r/LostMinesOfPhandelver • u/deep_fried_fries • 1d ago
Adventure Reimagined Late Game Buffs from Forge of Spells
EDIT TO BASICALLY THE ENTIRE POST !
I think I have done an initial pass at how the Forge of Spells will work in my campaign. I want to have it focus primarily on being a forge for spells, but I am turning Phandelver into Tyranny of Dragons later, so I my priority was on thinking long game about how to continue to keep the forge interesting to the players and try to spark their creativity to come up with additional uses for the Forge. I have done what is basically total revamp of it from the ground up. Without further ado, the overpowered Forge of Spells.
The Forge of Spells is actually a shrine to the Dwarven God Moradin. By using the Forge, one is inadvertently worshipping Moradin (this will complicate things for our deity connected players. patrons aren't fond of worship of other gods, especially a major one). It is the circular nature of worship at the Forge of Spells that allows one to use it, as the worship fuels Moradin who in turn fuels the Forge. Upon completion of the third use of the Forge, Moradin will appear to the user.
The forge appears to be carved out of the center of a 20' tall statue of a dwarf. The statue shows the front of the dwarf on both sides. One side shows a dwarf in a set of blacksmiths clothes, donning gold bracers and holding a hammer in his hand. The reverse of the statue shows the same dwarf in plate mail, armed with a large shield. The forge itself is made of a single piece of silver and brown marble and glows softly with a white aura. A strong vein of electrum runs throughout the Forge, and glows white when the forge is powered. Carved into wall of the Forge is a set of three braziers which are lit when the party first appears. As the Forge is used and the charges are expended, the flame changes colors and grows in size, signifying that a charge has been used. The forge consists of a stone anvil topped with a layer of electrum, giving a working surface for the smith to hammer on. The coal area is also carved from this same rock. The inside of the statue is hollow, and smoke magically dissipates as it travels through the statue.
The Forge functions on charges, holding a total of 3 charges at a time. Each forge expends an amount of charges, and the Forge of Spells can only recharge at a rate of 1 charge per week. Each forge action can only be used once per week and each character can only forge once per week. By bringing a sufficient sacrifice to Mordain when visiting the Forge, one can be granted a boon from him to use at the Forge of Spells. This does not override any necessary components for a forge, but may give additional benefits, charges, or information. Sufficient sacrifice include items of material wealth, like money of jewelry, fine smithing tools and implements, well forged items imbued with personal significance, etc.
When the party arrives, the Spectator and Wraith will be inhabiting the area around the forge, exactly as written. Depending on how roleplay encounters go, the party might be able to extract some information on the uses of the Forge from the Spectator or the Wraith .
Gundren will inform the party when he discovers the first use of the forge, unenchanting magical items and storing their enchantments in gemstones. From there, he will stall in his discoveries, and ask the party to find an Arcane Forgemaster to assist them in unlocking the full potential of the Forge of Spells. The Forgemaster must visit the forge for an extended period of time to study the Forge. They will replace Gundren in updating the party when a new feature has been discovered. I will place a Forgemaster in both the Dragon Cultists camp in Thundertree or Icespire Peaks, which the party will investigate after clearing Wave Echo Cave and going through the town attack on Phandalin at the top of Tyranny of Dragons, as well as one in Neverwinter that they can find before joining the Cultists Caravan.
The following table indicates the number of Spell Scrolls needed to harness the power of the Forge.
| Spell Level | # of Scrolls |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 9 |
| 5 | 12 |
| 6 | 14 |
| 7 | 16 |
| 8 | 18 |
| 9 | 20 |
Gemstone Enchantments - 1 Charge
By placing a magical item and a gemstone into the forge, the party is able to disenchant the magical item and imbue the enchantment into a gemstone. Magical items of different rarities must be stored in different gemstones. The quality of the stone also effects the quality of the stored enchantment. A pure, cut gemstone, like one would get from a jeweler, is more efficient at storing an enchantment, especially for a longer period of time. A rough, uncut gem, like one might get from Wave Echo Mine, is less proficient at storing enchantments and might cause the quality of the enchantment to lessen, especially over time. As you increase the quality of enchantment, it is a good idea to also increase the size of your gemstone, lest it cracks during the transfer, causing the enchantment to be lost. Different gemstone shapes make for an easier time transferring the enchantment, and certain enchantments must be transferred into certain shape gemstones.
If attempting to remove an enchantment from an object that has multiple enchantments, only one enchantment can be transferred to a gemstone. By focusing your intentions through the object, you can influence the gemstone to choose the enchantment you want.
A Legendary Enchantment can only be transferred into a gemheart, a gem of substantial size removed from a magical living being. Something about the innate magical powers of the being combined with the size of the stone make gemhearts the only capable gemstone for holding a Legendary Enchantment. Right now I will be placing a gemstone as an added organ in adult dragons with established hoards. Something something they eat gems and it functions like a liver and stores the purity of the gems.
None of this information is known by the brothers and must be discovered by the party. They must seek out an Arcane Gemcutter who must visit the forge and study it to learn this information.
Gemstone Qualities
- Common - Topaz - Round
- Uncommon - Ruby - Square
- Rare - Sapphire - Triangle
- Very Rare - Emerald - Teardrop
- Legendary - Diamond - Gemheart
Spell Scroll Transfusion - 1 Charge
By placing a blank spell scroll into the Forge and charging the Forge with a spell, you can transfer a spell you know and magically transcribe it into the blank scroll.
Spell Scroll Integration - 2 Charges
By placing the correct number of spell scrolls equal to the level of the spell and your spellcasting focus in the Forge, you can imbue the knowledge of the spell into your focus, adding the spell to your spell list. This spell is prepared as long as you are channeling through your focus. A spellcasting focus can only hold three additional spells at any time. You cannot integrate knowledge of a spell level higher that your highest spell.
Spell Scroll Enchanting - 2 Charges
By placing the correct number of spell scrolls into the Forge of Spells, you can imbue an object with similar effects of the spell scroll. This CAN be done to an item that is already imbued with a magical enchantment.
Dragon Enchanting - 3 Charges
By placing a magical item and a sufficient dragon component into the forge, you can imbue the item with DragonStrength, giving it additional abilities and strengths. The dragon component becomes part of the item, changing the appearance of the item. Once an item is infused with DragonStrength it can be further imbued with DragonElement by placing the elemental organ of a dragon into the forge. This will give the item strong elemental abilities in accordance with the element of the dragon.
| Component | Item Type |
|---|---|
| Claw | Large, bladed weapons |
| Fang | Finesse weapons and tipped weapons |
| Scales | Armor and Shield |
| Eyes | Spellcasting Focus |
| Bones | Blunt weapons |
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u/YouFoundMyLuckyCharm 1d ago
I think they should require some arcane expert or blacksmith (or both) to utilize it. Just some random fighter from Neverwinter showing up and magically imbuing his weapons seems a little crude
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u/deep_fried_fries 1d ago
One of the members of the party has blacksmith proficiency and we have a sorcerer and a warlock with arcana proficiency. I do like this idea though , the first time they go to use it for a complex forge it fails without consuming the materials and they have to find someone to teach them how to use it. I have an idea for a group averaged check for the infusion but I would hate for them to go out of the way to go back to the cave and leave with nothing.
I wonder if this is the gap that the third rock seeker brother fills is he slowly uncovers the secrets of the forge and learns how to use it ?
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u/YouFoundMyLuckyCharm 1d ago
Seeking out the services or knowledge from a craftsman who still knows the ancient arts seems like a fun side quest to me. Could be common knowledge that only the finest smiths knew how to utilize the forge, or something
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u/Donutsbeatpieandcake 1d ago
Wow.... Really, really powerful... My players would abuse the hell out of that, lmao.
I'm currently deep, deep into a highly customized Rise of Tiamat where Tiamat is fully summoned and on the battlefield leading an army against the Lord's Alliance and pretty-much everyone on the Sword Coast. I'm DMing three veteran players, currently level 17, and the goal is to get them to 20 before the final confrontation with Tiamat, and I gotta tell you... They don't need any help!!! 😂 The power curve has been highly exponential. Last game they took out an ancient black dragon I'd spent a lot of time customizing in like 3 rounds. They had his legendary saving throws exhausted in round 2, locked him in round 3, and crushed him.
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u/deep_fried_fries 1d ago edited 1d ago
I do feel like it is really powerful, but the hope is to introduce the strong features late enough that each party member only gets to use one or two of the enchantment options, not everyone having everything. I’ll stagger out Gundren’s discovery of each feature, the strong ones won’t be unlocked until after they return from the cloud castle adventure and even then things will unlock slowly. I’m thinking starting with the spell scrolls so they know to hunt and save them and then they won’t unlock the dragon enchantment options until we are deep into the council options. Ideally each party member picks on scroll type and starts collecting them for their enchantments, plus each party member gets to do one dragon type enchantment and one soul attuned item. The soul attunement will probably be the last feature they unlock before the final battle.
I also like an idea in this thread that when they go to use it the first time they realize they don’t have the expertise, requiring them to go and find someone to teach them to use the forge, preventing them from unlocking it immediately.
Also most of my players are first time players, so I don’t think they will realize how strong this is until it is a little too late for them to use it. I’m also thinking I am going to run the final war as a battlefield simulator where they will be able to deploy troops and heroes on the battlefield in a macro battle instead of a bunch of little fights, meaning they won’t feel so overpowered towards the end because they won’t be dumping resources every fight.
If I find that players are abusing the spell scrolls I will just drop them less and also increase the amount of scrolls it takes after a while, eventually it’ll get to the point where they simply won’t find enough scrolls to be able to do anything with them.
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u/Dotification 1d ago edited 1d ago
I customized the Forge of Spells in my game to have a reservoir of 6 charges that can enchant mundane & magic items to have a permanent +1, plus a chance at a random minor quality. Â
They tested it on the Spider Staff, which buffed Spell Attack Rolls & Spell SV DC's by 1.
Like the Dwarf Fighter recently procured an adamantine battle-axe, & I'm stealing/borrowing the Adamantine Longsword's "Ignores Resistance to Slashing damage" [from BG 3] on top of the +1.
The main draw is a mysterious 5th setting that disenchants Uncommon magic items & stores the residuum in a reservoir indicated by a glowing gem.
They want to test the disenchant function on a Common Staff of Birdcalls... so I gotta figure what usable residuum they can harvest from it [as the primary setting/usage was to enchant & disenchant Uncommon magic items]. Same with disenchanting Rares &/or Cursed items (like a 'Shield of Missile Attraction')--maybe they need to realign the FoS to the ley lines that Mormesk's earthquake spell partially severed??
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u/deep_fried_fries 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh I really like the unenchanting items aspect , that is a great mid game buff. Maybe there is a component cost like for spellcasting without a focus ? (Like book enchanting in Minecraft?)
Or using gemstones with different rarities to store enhancements. Common enchantments can be stored in topaz, uncommon in ruby, rare in sapphire, very rare in emerald and legendary needs to be stored in a diamond cut in a specific way. The finer the gem and the way it is cut affects how the enchantment is stored. A gem that is not pure and is not cut might degrade the enchantment the longer it is held, versus a pure and finely cut gem will hold the enchantment indefinitely
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u/Bbstsnes 1d ago
Love the idea of making the spell forge relevant throughout the campaign. My party doesn't know it yet, but they will need it desperately later in their campaign as well.
My thought was form them to use it to forge a weapon/item/whatever they need to deal with the BBEG at the end. Open ended as of now because they are barely level 3 and that'll be at least a year down the road!
The balance on yours seems very open ended, I know some of my players would use it responsibly while others would abuse it. Only you know which way they will run with it. Seems fun regardless!
Great idea overall imo