In Ilisara, having a job is not strictly necessary. Nobility can own enough land to provide for their households via tithes, and leave the actual working of the land to their servants. Yeoman might have a bit of land they work - not to get rich, but just to provide for the daily needs of themselves and their family. Commoners might have a few jobs each, and switch between them by season or as demand comes up. The traveling life is also quite common in Ilisara, with people going where the jobs are this month, and living lightly as a result.
If you want to make your way in the world and be more than a simple farmer, you’ll want to have a profession. Some kingdoms in have established Trade Guilds that you can be a member of. Each character may only have one profession. The list on this page is incomplete; if you want to create your own profession that is not listed here, feel free to do so with the DM.
Crafted Items
With professions, you can make crafted items, provided you have the correct reagents to do so. Crafted items can be very lucrative sources of income, considering art, poisons, and other handmade specialty items sell well.
Any crafted item can be sold for twice its material cost.
Additionally, crafted weapons and shields have the potential to be stronger than any common weapon or shield purchased from a vendor. You can also utilize an enchanter to imbue weapons or shields with gemstones at the time of their creation. Gemstones provide combat bonuses that are unique and flavorful.
All in all, it benefits you greatly to take a profession.
Crafting Requirements
Every crafted item has a material requirement. Materials, or reagents, come in different qualities — Common, Rare, and Epic — and provide a bonus relevant to the item’s purpose. Armor receives a bonus to Physical Defense. Weapons receive a bonus to Damage. Shields receive a bonus to Damage Reduction.
- Common materials provide no bonus to crafted items
- Rare materials provide a +1 bonus to crafted items
- Epic materials provide a +2 bonus to crafted items
It is cheaper to purchase materials and craft items than it is to buy items. Once you have acquired the proper materials, it generally takes some time to craft an item. The time taken depends on the item and DM discretion.
Common materials tend to cost 1/10 of one Rare material. Rare materials tend to cost 1/3 of one Epic material.
Crafting Materials
There are four basic categories of material available to craft with: Cloth, Leather, Metal, and Wood. Profession recipes require a certain amount of these materials to be made. For example, a Short Sword requires 3 metal and 1 leather to be crafted. These material categories hold many different types of individual reagents among them. The availability of these reagents varies by region.
| Cloth Reagents | Material Quality |
|---|---|
| Linen, canvas, wool | Common |
| Silk, velvet, chiffon | Rare |
| Suncloth, phoenix feathers | Epic |
| Leather Reagents | Material Quality |
|---|---|
| Deer, cow, and horsehide | Common |
| Sea serpent scales, select hides | Rare |
| Dragon scales, unicorn pelts | Epic |
| Metal Reagents | Material Quality |
|---|---|
| Copper, brass, iron, tin | Common |
| Silver, bronze, titanium | Rare |
| Gold, steel, adamantium | Epic |
| Wood Reagents | Material Quality |
|---|---|
| Cedar, oak, pine, maple | Common |
| Starwood, yew, ash | Rare |
| Treant clippings | Epic |
Some professions, such as alchemy, require very specific reagents that cannot be substituted for others. These reagents are listed with the profession’s recipes. In most cases, you can use whatever is available to fulfill crafting requirements.
List of Professions
Most professions allow characters to craft items. All profession names are listed here with a snapshot of the types of items they can create (or benefits they provide).
Alchemist — crafts poisons, potions, and transmutes materials
Artisan — crafts art, adventuring items (traps and snares), and some weapons
Bard — is well received in towns and settlements, and has specialized knowledge of folklore
Blacksmith — crafts metal armor, weapons, and tools
Chef — crafts delicious meals and consumables
Enchanter — crafts gemstones, etches runes, and inscribes cantrips in spellbooks
Tailor — crafts leather and cloth armor, and some adventuring items
Scoundrel — has specialized knowledge of illegal and unsavory activities, and can craft certain items to aid in thievery and misguidance
Do not let your imagination be limited to this list! If you’d like to make a profession from scratch, you can use any of the official professions listed here as a template. Architects, writers, astronomers, and other professions are canon in Ilisara and merely need to be translated into game-appropriate rules to suit characters. Work with the DM if you have an idea.