Weaponsmith

In Zakhara, Weaponsmiths are rarely adventurers, because the civilisation is capable of supporting them financially without forcing them to resort to adventuring. They can usually find wealthy patrons willing to pay well for their blades. A Weaponsmith of poor reputation of little funds might seek adventure in order to improve his place in the world, however. An there are always a few souls that simply are not content to stay at the forge. In the end, these often become the best forgers of all.

A Weaponsmith trains to gain an iron will and a very critical eye. Weaponsmiths borrow a bit from elemental magic, and a bit from wizardry as well. Weaponsmiths help identify and create legendary weapons.

Beacause a weapon cannot be forged without being named, and naming an item makes it a pattern item, Weaponsmiths are a very scretive bunch. They rarely reveal their identites, and never reveal who has worked on a particular blade. This has added to the sense of mystery and intruige surrounding them and the city of Hiyal.

Role: Weaponsmiths who adventure are usually practical, down-to-earth types with no fear of hard work and a clever solution to every problem. They do not mind spending time and ingenuity to solve a problem. ģIt is better to spend a day building a ladder, than an hour climbing just high enough to die from the fallē.

NPC Weaponsmiths rarely sell their wares just for money. While they do charge their customers, they may also have secret agendas or nefarious plans, requiring their customers to go to strange places, find obscure lore or perform unknowable tasks. It seems many Weaponsmiths deliberately cultivate an aura of mystery to add to their reputation of strange powers. This has made weaponsmiths respected, but people tend to keep their distance.

Important Attributes: Perception and Willpower

Restrictions: All races except djinnlings and pahari may become Weaponsmiths. Both sexes are eligible, though female Weaponsmiths are extremely rare. Hiyal is the centre of the craft of steel in the Land of Fate, and Weaponsmiths seeking the great secrets of their craft must go there to study.

Karma Ritual: To perform his Karma ritual, the Weaponsmith beats a thin strip of metal in a hot fire or forge. From this he fashions the metal into a blade, arrowhead, or spear tip, but tempers the metal too soon, making it brittle. He then shatters the defective piece. The ritual ends the instant the piece breaks.

Artisan Skills: Etching, Engraving, Wood Carving

FIRST CIRCLE

Talents

• Avoid Blow
• Forge Blade (D)
• Karma Ritual
• Melee Weapons
• Steel Thought
• Weapon History (D)

SECOND CIRCLE

Talents

• Durability (6/5)
• Haggle (D)
• Read and Write Language

THIRD CIRCLE

Talents

• Abate Curse (D)
• Detect Weapon

FOURTH CIRCLE

Evaluate Weapon: The Weaponsmith makes a Threadweaving Test against the Spell Defence of the weapon. A successful test reveals the approximate worth of the weapon and how well it is made.

Talents

• Speak Language
• Thread Weaving (D)

FIFTH CIRCLE

Social Defense: Increase the Weaponsmith's Social Defense by 1.

Talents

• Temper Self (D)
• Warp Missile (D)

SIXTH CIRCLE

Spell Defense: Increase the Weaponsmith's Spcll Defense by 1.

Talents

• Conceal Weapon
• Spot Armor Flaw (D)

SEVENTH CIRCLE

Karma: The Weaponsmith may spend a Karma Point on any action using Dexterity only.

Talents

• Disarm
• Temper Other (D)

EIGHTH CIRCLE

Recovery Test: The Weaponsmith gains an additional Recovery Test per day.

Talents

• Improve Blade (D)
• Metal Ward

NINTH CIRCLE

Physical Defense: Increase the weaponsmith's Physical Defense by 1.

Karma: The weaponsmith may spend a Karma Point to increase the damage of any attack made with a melee weapon.

Talents

• Forge Armor (D)
• Read and Write Magic
• Show Armor Flaw (D)

TENTH CIRCLE

Karma: The weaponsmith may spend a Karma Point on any action using Willpower only.

Recovery Test: The weaponsmith gains 1 additional Recovery Test per day.

Talents

• Fireblood
• Spellcasting

ELEVENTH CIRCLE

Blood Edge: For a permanent cost of 2 Damage Points, the weaponsmith uses blood magic to put a Blood Edge on a weapon. Blood Edge increases the Damage step of the weapon by 2 steps, or 3 steps if the weapon is used to attack an opponent in astral space (see the Matrix Strike and Spirit Strike talents).

Talents

• Spell Matrix
• Thread Weaving (Elementalism) (D)

TWELFTH CIRCLE

Initiative: Increase the weaponsmith's Initiative dice by 1 step.

Spell Defense: Increase the weaponsmith's Spell Defense by 1.

Talents

• Soften Blade
• Enhanced Matrix

THIRTEENTH CIRCLE

Physical Defense: Increase the weaponsmith's Physical Defense by 2.

Karma: Increase the weaponsmith's Maximum Karma Points by 25.

Talents

• Critical Hit
• Improve Armor (D)

FOURTEENTH CIRCLE

Call Weapon: The weaponsmith can cause any blade he has ever used Forge Weapon on to break, simply by making a Threadweaving test against the weapon's Spell Defence. He need not see the weapon, or even know where it is, but only one attempt is allowed per weapon, unless the weaponsmith works on it again after a failed attempt.

Talents

• Armored Matrix
• First Ring of Perfection

FIFTEENTH CIRCLE

Spell Defense: Increase the weaponsmith's Spell Defense by 3.

Talents

• Second Chance
• Share Matrix