Fun fact: It’s actually been six months since we introduced the Thief/Wizard relationship back in Intra-Party Romance. Happy Anniversary, guys!

Less fun fact: this scenario happened to me. It was a bromance rather than a romance, but my barbarian wanted to make a gesture to his pal the bard. This barbarian had been kicked out of his tribe for being a dirty half-orc, and the poor lug had nowhere to go. Happily, a silver-tongued outlander met him on the road. This kindhearted thespian dusted him off, cheered him up, and taught him what money was. The two became fast friends, and set off together for the land of adventure.

So there’s a goblin attack. A noble quest. A few levels go by and we get some treasure. All the while I’ve been sinking skill ranks into Craft (weapons), secretly working on a masterwork net for my pal the bard. Crafting is hard, and so I failed most of the checks. I stuck with it though, knowing that it would all be worthwhile on that distant day when I could surprise my best friend with this gift.

I mentioned we came into some treasure, right? Well the first time we hit a big city, my bard buddy announces that he’s going to do some shopping. Imagine my dismay when he comes back having purchased a masterwork net from some nameless shop. Suffice it to say that barbarians are creatures of powerful emotion.

This was, of course, a Pathfinder game. And for those of you not familiar with the system’s crafting rules, allow me to give you an example. In order to create a suit of masterwork plate armor the old fashioned way, you do a little math, pay a little money, and spend a lot of time. Assuming you’ve got a +9 in Craft (armor) and elect to take 10 on your weekly roll, you can clank away in a brand new suit of plate mail after 46 weeks of work. Now that’s surprisingly accurate from an historical perspective, but what kind of adventurer has that much free time? More importantly, what kind of adventurer will take that option when someone like Wizard can just cast fabricate and masterwork transformation instead?

REQUEST A SKETCH! So you know how we’ve got a sketch feed on The Handbook of Heroes Patreon? By default it’s full of Laurel’s warm up sketches, illustrations not posted elsewhere, design concepts for current and new characters, and the occasional pin-up shot. But inspiration is hard sometimes. That’s why we love it when patrons come to us with requests. So hit us up on the other side of the Patreon wall and tell us what you want to see!