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Crafts

(Comprehensive List of Craft Abilities for Exalted)

Damn, I'm such a geek. I made this for my own use, but I thought you all might like it. Feel free to suggest everything and anything I missed. This is theoretically current as of Blood and Salt.

Key
AB:A = Aspect Book: Earth BaS = Blood and Salt Bo3C = Book of Three Circles CoW = Creatures of the Wyld Ex = Exalted Ex:Ab = Exalted: the Abyssals Ex:O = Exalted: the Outcaste Ex:S = Exalted: the Sidereals ECS = Exalted Storytellers Companion GoD = Games of Divinity KoH = Kingdom of Halta RoR = Ruins of Rathess ScS = Scavenger Sons ToT = Time of Tumult

Alphabetical List with Page References

1. Architecture (Bo3C, p. 104-108; Ex, p. 246; GoD, p. 116;
   KoH, p. 56; RoR, p. 34; ToT, p. 62, 79)
   
2. Armoring (Bo3C, p. 123*; Ex:O, p. 65)
   
3. Artifice (CoW, p. 104)
   
4. Carving (CoW, p. 48; Ex:O, p. 91)
   
5. Breeding (BaS, p. 95)
   
6. Calligraphy (Ex:S, p. 130, 206, 207, 218; ToT, p. 117)
   
7. Clockworks (RoR, p. 36)
   
8. Courtesan (GoD, p. 119)
   
9. Domestic Service (ToT, p. 69)
   
10. Dowsing (BaS, p. 78)
    
11. Dragon Armor* (AB:A, p. 80; Ex:O, p. 65)
    
12. Farming (CoW, p. 26; Ex, p. 136; GoD, p. 40)
    
13. Fate**** (Ex:S, p. 63, 104, 143-145, 209, 219)
    
14. First Age Weapons*** (AB:A, p. 79, 84; Ex:O, p. 48-49, 65)
    
15. First Age Mechanisms*** (Ex:O, p. 62)
    
16. Flying Machines (GoD, p. 28; RoR, p. 70)
    
17. Forest Care (KoH, p. 27)
    
18. Forgery (ToT, p. 93)
    
19. Gem-Cutting (Ex, p. 136)
    
20. Glamour**** (BaS, p. 118; Ex, p. 286, 287; KoH, p. 61, 63, 65; ScS, p. 137, 138, 140)
    
21. Herbalism (RoR, p. 43)
    
22. Home Repair (ToT, p. 93)
    
23. Jadecrafting**** (Ex:Ab, p. 130, 234)
    
24. Jeweler (Ex, p. 340)
    
25. Landscaping (GoD, p. 116)
    
26. Lapidary Appraisal (BaS, p. 109)
    
27. Leatherworking (Ex, p. 136)
    
28. Magical Devices (AB:A, p. 78)
    
29. Manses (ToT, p. 93)
    
30. Mask Making (GoD, p. 27)
    
31. Masonry (CoW, p. 94)
    
32. Metalworking (Bo3C, p. 123*; Ex:O, p. 49; GoD, Fine Metalwork p. 28; RoR, p. 34, 45**, 47, 89**)
    
33. Moliation**** (Ex:Ab, p. 130, 232, 234-238; KoH, p. 58)
    
34. Necrosurgery (Ex:Ab, p. 130, 188, 226)
    
35. Needles (GoD, p. 113)
    
36. Pandemonium**** (Ex:Ab, p. 130, 233, 238-242; KoH, p. 58)
    
37. Poetry (CoW, p. 108)
    
38. Sculpture (BaS, p. 81; CoW, Sculpt p. 97; Ex:O, p. 128; ToT, p. 93)
    
39. Shaman (ScS, p. 26)
    
40. Skin-Changing (CoW, p. 23)
    
41. Skinner (CoW, p. 128)
    
42. Smithing (Ex, p. 136; GoD, Smith p. 96)
    
43. Soulforging**** (Ex:Ab, p. 130, 233)
    
44. Stoneworking (CoW, Stone-Carving p. 70; GoD, p. 116; KoH, Stonework p. 56)
    
45. Swordsmithing (Bo3C, p. 123)
    
46. Tanning (KoH, p. 54)
    
47. Torture (ToT, p. 118)
    
48. Traps (CoW, p. 31, as Hunting Gear and Traps p. 102; GoD, p. 32)
    
49. War (Ex:O, p. 46, 65)
    
50. Warstriders* (KoH, p. 87)
    
51. Weaponcraft (ToT, p. 114)
    
52. Weaving (BaS, p. 106; Ex:S, p. 60; GoD, p. 96)
    
53. Webwork (EsC, p. 74)
    
54. Wonders (GoD, p. 102)
    
55. Woodworking (GoD, p. 116; KoH, p. 53; ScS, p. 142)
    
56. Wyld**** (CoW, p. 116)

* Ex:O notes on p. 65 that Craft (First Age Weapons) is the skill used to design, maintain and repair most sophisticated First Age weapon systems like dragon armor and warstriders. This rule retroactively modifies appropriate references to Craft (Metalworking) and Craft (Armoring). In addition, the skills Craft (Dragon Armor) and Craft (Warstriders) are entirely obsolete and should be treated as specialties of Craft (First Age Weapons).
** Ex:O notes on p. 62 that Craft (First Age Mechanisms) is the skill used to design, maintain and repair skyships. This rule retroactively modifies references to Craft (Metalworking) as denoted by the double asterisk.
*** Characters cannot have a higher rating in Craft (First Age Weapons) than their Lore or Occult. This same rule presumably holds true for Craft (First Age Mechanisms), although that is not stated by the text.
**** These Craft Abilities represent supernatural capabilities unique to their practitioners. Craft (Glamour) belongs to the fae and their progeny. Craft (Moliation) and Craft (Pandemonium) are the skills used in conjunction with the Arcanoi of the Shifting Ghost Clay Path and Terror Spreading Art, respectively. Only beings capable of learning Arcanoi may use these Abilities except perhaps as a theoretical exercise. Craft (Fate) is the province of the Sidereal Exalted and the divinities who work in the Bureau of Destiny, and does little good for anyone without access to appropriate Charms or astrological Colleges. Presumably, this restriction also falls on Craft (Wyld), though this isn’t stated.

Fair Warning: Everything from here on out is personal speculation and interpretation rather than canon.

Crafs I use in my series: (Skip the Long-Winded Explanations)

1. Architecture This one appears all over the place. It’s a given.
   
2. Breeding This is a deliciously clever Ability. I was going to fold this into Lore — and I suppose you could, but I can definitely see the Craft in this.
   
3. Calligraphy This feels more like a Linguistics Specialty than a separate Ability, but Sidereals makes such a big point of it that I’m loath to do away with it.
   
4. Carving I’m of two minds about Carving (and similar variants like Sculpture). On the one hand, these “form” type Crafts fall neatly under the respective Craft focuses dealing with the material worked by the form. For instance, Stoneworking is an act of carving and possibly sculpture by definition. Should a person who knows how to carve wood also carve stone? Of course, should a character’s ability to stab with a knife have any bearing on swinging a daiklave? Obviously, this is a game and it would be silly to get caught up in unnecessary minutiae. However, the precedence of other Abilities seems to suggest that Crafts should be reasonably broad in their implication. Thus, the other side of the argument votes in favor of keeping the broader options of these Crafts open for players. If you want to carve a block of wood, you can use Woodworking or Carving, whichever has a higher rating. The advantage of Woodworking is that you know all the other details and means of transforming wood through art, while Carving gives you the ability to carve in other mediums.
   
5. Clockworks Spiffy! This is a great Craft for Varangians, Mountain Folk and Autocthonians.
   
6. Courtesan Where does the craft of sex fall? The actual act would seem to be a variable function of Athletics, Endurance or Performance under most circumstances, while the business side of prostitution would fall to Bureaucracy as normal. Socialize would probably govern seduction attempts. Honestly, I see a place for this Craft if only because it’s a tasteful answer that doesn’t force a would-be Don Juan to blow 10 Ability points.)
   
7. Domestic Service Hey, cool! Your very own Alfred — or Renfield, for that matter. This catchall set of seneschal and butler skills makes a good Craft, though not one that is likely to see play outside of NPCs. I see fun potential for Imbue Amalgam, however. J
   
8. Farming Another basic standby like Architecture.
   
9. Fate Kind of necessary for Sidereal games, wouldn’t you say?
   
10. First Age Weapons Yay! Magitech!
    
11. First Age Mechanisms I’m not quite sure what separates this from First Age Weapons. I suppose it’s a matter of scale and intent. FAM would cover big vehicles and systems or those that had a non-military function. That’s just speculation, mind you.
    
12. Flying Machines Skyships are tended by First Age Mechanisms, so I guess this Ability encompasses airships and mechanical flying devices rather than those flown by Essence-driven super-science. More Da Vinci, less Escaflowne.
    
13. Glamour Where would the fae be without this?
    
14. Jadecrafting Plainly necessary, wouldn’t you say?
    
15. Jeweler This covers a niche skill, with applications for Hearthstones.
    
16. Landscaping I can’t think of anything else to cover this.
    
17. Leatherworking This fits right along with all the other material-working Crafts.
    
18. Metalworking This is one of the default Crafts, perhaps the most widely-referenced one in all the books.
    
19. Moliation Kind of necessary for ghosts.
    
20. Necrosurgery Yay! Frankensteinian monstrosities! Ok, admittedly, I’m biased.
    
21. Needles This is extremely and unduly narrow for an Ability, but it makes sense for the demons in question. I understand why they have the Craft, but I wouldn’t give it to anyone else.
    
22. Pandemonium Oh, the horror! The horror! More, please!
    
23. Sculpture See Carving.
    
24. Skin-Changing See Needles. I understand why the critters have this, but I’m not about to give it to anyone else. If you want to mess with skin, take leatherworking or necrosurgery.
    
25. Soulforging Duh.
    
26. Stoneworking This is a good default catch-all.
    
27. Traps My first response was to fold this into Survival, but I can also see how an engineer who built deathtraps for a building wouldn’t necessarily know anything about roughing it in the wild. I’ll buy it. Survival still covers most wilderness snares, though, especially in the context of hunting.
    
28. War This is fairly important.
    
29. Weaving I buy it. This is a good basic Craft.
    
30. Wonders This is great for Makarios, considering what he does with it. I’m not about to let this fall into anyone else’s hands.
    
31. Woodworking Another basic Craft. Good.
    
32. Wyld Looking through the powers for the Illuthrita, I don’t even see why they have this Ability. Still, it’s fairly harmless as long as no one else has access to it.
    

I’m throwing out or subsuming the following Crafts in my games for a variety of reasons:

1. Armoring Pick up metalworking or something more broadly useful. This makes more sense as a Specialty.
   
2. Artifice This oblique reference in the entry on Brass Legionnaires doesn’t really work for me. There shouldn’t be a single Craft to make/repair Artifacts. That’s just asking for problems. Artifacts are precious enough that characters should have to work for it, using the most appropriate Craft for the task.
   
3. Dowsing This is a function of Survival. Yes, the same could be said of Calligraphy and Linguistics, but Dowsing appears once in a softcover while Calligraphy appears in two books (one of which is a hardcover). I therefore exert unfair bias to nix Dowsing.
   
4. Dragon Armor First Age Weapons canonically makes this obsolete.
   
5. Forest Care Why is this a Craft? Isn’t this a function of Lore and/or Survival? I’d be inclined to go with an Ecology specialty for Lore and leave it at that.
   
6. Forgery Last I checked, this is a function of Larceny.
   
7. Gem-Cutting I’m subsuming this into Craft (Jeweler).
   
8. Herbalism No sir, I don’t like it. This belongs as a specialty of medicine and maybe Lore, but not a separate Ability.
   
9. Home Repair I’m folding this into Domestic Service, with any serious repairs handled by Architecture.
   
10. Lapidary Appraisal I’m subsuming this into Craft (Jeweler), right along with Gem-Cutting.
    
11. Magical Devices I think I’d fold the creation of Icemind into First Age Mechanisms, even though it isn’t actually an example of First Age technology. Makes more sense than inserting a new Ability, especially one with such frighteningly broad utility. See Artifice, above.
    
12. Manses Creating or repairing Manses is a tripartite function of Craft (Architecture), Lore and Occult. That’s pretty clearly established. Now, I can totally buy a specialty in Manses for Craft (Architecture), but that’s as far as I’ll go.
    
13. Mask Making This is awfully narrow. I realize that the deity in question makes masks and that’s it, but I’d make this a specialty for carving.
    
14. Masonry Between Architecture and Stonework, I think this is covered.
    
15. Poetry Ick. Calligraphy aside, Linguistics specialties should stay Linguistics specialties.
    
16. Shaman Um, what is this supposed to cover exactly? Shouldn’t any shamanistic creations be a duel function of Occult and another appropriate Craft?
    
17. Skinner This is a function of leatherworking or necrosurgery, not an Ability unto itself.
    
18. Smithing I’m folding this into metalworking, except in the reference to Alveua (who damn well ought to be able to forge anything because she’s just that cool.)
    
19. Swordsmithing Way too narrow. I’d make this a specialty of metalworking.
    
20. Tanning I’m folding this into Leatherworking, with Tanning reserved as a potential Specialty.
    
21. Torture The act of torture is either a matter of Investigation (for the interrogation end) or Medicine (to administer torture) or a combat Ability (to beat the crap out of someone).
    
22. Warstriders See Dragon Armor.
    
23. Weaponcraft Yikes! I’m vehemently opposed to any Craft that lets you make whatever weapons you want. That should depend on what you’re making said weapons from.
    
24. Webwork This is a Weaving specialty.

Craft Abilities Permitted in my Series
Common	Restricted	Unique
Architecture Breeding Calligraphy Carving Clockworks Courtesan Domestic Service Farming First Age Weapons* First Age Mechanisms* Flying Machines Jeweler Landscaping Leatherworking Metalworking Necrosurgery Sculpture Stoneworking Traps War Weaving Woodworking	Fate Glamour Jadecrafting Moliation Pandemonium Soulforging	Needles Skin-Changing Wonders Wyld

* Cannot exceed rating of Lore or Occult.