| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Gelcur |
Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 02:54:11
So I am looking for a quest item for one of my dwarven players.
He is a gold dwarf, a thunder twin born during the Thunder Blessing. He is a Ftr5/Bar1 and worships Haela Brightaxe. His family line tends to be matriarchal or has been in the recent few generations. Having foreseen the coming population crisis in the Great Rift his mother moved her clan to the Galena far north in Vaasa. Her son and daughter have been sent out into the world to basically acquire venture capital.
So I have the opportunity to give this dwarf some grand or maybe not so grand item from dwarven history. Maybe a broken helm or a grand belt of some leader. I want this item to lead into something maybe more overarching. I've already introduced the idea that dwarves are looking for old forgotten dwarven holds to repopulate.
But I know little of dwarven history outside of what I read in Races of Faerun. The Cloaker War sounds interesting, as do the battles where the dwarves had to use Deepspawns because their numbers were so small.
Do people have ideas or information on those events? Or other cool events. I really want to get this player to make a connection with the dwarven background of his character. |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ergdusch |
Posted - 18 Mar 2008 : 09:06:11
quote:
Originally posted by Gelcur
This was actually all extremely useful. Thank you I now have a direction I can flesh out this is great!
Glad to be of help.  |
| Gelcur |
Posted - 17 Mar 2008 : 13:46:36
This was actually all extremely useful. Thank you I now have a direction I can flesh out this is great! |
| Ergdusch |
Posted - 15 Mar 2008 : 09:28:17
quote:
Originally posted by Ergdusch
As we speak of Legacy weapons: there is another dwarven weapon - some weapon of 'Folly' or some such thing.... it was discribed in Expedition to undermountain, IIRC.
I was a little off on this one: it was in Expedition to Undermountain, yes, but it was no weapon:
Crown Adamant - Legend sais that the Crown Adamant came to the Melairkyn dwarves from the god Dumathoin himself, who wished to bestow his favor upon the Melairkyn dwarves, granting unto their leader the powers of the stone. This legandary item and its powers are discribed on p. 214/215 of said book.
(For more on the Melairkyn dwarven Clan that called Mount Waterdeep their home see the 2nd Ed. Dungeon Crawl adventure Undermountain - The Lost Level readily available as a free download on the WotC Download Page.)
Also of interest to you might be:
Dragon magazine #323 detailing some dwarven treasures, though nothing of such epic or legendary scope. However, you might want to look into it anyway.
Dargon magazine #245 detailing a Dwarven Relic from the FR setting - 'Moradin's Anvil'. |
| Ergdusch |
Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 21:52:01
As I am home by now I can help you with the stats & history of Grimjaw:
Grimjaw from Mag. Ecycl III, p. 1096
Named for the small Common inscription found deeply engraved on the inside top rim, this plain iron shield is dented and black, of normal, unassuming appearance. It bears no rust, and rust does not affect it regardless of the handling it receives due to protective magic cast on it. Grimjaw confers no armor bonus to its wearer but it has a powerful ability to affect any magical items that come into direct physical contact with it, regardless of the shieldbearer’s wishes. The Effect of any single contact is determined by dice roll, as follows:
Roll Contact Effect
01-20 Item has one charge drained from it by Grimjaw, if the item has no charges as such, its powers are negated for 3d4 turns.
21-65 Item instantly turns and attacks wielder for one round, either striking as if the wielder were attacked that same way (roll attack and damage new).
66-80 Item has all magical powers negated for 2d6 rounds.
81-95 Item I completely drained of all magical powers forever, as struck by a rod of cancellation. Artifacts are unaffected, teleporting away with the wielder to a random location.
By Shield Bash:
1-2 Shield, offhand Weapon, Bracers
3-6 Armor
7-9 Weapon
10 Cape, Cloak, Rings
96-00 Grimjaw discharges some of its stored magical energy into the contacting item; the item gains 1d6 charges (permanently) or a +1 on attack and damage bonuses for 1d6 turns.
If a magical weapon or item is wielded against the shieldbearer, and the item misses the Armor class of the shieldbearer by 1 point, than it is considered to have struck the shield.
Another great source of inspiration as you look for is the supplement sourcebook D&D Weapons of Legency. It discribes several special magical items that gain power as the wielder gains levels. Quite interesting concept if you ask me. Holds lots of game potential. Special dwarven weapons therein is the Bloodcrier Hammer.
As we speak of Legacy weapons: there is another dwarven weapon - some weapon of 'Folly' or some such thing.... it was discribed in Expedition to undermountain, IIRC.
Anyhow, if all those are not to your liking here is a dwarven hammer of my own design which I used in game in similar means as use intent to do, though its introduction in my game was rather unplanned....
Gorrun Dwarf ’n Steel
This weapon is a masterful crafted one-headed mithril warhammer with a pure diamond at the end of its hilt. It was created for the arduke Idrin of Clan Thunderburst (fictional clan and as such non-canon) As the Clan was almost near extinction by drow assaults the stubborn Clan leader, although badly wounded, refused to leave his last place of refuge. With him staid his loyal weapon as well as his 4 highest ranking officers and his 1st adviser Gorrun. Legend holds that with his last breath Idrin prayed to Clangeddin Silverbeard, dwarven God of Battle, to help him and his loyal clan members in defending his halls. The legend claims that while the King died in the royal thron hall and his soul went to Dwarfhome for the souls of his loyal fighters and adviser Gorun another purpose was forseen. So it is rumored that the fighters were turned into Dwarven Ancestors defending the very Clans innermost chambers eternally. The advisors soul however is said to have merged with Idrin's famous warhammer.
However, that legend being true or not, the hammer is special indeed with various powers. (with the wierd listing of 3.x edition language it would be a 'sure-striking shocking burst Warhammer +2 of minor Electricity Resistance'.) It will only reveal its nature to those of its creator’s race. In the hands of all others it will function as a normal +1 warhammer. Evil creatures and the clans greatest enemies touching it will receive an electricity shock for 2-20 damage and will find the Hammer to be non-magical and completely unbalanced, which is reflected by a -4 penalty to all attack roles. Since it is an intelligent weapon it has special powers listed below:
• Warhammer +2/+2
• Shocking Burst ability (burst ablility only) (critical x 3 + 2d10 electricity dmg.)
• Sure-striking ability (treated as a +5 weapon for overcoming DR)
• Communication: Telepathy; speech (common, dwarven, undercommon, orc)
• 60 ft darkvision and hearing
• 3 primary abilities:
o detect metals & minerals 3/day (as Rod of Metal and Mineral Detection)
o + 2 on any Knowledge skills referring dwarven history as well as Bluff, Sense Motive and Diplomacy when interacting with dwarvenkind
o + 2 on Leadership referring to dwarvenkind only (Special Power bonus)
• minor ability:
o minor Electricity Resistance 3/-
Int: 16 /+3
Wis: 15 /+2
Cha: 14/+2
Align: LG
Prerequisites:
o Wielder must have any Good alignment (evil creatures take 2-20 electricity dmg per round)
o Wielder must be a Dwarf (any good non-dwarf finds the weapon unbalanced (-4 to att and dmg rolls)
o CHA 14+ (any dwarf with less charisma will be able to use the hammer as a +1 weapon but will be mentally 'suggested' to hand over the weapon to a more fitting wielder - which could turn into a quest if the DM would deem that approriate)
o Leadership Skill (as above under charisma)
Restrictions:
The stubburn mind of the hammer is rather narsistic forcing the wielder to neglect the use of all other weapons to be granted excess to all powers.
Ego: 21
Market Price: ca. 35 000 GP
GP Value: 55 812 GP
In my game this weapon was lots of fun. The warhammer was always introducing the wielder as a grand dwarfen clan leader (which he was not of course) out loud for all to hear: "All hail the great Thratesh Clanleader of Thunderburst, slayer of dragons, defender of this, survivor of that, and so on and so on!" or shouting some ancient dwarven battle cry "Tonight we shall drink beer from a Giant's skull!" or "The Hammer of Glory is upon thee!" even if the party was trying to sneek around a fight. It caused some surprices I might say!
So hope that gives you some more ideas. Enjoy and good gaming.
Ergdusch |
| Gelcur |
Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 13:46:38
Good suggestions thus far. The item's power level can be anything suitable for a character from level 1 to level 8. I would prefer not to make it a primary weapon, he wields a dwarven axe that he likes already, or a suit of armor, I have something planned for his current suit.
The items real purpose is more story driven to make the character eager to learn more about dwarven culture. The issue I find that there are all these kingdoms with names but beyond a short blurb I don't see much else on them. With human cultures I can find whole novels and expansions on them. |
| Ergdusch |
Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 06:43:47
Another good one might also be 'Grimjaw', a legendary shield of a dwarven clan. IIRC it was tied to the ruined dwarven kingdom of Tethyamar... Don't have my books at hand. You will most certainly find it in the Ecyclopedia Magica but it should be mentioned somewhere else es well, posibly a dragon magazine or some such....
Just an idea from my side as I used it as an adventure hook once... |
| Purple Dragon Knight |
Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 05:00:19
There's that helm from Player's Guide to Faerun with wings on either side... used to belong to an ancient dwarf hero... (DHTBIFOM) |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 03:41:30
Hmm, I suspose it depends on overall theme, weapon, helm, belt all are posible. In part it depends on how powerful the item should be. In part legend can of course make the item sound more powerful then it is.
For a Fighter, I would strongly advise a weapon. Thruders hammer, reported to be a giat smiter. Last hread of its use was in the High Reaches. Rumor appears to indicate it is held by giants.
The actual weapon, clearly could be less then what ledgend says it is. The same of course could apply to the helm or belt. Not sure why you are considering a broken helm unless the PC can fix it. |
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