ThirdWizard
First Post
So, after hard work, the PCs have gained control over an ancient tower in Pandemonium and the Forge that is contained within. A Forge which was used by a now dead empire to create powerful magial items and outfit their army that rampaged along the Great Wheel with magical items, before finally being destroyed in the clash between two gods.
The Forge is more than just a literal forge, however, it is also a focal point for creating magical items.
The PCs have gone to great lengths to safely secure this fortress as their own and are starting to put serious effort into figuring out how to use this Forge safely to their own ends. What I need to do is compile everything about it before the PCs start to work on figuring out how to use it themselves.
And, so I'm looking for any ideas. I'm mostly looking to allow them more freedom in creating unique magical items with it, things that they wouldn't otherwise aquire, though I'm not limiting it to that, but that's the part I want to emphasise. I also don't want it to be completely safe as it is an artifact, after all.
Here's what I have so far:
The Forge can be used to create metal weapon and armor using the Craft skill. When the Forge is used for this purpose, the created items gain the following benefits:
• Weapons Crafted in the Forge with a DC 30 masterwork component gain a +1 nonmagical enhancement bonus to damage and have double the normal hit points of a masterwork weapon of the same type.
• Armor Crafted in the Forge with a DC 30 masterwork component have their armor check penalty reduced by 2 (instead of the normal 1) and has its arcane spell failure reduced by 10%.
• Special materials have a greater potential brought out by the Forge when crafting armor. Adamantine armor’s DR is increased by one when crafted using the Forge and mithral armor max Dex increases by three instead of two.
• Weapons and Armor Crafted in the Forge take half as long to magically enhance using the Forge. Time spent crafting is one day per 2,000 gp cost.
The Forge is also an ancient artifact for crafting magical items. It has the following abilities when used to craft magical items:
• Items created using the Forge (except weapons and armor Crafted in it) take more time to create than usual. It takes one day per 750 gp instead of per 1,000 gp.
• It allows the crafter to craft a magical item even if he doesn’t have the Feat prerequisite, though in that case, the normal cost to craft cannot exceed 25,000 gp. The cost to create if the crafter doesn’t have the Feat prerequisite, however, is increased by 25%. Craft time and XP cost use the increased amount in this case.
• It allows anyone to pay the XP cost for the item, regardless of if they are considered the one crafting the item. Multiple creatures can pay the XP cost. These creatures must all be willing participants.
• Power Components are special items that can be used to either enhance the magical item being constructed or to pay part of the XP cost. Power Components vary from item to item and are always thematically tied to the item.
• Souls are a special form of Power Component which pay XP for any item. They are consumed by the process and destroyed. A soul can provide 20 XP per Hit Die of the creature. Doing this is an Evil act. Any item created using this method is considered Evil. They must be harvested separate from the creation process.
I also have the following ideas for unique abilities that the Forge can instill that aren't fleshed out yet. I also need costs associated with these, and I'm planning on having them have to obtain special Power Components or do research to make use of these unique abilities. I want the PCs to use them, but not for them to become ubiquitous.
• Soul Bond: The item will gain abilities based on the soul it is bound to. In exchange if the person is ever separated from it, they gain one negative level. If the item is destroyed, they suffer some undetermined penalty. Also, it will halve the penalties for breaking slot affinity and multiple different abilities. Only one item can be bonded this way. (Inspiration: One Ring)
• Physical Bond: The item becomes a part of the wielder/wearer. It will leave some kind of mark, but will become slotless. If it is a weapon or armor or something else that must be physically present to work it can be manifested and then hidden again as Free Actions. Only one item can be bonded in this way. (Inspiration: Prince of Persia 3)
• Recharging: This enhancement allows a charged magical item to gain back charges. When the weilder is preparing spells, he can choose to prepare a spell that the item can cast with one or more charges. Doing so means that the spell is not prepared (and the slot is considered used for the day) but the item has regained a charge (or more if it takes more than one charge to cast that particular spell). In the case of a caster who doesn’t prepare spells, they can recharge the item only when they regain spells per day, losing that spell for the day. This can be done as many times per day as the caster is willing to give up. (Inspiration: endless Player complaints.
)
• Intelligent: The crafter has more freedom over the abilities of the item.
• Indestructable: The item cannot be destroyed by normal means, though a wish or miracle can supress this ability for 1d4+1 rounds.
• Spellcasting: Upon creation, the crafter can imbue the magical item with any one spell he has prepared. Once per day, the wielder/wearer can cast this spell, regardless of her own spellcasting abilities. The spell is arcane or divine depending on the crafter and the caster must supply all components. The caster level is considered to be the minimum required to cast the spell. [Cost doubled for personal only spells? Personal not available?]
• Hidden Aura: This effect offers a variety of options. The crafter can choose for the item to be invisible to detect magic and similar spells. The crafter can alternately choose to have it give off a false aura, chosing any school of magic and any strength. Lastly, the crafter can choose for it to identify as a completely different magical effect.
I still want to have more unique options available and to have some kind of drawbacks to use the item. I don't want the drawbacks to keep the PCs from acutally using it, that would be disapointing, but more for flavor purposes and to keep them on their toes when they use it. Unfortunatley I'm drawing a blank.
But, any ideas are appreciated, thoughts on what I have so far or totally new things, either way I'm all ears... er... eyes.
The Forge is more than just a literal forge, however, it is also a focal point for creating magical items.
The PCs have gone to great lengths to safely secure this fortress as their own and are starting to put serious effort into figuring out how to use this Forge safely to their own ends. What I need to do is compile everything about it before the PCs start to work on figuring out how to use it themselves.
And, so I'm looking for any ideas. I'm mostly looking to allow them more freedom in creating unique magical items with it, things that they wouldn't otherwise aquire, though I'm not limiting it to that, but that's the part I want to emphasise. I also don't want it to be completely safe as it is an artifact, after all.
Here's what I have so far:
The Forge can be used to create metal weapon and armor using the Craft skill. When the Forge is used for this purpose, the created items gain the following benefits:
• Weapons Crafted in the Forge with a DC 30 masterwork component gain a +1 nonmagical enhancement bonus to damage and have double the normal hit points of a masterwork weapon of the same type.
• Armor Crafted in the Forge with a DC 30 masterwork component have their armor check penalty reduced by 2 (instead of the normal 1) and has its arcane spell failure reduced by 10%.
• Special materials have a greater potential brought out by the Forge when crafting armor. Adamantine armor’s DR is increased by one when crafted using the Forge and mithral armor max Dex increases by three instead of two.
• Weapons and Armor Crafted in the Forge take half as long to magically enhance using the Forge. Time spent crafting is one day per 2,000 gp cost.
The Forge is also an ancient artifact for crafting magical items. It has the following abilities when used to craft magical items:
• Items created using the Forge (except weapons and armor Crafted in it) take more time to create than usual. It takes one day per 750 gp instead of per 1,000 gp.
• It allows the crafter to craft a magical item even if he doesn’t have the Feat prerequisite, though in that case, the normal cost to craft cannot exceed 25,000 gp. The cost to create if the crafter doesn’t have the Feat prerequisite, however, is increased by 25%. Craft time and XP cost use the increased amount in this case.
• It allows anyone to pay the XP cost for the item, regardless of if they are considered the one crafting the item. Multiple creatures can pay the XP cost. These creatures must all be willing participants.
• Power Components are special items that can be used to either enhance the magical item being constructed or to pay part of the XP cost. Power Components vary from item to item and are always thematically tied to the item.
• Souls are a special form of Power Component which pay XP for any item. They are consumed by the process and destroyed. A soul can provide 20 XP per Hit Die of the creature. Doing this is an Evil act. Any item created using this method is considered Evil. They must be harvested separate from the creation process.
I also have the following ideas for unique abilities that the Forge can instill that aren't fleshed out yet. I also need costs associated with these, and I'm planning on having them have to obtain special Power Components or do research to make use of these unique abilities. I want the PCs to use them, but not for them to become ubiquitous.
• Soul Bond: The item will gain abilities based on the soul it is bound to. In exchange if the person is ever separated from it, they gain one negative level. If the item is destroyed, they suffer some undetermined penalty. Also, it will halve the penalties for breaking slot affinity and multiple different abilities. Only one item can be bonded this way. (Inspiration: One Ring)
• Physical Bond: The item becomes a part of the wielder/wearer. It will leave some kind of mark, but will become slotless. If it is a weapon or armor or something else that must be physically present to work it can be manifested and then hidden again as Free Actions. Only one item can be bonded in this way. (Inspiration: Prince of Persia 3)
• Recharging: This enhancement allows a charged magical item to gain back charges. When the weilder is preparing spells, he can choose to prepare a spell that the item can cast with one or more charges. Doing so means that the spell is not prepared (and the slot is considered used for the day) but the item has regained a charge (or more if it takes more than one charge to cast that particular spell). In the case of a caster who doesn’t prepare spells, they can recharge the item only when they regain spells per day, losing that spell for the day. This can be done as many times per day as the caster is willing to give up. (Inspiration: endless Player complaints.
)• Intelligent: The crafter has more freedom over the abilities of the item.
• Indestructable: The item cannot be destroyed by normal means, though a wish or miracle can supress this ability for 1d4+1 rounds.
• Spellcasting: Upon creation, the crafter can imbue the magical item with any one spell he has prepared. Once per day, the wielder/wearer can cast this spell, regardless of her own spellcasting abilities. The spell is arcane or divine depending on the crafter and the caster must supply all components. The caster level is considered to be the minimum required to cast the spell. [Cost doubled for personal only spells? Personal not available?]
• Hidden Aura: This effect offers a variety of options. The crafter can choose for the item to be invisible to detect magic and similar spells. The crafter can alternately choose to have it give off a false aura, chosing any school of magic and any strength. Lastly, the crafter can choose for it to identify as a completely different magical effect.
I still want to have more unique options available and to have some kind of drawbacks to use the item. I don't want the drawbacks to keep the PCs from acutally using it, that would be disapointing, but more for flavor purposes and to keep them on their toes when they use it. Unfortunatley I'm drawing a blank.
But, any ideas are appreciated, thoughts on what I have so far or totally new things, either way I'm all ears... er... eyes.
