Good lord.
Well, in general, I agree with most of that interpretation. I can see that Profession (merchant) would definitely be a requirement for all these guys like Cooper, and Baker, and candlestickmaker. So, it would be one thing to make an item, but then you still have to operate a storefront and sell to customers, etc. That's where profession(merchant) would come in.
A Craft skill should follow several rules - firstly, the craft skill should actually make sense when applied to the construction of whatever it is we're talking about, and secondly, does a masterwork version of the thing we're talking about make any sense?
But let's look closer at some of these:
Apothecary - I probably would rule that this was actually a combination of things, as it is probably too broad a classification. It's comprised of craft(alchemy) and profession(herbalist) among maybe a few knowledge() skills.
Artist - I really do not see this as a craft(). For starters, the craft() rules *completely* break down when talking about art. Art doesn't sell based on the raw materials used to create it. When was the last piece of art you bought and said, "I won't pay you more than $50 for that; there can't be that much paint there, and that canvas isn't worth a penny over $30!" It doesn't work like that. I could see this as either Perform(Artist) or Profession(Artist), and am inclined to go with the latter, since you're not really performing when you make art. It's also not really Wis based, which is why I'm not sure Profession works very well, either. It really needs to be a completely separate skill, I think, that would be Dex-based.
Baker - I don't have a problem with this being a Craft() skill, but I'm just not sure what a masterwork loaf of bread would taste like. And would it cost 150gp and 1 copper? I think this makes more sense as a profession. "What do you do for a living?" "I'm a baker." Not - "what do you create? "I create baked goods." These guys just take dough and bake it. They're not really creating anything. They're transforming.
Bartender - Definitely profession, but bartenders make mixed drinks. It's certainly making something from raw materials, so it fits the description of craft(). When I make a Tom Collins, I pour gin, Tom Collin's mix, and club soda all together, and then stir. That's a craft, right?
Brewing - now this would be a craft, since they would take grapes, or wheat, or barley, or honey, and whatever, and turn it into beer, mead, or wine.
Beautician - definitely profession. No problems there.
Bee-Keeper - Profession.
Bookbinder - Bookbinders don't make paper, they just take paper and use them to make books with. I'm also not certain that they'd be part scribe. Certainly they would work with a scribe who would write the pages, but I think a separate person would then take the pages and bind them into a book. Craft? I doubt it, it's so mundane. I have a hard time seeing this as a craft. Again, what would a masterwork book look like? I still say profession on this one.
Butcher - Profession.
Carpenter - Profession. I suppose one could argue for Craft() here but the rules would be ridiculous. For starters, if I make a house that costs 1,000gp would the same house as a masterwork house cost 1,150gp? I could see craft(woodworking) for people that make wood sculptures, and furniture. A MW fife would come from someone with many ranks in craft(woodworking). But making a house doesn't really require any finesse. Volunteers help build houses for people in need, and those programs utilize people without any carpentry skill. So, that strikes me as being wis based (profession), not int based (craft).
Cobbler - Craft. Fits all the rules, raw materials, and I could buy really nice, masterwork boots.
Cooper - Craft. Actually, I've heard that making a barrel is a lot more difficult than one thinks.
Farmer - Profession.
Fisherman - Profession.
Herbalist - Profession.
Lapidary (gem cutter) - Profession. Lapidaries don't make anything. They just cut gems. The Craft() rules would totally break down here. Gems costs hundreds of gold, and according to the craft() rules, should take weeks to create. Cutting a gem takes an hour at best. Craft wouldn't work. You also can't create a masterwork gem. You either cut it correctly, or you don't. You can't improve it.
Locksmith - Craft. That makes sense. There are certainly masterwork locks in the game.
Lumberjack - Profession.
Mason - I suppose I don't have a problem with this being a craft skill, but I'm not sure what a masterwork brick would look like. They also don't take any raw materials and create something from it, unless the raw materials are stones, and the final product is a castle, which doesn't make much sense. Masons just make bricks. Laborers probably actually lay the stone. The jury is still out on this one. I don't know enough about masons to feel strongly one way or the other on this one. It would probably never come up in a game anyway, and even if it did, it would be for role-playing reasons, as I doubt anyone would try to make a brick. I'm inclined to just go with profession on this one. Now, sculpter would be a craft(). Since, they could make stone statues.
Merchant - Profession.
Miller - Profession.
Miner - Profession.
Navigator - Profession.
Scribe - Profession. They don't create anything in the purest sense. A scribe just copies text from one page to another. Actually, profession as a wisdom-based skill probably doesn't make much sense here, but a dex-based skill does. I would be inclined to make this a separate Dex-based skill.
Seaman - Profession.
Tailor/Seamstress - I suppose this could be a craft, because I guess you could get finely made (masterwork) clothes created. The masterwork rules don't make much sense here, though, and I have my own version which makes more sense, anyway. This is kind of like carpenter in that if you make furniture or sculpture, it's definitely a craft, but if it's a house it's probably a profession. To me, if you make a fine suit or a fancy dress, that's probably a craft(), but if you just make tunics, or blankets, that might be a profession. Well, I suppose it could be a craft with a really low DC. Eh, craft I suppose.
Tanner - Again, this is kind of like lapidary. Tanners just transform the skin into leather, they don't really *make* leather. When you purchase masterwork leather, does that come from a tanner, or from a leatherworker? My guess is the latter - so Leatherworking is a craft skill, and a leatherworker takes leather pieces and makes leather armor, or backpacks, or waterskins, or whatever. Tanners just transform skins into leather. By a strict reading of the rules, masterwork leather armor should cost 300+gp because to make MW leather armor would require starting with MW leather strips from the tanner, which would cost 150gp, and then the leatherworker would have to add his own 150gp to transform that into MW armor, and thus would cost 300+gp. Since that doesn't happen, it seems to me that a tanner can't make MW raw leather. The leather might be good quality or poor quality, but that isn't based on the work that the tanner did. I'm inclined to leave this as a profession.
Weaver - I suppose I don't really have a problem with this being a craft.
