Mundane Masterwork Tools Question

[Name1]

So a Mundane Masterwork Tool grants a +2 to a check, right? So I've been thinking: In my campaign, there is a reclusive character called "The Sage" (a Raptoran Frenzied Berserker). He isn't widely known, but those that know him often come to him for advice. The idea is that said Frenzied Berserker get's his "Sage Knowledge" by getting Sadism up, charging a group of sacrificial animals and kills + Greater Cleaves them. This generally results in about 6000 damage hitting 5 targets via valorous, battle jump, raptoran charge and all that. This means his "Sage Advice" is an educated guess backed by a 1d20+600 Knowledge Skill check. As for why I have this in my campaign... I find the concept of the big dumb brute giving advice funny.

Anyway, so much for the backstory. Now my characters wanted this old friends advice to help farmers in the region. The Sage gives them the blueprints for a Big Bud 747 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bud_747)-style farming tractor along with whatever the hell they need to know about constructing it. Now this is gonna cost some money, but you know, one of the players is a Thrallherd and his minions are probably gonna build it... Let's say the issue isn't so much money as it is getting the region to be self-sustaining without their help.

Now... this thing IS mundane (as in, non-magical) and it seems like it would be Masterwork too. A tool... well, yeah, it's a farming tool. Still... it seems like it's a great invention and... I don't know, the +2 just seems too minor of a bonus after all the trouble.


So I'm asking the playground: What bonus should it give in your opinion? Are there any major changes to the world that I should be aware of after this has been introduced in the region?

[Inevitability]

Something to remember: the default 'masterwork tool' stats describe something worth 50 GP and weighing a few pounds at most. This is something else entirely.

[Vizzerdrix]

+20? Tripple output for several fields? Maybe just treat it like a huge sized ox?

[Jowgen]

There are precedents for special masterwork tools that give more than the normal +2 bonus. SBG libraries can give up to a +6 on Knowledge IIRC. RoS has a Dwarven healer's pack that gives more of a bonus than the regular PHB one. There is a warforged component called Fingerpicks in FoW that gives twice the bonus of regular thieves tools.

I'm pretty sure that this tracktor would give bonuses to Profession (Farmer), the most pertinent rules for which are found in the how-to-run-a-business section of Cityscape. Profit checks, or something like that. Alternatively, you could make an argument that, as you are actively growing something, it should fall under craft. Like, craft (agriculture) or Craft (plants) or whatever; but there be no rules on this... except, actually, one of the Dragon mag articles on magical plants requires Knowledge (Nature) and Profession (Gardner) for the purpose of growing those specific plants IIRC. Might run off that instead.

[Fizban]

1. There are no rules for how much food you produce with your profession: farmer, only how much money you make.
2. Modern farming equipment and techniques would vastly increase the output, but also effectively require an entirely new skill set. It would be a different skill with a very expensive piece of equipment giving a large bonus that still results in relatively little profit.
3. Unless the sage has provided them with a source of crude oil and refinery, they couldn't fuel it anyway. The standard medieval-ish tech level of the setting is flat incapable of creating the tractor or the fuel (1,000 gallon tank). In order to build this thing they need to first perform the industrial revolution. Failing that, they need to pull a similar feat of knowledge combined with iterative Fabricate abuse for both the tractor and every load of fuel (after they find a source to tap) which even if they do still leaves the system completely unsustainable without high level Wizards in place of infrastructure.

[Name1]

1. There are no rules for how much food you produce with your profession: farmer, only how much money you make.
2. Modern farming equipment and techniques would vastly increase the output, but also effectively require an entirely new skill set. It would be a different skill with a very expensive piece of equipment giving a large bonus that still results in relatively little profit.
3. Unless the sage has provided them with a source of crude oil and refinery, they couldn't fuel it anyway. The standard medieval-ish tech level of the setting is flat incapable of creating the tractor or the fuel (1,000 gallon tank). In order to build this thing they need to first perform the industrial revolution. Failing that, they need to pull a similar feat of knowledge combined with iterative Fabricate abuse for both the tractor and every load of fuel (after they find a source to tap) which even if they do still leaves the system completely unsustainable without high level Wizards in place of infrastructure.

1. I assumed that it's basically producing "Trail Rations" instead of gold.

2. While that's true, I figured that the actual skills to use this could be tought to the next generation instead of the original required skill.

3. Which they may even do. The entire scenario is one of those "if your problem is that you are stuck on an island, blow up the island and consider it a success as you are no longer on it" kinda deal. This was part of why I asked what changes would come over the world if this goes off.


There are precedents for special masterwork tools that give more than the normal +2 bonus. SBG libraries can give up to a +6 on Knowledge IIRC. RoS has a Dwarven healer's pack that gives more of a bonus than the regular PHB one. There is a warforged component called Fingerpicks in FoW that gives twice the bonus of regular thieves tools.

I'm pretty sure that this tracktor would give bonuses to Profession (Farmer), the most pertinent rules for which are found in the how-to-run-a-business section of Cityscape. Profit checks, or something like that. Alternatively, you could make an argument that, as you are actively growing something, it should fall under craft. Like, craft (agriculture) or Craft (plants) or whatever; but there be no rules on this... except, actually, one of the Dragon mag articles on magical plants requires Knowledge (Nature) and Profession (Gardner) for the purpose of growing those specific plants IIRC. Might run off that instead.

I'll be looking into Cityscape then. I don't really use Dragon Magazine, if only because of the bad rep they seem to have.