Crafting

[Cogidubnus]

What do people generally use Craft for? What versions (given and invented) do you use? What situations do you use it in?
My favourite has to combining craft(poison) with handle animal - rangers and casters can easily call/summon poisonous animals to harvest.

[Volthawk]

Generally, I only use the ones I need to either get into PrCs or to make constructs.

[MCerberus]

Crafting suffers the problem that murder is simply much more efficient. Around level 2 you get magic stuff through murder and never have to look back at mere masterwork items. The exceptions would be warforged (to heal themselves during the 8 hour party rest) and alchemy (which has a bunch of stuff that can only be described as awesomely hilarious).

[Jack_Simth]

I often call for a Craft/Profession roll in my games.

For instance, if you want to steer a ship, you need Profession(Sailor). If you want to dig through a section of dungeon by chipping away at the walls, you need Knowledge(Architecture and Engineering), Craft(Dungeon), or Profession(Miner). And so on.

Then there's the spells that specifically call for it - Fabricate, Minor/Major/True Creation, and such.

[EpicEvokerElf]

I make all my own equipment a low levels; having full plate available at level 2 (when your wealth should only be 900 gp) is really handy. You can also start with something better than scale mail, or stick with typical starting gear and have some spare change.

[Pluto]

Trapsmithing comes up often in my group. There's almost always game to be snared, villains to be captured or traps to be detected/disarmed (I give my players a lot of synergy bonuses; I don't know if that's normal).

The only other thing I've seen the skill used for is the "trophy hunter" schtick: making armor out of a giant scorpion, daggers out of a manticore's tail, that sort of thing.

Beyond that, it's mostly been fluff that didn't actually come up in-game. (The goblin jewelry peddler might be able to make a mean ring, but it's never really happened 'on screen.')

edit:
I guess there was a Dwarf Incarnate who built his own gear. But we definitely cheesed the rules so the campaign could keep moving without a several-year delay.

[Eldariel]

Right now we're in a game where:
Craft: Poisonmaking
Craft: Trapsmithing
Craft: Bowmaking
Craft: Alchemy
Craft: Weaponsmithing
and Craft: Taxidermy

have all been put to heavy use. Luckily we have some extra skill points to spend, otherwise it just wouldn't be possible.