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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grantor" data-source="post: 4310177" data-attributes="member: 70284">Crafting skills in 1st edition?There were no skills in 1st edition D&D, non-weapon proficiencies in 2nd edition and skill points in 3rd edition.Apparently the designers thought that using skill points to finely tune the abilities of your character was a bit too much in complexities. It's also not really class-based (although the classes did limit what skills you got full value for).Back in the old days there were no crafting rules, but we managed to use our character backgrounds to make stuff.There is a different point to codifying crafting skills (or any other non-adventuring skill). In what way does failing a craft skill check add to the campaign? Does it cost the player resources that they commited to the crafting? Does it take extra time to make the item?If it costs the loss of some or all of the materials, then you just made some of the player's hard earned cash vanish. This adversely affects the balance of character wealth vs level expectations.If it just takes extra time, then it takes extra time. Unless there is a dramatic race to get this completed by a deadline or else something adverse to the characters' situation happens, it doesn't matter if more time is spent: eventually they will succeed. So why roll?What if there is a dramatic resolution that requires crafting skills...?Well, it's been shown that skill challenges are already hard enough. When you start adding more skills into the list you decrease the chances that someone in the party will have training in a key skill needed for the challenge. This is okay as long as the DM is keeping tabs on everyone's trained skills and building skill challenges that work around these skills. But if you use a pre-made scenario, you can be sure that every Skill Training feat spent on house-made skills is a feat that won't help in completing that module.</blockquote>

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