Grayle wrote:Those are pretty good ideas. Simple, realistic, logical.
It should probably cost money, or require making him an assortment of items, that would not gain the apprentice smith financially. Learning a trade isn't free, and the toil required to learn and perform the trade should yield a tangible benefit, I.E. Better or more varied/specialized equipment. If a player weaponsmith knows there are Werewolves about, he might learn to make a silver sword that is especially effective vs. lycanthropes, maybe even as part of a quest. This sort of thing would really make crafting invaluable, if it were not just a 'quirky' talent that some characters have, but if it were really useful. Specifically useful to characters, not just fun/frustrating for players.
I miss smelting from Dasaria1. I did like how some items could only be created through multiple stages, and sometimes only with a second pair of hands.
Isn't the normal way:
Me "I would humbly request to become your apprentice."
Smith "Ok. You can be my (female dog) for a year and whatever you learn on the side is your apprenticeship."
Having a long chain of sidequests to slowly work up an apprenticeship would be great. Give players a token to record progress (so server crashes don't destroy your progress) and make it unpickable xD.
I think having the smith make you run errands and (later) make orders for him is not unreasonable and makes good economic sense.