Blacksmith Help

[SpicyBoi_Nezu]

I was wondering what class would be the best for blacksmith. I was thinking Artificer, but I don't need to make magic items, just weapons. Wizard was my next choice (Unseen Servant & Unseen Crafter) but I'm not too sure now.

I understand the basics of crafting non-magical weapons and armor, as well as Masterwork equipment, but I don't really want to get into crafting magic items.

**Edit**
My friend recommended playing a simple fighter with Intelligence as a secondary stat, using knowledge devotion and collector of stories to have a bigger benefit IN combat with him, but have him be the one that everyone goes to when they need their equipment repaired.

The original concept was to have him own a blacksmiths shop in the city that we are based in, where he can earn a semi-consistent living while not adventuring.

[Zaq]

Craft is just a skill, and most classes possess it.

If you want to make magical weapons, then yeah, a caster (artificer, wizard, or otherwise) is your best bet. Maybe a cleric with thematically appropriate domains?

If you don’t care about magic, then just take ranks in the appropriate Craft skill, and boom, there you go.

There are a handful of PrCs that center around this kind of thing. My favorite is ironsoul forgemaster, which you’ll find in Magic of Incarnum. Check that out, maybe.

[Red Fel]

There are a handful of PrCs that center around this kind of thing. My favorite is ironsoul forgemaster, which you’ll find in Magic of Incarnum. Check that out, maybe.

Seconding Ironsoul Forgemaster. It's a versatile combat and crafting class that can benefit the entire party, but doesn't surrender all of its resources to crafting - meaning it can contribute to fights. There's a guide in my sig that covers the class, if you're interested.

There's a similar class, Battlesmith, but for reasons I outline in the guide, I don't think it's nearly as great as Ironsoul Forgemaster.

[Albions_Angel]

Might be a setting specific question, but why is a blacksmith going adventuring? Blacksmiths were highly prized in the times that D&D tends to be based on. Years of training kept the pool of smiths relatively small, and if you can shoe a horse, you can make a blade. Master blacksmiths would have been few and far between, but even Hod the village smith, who makes 3 dozen horse shoes a year, and sharpens the odd scythe, would likely have been the richest permanent resident. Its stable, safe, and complex enough that you can simply make your son your apprentice and know that he will take over the forge when you pass on.

I make blacksmiths NPCs in my world.

Blacksmiths are level 3 experts. They can take 10s and 20s to JUST achieve masterwork components.
Castlesmiths are level 6 experts, or level 3 experts and 3 levels of artificer, or some other class. They usually have magical aid to speed up crafting, but their stuff is still mundane.
There is a Blacksmith in every village, and a castlesmith in every city. Commissioned items are cheaper than off the shelf, to make up for having to wait.

I then have wandering Hedge Mages (adepts) that are rarely more than 10 days away from any one blacksmith to make the simple magical enhancements most low level adventurers want.

So, once you have established WHY you want to go adventuring (perhaps you are a smiths apprentice, not a full smith?), maybe we should look at what makes my NPC blacksmiths.

They are experts. Why? Because skill points mean they can have Craft Weaponsmithing, Armorsmithing, Bowmaking, Profession Smith, Appraise, Sense Motive and maybe one other skill maxed out, without being superhuman smart. They are prof in simple weapons (hello hammer) and light armour (leather apron!) but not shields. I give them skill focus a few times. A non human blacksmith has 2 feats. Strangely, they are always the 2 he needs to max out his crafting! And he has always retrained by the time you ask him to make something else. I give them elite array, and play with the allocation based on racial bonuses to pretty much ensure 16 int and 14+ str. I build them Int>Str=Con>Wis>Dex>Cha or there abouts.

So if you wanted to play a blacksmith.... well, lets take a look.

You want high STR. You dont care about actually making ALL the things, right? Just a few things? Int probably doesnt need to be your highest, str should be. Go for the theme of the big, burly guy. And you want to actually make money in your down time? Ok, I would go -> Str>Int/Con>Dex/Wis>Cha. Try to keep Wis and Dex positive. A little mad, but what can you do? Go for hammer builds. Hammers are nice. Warhammer and shield (TWF, shield feats, probably spellless ranger or fighter), Maul+power attack (barbarian into fighter), throwing hammers (difficult without ToB). So far, a solid martial character, aimed at low tier games.

After a while, you will find that you start falling behind. But you are a blacksmith right? Ok, at some point, start tacking on levels of either WARLOCK or ARTIFICER. With those 2, you can make items while still keeping the martial theme going. Thats when you go for probably a fire theme. Hammers that are always hot. Shields that burn with the heat of the forge. Very fun.

Race is probably a little harder. Dwarf gets some super nice crafting PrCs, but is really.... obvious? I dont know.

Anyway, thats what I would do. It will likely run counter to the Playground because I like lower op than most here. Hope that helps!

[Telonius]

Dragon #311 has a "Memory Smith" prestige class for Dwarves that's more Bard-focused. It adds a bunch of weapon- and armor-themed spells to the Bard's spell list - as well as Divine Power. 4/5 casting, 3/4 BAB.

[Ken Murikumo]

This may not be a popular opinion but rogue might do for sheer skill points. If Pathfinder content is allowed, the archetype Phantom Thief dumps sneak attack to gain skill buffs equal to half your rogue level. Maybe jump into Renegade Mastermaker (3.5) at some point to get your RM level added to EVERY craft check you make.

You'd be okay-ish in combat with the right feats and would probably make a decent party face. Not to mention you'd have the most robust skills list, but RM has some weird fluff (you turn into a warforged) so i don't know if that sounds appealing.

[Jay R]

Remember that it's still an adventure game. You wouldn't be playing a Smith, of subcategory "Fighter" ( or Rogue or Wizard or ...). You'd be an adventurer with Craft(Armor and Weapons) skill.

But it's still cool flavor. He was a smith's son, and learned the craft from his father. He probably also has one point of Profession(Blacksmith), although I can't imagine that that would help you mechanically. He'd have high Strength, so he probably is a Fighter or other martial character. Open Locks is a skill you might consider.

And I'd give serious thought to focusing on using a warhammer in battle.

[Red Fel]

And I'd give serious thought to focusing on using a warhammer in battle.

I'll add to this. In Arms and Equipment Guide, there's a special Warhammer called Hammer of the Magesmith. It's a +1 Warhammer that reduces the gp cost of crafting by 5%. It can also cast Magic Weapon (CL 10) once per day on a touched weapon. So not only does it have awesome flavor as a Warhammer, it has actual functionality in crafting and enhancing weapons (even on the fly, thanks to Magic Weapon).

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Hadn't seen the ironsoul forgemaster before, not exactly surprised as we havent really used incarnum at my table.

Dwarf Cleric with a dip in Battlemith works nicely. Metal or War domain to get hammer proficiency, dwarven cleric substitution level nets you kno:dungeoneering and +2 damage with hammers, battlesmith 1 gets you Craft Magic Arms and Armor free and adds your Wis mod to damage with a hammer you crafted. Lose 1 level of casting, but gain 3 levels as a caster for enchanting purposes. Dont get much after battlesmith1 though.

This is a good moneymaker once you can afford a portable hole and a forge of sustenance (RoS).

Cast Unseen Crafter once a day for a platoon of crafters numbering your caster level, one crafts, the others aid the crafter, for [(skill+d20)+2×(caster level-1)x item DC]×3 silver per day crafting. I've got one character averaging over 5k silver a day while I do other things.

Unfortunately this only works for mundane smithing, not enchanting.

Edit Hammer of the Weaponsmith and Tongs of the Armorsmith from one of the FR books are inexpensive and grant +10 to their respective craft skills.

[Falontani]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11phn5Bs8qA6oyXEz-BQc6HYANS2Jmi-iYE768Al05Zk/edit?usp=drivesdk

It's a dwarf blackSmith that I did a while back. You could easily have started as an expert or even a warrior and slowly retrained into this character.

[Kesnit]

If you are using Pathfinder, there is a Blacksmith class in Spheres of Might.

[ShurikVch]

How about the Master base class from the War of the Lance?