The Hammer of the Maker
Description: The Hammer of the Maker seems to be a worn forge hammer of
exceptional quality, forged in one piece of an alloy of meteoric iron, adamantite and
mithril. Though of exceptional quality, it has no ornaments of any kind, and
is rounded at the edges - as if it has seen heavy use.
History: Though the Hammer was the possession of the Stronginthearm clan
of Thorbarkel for almost 200 years, the history of the Hammer goes much longer than that.
Its exact origin is difficult to pinpoint, but various dwarven master smiths have been known
to forge wondrous armor and weaponry with this hammer for the better part of 3 000 years.
Legend has it that the Hammer of the Maker was originally made by the Maker himself, he who
forged the dwarves in his image. Though this may be something of an overstatement, it is
very old - and very, very powerful. Nevertheless, the name - the Hammer of the Maker - stuck with the
Hammer itself, and if it ever had any other name, it is not known in this age.
The Hammer was 'liberated' by duergar forces more than a thousand years ago, and has thereafter
been a hotly contested piece of equipment ever since. Many duergar master smiths has forged powerful weaponry
for use both against duergar, dwarf and other races, but the magnificent arms and armor of legend that the dwarves
forged with this Hammer has so far been out of reach for the duergar master smiths.
How the Stronginthearm clan came to be in possession of this unique item is difficult to say. It was probably stolen in the
raid that followed the declaration of Blood Hunt made against the then-powerful family of Rubyheart. Though the
Stronginthearm clan never had anything to do with that Blood Hunt - not officially at least - the Hammer turned up in
the hands of a Stronginthearm master smith some three years later.
Game mechanics: The Hammer will grant a +2 circumstance bonus for exceptional
tools when forging any sort of weaponry or armor. That is, however, not its major power.
In theory, a master smith can forge any kind of weapon or armor with this hammer, as long as he has the raw materials available, and that
the item in question is composed mostly of metal. By infusing the item with the master smith's personal life force, the master smith is able to will
the enchantment into the unfinished item.
- The smith must first decide the total bonuses for the item he wishes to create - the bonus shift, so to speak. For instance, a +1 keen longsword is a +2 bonus shift - +1 for
the +1 enchantment, and +1 for the keen property. The smith is not able to add any daily uses of spells or any such thing through this power - only the powers listed with a bonus shift in the DMG can be chosen.
- The smith then sacrifices a number of hit points equal to the bonus of the weapon, squared. For instance, the +1 keen longsword would mean that the smith would sacrifice 4 hit points, permanently.
- The smith must last make a Craft (Arms or Armor) at a DC equal to 20 + the bonus shift of the item (the +1 keen longsword would be a DC 22 check, for instance). If this fails, the item is ruined, the materials are lost, as are the hit points.
- This hit point loss is permanent. No method exists for regaining those hit points, barring direct divine intervention, of course.
Cost: The Hammer of the Maker is priceless - quite literally.
Gobled of Poison Conversion