These Crafter are GM controlled. All Crafter are located in the Event Center and there is a Crafter for every kingdom. Crafters won't improve gold, silver, or moon metal items. They will gain skill the more they work like a player would gain skill. There are caps on the quality they can go to in order to keep things fair.
A new type of NPC who accepts orders from players for items to be improved in return for money.
How to use
Visit a Crafter with an item you want to have improved. "Trade" the item to them and select what ql level you want. Also, available is "Mail when done". Add the requested amount of money and finalise the trade. Type /crafters into chat to get messages from every Crafter you have current orders with, then pay them a visit when your item is ready to collect.
To place your own buy a "crafter contract" from a trader and hire a Crafter just like other NPCs. Choose which skills the Crafter will use (add individual skills to a whole set of crafters or just add them all for one super crafter). Collect the money that comes pouring in (assuming the server owners haven't set money to tax and upkeep, or just tax).
Placing an order
To place an order just "Trade" with a Crafter. As well as items that are ready to collect the top left window will contain options for you to use. "Improve to XXql" selects how high you want the item(s) improved, there is a separate entry for each skill the Crafter can use so you can also select different qls for different item types. "Mail when done" will add an extra fee and when the item is done it will be sent to you in the mail, otherwise it will need to be collected from the Crafter in person. "Donate Items" allows you to donate items to the Crafter that they will then use to increase their skill. Want to have a high ql sword at some point but your local Crafter is still new? Donate a bunch of low ql weaponsmithing items now and reap the rewards later.
Skills
Crafter skill set is configurable, choose between specific skills or skill groups (all metal, all wood and all armour).
Crafters gain skills as they work and can accept items as a donation to increase their skill.
Crafter learning can be disabled or capped. For example, if you wish for Crafters to only improve to a QL limit, leaving higher quality to player crafting.
Initial Crafter skill level can also be set.
A per Crafter skill cap (under the server cap) can also be set by the owner when hiring.
Equipment
Assign a forge to your Crafter if they need to improve metal items. This locks the forge from other players to prevent any kind of mix-up. The Crafter will walk a small distance to reach it.
Just activate the contract and right-click on a forge and choose assign. Once assigned you can also unassign the same way.
The Crafter will create their own tools and resources. I may add it so that players and/or the owner have to keep the Crafter in stock, but if so it will be an option.
Offers "Mail when done" option (with configurable price).
Money
There are three server-wide options for what Crafters do with their earnings.
for_owner (Default) - 10% to tax, the rest for the owner to collect (same as merchants).
all_tax - All money goes to the King's coffers. Particularly useful for GM controlled Crafters.
tax_and_upkeep - A percentage of the money goes into the owners deed upkeep, percentage is configurable (same as traders). A good option for if you don't want players to get money directly, but to have some benefit of hosting a Crafter.
Crafters will hold onto money until the job is completed, if the Crafter is dismissed then the money will be refunded to the customers.
Pricing
Prices work on a scale, based on some research in the Trade forums. Roughly speaking 70ql=10c, 80ql=30c, 90ql=90c, 91ql=1s.
There is a base_price modifier (default 1.0), plus skill specific modifiers (default 1.0, except "dragon armour" which is 10.0), if you wish to increase or reduce the prices.
Each Crafter has a "Price Modifier" option that can be set by the owner at any time, like merchants.
Other info
Crafters use the base human model that official NPCs do, so GMs can provide them with items to wear. (e.g. kingdom colours, coloured tunics, etc.)
Currently Crafters ignore stamina, due to the way creature stamina works vs. players.
Typing /crafters into chat will open up a "Crafters" tab where any Crafters that are working on items for you will let you know how many are being worked on and how many are ready for collection. Owners can see total Crafter jobs using the contract.
Output can be adjusted to help with testing and general logging. The default is "save", in which case all messages sent from the server to the Crafter, plus some custom messages indicating what the Crafter is currently doing, will be saved to a file in the server directory. "print", as well as saving, logs that output to normal server output. Finally, set "none" to ignore all Crafter work logging. Trading logs, like merchants and traders, are unaffected