Tabula Rasa at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

by: Anna “Morvelaira” Dotson

*A small woman in uniform walks into the barracks, quiet but confident looking.  She then begins to yell out in a drill sergeant's manner the following words of wisdom:*

Heads up and eyes forward soldiers!

Today you are going to be trained in the most important skill a soldier has, that does not include blood, gore and guts!  Crafting will let you make your own equipment.  Crafting will let you enhance your equipment.  Almost everything you need for crafting can be harvested from the battlefield.  Crafting will make you better!... Faster!... Stronger!

First and foremost, there are three different types of crafting.  All these types of crafting can be done at approved crafting stations, which are spread out among the more populated AFS camps.  The first type of crafting is Fabrication in which you make items from base components.  Examples of items you can manufacture include, but are not limited to, Medpacks, Ammo, Grenades and Armor Paint.

The second type of crafting is Modification.  This takes special components and enhances your equipment with a buff. Examples of these buffs are an increase to Ice or EMP resist.  The special components for these recipes can only be obtained from the third type of crafting.

Disassembly is the process by which equipment which is already buffed is broken down for those special components that provide the buff.  Just like its name implies, disassembly destroys the item! So make very sure before you attempt this that the equipment is something that you truly do not want anymore!

*The small drill sergeant looks around the room, making sure everyone is paying close attention.*

Now don't go thinking that the machine will do all the work for you! Crafting takes skills!  Four of them, to be precise.  The four engineering skills Chemistry, Genetics, Photonics, and Thermodynamics will be required in some combination for any crafting mission!  Make sure you keep these skills leveled up along with everything else.

In addition, you will need a recipe for everything you craft. Each recipe is one use only.  This includes any components you manufacture.  While a few recipes can be bought from the Military Surplus by the crafting stations, most will have to be gathered off the enemy dead like the components.

Any questions?

*The drill sergeant looks around the room one more time.*

I didn't think so.  At ease and dismissed soldiers. Go give the Thrax hell.