

Zanagan

The Mahkim have honed their crafting techniques through centuries of life in the brutal jungles of Zanaga. Such wares are generally intended to make four-armed Mahkim hunters and warriors silent jungle stalkers. Nevertheless, some Mahkim lend their talents to two-armed clients. While these wares look odd to outsiders, they offer an edge in hot, steamy environments where evading detection is important.

Armor: Reduce the armor's encumbrance value by 2, to a minus of 0. In addition, your character removes [Setback] from Stealth checks they make, as well as [Setback][Setback] added to checks they make due to hot or wet conditions.

Weapon: Increase the weapon's Unwieldy rating by 2 (to a maximum of 4) and its Linked rating by 1.

Price: Cost x 3

Rarity: +5.

How's this look balance-wise? Do the Armor and Weapon benefits and drawbacks seem roughly equal? Is the cost and rarity modifier fair? Thanks for any ideas!

On 1/17/2020 at 12:35 PM, SavageBob said:

Weapon: Increase the weapon's Unwieldy rating by 2 (to a maximum of 4) and its Linked rating by 1.

Does this mean that a lizard's flail is Linked 2 and their crossbows are Linked 3?

Or did you just want to add Linked 1 to a non-linked weapon?

And why a max Unwieldy of 4? There are several Unwieldy 3 weapons that would get a major benefit for adding Linked 1 (or, in the ase of the flail, gain Linked 2) for just +1 Unwieldy.

6 hours ago, c__beck said:

Does this mean that a lizard's flail is Linked 2 and their crossbows are Linked 3?

Or did you just want to add Linked 1 to a non-linked weapon?

And why a max Unwieldy of 4? There are several Unwieldy 3 weapons that would get a major benefit for adding Linked 1 (or, in the ase of the flail, gain Linked 2) for just +1 Unwieldy.

I'm not sure, really. I mean, adding Linked 1 to a non-linked weapon may be enough, but is it overpowering to let someone buy a Zanagan flail with Linked 2? I've never had players used the Linked option much, so I'm honestly not sure when it would become abusive.

It's possible the Unwieldy rating shouldn't be capped. Not capping it might actually remove the potential abuse issue alluded to in your first point: You want a Flail with Linked 2? OK, but to use it properly, you're going to have to get your Agility up to 5...

Thanks for your comments! It's a fun but difficult challenge to create "craftsmanships" like this, but I'd love to see more of them. Orcish, Gnomish, Catfolk, etc. It's especially hard to find a way to make the armor and weapon options roughly equal in benefits and drawbacks. I'm not satisfied yet with the armor side of the one I've proposed.