What were your three starting recipes?
What have you changed it to or what do you wish you had chosen instead?
What advice would you give a new player about picking their starting recipes?
Asking for a Friend 
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(By the way, an Artisan starts with 4 recipies, plus Artisans Oil. They start with three pre-built items.)
The last time I played an artisan, I chose:
Warriors Plate (heavy armour +1 hit)
Mithril Shirt (medium armour +1 hit)
Oakenheart Shield (+1 hit, +1 rank fortitude)
Shieldbreaker sword (hero point to call SHATTER on a shield)
I started play with the three low ones, sold the WP and wore the others. No regrets, although I never did manage to make the swordâŚ
For a new player:
I would not advise a new player to start the game as an artisan. It can be a bit complex. If youâre joining a group of friends, who know what they want and what they can give you and what they will need, itâll be great. Going solo⌠not so much.
I would reccomend that they pick:
- An item that they can make mostly out of their personal resource (ie, Greensteel Bracelets if they have a green iron mine)
- An item that will sell well on the field (tricky if you arenât able to gauge the market)
- Something that they can use themselves. Heck, the more the better. Artisan is a large points investment, and the upside is being able to start with a lot of good gear.
- Something aspirational and expensive. My shieldbreaker sword. The Twilight Pauldrons (of Arcane Might) that my current character wears. Something big and shiny so that gathering the materials, lining up a buyer, and crafting the thing, is a personal plot storyline in itself. Heck, get it Hallowed!
(All of the above, of course, can overlap like mad. If your easy-make item sells like hot cakes and you keep one yourself, so much the better).
Also, Artisans oil. Make up half-a-dozen drams, but you probably wonât need more. It sells badly, lasts forever, and is only needed rarely (but then, urgently).
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Is Artisans easy a class to play in Empire larp just wondering?
Iâd have to disagree.
It takes a fair bit of planning and thought, over time. Picking the right recipies, getting the right resources, a certain amount of legwork, and a rather slow return. Artisans work across the year, with things being made 1 or 2 events in advance.
Itâs not the most difficult bit of the game to get into by any means (Senate or Bourse power), but itâs not the easiestâŚ
Perhaps âaccessibleâ is a better word!
The medicine game would be another âeasyâ one to get into by that metric.
However, if you dont pick any starting items then you donât get any free items!
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Ah that makes good sense.
Thanks to @Geoffrey_Willoughby for the 4 recipes clarification. That wasnât that clear in the character creation guidelines.
@Kai_G mentioned Artisanâs Guild. I figured there would be one but there is no mention of this anywhere. Things like the Anvil Hospital and Imperial Library all have wiki pages but I could find nothing for Artisans. Do they have a tent/ meeting/ secret handshake?
The Artisans Guild is pretty new. Like the others, it has been made in uptime by PCs. There is a national rep in every nation, and they have an office or similar near the Hub, and a few catalogues of who can make what, and what people want. Itâs pretty informal.
No secret handshake⌠but then, I wouldnât know⌠
It also is a bit of a âmagic item shopâ in that they do have a stock of magic items that they sell as well as buying used. You do pay for the convenience, but its pretty fair.
Is there any good artisan guilds in the Empire?
Depending on the nation there are various national gatherings you can talk to, in Highguard there are the Benefactors, in Navarr the Brokers and in the League you can just walk through their camp and look at the various signs their guilds will have up asking for or selling their wares. Itâs worth wandering round the field and finding out who selling what and peopleâs reputations as thereâs a lot that goes on.
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