Originally Posted By: Llygoden
Ok, here's what I think would be interesting:
  • The skinned leather should retain the level of the mob/player it came from as well as the race.
  • The AC of the leathercrafted product should be dependent primarily upon the level of the skin used. The AC would then be modified slightly based on what it came from (like a seraph skin giving improved holy defense with disruption weakness as mentioned above.)
  • The level of the skin would determine the level of leathercraft required. For example, you could require 5% of leathercraft for every level of the skin, so 100% skill would be required to work with a lvl 20 skin.
And I sorta like the idea that leather armor could give a bonus to dodge, thanks to lighter weight/improved flexibility.

I've seen people say on chat that leathercraft's advantage should be its "quick to make" nature. I strongly disagree. If we were trying to recreate modern Chinese industry, then maybe, but as a leathercrafter I am dedicated to my craft -- I spend time on it; put effort into it to make something that will endure. I don't want to see leather armor go from mostly useless to a mass-produced, disposable piece of junk.

Similarly, I don't like the idea of reduced speed runing/enchanting on leather.
So leather craft changes have been made. Here's the low-down:
  • Skinned leather retains level, race, and a smattering of properties of the creature it has come from.
  • The AC of the leather product is based primarily on the base ac of the armour itself, secondarily on the skill of the crafter, and tertiarily on the race's special properties. Obviously the race's innate armour class is one of the special properties, but the others you'll have to find out without me telling.
  • Level of skin currently doesn't matter at all, but is now tracked. Still looking for ideas on this (I'm not fond of the idea that you need a certain % leather craft to work on a level of skin - after all, it's not magic.) Really interested in feedback on this one
Leather items are already marginally quicker to make than forged items, but is not any faster to enchant or rune. If you start using the skill you'll have a nice surprise as far as work messages go (Charon's excellent idea - look for more in the future!). Thanks for the great input, everyone. We're all working together to make Darke a more interesting and vibrant place!
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