I would personally be interested in this and a rather more random approach to shops.
The crafting system I think would need to require certain techs in things that you would like to combine, for example if I wanted to make some kind of oddly enhanced staff with my fire axe I would need enchanting research, I would need smithing and I would need some crafting tech (to be determined). At which point I would then also need to control one or one of the 'ancient arcane smithies' that could be strewn across the land. I would be able to take those items to the smithy and combine then, forming a new item which would use a dynamic creation system like so:
Weapon Type: Damage Type Abilities? Ability 2? (cost extra)
combined type 1 (say staff) ---> 1 (blunt) --------> 1 (extra spell damage) --------------------> 1 (Mana per turn)
combined type 2 (say axe) ----> 2 (cutting fire) --> 2 (backswing *second chance to hit*) ----> 2 (no - initiative )
I choose:
Staff ---------------------------> cutting fire dmg -----> extra spell dmg -------------------------> no negative initiative ---> name it!
My choice is then created with a certain cost associated, maybe influence, or crystal, or metal, or gildar (combination of what I choose) and then the image for the weapon is chosen from a number of pre-defined pictures so its easy to keep track of and no game slow down from extra resources. Finally the animation would be chosen from a number of standard animations for each weapon type, dependant on what kind of element was applied if any.
On a slightly different topic, the static stores irritate the daylights out of me. Everyone sells meat, staves, and eventually leather armor and horses, and some low level trinkets. I never end up going into someone else territory to trade because I don't want what they have, because they don't have anything beyond what I have 90% of the time.
To solve this problem, I propose that stores be dynamic, to a degree. You still get your very average items like the meat, leather and what not, from research. But, you also have 3-10 items that spawn singularly and randomly for your store, changing every say 10-20 turns? These items would follow a rough level/value pattern of the overall median of in the game. So if your doing badly, you still have a chance to buy better items because the median is higher. But, if you are ahead of everyone, that does not mean you can get access to a bunch of crazy weapons/trinkets/food.
These items could poll from a very large list of random items ranging from very simple to pretty sophisticated and expensive. They would not be the kind of items that you can only get from doing unique quests, or having advanced technologies. But more so a part of the random loot system and part which would not be from the random loot system. Meaning there would be some things you could only buy from 'traveling traders' as your empires stock changes.
A slightly different solution to this static store, is to keep the national static stores, but to have trading posts which are neutral buildings throughout the land and can be claimed. Which would have a similar cycling stock which would be relative to the median of the nations combined.