Samurai are warriors, and even their arts are influenced by war. The Smithing skill covers the creation of arms and armour for ceremonial and battlefield use. Many samurai go into battle wielding armour and weaponry that are stunning works of art in their own right. The finest armour and weapons—especially the daishō (long and short swords carried by samurai)—are created with an eye toward both use and aesthetic, as they will be in service for centuries. They must reflect the influence and wealth of the family that owns them, for the sword is said to be the outward manifestation of the samurai’s soul.
Ruling families have weapons hundreds of years old, displayed in a place of honour as a living reminder of each family’s history. The Phoenix and Crane are famous for the beauty of their work, while the Crab blades are known for durability and effectiveness. Those rare creations worked by a Kakita smith are widely acknowledged to be the greatest of all.
Smithing Approaches
The Smithing skill can be used with the appropriate rings as follows:
- Restore Approach (Earth Ring): Repairing a damaged weapon or piece of armour, performing routine upkeep and cleaning on a weapon or piece of armour, treating a weapon or piece of armour to prevent rust and corrosion.
- Adapt Approach (Water Ring): Improving an existing weapon or piece of armour, reshaping a mundane item into a weapon, sizing a weapon for a new wielder, salvaging a destroyed sword to reforge it.
- Invent Approach (Fire Ring): Forging a new blade, crafting a new piece of armour, inventing a new weapon or piece of armour, conjecturing about possible new weapons and armour technologies.
- Refine Approach (Air Ring): Polishing a blade to hone its edge, improving a spear’s grip, adding embellishments to a naginata to accent the beautiful wave pattern of the steel.
- Attune Approach (Void Ring): Learning the purpose for which a weapon or piece of armour was forged, discerning whether a weapon or piece of armour has any supernatural features, unlocking supernatural potential within a forged item.
Crafting Weapons and Armour
If a character wants to make a new item, they must make a check using the appropriate skill, with the DC set by the GM. They must acquire the materials needed to make the item (which could be anything from a brush and ink to a forge and steel). They usually use the Invent or Adapt approach to create the first version of the item. Of course, they might then adapt and refine the item to improve it, restore it if it ever becomes damaged, and attune themself to it to gain greater insight into its use.
However, since weapons and armour have more detailed rules for use than most other items, there are some slightly more granular guidelines for making these items in the context of the game:
A character must acquire the raw materials needed for the item. This might be as simple as requesting them from one’s lord or as difficult as undertaking an epic quest to retrieve half of an ancestor’s blade from the hide of a particular oni in the Shadowlands.
As a downtime activity, a character begins with a Smithing (Fire) check (if they are starting with raw materials) or a Smithing (Water) check if they are transforming one item into another, such as refitting armour for a new wearer.
The DC of this check is determined by the rarity of the item they wish to create, with a reduction to the difficulty based on the facilities available—the wondrous workshop used by the Kakita smiths would reduce the DC by 4, while a small-town blacksmith’s facilities would provide a more modest reduction of 2.
If the character fails, they can always try again later. If they succeed, the character crafts the general shape of the item—it is a blade without a fitting, or armour without straps. It is not usable yet.
As another downtime activity, the character may make a Smithing (Air) check to take the unfinished product to its final state. The DC of this check is again determined by the rarity of the item, again reduced by the quality of the facilities.
If the character fails, they fail to make the item but can try again later. If they succeed, they complete the item, and it now possesses the profile found on DnD Beyond.
