Hello gang!

In the Erebor supplement for TOR, C7 provided rules for Dwarf-smithing. Basically it allowed a Dwarf player-hero to, once in their lives, craft a magical weapon or armour. That supplement is theoretically going to be re-released for AiME at some point, but a couple of my players are playing Dwarves and are interested in crafting.

So I took the Dwarf-smithing undertaking and expanded it into a new Cultural Virtue; Master Smith of the Naugrim.

I’m looking for feedback and tweaks and suggestions (even for a different name maybe)! I created this by sort of combining the Artificer of Eregion Virtue in the Rivendell Region Guide as well as the Dwarf-smithing undertaking from TOR’s Erebor book. Here is the wall o’ text that is the Virtue;

New Cultural Virtue- Master Smith of the Naugrim

While the ancient secrets of craftsmanship are lost to the Dwarves, even in the twilight years of the Third Age, they remain the greatest workers of metal in all of Middle-Earth. Experts at identifying treasure, Master Smiths refine and hone their craft until their creations are obviously Dwarf-forged. The most skilled among them can even create something truly wondrous, belonging to another age of the world, though it will take years to find the right materials and a lifetime’s worth of skill to succeed.

Upon taking this Virtue, a Dwarf may learn to Evaluate Treasure. By spending a Fellowship Phase undertaking training at your smithy, you may perfect the art of Dwarf-forged war gear. By spending another Fellowship Phase, you may finally begin the greatest work of your life; true Dwarf-smithing.

Evaluate Treasure- You recognize the runes and secret symbols employed by the artificers of old to mark their work. When you discover a Hoard during an Adventuring phase you may treat the Hoard rating as being one more * than normal, affording you the opportunity to spend additional Hit Dice to make another Magical Treasure roll.

Dwarf-forged War Gear- You are able to refine the weapons and armour you make until they are vastly superior to mundane weapons. You may perform the Dwarf-forging Fellowship Undertaking.

Dwarf-smithing- Beyond even the excellent quality of Dwarf-forged arms and armour, the greatest of the smiths of the Naugrim can, as one of the great works of their life, create a weapon or piece of armour that is worthy of song.

You may, once in your lifetime, perform the special Dwarf-smithing Fellowship Undertaking.

New Fellowship Phase Undertakings

Dwarf-forged War Gear- A companion who is a Master Smith of the Naugrim may retire to his smithy to give himself unto the hammer and anvil to create Dwarf-forged War Gear. To complete his work, a smith must accumulate 6 Craftsmanship points, in one or more undertakings. To gain Craftsmanship points, during the same Fellowship phase the companion may make a Strength check, spend Hit Dice or gain Shadow, or a combination of the three.

• Make a Strength check, adding your Proficiency Bonus if you are proficient with smith’s tools. The DC to create a weapon is 12 plus half the weapon's damage die. In the case of Versatile weapons, use the maximum possible damage die. The DC to create a suit of armour is 12 plus half the armour's AC value.

Gain 1 Craftsmanship point on a success, 2 points if you succeed by 5 or more, and 3 if you succeed with a natural 20 result.

• Spending Hit Dice, you gain 1 Craftsmanship point for each 2 Hit Dice you choose to spend. You begin the next Adventuring phase with these Hit Dice already expended.

• Finally, you may acquire Craftsmanship points by gaining Shadow, at the cost of 1 Shadow for each Craftsmanship point gained.

If you do not succeed in accumulating 6 points in the same Fellowship phase, take note of the number of points gained so far, to resume the work at a later Fellowship phase (the companion will have to choose the Dwarf-forged War Gear undertaking again).

Dwarf-smiths generally craft only the following weapons to their standards: Axe, Great Axe, Long Sword, Short Sword, and Broadsword. A Player-hero who wishes to craft a different weapon – a dagger or a spear, perhaps- is able to do so, though other Dwarves may regard them as strange if they craft many weapons not commonly used by their own people.

Dwarf-smiths forge Corslets of mail, Scale Hauberks, Ring-mail, and Heavy Mail. They do not condescend to craft lesser suits of armour.

A Dwarf-forged Weapon adds a 1 bonus to all attack and damage rolls made with it.

A suit of Dwarf-forged Armour causes all critical hits against its wearer to become normal hits.

The cost to craft a Dwarf-forged weapon is one gold piece, plus one and a half times the base cost of the weapon.

The cost to craft a suit Dwarf-forged armour costs two and a half gold pieces plus it's base cost.

Dwarf-smithing- A player-hero who is a Master Smith may create a weapon or piece of armour that is magical, and far greater than any other item they will produce in their lifetime. To do this, they must perform the Dwarf-smithing Undertaking. This follows a similar process to the Dwarf-forged War Gear undertaking, with the following differences;

• The DC to craft a weapon with Dwarf-smithing is 15 plus the weapon's damage die. In the case of Versatile weapons, use the maximum possible damage die. The DC to craft a suit of armour with Dwarf-smithing is 12 plus the armour's AC value.

• You must accumulate 12 Craftsmanship Points rather than 6.

• You may utilize Great Materials in your work to gain one bonus Craftsmanship Point per Great Material utilized. You may find Great Materials on your adventures. They could consist of such things as unwrought Moria-silver, lost gems from old regions of the world, or even the scales of wyrms... should you find any still in Middle-Earth, and be able to slay them!

• If you roll a natural 20 on a Craftsmanship check, you may enhance your weapon or armour. For a weapon, you may add 1 to it's damage or attack roll. For a suit of armour, you may add 1 to it's AC.

• If you take Shadow for Craftsmanship points during any Dwarf-smithing undertaking, it is permanent Shadow.

•The first time that the smith chooses to gain permanent Shadow for Craftsmanship points, the hero becomes driven, and will think of little else but finishing the task. From that moment on, the companion must always choose Dwarven-smithing undertaking during a Fellowship phase; should the Loremaster allow for two undertakings in a phase, one of them must be Dwarven-smithing. Finally, failing a smithing Craft roll gains a driven hero another Shadow point (not a permanent point though).

• Being driven is not without it's advantages. For every point of Shadow (both permanent and temporary) that the smith possesses, one number on your Craftsmanship roll is considered to be a natural 20 (assuming the check would succeed normally).

Example: Vargrod is using Dwarf-smithing to craft a magical broadsword; the DC for his checks is 23. Vargrod has taken a permanent Shadow point and become driven. While adventuring, he gains three temporary Shadow points. During the next Fellowship Phase, he must take the Dwarf-smithing undertaking. Since he has four total Shadow points (one permanent and three temporary), and roll of 15 or higher will count as a natural 20 for determining the result of his Dwarf-smithing. He rolls and gets a 16. Since he has a strength of 3, and is proficient with smith's tools and has a proficiency bonus of 4, he has met the DC of his undertaking! That means his roll is treated as if he had rolled a natural 20; he decides to increase the damage of the broadsword by 1.

• Rolling a 20 (or treating a die result as a 20 on a successful check) will cause you to cease being driven.

• Upon accumulating your twelfth Craftsmanship point, your masterwork has been forged. You may add three Enchanted Qualities to the item. The Enchanted Qualities must be selected from the following list;

Ancient Close Fitting, Ancient Cunning Make, Cleaving, Crushing, Flame of Hope, Gleam of Terror, Grievous, Rune-scored Armour, Rune-scored Shield, Runes of Protection, Runes of Victory, Smiting, Superior Fell, Superior Keen, Superior Reinforced, Superior Runes of Protection

As with all pieces of magical war gear, your item may not have more than 3 Enchanted Qualities. You choose the qualities when you attain your twelfth Craftsmanship point; however, only the first Quality is active while you are levels 1-4; the second becomes available during levels 5-12, and the third becomes active when you reach level 13.

All Enchanted Qualities are unique, meaning that they can only be applied once to the same item; unless directly stated otherwise, the properties of all Enchanted Qualities stack with one another.

Ancient Close Fitting Item: Armour This Quality enhances the AC rating of an item by 2. Additionally once per short or long rest, if your Proficiency Bonus is 4 or more, after an enemy has hit you, but before damage is rolled, you can declare that the blow missed you instead.

Ancient Cunning Make Item: Armour This Quality enhances the AC rating of this armour by 1. Reduce this armour’s weight to a quarter of the normal. All Strength Requirements are waved, and its user no longer suffers Disadvantage on Stealth checks. Additionally, its wearer is immune to critical hits, taking only normal damage on such a strike.

Crushing Item: Close combat weapon This weapon deals an additional number of hit points equal to three times your Proficiency Bonus on your first successful attack. You must take a short or long rest before using this quality again.

Flame of Hope Item: Close combat weapon You may take an action to hold a weapon with this Enchanted Quality aloft or similarly brandish it to rally your comrades. All of your allies within 30 feet lose the Frightened condition, get back 1d6 your Proficiency Bonus in hit points, and gain Inspiration. You must take a long rest before you can invoke this ability again.

Gleam of Terror Item: Close combat weapon A weapon with this Quality inspires fear in the hearts of enemies. You may take an action to force a number of creatures of your choice, up to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1), within 30 feet of you to succeed at a Wisdom saving throw equal to a Difficulty Class of 15 your Proficiency Bonus or become Frightened of you. While Frightened in this way, a creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. Italso can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If it has nowhere it can move, the creature can use the Dodge action. At the end of each of its turns, a creature can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. This ability cannot be used again until you have taken a short or long rest.

Grievous Item: Any weapon This Quality adds 2 (1d4) bonus damage to all damage rolls made with this weapon. This bonus damage is doubled as normal on a critical hit.

Rune-scored Armour Item: Armour This Enchanted Quality enhances the AC rating of this armour by 3.

Rune-scored Shield Item: Shield Special: Requires Reinforced or Superior Reinforced Gain a 1 bonus to the standard Armour Class this shield normally provides. Additionally, during the course of a battle, when an opponent misses striking you due to the Armour Class bonus provided by your shield, you may spend Inspiration and 3 Hit Dice to shatter their weapon. This does not work on Legendary Weapons but will automatically disarm them.

Runes of Protection Item: Heavy armour This armour was crafted and ensorcelled such that it grants powerful protection against a singular damage type. The Loremaster will choose bludgeoning, piercing or slashing. When wearing the armour, you have resistance to non-magical damage of that type.

Runes of Victory Item: Any weapon While bearing a weapon with this Enchanted Quality you gain a 1 bonus to all saving throws. When you attack with this weapon, a roll of 1 becomes a critical hit instead of an automatic failure. Factors that increase the critical hit range expand the range from 20 as normal. For example, a weapon with Keen and Runes of Victory scores a critical hit on a 1, 19, and 20.

Superior Fell Item: Any weapon This weapon grants a bonus to attack and damage rolls that is equal to half its bearer’s Proficiency Bonus, rounded up.

Superior Keen Item: Any weapon This weapon adds 2 to the range on which it can score a critical hit. (Without any other factors, this weapon would score criticals on 18, 19, and 20.)

Superior Reinforced Item: Shield Gain a 2 bonus to the standard Armour Class this shield normally provides. Additionally, if your Proficiency Bonus is 4 or more, once per combat after an enemy has hit you, but before damage is rolled, you can declare that the blow clanged off your shield without harming you. Finally, this shield cannot be smashed by any means.

Superior Runes of Protection Item: Heavy armour This armour was crafted and ensorcelled to provide extraordinary protection against ordinary weapons. When you take non-magical damage from an attack, you may spend Inspiration and two Hit Dice to negate that damage