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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My advice is for artisans to leave their starting slots open and talk to people on the field to see if anyone could use an item that the artisan could start with. This could be used to help the artisan get some bonus starting funds to purchase more crafting materials and get a potential new friend a discounted magic item they can benefit from. This also allows the artisan to talk with the Artisanās Guild about what commissions have been requested to optimize their slots for sales. Alternatively, it could save the artisan time and commission on hunting down someone else to craft items they want, such as a mage crafting ritual items for themselves or a warrior crafting weapons and armor for themselves.
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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 swordā¦
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 youāre joining a group of friends, who know what they want and what they can give you and what they will need, itāll be great. Going soloā¦ 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 arenāt 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 wonāt 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?
There arenāt any classes in Empire, but I would say that the artisan part of the game (accessed by the artisan skill) is a pretty easy part of the game. You can go through the apothecary and artisans guild to make getting commissions easier, you can do the legwork on your own commissions, or you can be a dedicated artisan working with a specific group or nation, for example.
Iād 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.
Itās not the most difficult bit of the game to get into by any means (Senate or Bourse power), but itās not the easiestā¦
Perhaps āaccessibleā is a better word!
Pick the right recipes: Donāt take any starting items at character creation. Check with the Artisanās Guild at your first event, pick items that are being requested.
Get the right resource: This doesnāt matter to crafting at all if you make the customer collect the crafting materials, which many crafters on the field do.
Legwork: Go the artisans guild or put your name in with connectors like the owner of the Boarās Head or other bars/trade houses.
I donāt think there is anything easier in Empire than the artisan game as itās one of the few games that doesnāt require a group of people to achieve measurable results. That said though, youāre definitely right that it isnāt a large profit margin part of the game and does require you to show up consistently to events to deliver items commissioned the previous event. Few things worth doing are easy.
The medicine game would be another āeasyā one to get into by that metric.
If your measure of success is the number of people saved, I suppose youād be right. 
However, if you dont pick any starting items then you donāt get any free items!
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If itās your first event, Iām sure PD will give you your starting ribbons if you go to GOD and tell them that youāve talked with some experienced players and decided on your starting items. Iāve literally sat down with new players in GOD and gone through magic items with them on the computers to help them decide. Then they had the ribbons printed that day.
Ah that makes good sense.
Thanks to @Geoffrey_Willoughby for the 4 recipes clarification. That wasnāt that clear in the character creation guidelines.
@Kai_G mentioned Artisanās 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. Itās pretty informal.
No secret handshakeā¦ but then, I wouldnāt knowā¦
It also is a bit of a āmagic item shopā 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.
Last I recall, the office wasnāt near the Hub. Iāve attached a map with an arrow indicating where I found it this past year.
Also, here is a FB group for artisans.
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Is there any good artisan guilds in the Empire?
Thereās only one Artisanās Guild that Iām aware of and each nation has a rep you can go to.
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. Itās worth wandering round the field and finding out who selling what and peopleās reputations as thereās a lot that goes on.
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