Gem cutting
A loose gem can be cut to a finer cut, which makes it worth more. Cutting is Cut, a recipe of Jewelcraft. You need to be trained in Jewelcraft: open Jewelcraft… in the abilities menu, choose Cut, then the gem. You need no tools and can cut anywhere. It takes half an hour. If something comes into view, you stop, the gem is untouched, and the time is lost.
You need:
- Skill: Jewelcraft. Gnomes start with it, a craftsperson may take the Gemcutter trade, and a commoner may have it as their trade (others: Which skills you start with). Old Tregear in Gimmwīc teaches it for 1500 gold.
- Stock: a loose gem you carry.
- Place: anywhere, with no tools.
What can be cut
- Any uncut gem, whatever its size.
- A gem already cut, to cut it again (a re-cut), unless it is tiny (“There is nothing left to cut.”) or already flawless (“It could not be finer.”).
One gem of a stack is cut; the rest stay as they were.
How well it comes out
When the time is up you make one check: 2d12, plus your Dexterity modifier, the craft points Jewelcraft gives (+8 at 100, +12 at 200), and your talents for Dexterity checks. The difficulty is 12 plus the gem’s work: a ruby is harder to cut than a smokestone. In Gimmwīc, once the crystal guardian stands bound there, you get +2 more. How far you beat it (the margin) sets the cut:
| Margin | With Master’s hand | Cut | On an uncut gem | On a cut gem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| below 0 | below 0 | — | stays uncut, one size smaller | keeps its cut, one size smaller |
| 0 to 4 | 0 to 0 | Crude | one size smaller | the better cut, one size smaller |
| 5 to 9 | 1 to 5 | Fair | size kept | the better cut, one size smaller |
| 10 to 14 | 6 to 10 | Fine | size kept | the better cut, one size smaller |
| 15 to 19 | 11 to 15 | Exquisite | size kept | the better cut, one size smaller |
| 20 or more | 16 or more | Flawless | size kept | the better cut, one size smaller |
A natural 2 shatters the gem, whatever the margin. A natural 24 cuts it at least fair. Cutting takes 30 minutes against a difficulty of 12 plus the gem’s work.
A large uncut ruby (worth 1125 gold) at each outcome:
| Outcome | Becomes | Worth |
|---|---|---|
| Shattered | nothing | 0 |
| Failed | a medium uncut ruby | 300 |
| Crude | a medium crude ruby | 720 |
| Fair | a large fair ruby | 4500 |
| Fine | a large fine ruby | 7200 |
| Exquisite | a large exquisite ruby | 11250 |
| Flawless | a large flawless ruby | 18000 |
Re-cut at best, a large crude ruby (2700 gold) becomes a medium flawless ruby (4800 gold).
| Gem | Bonus | Who | Shattered | Failed | Crude | Fair | Fine | Exquisite | Flawless | With Master’s hand (Crude / Fair / Fine / Exquisite / Flawless) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby (+4) | +4 | an apprentice | 1% | 38% | 37% | 21% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 7.6% / 34.7% / 17.4% / 2.1% / 0% |
| Ruby (+4) | +8 | Jewelcraft 100 | 1% | 14% | 31% | 35% | 17% | 2% | 0% | 4.9% / 34.7% / 31.2% / 13.9% / 0.69% |
| Ruby (+4) | +12 | Jewelcraft 200 | 1% | 1% | 17% | 35% | 31% | 14% | 1% | 2.1% / 20.8% / 36.8% / 27.8% / 10.4% |
| Ruby (+4) | +16 | a master with a steady hand | 1% | 0% | 3% | 21% | 37% | 28% | 10% | 0% / 6.2% / 24.3% / 37.5% / 31.2% |
| Smokestone (+0) | +16 | a master with a steady hand | 1% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 24% | 38% | 31% | 0% / 0% / 9.7% / 27.8% / 61.8% |
The “With Master’s hand” columns are a craftsperson’s from level 50: their cuts come 4 sooner (see Master’s hand).
The cut words are the gem’s own: uncut, crude, fair, fine, exquisite, and flawless. The game never tells you the margin, only what came of it: “You rough it out, and lose more than you meant to.” and then the gem as it is now, “It is now a medium crude ruby.”
Losing stone
Cutting takes stone. On an uncut gem, a failure (“The stone splits badly; what is left is smaller.”) or a crude cut leaves it one size smaller. A fair cut or better keeps its size. A tiny stone has no size to lose: a failure or a crude cut crumbles it, and nothing worth keeping is left.
A re-cut always costs a size, and it never makes the cut worse: if your check does no better than the cut the gem has, it keeps that cut. So a re-cut pays on a large crude stone, and seldom otherwise. Compare the worth in the table above.
A natural 2 shatters the gem, whatever its size.
Setting a gem
Set, the other gem recipe on Jewelcraft…, puts a cut gem into an item you already have: a sword’s pommel, a shield’s or bow’s inlay, a helmet’s studs, a ring’s or an amulet’s setting. You need Jewelcraft 10. Choose the item, then the gem; you are asked to confirm, with the item named as it will be: “Set a sapphire-pommelled hand axe?”
- The item must have a place for a gem with none in it yet (“It is set already.”). Something you wear or wield must come off first.
- Only a cut gem can be set, never an uncut one.
It takes 20 minutes, anywhere. If something comes into view, you stop, nothing is lost, and the time is gone. Then you make one check, as for cutting: 2d12, plus your Dexterity modifier, the craft points of Jewelcraft, your talents for Dexterity checks, and the crystal guardian’s +2 in Gimmwīc, against 12 plus the gem’s work.
- Made: the gem goes in with its size and cut, and the item is named by it (“It is now a ruby-pommelled long sword.”). A set gem adds its worth to the item and does nothing else.
- Failed: the item is untouched, and the gem chips: its cut drops one (down to crude), and if it cannot, its size drops one. A tiny crude gem has nothing left to lose and is gone.
- A natural 2 shatters the gem.
| Gem | Bonus | Who | Set | Chipped | Shattered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby (+4) | +4 | an apprentice | 62% | 38% | 1% |
| Ruby (+4) | +8 | Jewelcraft 100 | 85% | 14% | 1% |
| Ruby (+4) | +12 | Jewelcraft 200 | 98% | 1% | 1% |
| Ruby (+4) | +16 | a master with a steady hand | 99% | 0% | 1% |
| Smokestone (+0) | +4 | an apprentice | 85% | 14% | 1% |
Setting takes 20 minutes against a difficulty of 12 plus the gem’s work, and is listed from Jewelcraft 10.
Weapons forged with a gem in their ornament need no Set: the smith sets it with the work, with no check, and it is never lost.
Training
Every cut or setting you finish may train Jewelcraft, whatever came of it.
See also: Gems, Making jewellery, and Crafting.