THE WAR SMITH
Roger E Moore's 'War Smith' appeared in White Dwarf 28 (1981) and was a sub-class of Fighter specialising in manufacturing and clerical magic. This is a revised version of the War Smith for White Box.
War Smiths are crafters of weapons, armour and the tools of war who are dedicated to the gods of forging and creativity. War Smiths can be any alignment. They are usually Human but at the Referee’s discretion Dwarves, Elves and Gnomes may also be War Smiths (advancing to level 6). The War Smith's Prime Attribute is Strength, which confers a +05% bonus if it is 15+.
Armour & Weapon Restrictions
War Smiths may use any armour, shields or weapons. They can use magic items usable by Fighters, but also braziers of controlling fire elementals and a manual of the iron golem.
Craft
The War Smith has an extra stat – Craft (check his last column in the advancement table). He may spend his Craft points to manufacture equipment. The work lasts 1 day per Craft point used.
Craft Armour: The Craft points you invest in a suit of armour must equal its AC bonus (i.e. 2 for leather, 4 four chain and 6 for plate and 1 for a shield or helmet).
Craft Weapons: The Craft points you invest in a weapon equals 1 per damage step the weapon inflicts: 1 for 1d6-1, 2 for 1d6 and 3 for 1d6+1.
Craft Tools: Crowbars, grappling hooks, lanterns, locks, oil (!), spikes and thieves tools cost 1 Craft per 5gp cost
Craft points are regained when the item works as it was designed to. If the War Smith sells items, she recovers the Craft points at the end of the month. If the War Smith provides items for herself or adventuring companions, the Craft points are recovered at the end of an adventure in which they are used.
Craft Armour: The Craft points you invest in a suit of armour must equal its AC bonus (i.e. 2 for leather, 4 four chain and 6 for plate and 1 for a shield or helmet).
Craft Weapons: The Craft points you invest in a weapon equals 1 per damage step the weapon inflicts: 1 for 1d6-1, 2 for 1d6 and 3 for 1d6+1.
Craft Tools: Crowbars, grappling hooks, lanterns, locks, oil (!), spikes and thieves tools cost 1 Craft per 5gp cost
Craft points are regained when the item works as it was designed to. If the War Smith sells items, she recovers the Craft points at the end of the month. If the War Smith provides items for herself or adventuring companions, the Craft points are recovered at the end of an adventure in which they are used.
Optional: Racial Crafting Specialisms
- Dwarves excel at making armour and each Craft point they invest in armour is doubled.
- Elves excel in making weapons and each Craft point they invest in weapons is doubled.
- Gnomes excel in making tools and arrows and each Craft point they invest in tools or arrows is doubled.
Holy Hammer
The War Smith receives +1 To Hit and damage when fighting with a hammer of any size.
Locksmith
Since War Smiths can make locks they also excel at opening them. You can open ordinary locked doors on a 1-4 (on a d6). You can open a held portal by spending 1 Craft point and a wizard lock by spending 2 points.
Saving Throws
War Smiths save at +2 vs attacks based on fire. If you use the Death & Dismemberment rules, War Smiths can sacrifice a shield, helm or parry weapon to negate all Injuries from an attack.
Establish a Forge
At 9th level, the War Smith gains the title 'Master Artificer' and can build a Forge, which is a sort of temple-workshop dedicated to furthering their craft. He will attract a group of soldiers and apprentices who will benefit from his skill and powerful rulers (and perhaps monsters) become his customers.
Trauma
War Smiths do not gain Trauma from taking fire damage past 0 HP or experimenting with magical weapons/armour/shields/helms.
War Smith Feats
Many of these Feats allow a War Smith to make +1 arms or armour. This equipment gets its bonus from its superior construction but is not considered magical for purposes of hitting enchanted creatures.
- Arcane Forge: If you can already make a +1 type of armour or weapon, you can invest the Craft points permanently to make it an actual magical item and if you double the Craft investment it will possesses a random Minor Ability or Unusual Feature (White Box, p123). If Craft is invested permanently in a lock, the lock can only be opened by magic (such as a knock spell).
- Armourer: If you invest twice as many Craft points in armour, it adds +1 to AC
- Bowyer: Choose to specialise in crossbows or ordinary bows; if you invest twice as many Craft points in a bow, it gains +1 To Hit and damage
- Curse Breaker: You can break the enchantment on cursed weapons and armour as if a remove curse spell had been used by investing twice as many Craft points as the item would require to manufacture (if you also have Makeshift Crafter, you could do this during an adventure)
- Fletcher: If you invest twice as many Craft points in arrows or quarrels, they gain +1 To Hit and damage
- Journeyman: Gain +2 Craft
- Makeshift Crafter: In a dungeon room or wilderness setting, you can assemble enough raw materials to construct something, spending Craft points at a rate of 1 per turn, but the item will fall to pieces at the end of the adventure
- Weapon Smith: If you invest twice as many Craft points in a melee weapon, it gains +1 To Hit and damage
Notes for Referees
If you are already an Armourer you could make +1 leather armour for 4 Craft points. Arcane Forge lets you invest the points permanently to make enchanted (rather than just very good) +1 armour and investing 8 Craft points gives it an unusual feature (say, ethereality). You never get those Craft points back. That armour was you life's work. Treasure it. However, Dwarves only have to invest 4 Craft points, because their investment gets doubled for making armour.
Players might approach a NPC War Smith and offer to buy superior arms and armour. Alternatively, PC War Smiths might want to enrich themselves by selling this stuff. Assume the cost is equal to the base cost of the item multiplied by the number of Craft points invested in it and the level of the War Smith. So going to a 5th level War Smith for +1 chain mail will cost you 30gp (for the mail) times 8 (for the Craft invested) times 5 (his level) = 1200gp. Actual magical weapons are never for sale and PCs are hardly likely to sell them.
If a War Smith sells the arms or armour she makes, she can earn XP equal to half the sale value.
What about magical War Smiths?
Roger E Moore's original War Smith was a spell-caster as well as a warrior. Now it seems to me that there is no need for a separate class if this is what you want. Any Cleric can worship a god of smithing like Vulcan. This type of Clerical War Smith advances as a normal Cleric and gets access to normal Clerical spells. If using Expanded Lore, the God's Weapon ability applies to the Clerical War Smith's hammer.
Priestly Crafter
Instead of turning Undead, give Clerical War Smiths the skill to craft items using this table. The player rolls before an adventure (or each month) to see what they have made and can make on attempt at each category of items, rolling 3d6 just like a Cleric turning Undead.
F means the Clerical War Smith creates these items automatically and can do so during an adventure from raw materials to hand if they can work for a turn.
Clerical War Smith Spells
Some of the original War Smith spells can be included for White Box like these, which are only available for Clerical War Smiths.
Some of the original War Smith spells can be included for White Box like these, which are only available for Clerical War Smiths.
Produce Flame
Spell Level: C1
Range: 60ft
Duration: Until extinguished
The caster can create a small fire (covering an area about a foot in diameter) that will burn fiercely for 1d6 rounds and then go out. However, anything it sets fire to will continue burning normally.
Resist Fire
Spell Level: C2
Range: Touch
Duration: 2 hours
The target of this spell becomes immune to normal fire and saves at +2 vs magical fire.
Firehammer
Spell Level: C3
Range: 1 hammer
Duration: 1 hour
A hammer busts into flames, burning like a torch. It receives +1 To Hit and inflicts an extra 1d6-1 fire damage. The Cleric can handle the firehammer and so can anyone the Cleric personally gives it to. If the hammer is dropped or thrown the spell expires at the start of the next round.
Superior Crafting
Spell Level: C4
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Cast this before rolling to manufacture an item. If you manufacture it successfully, it is superior quality (+1 To Hit and damage) but not magical. This spell slot is used up and is not recovered until the end of the adventure (or the next month).
Enchanted Crafting
Spell Level: C5
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Cast this before rolling to manufacture an item. If you manufacture it successful, it is magical (+1 To Hit and damage) and it will have a Minor Ability or Unusual Feature. These spell slots are used up forever.
Spell Level: C1
Range: 60ft
Duration: Until extinguished
The caster can create a small fire (covering an area about a foot in diameter) that will burn fiercely for 1d6 rounds and then go out. However, anything it sets fire to will continue burning normally.
Resist Fire
Spell Level: C2
Range: Touch
Duration: 2 hours
The target of this spell becomes immune to normal fire and saves at +2 vs magical fire.
Firehammer
Spell Level: C3
Range: 1 hammer
Duration: 1 hour
A hammer busts into flames, burning like a torch. It receives +1 To Hit and inflicts an extra 1d6-1 fire damage. The Cleric can handle the firehammer and so can anyone the Cleric personally gives it to. If the hammer is dropped or thrown the spell expires at the start of the next round.
Superior Crafting
Spell Level: C4
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Cast this before rolling to manufacture an item. If you manufacture it successfully, it is superior quality (+1 To Hit and damage) but not magical. This spell slot is used up and is not recovered until the end of the adventure (or the next month).
Enchanted Crafting
Spell Level: C5
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Cast this before rolling to manufacture an item. If you manufacture it successful, it is magical (+1 To Hit and damage) and it will have a Minor Ability or Unusual Feature. These spell slots are used up forever.
Spell slots are shown on the Cleric Advancement table (White Box, p12). A sixth level cleric gets 1 spell slot for 4th level spells and could use it to cast superior crafting, but would not then be able to learn any other 4th level spells until the end of the adventure.
An eighth level Cleric has 2 4th and 2 5th level spell slots. If she uses enchanted crafting to make a magical weapon, one of those 5th level spell slots is gone forever. When she reaches tenth level, she will return to having 2 spell slots instead of gaining a third. As with the standard War Smith, making magical items is a labour of love and takes something from the creator that is never recovered.
An eighth level Cleric has 2 4th and 2 5th level spell slots. If she uses enchanted crafting to make a magical weapon, one of those 5th level spell slots is gone forever. When she reaches tenth level, she will return to having 2 spell slots instead of gaining a third. As with the standard War Smith, making magical items is a labour of love and takes something from the creator that is never recovered.
