Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Valentinus 05-30-07, 11:19 AM	Drowcraft Items New Feats Craft Drowcraft Weapons and Armor (general) Prerequisites : drow, spellcaster, craft (armorer) 5 ranks and craft (weaponsmith) 5 ranks. Benefits : The character may craft drowcraft weapons and armor. Such items are not magical, and there is no experience loss. The cost to craft a drowcraft weapon is its maximum bonus (see below) squared, times 300gp (weapons) or 150gp (armor), and takes one day for each 1000gp worth. The craftsman may craft weapons or armors with maximal bonuses up to one third of his relevant skill rank. For example, a drow weaponsmith with 7 ranks in the craft (weaponsmith) skill may craft a drowcraft weapon with a maximal bonus of +2. All of the above does not include the price of the weapon (and the time needed to craft it) itself. The weapon must be crafted first using the normal craft rules for masterwork items. Special : Note that drowcraft weapons and armor are not enhanced automatically, and must be left in a cavern suffused with faezress to gain the enhancement bonuses. Unlike magical items, a drow craftsman actually creates the item himself. It cannot be bought and then enhanced, it must be crafted using the crafting rules from the PHB, and then the drowcraft component is added. In-game, this all happens as one, lengthy ordeal, but the process is separated for ease of time and cost calculations. Drowcraft Weapons and Armor These items are a major source of power and pride for the drow. They are crafted by both skill and magic, from steel bonded with adamantite. Their design is always very complex and beautiful, but though it may look ceremonial, it is not. These items are crafted to snare faezress within their many designs and symbols, making them more powerful. Drowcraft weapons and armor must be left in a faezress-rich cavern after completion, to gain the almost magical powers granted by the little understood radiation. The time it takes for the item to gain power is its bonus squared(or two times [ the bonus squared ] in the case of weapons) times three days. For example, a drow weaponsmith crafts a magnificent +3 drowcraft rapier. After the rapier is complete (first, crafting a masterwork rapier, then adding the drowcraft component – although in-game it’s all done together), the weaponsmith leaves it in a cavern saturated with the mystical radiation. After six days it becomes a +1 weapon. After a total of 24 days, or 18 additional days, it becomes a +2 weapon. After a total of 54 days, or 30 additional days, it reaches its maximum bonus of +3. A drowcraft item may be taken out of its cavern before the process is complete, and it may be continued later. However, a drowcraft item cannot be enhanced beyond it’s maximum bonus by absorbing radiation. A drowcraft item can be enchanted normally. Enhancment bonuses from the drowcraft qualities and magical enchantment do not stack. A drowcraft weapon may spend a maximum of 21 days away from a source of faezress without harm. After 21 days, the item’s drowcraft enhancement bonus is reduced by 1 each day. When the item loses all enhancement bonuses, it becomes a mundane masterwork item, losing all drowcraft qualities (enhancement bonuses and special armor qualities). The item may be returned to a source of radiation and enhanced again, in the normal manner. True, non magical sunlight is the bane of all drowcraft items. The light of the sun reacts aggressively to the magical radiations of the underdark, and causes the item to deteriorate rapidly, with no known way to halt the process. Every hour after contact with sunlight (even a momentary exposure suffices), the item loses 1 point from its drowcraft enhancement bonus. After all the bonuses are lost, the item disintegrates, becoming a pile of non magical, black dust. A drowcraft item that has been enchanted magically retains its magical enhancement bonuses and abilities in any case, but loses all drowcraft qualities when its drowcraft enhancement bonus disappears. It does not disintegrate after contact with sunlight. Drowcraft armor is treated as mithril armor, as long as it still has any drowcraft enhancement bonuses. Drowcraft weapons and armor are the pride and joy of the drow who carry them. Most are either select servants of noble drow houses, nobles themselves, bodyguards, or patrols around the drow settlement. They are almost never brought close to the surface, for fear of contact with the sun. When most of the drow in an encounter hold drowcraft items that have enhancement bonuses higher than their level would otherwise suggest, that encounter’s difficulty is raised by 1. Please tell me what you think. I wrote this because the drow's wimpy gear annoyed me, and I was slightly dissapointed after reading the underdark book.
Dielzen 05-31-07, 02:40 PM	A +1 sword costs 1k gp to make, plus the base weapon cost A +1 Drowcraft costs 300g more and, if I go on an extended foray into the surface world, could become useless in 2 days? Given the 3e ruleset, spending more money to create an item that could become useless to *me* seems bad, especially since I get zero benefit for a +1 Drowcraft weapon. Sure, the Drowcraft armor getting treated as Mithril is handy, as I could save a ton of money over paying for the actual mithril material, but I wouldn't wear it on a surface raid in case it should become useless. Also, in FR, the book series with Liriel Baerne gives the reason why Drow items/SLA no longer fade in the Light Above.
TomCosta 06-01-07, 12:41 PM	I don't mean to pile on, but why make it another item creation feat. Ugh, don't we have enough already. If you want to make it special, I would just make it so you need a few more requirements to make drowcraft weapons, like being a drow or having ranks in Knowledge (arcana) for knowledge of faezress or being in faezress when you craft it.
Zanan 07-02-07, 10:39 AM	I don't mean to pile on, but why make it another item creation feat. Ugh, don't we have enough already. If you want to make it special, I would just make it so you need a few more requirements to make drowcraft weapons, like being a drow or having ranks in Knowledge (arcana) for knowledge of faezress or being in faezress when you craft it. Speaking of requirements, one wonders how disintegrate slipped into the requirements of drowcraft items, when this is more like a semi-natural effect during the creation ... and has no relevance to the price anyway?
Zireael 07-07-07, 04:55 AM	I think it's just stupid winding up the reqs.
MarkusTay63 07-10-07, 03:56 PM	I would go with both Tom's and Zanan's input, and add the following - It is the presence of sunlight that 'burns out' Drowcraft items (the sun having become anethema to the dark Elves with the descent curse). Therefore, A Drowcraft item must be placed in a specially prepared box and sealed for at least eight hours a day to avoid the detrimental effects sunlight has on it (in game terms, that day does not count against the 21 for determining effects). In edition, the use of a Globe of Darkness (Drow Darkness) surrounding the object for one full hour will also alleviate the effects of sunlight for that day. Note: Not any 'Darkness' spell will work, it must be cast by a Drow using his natural ability, and the Drow must be of at least 6th level in order to meet the duration requirements. So if you go with the above suggestions (from everyone), then Drowcrafted items are more useful when compared to normal magical items, and the reasons for their existance become somewhat more realistic.
sleyvas 07-10-07, 05:16 PM	A +1 sword costs 1k gp to make, plus the base weapon cost A +1 Drowcraft costs 300g more and, if I go on an extended foray into the surface world, could become useless in 2 days? reread the person's post. This +1 drowcraft weapon would only cost 300 gold. Compare this to 2300 gold for a regular +1 weapon. Correspondingly, a +5 drowcraft shortsword would be just 7,500 gold versus 50,000 gold for a normal +5 shortsword. a +1 drowcraft suit of full plate would only be 1650 gold (1500 for the masterwork armor + 150 for the fact that its drowcraft). Compare that to the 12,650 it would cost to make a +1 mithril full plate suit. Similarly, a +5 drowcraft set of full plate would be 5,250 compared to 36,650 for a normal +5 mithril full plate suit. I really like this idea. I can see where this brings back the old 1st and 2nd edition fear that folk would have of even some lower level drow fighters. Costwise, a +1 drowcraft sword and a masterwork sword are the same, but the drowcraft gives a better damage result. Minor, but enough of a bonus that I see them selling. Plus, its cheap enough that I can see upper level characters having a suit of this that they might wear around the underdark, saving their normal magically enhanced suit for surface raids. Also, it doesn't put the mages with craft magic arms and armor out of business in the underdark. You can't create the special abilities that can normally be tagged onto armor, you can only create enhancement bonuses. Taking into account mages with craft magic arms and armor again, the armor is treated as mithril until it loses its drowcraft bonus. That means its treated as masterwork. That means its enhanceable. So, let's take this a little further. A mage could take a +5 drowcraft suit of full plate armor (5,250 gold) and stick +1 enhancement bonus, plus death ward and twilight and moderate fortification on it (+36,000 gold). Total cost 41,250 gold Take some real mithril armor and put all those enhancements on it (i.e. +5 mithril full plate w/ death ward, twilight, & moderate fortification) magically and you're talking about armor that would cost 111,500 gold. You could take this even further by being able to create effectively epic armor without having to expend the money or feat to do so (for instance, tagging on a total of +10 in add-ons, while making the weapon +5 in drowcraft..... you'd save a little over 100,000 gold, which you could instead use in your secondary "surface" set of armor). I don't see many who would be willing to risk such, but since you can't be teleported out of the faerzress areas... if you don't want to be exposed to REAL sunlight, it can be hard. Granted, you have a major drawback when it comes to wearing it on the surface, but I can see the drow maybe having a simple suit of +3 mithril breastplate that they maybe keep on the side for surface raids. Or maybe they use some extreme measures to try and protect the gear from sunlight during raids (like only going up at night, placing darkness spells on themselves, with contingent darkness effects and or transportation magic).
sleyvas 07-11-07, 04:12 PM	Hmmm, I was also thinking about this on the way home. The other things that people attributed to drow in 1st and 2nd edition was their cloaks (basically like cloaks of elvenkind) and their boots (basically like boots of elvenkind). You could probably include making of these types of items in the feat, because they'd require entirely different skills. Thus, only a drow "expert" npc class is likely to have skill in all four required (weaponsmithing, armorsmithing, cobbling, and weaving). They could give a competence bonus to hide and move silently, and be a similar cost (say 15 gold per + of bonus square <so a +5 drowcraft cloak costing 375 gold to make and 750 gold to buy... as opposed to 2500 gp for a bought normal cloak of elvenkind>). The mechanics for these would be a little different, in that the bonus able to be bestowed should be up to the total of the person's relevant skill rank (i.e. you have a +10 weaving, you can make a +10 cloak). Getting a really nice cloak (+15 or +20) would be driven strongly by the fact that there would be very few crafters with the skill levels high enough to do this, so the average drow would be running around with a +5 cloak or a +10 cloak. In this way, even the drow that are in classes that would have basically no skill at hiding and moving silently could easily give themselve enough skill to function on underdark raids in the ways they've been described doing. Similar to 1st edition, if they don't fit you, they don't work. Its not gonna magically resize, because this drowcraft cloak and shoes are made for drow (in this instance, you may even want to give a percentage chance that say the boots don't fit since maybe they had to be tailored to the individual.. but that could be going too far). I'd think you could similiarly magically bestow upon these like I was describing above with craft wondrous item. Plus, they could enhance the boots to have things like striding and springing without making the cost enormous (though with the new magic rules from magic item compendium (i.e. doubling the cost of the lesser power added makes it easier to make boots of flying & elvenkind), the savings here aren't as much as they are with the weapons and armor). As a final note, the fact that these items lose their abilities when not exposed to areas of faer'zress (sp?), and the fact that the drow occupy most of the areas that produce this radiation in decent quantities, means that selling these items once a party gets them becomes harder. Sure, you might be able to sell them to some duergar... if those duergar live near an area filled with the faer'zress. Just as likely, they will try to take it from you instead. Deep gnomes are small creatures, so they can't use the items effectively. Mind flayers.... sure, go see if they'll buy them from you. Aboleths? Why the hell would they want them. Minotaurs? Why wield a medium weapon when you're large, and that cloak is too small... and shoes, get real. So that pretty much leaves you with a limited resale market, which means you would probably only get 20% of the value instead of half. Thus, drow would profit by their fellow drow being killed. Its almost poetic.
MarkusTay63 07-11-07, 04:39 PM	Ya know, you just gave me an idea for a new PrC, or maybe an NPC class - The Dark Weaver - Araushnee was originally a Weaver-goddess, and I think she held artistic creation in her portfolio (not sure). If we run with that, and take into account that spider's love to weave (;) ), then we could come up with a specific character type that makes most of the Drow items (except for metal weapons, which could possibly reguire the "Dark Smithing" skill or feat). A very specific class that creates 'fabric-type' magical items, and specifically ones from the Underdark. Since the Whips used by Priestesses are leather (and snakes), we can roll that right into this class with some levels in leatherworking.
Zanan 07-14-07, 09:51 AM	I would go with both Tom's and Zanan's input, and add the following - It is the presence of sunlight that 'burns out' Drowcraft items (the sun having become anethema to the dark Elves with the descent curse). Therefore, A Drowcraft item must be placed in a specially prepared box and sealed for at least eight hours a day to avoid the detrimental effects sunlight has on it (in game terms, that day does not count against the 21 for determining effects). In edition, the use of a Globe of Darkness (Drow Darkness) surrounding the object for one full hour will also alleviate the effects of sunlight for that day. Note: Not any 'Darkness' spell will work, it must be cast by a Drow using his natural ability, and the Drow must be of at least 6th level in order to meet the duration requirements. So if you go with the above suggestions (from everyone), then Drowcrafted items are more useful when compared to normal magical items, and the reasons for their existance become somewhat more realistic. Do note that AD&D as well as these new drowcraft items have been carefully detailed. It is not sunlight as an anathema to the dark elves that destroys them, but the fact that they are infused (at least in AD&D) with the Underdark radiations when being created and this radiation - once implanted in the item - is causing them to fall apart in sunlight. Or rather, the radiation cannot stand the sunlight. Though, one has to say, that was most often described for the "drow weapons" made of adamantite, an alloy of adamantine treated with faerzress. Though you surely knew all that.
MarkusTay63 07-14-07, 01:42 PM	I know it has to do with Faezress Radiation breaking down under sunlight (what about magical sunlight? :confused: ), but it makes it more interesting and more 'Drowish' to connect Faezres and the Dark Elves intolerance to light. One might even surmise that Faezress was accidently created during the Descent Curse, almost like a radioactive bi-product of the magic getting out of hand. Not canon, I know, but fun to think about. I also like the idea of a Drow having to place his/her sword inside a little 'coffin' everyday while on the surface. ;)
Alac Luin 07-14-07, 06:14 PM	I like to discribe it by useing the the material Adament from Volo's Guide to all things Magical "Adamant: This is the pure metal form of the hard, jet-black ferromagnetic ore known as adamantite, <snip> Adamant is one of the hardest substances known on Toril, but it is also brittle. A sword made of adamant could slice through most metals—but would snap off if struck by another blade or even a smartly wielded wooden cudgel." The process that drow use includes treating the weapons with special oils to keep them, well less brittle. These oils deteriorate from the sun's UV emanations. So, in time the oils deteriorate and the metal become brittle once again. There are oils that can be applied to keep this from happening, sort of like applying sunblock to your weapon :P