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Thread: Magic Items

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    ‘Orogbane’

    This great Karamhul waraxe is over 1,200 years old, and represents the greatest achievement of Kuldar the Pious, Archprelate of Moradin’s Forge of the time. Beset by the hordes of Orogs attacking the Kingdom of Baruk-Azhik, Kuldar, who was also a master smith, set about creating a weapon for the Overthane that would reflect the glory and protection of the Soul Forger, Moradin. In a technique that is only known to a handful of Karamhul weapon smiths today, the axe incorporates three metals in its design, but loses no strength for the composite construction involved.

    The haft and blade of the axe are made of the finest steel that Karamhul can smelt, tempered in cold, pure water from the Khurinlach. Set within the blade, and running down the haft are fine veins of Tighmaevril, to capture and channel the divine essence of any slain scion to the wielder. Along the edge of the blade is set an edge of Moraskorr, the hardest known metal to any in Cerilia.

    Kuldar spent much time in prayer and meditation while enchanting the blade. He specifically prayed to Moradin to imbue the weapon with his Holy power and to consecrate it for use against the Orog threat. Over the centuries, successive Overthanes have used this weapon to great effect in turning back hordes of Orogs, or cutting a swath through strong resistance and turning the tide of battle deep in the tunnels under the Kingdom.

    Orogbane: Karamhul Waraxe +3, Holy Orogbane. +3/+5 vs. Orogs; Damage: d10+3 (+2d6 vs. Orogs) (+2d6 vs. Evil); Crit x3; SQ: Moraskorr (Adamantine) [Ignores Hardness less than 20], Tighmaevril (Bloodsilver) [Acts as a Bloodsilver weapon].
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

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    Birthright Developer irdeggman's Avatar
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    Interesting, but shouldn't be Tighmaevril. There is/was only one person who could craft Tighmaevril weapons and he was an elf named Ghoigwnnwd. All Tighmaevril weapons must be traced to Ghoigwnnwd since he is/was the only one to know how to craft the material properly.

    Also, in the rev to Chap 8 I'm going to change Tighmaevril from a type of enchantment (really was wrong to go that way) to a material type. And since an item can really only have one material type. . . .
    Duane Eggert

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    I think he put down Tighmaevril because it is given it in the 2nd ed books. There is a number of ways you can handle this you can say that it doesn't have Tighmaevril , that it was made at least partly by Ghoigwnnwd , that dwarves have the knowledge to reforge Tighmaevril but not create it, that this is a specialised artifact that uses an enchantment like drain bloodline , that Tighmaevril was not only created by Ghoigwnnwd I think in one of the books it has Tighmaevril being found in a monolith builders elf ruin. The monolith builders were a highly magical group even for elves maybe it was them that created the Tighmaevril first but Ghoigwnnwd learned it from them. There are lots of ways you can explain this it had the ability in 2nd ed I don't realy have a problem with it having it in 3.5.

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    How does the BRCS explain the Wizard's ring in the magic item section? That is described as a plain Tighmaevril band.

    Perhaps Ghoigwnnwd made the only weapons forged entirely by with the material. Since Orogbane only works against orogs, it could have been a mistake in the forging. It 'partially' works. Pure bloodsiver works on everyone, this does not.

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    I think the item found in the monolith builder ruins was jewelery as well so maybe they used it for jewelery but not weapons as I think the books say they used stone weapons. You could say that they made jewelery out of it but Ghoigwnnwd made weapons out of it.

    The item could just be enchanted with the blood drain spell which has a similar effect to Tighmaevril and prevents any disagreement about if it should contain Tighmaevril or not.

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    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    I don't think Tighmaevril really needs to be part of a dwarven artifact. It is pretty specifically elven.

    Also, how many blooded orogs are there, that the high priest would make such an effort to include a bloodline-draining effect? Wouldn't he be more focused on kicking orog butts?

    And, if this guy was such a great articifer, to have made a weapon unparalleled since, shouldn't he be a little higher than 9th level? i say this because all of the item's powers require only a 9th level caster - rather weak for the almighty great artifact of Baruk-Azhik.

    Just uping the enhancement bonus to +4 would be a good start (12th level caster), and even +5 isn't unreasonable for a legendary item (15th level cleric). These are dwarves, some of the great weapon forgers of all time. If there's one type of artifact they have that is incredible, that axe should be one of them.

    Really, a 15th level cleric isn't at all unreasonable for a dedicated dwarven cleric who lives for hundreds of years. I see no reason for less magic items in the BR world to mean less powerful ones, especially in the case of long-lived races like the dwarves and elves. They should have a few artifacts that most humans could onlydream of crafting.

    To keep the triple-metal idea, what about an alloy of Moraskorr, steel, and Cold Iron? I don't know how much the orogs call on creatures of the Shadow World, but I was thinking Cold Iron should be baneful (penetrate damage reduction and regeneration or fast healing) to all native creatures of the Shadow World. Certainly to the Seelie and Unseelie at the very least.

    Eh, but really, that's extraneous. The axe being Moraskorr and highly enhanced (+5 Moraskorr Holy Waraxe, Bane vs. Orogs) seems quite potent enough...it will sunder shields, armor, and weapons like butter, even magical ones won't last long. Ooohhhh! [shiver] I hate sundering, but dang is it useful. :(

    Osprey

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    And, if this guy was such a great articifer, to have made a weapon unparalleled since, shouldn't he be a little higher than 9th level? i say this because all of the item's powers require only a 9th level caster - rather weak for the almighty great artifact of Baruk-Azhik.
    This weapon requires an 18th level caster to create. +3, Holy (+2), Bane (+1) for a total of +6. Further, the level of expertise that is needed to have different metals incorporated into the item without alloying them is what truly makes this weapon a marvel.

    As to the bloodsilver, I had thought that if Kuldar had been able to gain posessession of even slivers or fragments of sundered bloodsilver weapons. the pieces could be incorporated into the waraxe in much the same way that the moraskorr blade edge was incorporated into the weapon.

    All in all, thanks for the comments -- this is exactly what I wanted for feedback.
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

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    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    This weapon requires an 18th level caster to create. +3, Holy (+2), Bane (+1) for a total of +6.
    Nope, read up on creating magic weapons and armor. The minimum caster level is figured seperately for the actual enhancement bonus to the weapon and for an special abilities added on. The enhancement bonuses are added together soley for the purpose of determining market value and gp/xp costs to create.

    Here's the SRD section:
    CREATING MAGIC WEAPONS
    To create a magic weapon, a character needs a heat source and some iron, wood, or leatherworking tools. She also needs a supply of materials, the most obvious being the weapon or the pieces of the weapon to be assembled. Only a masterwork weapon can become a magic weapon, and the masterwork cost is added to the total cost to determine final market value. Additional magic supplies costs for the materials are subsumed in the cost for creating the magic weapon—half the base price given on Table: Weapons, according to the weapon’s total effective bonus.
    Creating a magic weapon has a special prerequisite: The creator’s caster level must be at least three times the enhancement bonus of the weapon. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met.
    [Bold my own addition for emphasis].

    So, breaking it down:

    +3 Enhancement Bonus: Caster Level 9th
    Holy: Caster Level 7th, must have the Holy Smite spell (Good cleric domain ONLY!)
    Bane: Caster Level 8th, Summon Monster I spell required (basically any spellcaster can add this special ability to a magic weapon)

    So, 9th level equals minimum caster level for the weapon. As a +5 weapon it would be minimum caster level 15th - much more impressive and respectable for the great axe of the dwarven overthanes of Baruk-Azhik.

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    OK, thanks for that Osprey, it was something I had missed. I suppose that will teach me to read a bit deeper than that!

    So yes, the weapon would be +5 / +7 vs. Orogs then (ick, that *is* mighty, indeed&#33. If we wanted to 'max out' the weapon, we have another +2 in special abiities to play with... Keen Defending anyone?

    (or even better, Axiomatic)
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

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    Senior Member Osprey's Avatar
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    So yes, the weapon would be +5 / +7 vs. Orogs then (ick, that *is* mighty, indeed!). If we wanted to 'max out' the weapon, we have another +2 in special abiities to play with... Keen Defending anyone?

    (or even better, Axiomatic)
    I'd say +8 total enhancement is quite hefty enough, and as orogs are NE, aximoatic would be no help against them anyways. Though throwing Keen onto an adamantine waraxe does seem very appropriate...

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