Important Additions to Carpentry

Although carpentry already fairly useful in the creation of luxury items, it (like Tinkering) has a lot of potential for additional items. Perhaps the most talked-about and important addition would be to allow carpenters to create large items such as boats and buildings. Borrowing heavily from other carpentry theorists, here is the basic concept:

• Double-click on blank drafting paper (see Inscription) to specify which type of house to build; if successful (checks against Carpentry skill), the paper becomes a blueprint.
• Double-clicking the blueprint is like using a boat or building deed, except that before showing the "place-me" outline, it asks the user to target the raw materials and any assistants that the builder might need:
• Boats require many logs (probably around 1,000) and many hides (around 50, for the sail). A Journeyman or better Tailor would be required to make the sail, see below.
• Wooden houses require many logs (assume that each log is worth around 2-3gp towards the price of the house as a conversion factor, i.e. small house = 5,000 logs) and some ingots (around 50) for the stairs, etc.
• Stone houses require many iron ore (not ingots); conversion factor is similar to that for wood. They also need a few logs (a few hundred) for the door and structural supports.
• Adding bricks to the world is a possibility: see the comments in Tinkering about sand and earth, and imagine firing the sand into bricks. This would allow for brick houses as well.
• After collecting the raw materials, the builder is then asked to specify which player will be the carpenter (must be a Master) and (for a boat) the tailor or (for a building) the tinker [big thank-you goes to Agamar of Moonglow for the idea of targeting your assistants]. Stone buildings would require a Miner as an assistant as well.
• Building towers, keeps, and castles should be extremely difficult. The idea that a single person could design and build such a structure is ludicrous, and demand for these items should force people to spend frighteningly large amounts of gold (i.e. buy one as is done now) or work closely with other people:
  • Building the structure requires massive amounts of wood and ore: again, figure about 2-3gp per log or pile of ore towards the current price of the building. These buildings would, of course, be mostly stonework (ore).
  • Converting the raw materials into a structure requires a GM Carpenter, a GM Miner (who does the stonework), a master Tinker (who does the locks), and a master Smith (who does the doors) working together to oversee the project. A large group of skilled professionals does the work. For a Tower, a team of a few Expert or better carpenters, miners, and smiths would be necessary; perhaps two or three of each profession. A Keep would require the same, along with the same number of Adept professionals. The Castle would require all of those, plus the same number again of Masters.
• If the raw materials are present and the professionals are successful, the "place-me" outline appears. No creation of deeds – must create an actual building or boat. This requires great care when deciding where you stand to create the building, because you want to be sure you can place it! Failure to create the building consumes a very small percentage of the raw materials.
• It would also be good to see "gradual" construction. In other words, allow the workers to add raw materials in stages, rather than consuming them all at once. It is difficult (and less realistic) to stockpile the large amounts of logs and ore required for these structures, so allow the builder to begin construction once, say, 10% of the raw materials are ready. At that time a faint outline (like the one used when placing a deed now) shows the building's location; perhaps clicking the sign would show the stage of construction ("This building is almost ready for use!"). The workers can then continue to add raw materials until the building is complete, but cannot use (enter) the building until it's 100% built.
• Optionally require the assistance of carpenters to maintain a house. This would be wildly unpopular, at least at first, due to the lack of Master Carpenters in the world and the abundance of houses, but is a good idea [thanks, again, to Agamar].

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