Imagine spending 20 years studying violin-making under Stradivarius.
Nobody, nobody, takes artisanship more seriously than the Dwarves, and after a grueling and brutal 20-year apprenticeship under a Dwarf Master (Blacksmith, or Glazier, or Baker, or Chef, or Plumber, or Mason, or …), you’re a journeyman at the absolute top of your game. You have an enormous wealth of knowledge in your particular craft, and if you chose to simply do that rather than adventuring, you would be guaranteed a life of merchant luxury as you slowly made a name for yourself as an unparalleled master in your field.
(Note: you don’t actually need to be a dwarf for this, as dwarves will take on any sufficiently talented apprentice who need apply - however, a non-dwarven dwarven craftsman is forbidden from taking on apprentices of their own.) Stats
- Skill Proficiencies: History, Insight
- Languages: Dwarvish, or one bonus language if you already speak Dwarvish
- Equipment: A set of artisan’s tools with which you are highly proficient, a priceless maker’s mark that marks your work as belonging to a specific Dwarven crafting tradition, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a pouch containing 5 Dragons and a gem valued at 10 gp.
The respect that dwarves have for master craftspersons is legendary.
Demonstrate your skill, or even mention your master to any dwarf, and nine times out of ten you’ll have a stalwart ally and free room and board. If you’re in a whole community of dwarves, you’ll start a competition to see who can wine and dine you the hardest - because they’ll be able to say that they had (Dwarf Master X)'s protege at their house.
Waterdeep is a union town through and through, and the city’s unions treat Dwarven craftsmanship with the awe and reverence that it deserves. This means that any guild that might have heard of your master will treat you with respect and deference once they discover you are his apprentice: the closer their work is to yours, the more awe and reverence they will treat you with.
If your work would obviously fall under the purview of a specific guild in town, the guild will offer you membership, and will even waive your membership fees. Guilds in town wield a tremendous amount of political power: they can represent you in court, give you access to powerful political figures, invite you to trade events.
(For example: if you’re a violin-maker, the Council of Musicians, Instrument-Makers & Choristers is going to be your best friend, the Guild of Fine Carvers may have heard of you, and the Baker’s Guild is unlikely to care much, at all.)
Here are some guilds that, depending on your craft, you might impress:
- Baker’s Guild
- Carpenters’, Roofers’, & Plaisterers’ Guild
- Cellarers’ & Plumbers’ Guild
- Coopers’ Guild
- Council of Musicians, Instrument-Makers, & Choristers
- Fellowship of Bowers and Fletchers
- Fellowship of Carters and Coachmen
- Fellowship of Innkeepers
- Guild of Butchers
- Guild of Fine Carvers
- Guild of Glassblowers, Glaziers, and Spectacle-makers
- Guild of Stonecutters, Masons, Potters, and Tile-makers
- Guild of Trusted Pewterers and Casters
- Jewelers’ Guild
- League of Basket-makers and Wickerworkers
- League of Skinners and Tanners
- Master Mariners’ Guild
- Most Careful Order of Skilled Smiths and Metalforgers
- Most Diligent League of Sail-makers and Cordwainers
- Most Excellent Order of Weavers and Dyers
- Order of Cobblers and Corvisers
- Order of Master Shipwrights
- Order of Master Tailors, Glovers, and Mercers
- Saddlers’ and Harness-makers’ Guild
- Scriveners’, Scribes’, and Clerks’ Guild
- Solemn Order of Recognized Furriers and Woolmen
- Splendid Order of Armorers, Locksmiths, and Finesmiths
- Stablemasters’ and Farriers’ Guild
- Stationers’ Guild
- Surveyors’, Map-makers’, and Chart-makers’ Guild
- Vintners’, Distillers’, & Brewers’ Guild
- Wagon-makers’ and Coach Builders’ Guild
Here are some guilds you’re unlikely to impress much, regardless of your craft:
Dungsweepers’ Guild
Fellowship of Salters, Packers, and Joiners
Fishmongers’ Fellowship
Guild of Apothecaries and Physicians
Guild of Chandlers and Lamplighters
Guild of Watermen
Council of Farmer-Grocers
Launderers’ Guild
Jesters’ Guild
Loyal Order of Street Laborers
Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors
Wheelwrights’ Guild
- Who was your master? What is their name? What did they specialize in?
- Why did you want to become an artisan at this level in the first place? Are you a perfectionist? Only in it for the money? An artist? Naturally talented?
- Why did you decide to become an adventurer?
- Are you an adventurer first? Or a craftsperson first?
- Do you go on at length about your profession to anybody who will listen?
- Can you work with anything? Or must you use only the most expensive and exclusive materials?
- Is there a material that you would kill to get your hands on? (Dragon scale? Adamantine? The Everyeast, a sourdough starter that is as old as civilization itself?)
- I owe a debt to the community in which I trained.
- One day I will return to (my master/my parents/my rival/my hometown) and show them that I am the greatest craftsperson in the world.
- I want to use my gifts to serve the community.
- I want to use my gifts to seek fame and fortune.
- I want to take on apprentices of my own.
- I’m never satisfied with what I have - I always want more. Nothing is good enough.
- I have an eye for fine materials and I will go to incredible lengths to get them.
- I’m not satisfied until everybody knows that I am the best.
- Anybody who competes in the same field as me must be defeated.
- I am incredibly snobbish about work that I consider to be inferior, which is almost all of it.
- I don’t actually like this craft all that much, I’ve just been doing it for so long that I wasn’t sure what else I wanted to do with my life?