Wafers and bars are not the same ? Wow, that makes adam/iridum stuff a lot more expensive. Has this always been like this, or just since 34.?
Same with savants and other specialized castes. This is in principle a good thing, but you really need a way to be able to get the caste's you need, at a high cost. I guess that used to be in the mod but was removed because it interfered with something?
Yes, it used transformation, and already transformed creatures cant transform again. The problem was that a dwarf => legion dwarf => golem/mage was impossible. And since there is no indication if a dwarf is part of a caste because he was always a member, or because he became one, it was difficult to micromanage the golems and mages. An already transformed dwarf could easily waste all you golem/mage ingredients without ever transforming.
The weapons are also balanced by the need for bars. A shortsword is weaker then a pike, yes, but also cheaper and lighter. I would however appreciate a better balancing, although I dont exactly know which weapons are overpowered and which are not. I usually have zweihander, battleaxe, warhammer, pike, and crossbows (early ranged) and handcannons (highly skilled ranged).
About the books: Maybe I can change it to this:
Leather => Make vellum => need ink => book
Wood => Make paper => need ink => book
Plants => Make papyrus => need ink => book
With these reactions for ink:
Blood => make red ink
Ash => make black ink
Specific stone/ore => make (whatever) ink
Add a "ink crate (10 jars full of ink)", "blank book-crate (10 blank books)" and "mixed book-crate (10 random books)" to the trading and it should be better, no ?
I also have 5 buildings currently for the training, the scriptorium to make everything, and 4 libraries, just to split the different categories up a bit. Would you think that ONE big library would be better ? It would cause more scrolling for the training reactions in the workshop itself, but I could scrap 3 buildings for it...
EDIT: I also got a suggestion about special named books, similar to the ones that currently have a small chance of popping up now and then. Have them as high value tradegoods, or more complicated to write, but they give a bigger skillboost. Not training a little and being preserved, but train one entire lvl. Similar to the skill essence, but not to legendary, but only a little step. The book would be used up in the process, so if you find the "advanced handbook on swordfighting" or the "ancient technique of drizzt the drow sworddancer" you could use these more readily... sounds good, bad, unbalanced ?
EDIT2: Afterthought: Maybe add old books to fossils... who says that forgotten boxes and chests must be full of metal bars ? I can put all kinds of stuff in there... small chance for some book or scroll...