[Trade] Appraise

[Erwyth]

Just throwing an idea out there, don't know if this is hard to code or not. What if appraise helped to raise your trade skills? By examining many times of weapons, obviously over time you notice flaws, perfections, etc etc. In reality this obviously could apply to your skill. Though, how hard is it to code... Or even the pros/cons

Feel free to smite it

[Alvirin]

While I can't see your appraise skill increasing your skill at a particular trade, ie: knowing how to test a sword and analyze how good it is, is totally different from smithing a sword, in the other hand I could see that you could get a bonus to appraise those items that you are able to craft since you know details about crafting processes related to them and that should give you a bit more of exactitude in your appraisals.

Mind that in D&D there is a concept called skill synergy that is very similar to what you are suggesting, please have a look at: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/usingSkills.htm if it interests you.

[Oghma]

Appraise is the skill of looking at an object in detail and determining more about it than the average person would. I can't see it as a way to improve a trade because looking and studying is not necessarily doing and knowing. I could take apart a watch to study the parts and learn about its value, but that does not mean I can put it back together or improve it. That takes skills and study through courses and manuals or even apprenticeship.

I could meet this idea halfway though, maybe have appraisal benefit trades directly before the tradeskill is used or at least have it affect trades at an incredibly slow or almost unnoticed rate. Even going so far as to eventually incorporate it into bonuses with the teach skill.

[Glim]

I actually like Alvarin's idea a bit more. It seems to make more sense. A person who knows how to tell a good quality item might not know how to make one, but I could see someone who knows how to make certain items better at telling a good quality one or not.

[Harroghty]

I concur with Alvirin and Glim. I'd take this train of thought a step further and suggest that skill with a particular weapon might add a bonus to appraisal. Certainly a grandmaster at thrusting blades would know a good short sword when he saw one. Now this is significantly more complicated (to advance the idea that proficiency in a certain weapon would apply a bonus to appraising that type of weapon), but Alvirin's idea is simple and generic. You can make weapons so (according to your ability) you receive a bonus at appraising them.