Crafting
From SCross
"How do I get started?"
It's not the most glamorous of duties, but there's money and fame to be made regardless in being a blacksmith, a fletcher, an alchemist... you name it. It's also one of the more difficult tasks in which to get started, so I have provided this guide to walk you through a few 'first steps' that will get you on your way. Feel free to follow along on the MUCK if you like!
First, type +synth #list. Any command in bold that you find like this will be something you type directly. These are going to be the items you know how to make. Let's look at a portion of Skylia's +synth #list, for an example.
Short Bow | Wind | Lumber/1:Grass Thread/1 |3.05| 78%|
Let's go over this entry piece by piece.
Short Bow is the item created. Wind is the element involved, which is half of the recipe for the item. Lumber/1:Grass Thread/1 is the items needed, which is the other half of the recipe for this item. 3.05 is the amount of synth points needed. If you don't have enough, it'll be in red. 78% is the chance of success at creating this item. If it's in parentheses, it means you're so good at creating this item that your success chance can't get any higher than 80%, and instead the number is your chance at creating a masterpiece. If it's red, again, you are so good at creating this item that your synth skills will not raise at all when you create it.
"How do I make these items?"
Type +synth <item>. More than likely you'll be told you're lacking in something.
First, you need the items that the recipe calls for. If you don't have the Short Bow recipe, instead pick something from your own list. Short Bow in particular needs Lumber and Grass Thread, both of which we don't have, so we will need to get those before we can make this item. First, type +lmarket to see what goods are available on the local market, and brace for spam!
Now, one of two things will happen. Hopefully, the recipe is a 'basic' recipe, and calls for items that can be bought directly from +lmarket through +lmarket/buy Item=Amount. If this is the case, read the 'Basic' recipe section; if not, read the 'Baked' recipe section.
'Basic' Recipes
A simple one, like Lumber, Distilled Water, Copper Ingot, or Grass Thread. You're in luck with these; you can craft these out of market items. Buy the item (if you haven't already) and then move to step 2, you lucky dog (or cat, or shark, or whatever!)
'Baked' Recipes
Sometimes you can't buy all the materials you need directly from the local market. For example, Lumber and Grass Thread don't show up. In this case, you will need to obtain those materials either through another PC, or through your own work. You can repeat this down the line for each component until you find the 'basic' recipe.
"I don't know how to make that!"
Unfortunately, you may find that one of the items needed isn't in your +synth #list! This is where you need to either obtain the item itself, or its recipe) from another PC, which is done through RPing asking around. Often people will want some payment in return.
You can also obtain the recipe through experimentation. In addition to +synth <item>, there is a manual command: +synth <element>:<item list>. The element corresponds mostly to the process through which the item is created - for example, fire will melt and forge things (Copper into ingots), Earth will mesh things (cloth into thread), Wind will shape and cut them (wood into lumber), Black will age them (dull food into straw), etc. You can start by obtaining a market item close to the item you're looking for, such as Cloth for Grass Thread, and then trying +synth wind:Cloth, or maybe +synth earth:cloth. If you've done it right, you should have just jumped right into a synthing interface. Move to step 2! (If you make a recipe that doesn't make anything, you'll get a 'this doesn't create anything'.
Also, a word of warning on manual recipes: Some items have the same recipe right down to the element involved. You cannot choose which one to create when you do it manually.
Thankfully, once you successfully create an item through experimentation, the item is added to your synth list.
Another option is to +synth #practice a needed Synthesis skill; this will trade up all your synth points that you presently have, in exchange for upping your skill level in a synthesis skill. This will help to gradually unlock and improve your synthesis chances as well.
"I have the components, now how do I create the item?"
Type +synth <item>, unless you came here manually. You'll be presented with a synthesis interface, if you have the items. If you don't, go back to the first step.
You'll be told what item it is you're creating, and how good your skills are (you have doubts about your Wood skill, for example). If you have at least 10 gil, you'll be asked if you want to insure your items against loss. Generally, with basic synths you'll want to stay away from this unless the item is extremely expensive or otherwise irreplaceable, or if you have a low chance of success, since insurance is paid regardless of success or failure.
Then you'll get a chart something like this:
-[ Synth: Short Bow ]---------------------------------------------------------
Element: Wind, Synthesis chamber: None, Insured: No
Chances: Success: 76%, Poor Quality: 14%, Masterpiece: 3%
Costs: 3.45 synth points (7.27->3.82)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type N or No to abort, or ENTER to proceed ...
And hit enter to go on with it. If you succeeded, you'll be prompted to describe the item. If you failed, you'll just be informed you failed, and if you didn't insure your items, you may lose them.
That's it. You just performed your first item creation! If this was toward a 'baked' synthesis, you're a step closer to creating that item, but you may need to create others (i.e. a short bow needs both lumber and grass thread).
"Ok, now what do I do with this item?"
You can either use the item yourself or sell it to someone else via +smarket. The +smarket command allows you to place (or fill) bounties for particular items. It's also a handy way to get items you can only partially synth - for example, to make an item that requires both an ingot of iron and lumber, if you're no good with metal, request the ingot on +smarket and synth the lumber yourself. There is also +auction, through which you can buy or sell almost anything! These two commands, +auction and +smarket, will display their helpfiles when entered.
"I'm out of 'synth points', what are these and how do I recover them?"
Those points measure how much you can create daily. They refresh every 24 hours, and you can type +synth with no arguments to look at the time remaining. If you run out, you can still create items with MP, but be warned - synth points are not consumed on failures, MP are.
"I have an item on my list that shows a negative chance of success!"
You will need to raise your synth skills making lesser items. Your chance of success on the one big item will go up as you do. Try +synth #practice-ing the skills that are called on for making that item.
"Now how do I get better at it?"
Well, the first and easiest way (if time-consuming) is to +synth #practice. For example; you receive the message while crafting a Violin that "You shiver in fear considering your Music skill!". Well, if you've got some time to spare... "+synth #practice Music" will spend all of your present Synth points in return for upping your Music skill. The more points you have on hand and are spent this way, the bigger the increase in the skill will be.
Before the synth chart, you should notice one or two skills referenced, and after it you should notice a couple of percentage chances of skill raise. These skills are listed at the bottom of +synth #list, and will automatically raise every so often when you synth an item. Additionally, higher synthesis skills (and basic skills and specials) will open up various new recipes.
At first, the skillraises will be few and far between, but the special skill Synthesization will help your chances of learning. +rpinfo Synthesization to show what jobs offer it.
You may also, once you have enough money, look into buying a synthesis chamber. It will improve your chances of success, but requires more synth points to use. Additionally, Elemental Crystals (market items) provide the same benefit with no additional synth points needed, but only once per item, success or failure.
Finally, go into editplayer, and on the second page, you will find a Magic Affinity. This can be left at 0, or set from -100 (tech) to +100 (magic). You can also +rpinfo <any craftable item> and it will display its affinity. Tech items are easier to create by someone with tech affinity, though harder to create by someone with magic affinity. Of course, if you don't want to bother with this, you can leave it at 0 as well.
"What if I want to create something by ICly shaping it in a forge or the like, instead of that whack-ass 'synthesis' method?"
Believe it or not, +synth lets you do that. The references to synthesis are a throwback from when we had a differing +craft system, which is now defunct. ICly, you can create these items in any logical way you'd like. The OOC messages shown to the room are very generic for exactly this purpose - they used to look like meditation (if you were magic) or drafting (if you were tech). :D
Good luck, happy crafting, and watch your +gil!
"How do I get perks for crafting items?"
Believe it or not there is now a whole page on that right here Synth Perks.
