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Sudden inspiration!

Trade marks for trade skills:

Apon aquiring a the JM (journeyman) status. One is able to add their "trade mark" to an Item. Unlike the current armor/weapon smith trade mark...

adding it to the end of the short description:

a brass handgrenade --> a brass handgrenade imprinted with twin gears

One could add their 'trade mark' to the long description. However to avoid making trademarks completly unique for JM status. It would be a name.


a brass handgrenade

This polished metal sphere comes attaches with pin and throwing handle.
Be careful though, thoese gnomes never figured out how to time the gernade yet. So it might just off off before you throw it!
MARK: Cret

Some items would not have any description set so it would show either:

MARK: Cret ...or... nothing

Could you indicate why/how you feel adding this discrete mark would add to the trades?

I will side with Cret on this one.

Knowing a weapon comes from a master dwarven smith, or that piece of jewelry was made by the fabled elven jeweler adds an RP value to the item.

Sure, it could just be 'a sword' or 'a necklace', but seeing that mark means something.

My two copper.

Sairaven hit my sentiments. I think the mark would give items a personality.

Why only at journeyman + ?

Sorry. I think it is good for the trades for the main reason. A crafter knows his own work. And thus.. if someone who 'knows' what to look for can find out who made an item and thus seek them out for similar items.

As for JM level. An apprentice would not be putting his mark onto an item because he would still be considered 'under' a master and thus making less quality items. Usualy a Journeyman is still under tutatlage but has the know-how and the ability to create his own items and thus his own style of crafting. Also, it is a quality issue. People who know items would look for a trade mark on an item and know if a JM or higher made it.

I have to say that I like this idea a lot. But I do think that you should be able to leave your mark on your work at any level of skill. You might not necessarily have a teacher, you might just be learning and practicing on your own.

edit:
I also agree that it should be a small mark that you have to examine. Like if I created a ring, there would be a teeny tiny emblem on the inside of the band. Or maybe for Paige's clothing she could sew her own mark into the label.

Perhaps the mark could read "An apprenticework by *who*" for sub-journeymen, and be a custom design (that the artisan would set) for journeymen and up?

Currently, a trade mark is applied to smithed weapons and armour because the smith has a trademark object.

With the object in inventory, any item constructed becomes marked with the same text as the trademark. If the object is not in inventory then the mark is not applied.

That is

Fred has a trademark object called 'a figure eight'
If he has it in his inventory and makes a longsword from copper...
He creates a copper longsword marked with a figure eight
If he puts it away and crafts the same item again...
He creates a copper longsword

At this moment in time only metalwork weapons and armour work with the trademark code.

I like the idea that any crafter could mark their work, but feel it should be as Cret suggested - a discrete mark seen on examining. The equivalent of a scratched, carved or seared initial or squiggle. Perhaps by adding a line to the 'Ed' description.

Personalising item descriptions should come when someone is creating items of quality or worth.

That said, I'd love to see the current trademark code opened up to more players. It will only work for a GM smith at the moment and it would be nice to see that requirement relaxed to experts or perhaps even adepts.

I would love to see it opened up, as well. A journeyman smith is just that - he can make his money doing what he does, by some matter.. should he not begin marking his work at this stage? Adept and above, I've always thought are good at what they do. Adept in any skill seems more than just "proficient" to me, but verging on excellence. The bases are covered, and the fancy stuff can begin.

I like the idea of trademark.
Mostly cause I am an idiot and so it takes me forever to figure out where to take my weapons to get them repaired. With a trademark, I can take that weapon back to who made it and pout and say, "fix it!'

And fork some coins.
Plus I know I have had a character in the past where an new weaponsmith would fork over weapons to her with the idea totell him what she thought of this weapon and that. It would be neat to be able to say, "This ismy baby... it was made by... Bob the Weaponsmith."