FASA Games, Inc.

Hi, here is maybe a simple or stupid question but I couldn’t find a clarification so far.

At Artisan Skill is phrases that some artisan skills a general skills and described separately.

If I look at these skills some are based on eg Perception PER.
So in my opinion learning this skill let me make a skill test with the normal attribute (here PER) when using it also for artisan reasons?

Or is there anywhere a hint or clarification that I have to switch to charisma CHA when using the skill for artisan reasons?

This artisan/crafting skills 'dilemma' come often in Earthdawn.

In my opinion, after much discussions about this in the Fasa Discord channel and here I believed that Artisan/Crafting skills will be used with different Attributes depending of the objective:

1- The 'main' reason everyone learn at least one Artisan skill is to demonstrate that they are not Horror Marked because it is believed (rightly or not) that someone who his Horror Marked/Touched/Controlled cannot create something 'beautiful'. Thus, when doing an Artisan Test with the aim to 'proving' that you are 'untouched', the Attribute that need to be used with the skill is Charisma because you are trying to create something that is primarily beautiful with less emphasis in its practicality. For example; someone using his mapmaking skill to show his 'purity' could make a very beautiful map, with nice shadow effects to show elevation and great illuminated text BUT the map itself might not be accurate.

2- Someone who is just trying to 'create' something for practical purposes (which would be the case for the vast majority of professional artisans/craftsmen) would (usually) use Dexterity instead. That does not mean that the resulting product is 'ugly' but rather that the priority was put on 'it has to work' instead of 'beauty'.

3- Finally, some skills can overlap between Knowledge and Artisan/Crafting; for example, you could have the Painting skill as a Knowledge Skill or as Artisan skill. The character having Painting as a Knowledge skill would know the different style of paintings, the best known artists in history and the artistic trends throughout history but would NOT be able to paint himself. On the other hand, the one using Painting as an artisan skill might make the most beautiful work of art around without knowing much about art history or even the actual names of the technique he is using.

I will check it myself.