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One of the things that attracted me to Sil was Smithing. I like the idea of being able to create your own stuff, and in particular I like the idea that I do not have to "get lucky" and have the RNG provide me with needed gear. Unfortunately, the Smithing rules don't quite manage to do this, because a smith is still at the mercy of the RNG when it comes to finding Forges. A smith can do everything right, and still get hosed by not having any forges be available. This can be mitigated to some degree by using Revelation staffs to look for levels with forges, but now you are at the mercy of the RNG to specifically provide Revelation staffs.
I don't have any real good answers for this, but I'd like to throw out two possibilities for discussion: one would be to introduce a new sort of challenge: No Artefacts, but Better Forges. "Better" could take several forms, but the one I've personally been experimenting with is to generate the forges with one extra use. Since the forges will have 3-5 uses (instead of 2-4), you can always use a forge to make one artifact (and never two). This lets you make more stuff, at the cost of *needing* to make more stuff, since you aren't going to find any artefacts. It seems like a reasonable trade-off. A second possibility might be to have "minor" artifacts that only take 2 uses of a forge. Say, things of difficulty 25(?) or less only take two uses, while 26 or more take three. I haven't experimented with this at all, but it seems like an interesting notion.
I do very much like the changes to smithing of Mithril objects. It makes mithril more valuable (at least for a smith), which I think is a good thing. And removing the stat cost for things like Gondolin swords also strikes me as a good thing. I actually consider making them now, which I almost never used to do.
With the changes to Song of Sharpness, I think it might be nice to make "of Sharpness" be an Enchantment, rather than requiring Artifice.
A change that I personally would like to see, although I freely admit it might be unbalancing, would be to be able to add an enchantment to an existing object. Start with a fixed smithing cost, say, 10, to use an already existing object, and then add the enchantment cost on top of that. Only one Enchantment per object allowed (can't add more enchantments to an already enchanted object). This would make finding good equipment more valuable, and would also allow the player to smith more powerful gear by using a two step process: first make the best <whatever> you can using Artistry, and then Enchant it. This takes 2 uses of a forge, but results in a piece of equipment you couldn't have made otherwise. Sort of like a "minor" artifact. Or possibly even make Enchanting an existing object take 2 forge uses, rather than just one.
I don't have any real good answers for this, but I'd like to throw out two possibilities for discussion: one would be to introduce a new sort of challenge: No Artefacts, but Better Forges. "Better" could take several forms, but the one I've personally been experimenting with is to generate the forges with one extra use. Since the forges will have 3-5 uses (instead of 2-4), you can always use a forge to make one artifact (and never two). This lets you make more stuff, at the cost of *needing* to make more stuff, since you aren't going to find any artefacts. It seems like a reasonable trade-off. A second possibility might be to have "minor" artifacts that only take 2 uses of a forge. Say, things of difficulty 25(?) or less only take two uses, while 26 or more take three. I haven't experimented with this at all, but it seems like an interesting notion.
I do very much like the changes to smithing of Mithril objects. It makes mithril more valuable (at least for a smith), which I think is a good thing. And removing the stat cost for things like Gondolin swords also strikes me as a good thing. I actually consider making them now, which I almost never used to do.
With the changes to Song of Sharpness, I think it might be nice to make "of Sharpness" be an Enchantment, rather than requiring Artifice.
A change that I personally would like to see, although I freely admit it might be unbalancing, would be to be able to add an enchantment to an existing object. Start with a fixed smithing cost, say, 10, to use an already existing object, and then add the enchantment cost on top of that. Only one Enchantment per object allowed (can't add more enchantments to an already enchanted object). This would make finding good equipment more valuable, and would also allow the player to smith more powerful gear by using a two step process: first make the best <whatever> you can using Artistry, and then Enchant it. This takes 2 uses of a forge, but results in a piece of equipment you couldn't have made otherwise. Sort of like a "minor" artifact. Or possibly even make Enchanting an existing object take 2 forge uses, rather than just one.
Thanks to half and Scatha for being open to suggestions even by a$$holes.
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