Forging
[Click to view original Forging Guide (introductory material)][Click to view full article]
Introduction
The Forging System enables a character to craft weapon parts from raw materials and then assemble the parts into combat-ready weapons. Every weapon is constructed of two parts, a head or blade part and a handle, hilt or haft part. Forging hammers, which are not functional weapons but which have to be constructed in order for a character to work metals in the forges, also adhere to this two part design.
The Forging Skill is actually comprised of six separate skills.
Crafting Basic Weapon Creation OHE-forging Creating One-Handed Edged Weapons OHB-forging Creating One Handed Blunt Weapons 2H-forging Creating Two-Handed Weapons Polearm-forging Creating Polearm Weapons Brawling-forging Creating Brawling Weapons
Crafting skill determines how well a character can fashion weapon parts by shaping them on the grinder and also impacts the quality of each completed item which is assembled using the vise. The weapon forging skills determine how well a character shapes a weapon part at the forge.
Successful production of parts and assembly of parts into complete items is dependent upon a character's development of one or more of these skills within the Forging System. Characters may only master two skills from among all Artisan Skills which are available. However, mastery of three forging system skills (Crafting, and two weapon forging skills) will count as one skill within the Artisan Skill system. This is because, in order to "master forging", a character must first develop their Crafting skill and then also develop one or two of the five weapon-group-specific forging skills. Because the production of some weapons, such as the bastard sword, will average two weapon-group forging skills, the Forging System allows mastery of two forging skills in addition to the Crafting skill.
There are multiple machines within forging workshops which allow a character to progress through the weapon creation process. These machines are:
Workshops
Public forging workshops will be present in every town. The number of workshops in a particular town will depend primarily on the history, culture and geography of the town.
Access to the workshops will be via a central supply shop. The verb used to gain access to a public workshop is GO WORKSHOP, at which point the clerk will charge 1,000 silver coins as a rental fee for one hour of workshop time. If characters enter a workshop in a group, only the leader is charged the rental fee. Supply shops sell bronze bars as a practice material, tempering oil and magical tempering oil, a type of wood block for hilts or hafts, and glyphs for the parts of three weapons in each weapon-skill group. Glyphs for forging-hammer heads and handles are not sold in the shops, because these glyphs are permanently affixed to the workbench in each workshop and are available free of charge. Each town's supply shop sells one pair of glyphs for a weapon that is unique to that supply shop.
The Glyphs
The first interaction a character performs within a forging workshop is with a "glyph". Glyphs exist for each part of each weapon that may be forged. Glyphs are either purchasable in the supply shops outside each set of public workshops or, in the case of forging-hammer glyphs, permanently affixed to the workbench in each workshop and are free of charge. Each glyph is designed to support the advancement of a character's forging or crafting skill through a 110 point range of the skill's 0 - 500 range.
Glyphs serve as a pattern in that the character chooses which part of which weapon they will be fashioning by selecting a specific glyph. In order to use a glyph, a character must be wearing a crafting apron (We wouldn't want to burn or dirty our clothing, would we?), and must be holding enough of the appropriate material in his or her left hand to create the weapon part. Once a player has done this, they may trigger a glyph by using the STARE <glyph> verb.
Some glyphs require higher levels of skill, and the character will not be able to use them until he or she has developed his or her skill to an appropriate level. Additionally, some weapon materials are too powerful for lower level characters to hold. (The rule is that a character may only hold an item with an enchantment value of no more than two times his or her level.)
Glyphs may be temporary or permanent. Temporary Glyphs will crumble once they have been used up.
The Grinder
The grinder is used to shape the head and handle of a forging-hammer and the handle, hilt or haft of a weapon. Successful use of the grinder is dependent upon the character's Crafting skill. The verb used to start the grinder is TURN.
Grinders are available within forging workshops, which must be rented in order to use. When a character's rental time is complete, the grinder will stop working.
To use the grinder a character must be in good enough health to operate it, must be wearing a crafting apron, and must be holding the raw weapon material which has been scribed by the glyph material in his or her left hand.
A character's level of success at the grinder is dependent on their health, crafting skill, Strength, Dexterity and Discipline bonuses, the material difficulty, their profession and race, and a random element.
Successfully using the grinder on a material will result in a rough weapon part, however, if a failure occurs, the material will need to be scribed again before the grinder may be used. Extraordinary failures will destroy the material altogether.
If more material was used than necessary, the remaining material will be left in the character's right hand.
There are four possible outcomes in turning the grinder:
| Result | Notes | Messaging |
|---|---|---|
| Major failure | The entire material is destroyed. | You are left with a toothpick. |
| Minor failure | Try again. The weight of the material is reduced slightly, which means you may need more material. | Things seem to be going okay, but this is more difficult than you expected. After grinding for what seems like an eternity you realize that the scribed pattern has been chewed away, but the remaining <material> doesn't look like anything yet. |
| Success | A functional, crafted handle has been created | You finish your work and stand up, turning the <hilt> in your hands. You nod, satisfied with the piece you've created. |
| Major success | The hilt can be used to attempt to create a perfect weapon | You finish your work and stand up, turning the <hilt> in your hands. You smile as you realize that this piece is the very best that you can create. |
The Polisher
Upon completion of the grinding portion of the forging process, one must polish the finished piece by LEANing on the polisher.
The Forge
The forge is used to shape the head or blade of a weapon. Successful use of the forge is dependent upon one of the character's weapon-group forging skills. In order to activate the forge a character needs to hold a scribed raw material in their left hand and a forging-hammer in their right hand and then GET TONGS. When a forge is not being used, a pair of mithril tongs should be visible on the anvil in each forging chamber.
Forges are available within forging workshops, which must be rented in order to use. When a character's rental time is expired, the tongs will not be usable.
Before forging, you must fill the tempering trough with a liquid appropriate for quenching the material that is being worked in the forge. To use the forge a character must be in good enough health to operate it, must be wearing a crafting apron, must be holding the raw weapon material - which has been scribed - in his or her left hand, and must be holding a forging hammer in his or her right hand.
The more magical a material is used, the longer it will take to forge it. Magical materials are also more difficult to forge, and may require more skill on the part of the character.
Forging a weapon head usually requires multiple sessions. Once the weapon head is finished, a character's level of success is dependent on their health, forging skill, Strength, Constitution and Discipline bonuses, the material difficulty, the amount of material forged, their profession and race, and a random element.
Having significantly more skill in forging another type of weapon can prove helpful when forging any type of weapon up to a certain point of skill. So those characters who have a great deal of skill in forging brawling weapons, for instance, will have an easier time forging edged weapons, than someone with no skill in forging weapons at all.
Successfully using the forge on a material will result in a rough weapon part, however, if a failure occurs, the material will need to be scribed again before the forge may be used again. Extraordinary failures will destroy the material altogether. If there is no liquid in the tempering trough when the forging session reaches its conclusion, the session will be aborted and the material will need to be worked again.
There are five possible outcomes in getting the tongs:
| Result | Notes | Messaging |
|---|---|---|
| Continue working | It takes longer to create larger pieces. | You finish this round of work on your {material} slab and set the tongs on the anvil, realizing that there's more work to be done before the >material< slab will resemble its intended form.
|
| Major failure | You are left with nothing. | |
| Minor failure | Try again | |
| Success | A regular head or blade is created | You finish your work and straighten up. Turning the {material} {item}-blade you nod, satisfied with your work.
|
| Major success | The head or blade can be used to attempt to create a perfect weapon | You pause and lift the still glowing {material} {item}-blade from the anvil. A moment of close inspection is all you need to tell that you have done your best work this time. You smile as you plunge the hot {item}-blade into the tempering trough.
|
The Polisher
Both the head and the handle of a weapon must be polished before the weapon can be assembled. In order to operate the polisher, a character must hold the weapon part in their left hand and LEAN POLISHER.The Vise
The vise is used to assemble two parts of a weapon or forging-hammer into a completed and functional item. Successful use of the vise is dependent upon the character's Crafting skill. The verb used to start the vise is TURN.
Vises are available within forging workshops, which must be rented in order to use. When a character's rental time is expired, the vise will stop working.
To use the vise a character must be in good enough health to operate it, must be wearing a crafting apron, and must be holding a weapon handle in one hand and a weapon head in the other. The handle and head must be finished by the polisher and must be compatible.
A character's level of success at the vise is dependent on their health, crafting skill, Dexterity and Discipline bonuses, their profession, and a random element. Successfully using the vise will result in a completed weapon, however, if a failure occurs, the parts will need to be assembled again. Extraordinary failures will create an weapon of lower quality, and an extraordinary success will result in a weapon of higher quality.
There are four outcomes to turning the vise:
| Result | Notes | Messaging |
|---|---|---|
| Major failure | The pieces are combined, but at a severely reduced quality. | |
| Minor failure | Try again | |
| Success | The pieces are combined. The weapon will not be perfect, but if the two pieces going into the vise are "best" pieces, the resulting weapon will be a superior weapon. | You finish your work and step back, turning the {material} {item} in your hands. You nod, satisfied with the piece you've created.
|
| Major Success | The pieces are combined at increased quality. If the two pieces were "best" pieces, the resulting weapon will be a perfect weapon, provided that you are a master of crafting. If the two pieces are not "best" pieces, then the resulting weapon will be a superior weapon. | You finish your work and step back, turning the {weapon} in your hands. You smile as you realize that this piece is probably the best that you can create.
|
After this step, the head or blade is complete. The weapon will be a <quality> <material>-handled <material> <weapon>.
The description can be shortened LEAN POLISHER WITH CLEAN, which will make it "a <material> <weapon>". The quality adjective may be changed via LEAN POLISHER WITH <adjective> to another adjective of the same or lesser tier as per this quality by tier ranking (the default adjective is often based on the race of the crafter). LEAN POLISHER WITH <adjective> may also be used to add the quality of the weapon back into the description if it was removed with the CLEAN modifier. There is no way to add the hilt/handle/etc back into the description once it has been removed and altering either the quality adjective or cleaning the weapon will remove the hilt/handle/etc.
| Quality By Tier |
|---|
| Perfect |
| Superior / Hefty / Nifty / Well-crafted / Exquisite |
| Elegant / Well-made |
| Fine |
| Nice |
| Plain |
| Simple |
| Crude |
| Lop-sided / Flimsy |
While it is possible to dye the pieces at this step, it can cause serious bugs. It is best to leave them as-is.
The Slab Cutter
The slab cutter in the crafting room is used to divide the material into several pieces. Since a successful forging attempt uses the entirety of a piece of material, this cuts down on waste. To do so, PULL slab-cutter, after PUSHing to adjust the cut size, or POKEing to reset it to cut the material in half. To find out how much material to use, MEASURE the glyph.
The Forging Hammer
A forging hammer must be used during the forging process (GET TONGS). Pieces made with a perfect forging hammer have an 8% chance to combine to make a perfect weapon.
When using a forging hammer created by the original forger, it is pre-attuned to the forger. Forging hammers made by someone else must be attuned to the character in order make a perfect piece. When using a forging hammer crafted by another forger, the following message will indicate when the hammer is attuned to the forger.
You feel as if you've become accustomed to the balance and heft of this forging-hammer.
Modifiers to Forging
Statistic Modifiers
As described above, the following statistics affect the three stages of forging:
| Crafting | STR, DEX, DIS |
|---|---|
| Forging | STR, CON, DIS |
| Vise | DEX, DIS |
Racial Modifiers
A character's race and profession modify their roll when making an item. Characters that come from a race with a tradition of forging or crafting might have a bonus to those skills, possibly innate, or possibly from growing up in a culture where they would have grown up learning about forging.
| Race | Crafting | Forging |
|---|---|---|
| Aelotoi | +0 | +0 |
| Burghal Gnome | +40 | +5 |
| Dark Elf | +30 | +2 |
| Dwarf | +50 | +7 |
| Elf | +30 | +2 |
| Erithian | +0 | +0 |
| Forest Gnome | +0 | +0 |
| Giantman | +0 | +0 |
| Half-Elf | +0 | +0 |
| Half-Krolvin | +0 | +0 |
| Halfling | +0 | +0 |
| Human | +0 | +0 |
| Sylvankind | -20 | -3 |
Profession Modifiers
Since training as an adventurer does not generally involve practice at the forge, most professions suffer a penalty to working on the grinder and receive no bonus to forging. Those with exceptionally nimble hands avoid the grinder penalty, while those with thickly-calloused hands and a tradition of hard labor suffer less of a grinder penalty and a slight bonus to forging.
| Profession | Crafting (Grinder) | Forging Handicap | Assembling (Vise)† |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bard | +20 | +20 | +3 |
| Cleric | +20 | +30 | +5 |
| Empath | +20 | +30 | +4 |
| Monk | +0 | +25 | +1 |
| Paladin | +10 | -5 | +0 |
| Ranger | +0 | +20 | +2 |
| Rogue | +0 | +10 | +1 |
| Sorcerer | +40 | +50 | +6 |
| Warrior | +5 | -5 | +0 |
| Wizard | +40 | +50 | +6 |
- † Profession matters much less when assembling parts
- A negative handicap is a bonus
Maximum Professional Handicaps
- Crafting: -40
- Forging: -50
- Assembling: -6
Success Determination Calculation
The chance to successfully forge an item is determined by:
| 1-500 | [appropriate forging skill (OHE, BR, etc.)] |
|---|---|
| - | [wound/HP-loss penalty] |
| + | [Forging stat bonuses averaged] (Effective Con bonus, Effective Dis bonus, Effective Str bonus) |
| {Comparatively, Grinder stat bonuses are (Effective Dex bonus, Effective Dis bonus, Effective Str bonus)} | |
| - | [material's magical-plus penalty (higher plus = higher penalty)] |
| - | [material's size penalty (each "pound" of material being worked is a -1 penalty)] |
| (working larger masses of material at the forge is inherently more difficult) | |
| + | [forging hammer's quality modifier] |
| - | [profession handicap] |
| + | [Racial bonus] |
| -------------------------- | |
| {Chance of success} | |
- 1-500 RNG
- If RNG < {Chance of success} then SUCCESS.
Weapon Quality Determination
Once a forging attempt has been determined to be a success, an additional 1-100 RNG determines if it was actually an Extraordinary Success (ES) (a "best work" item, necessary in order to achieve a perfect weapon).
The forge's script/code suggests that a 5% chance of an ES was intended, with the hammer's ownership/quality providing a bonus, but the code evaluates to the two If statements below:
- If the forging-hammer does not belong to the weaponsmith, the % chance of an ES is 0.
- If the forging-hammer DOES belong to the weaponsmith, the % chance of an ES = the hammer's quality modifier.
Once a grinding attempt has been determined to be a success, an additional 1-100 RNG determines if it was actually an ES. The grinder's chance of an ES is a flat 5% chance. No modifiers of any sort.
At the vise, the chance of an ES and a quality increase is determined by a 1-100 RNG vs. (the applicable Forging skill/50), and so the max possible is a 10% chance. A weaponsmith with an OHE forging skill of 400 would have an 8% chance of an ES when assembling an OHE weapon.
Gift of Eonak
Gift of Eonak will provide a second roll for the Grinder and Forging steps for determining whether the piece is successfully made, and the better of the two at each step will be kept. It does not provide this benefit to the chance of an Extraordinary Success on these steps.
When combining pieces on the Vise, the second roll is made for whether or not it was an Extraordinary Success, with the higher of the two rolls being kept.
Summary
To completely create a weapon, the following success/failure rolls are involved:
1. Grinding the hilt or handle:
- Item-creation success roll (Gift of Eonak provides a second success roll, the best of the two is kept.)
- if successful, an Extraordinary Success roll is made.
- max ES chance is 5%
- if successful, an Extraordinary Success roll is made.
2. Forging the head or blade:
- Item-creation success roll (Gift of Eonak provides a second success roll, the best of the two is kept.)
- if successful, an Extraordinary Success roll is made.
- max ES chance is 5%, but Perfect forging hammer can raise the chance to 8%.
- if successful, an Extraordinary Success roll is made.
3. Vise assembly of hilt and blade:
- Item-creation success roll (Gift of Eonak provides a second success roll, the best of the two is kept.)
- if successful, an Extraordinary Success roll is made.
- max ES chance is 10% (Gift of Eonak provides a second success roll, the best of the two is kept.)
- if successful, an Extraordinary Success roll is made.
Advancing Skills
Learning to forge involves actually doing it. For each of the six skills, there are 500 ranks. The number of ranks one has can be seen using the ARTISAN verb.
Increasing Skill
For each sub-category of forging the chance of gaining a skill rank upon completion is approximately equal to the following:
| Probability = [500 - RANKS + (Logic Bonus / 3)]/500 |
"LOG Bonus" in this context was changed for all systems to (LOGIC BONUS / 3) by GM Naijin in December of 2020.
Given these probabilities with a 0 logic bonus, the average number of forging attempts required to gain 500 ranks is 3,397, wherein the halfway point in expected attempts is found at rank 483 out of 500. This is typically the figure quoted when players ask about forging time requirements. Alternatively, having a logic bonus of 30 reduces the expected number of attempts by 58% to 1,429. The halfway point with a logic bonus of 30 is found at 403 ranks, and the original 483-rank threshold represents being approximately 85% of the way to mastery (on average).
Materials Available
There are various types of wood available in different locations. For the most part, the metals are universally available.
Woods
| Wood | Town |
|---|---|
| Haon | Ta'Illistim |
| Hickory | Solhaven |
| Ko'nag | Troubled Waters prize |
| Maoral | Wehnimer's Landing |
| Maple | Icemule Trace |
| Modwir | Kharam Dzu |
| Monir | Ta'Vaalor |
| Oak | Zul Logoth |
| Walnut | River's Rest |
Non-magical metals
| Metal Type | Towns Sold | Percent chance in EG 2015 Slab Generator |
Seconds per Forging Cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | all | n/a | 60 |
| Iron | none, forge in Kobold Mines |
37.5%1, 3 | 604 |
| Steel | all | 37.5%1, 3 | 60 |
| Invar | Zul Logoth | 7.8%1 | 804 |
Common magical metals
These metals are sold in every forging shop, and are rather common in slab generators.
| Metal Type | Percent chance in EG 2015 Slab Generator |
Seconds per Forging Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Mithril | 10.3%1 | 80 |
| Ora | 2.6%1 | 100 |
| Imflass | 12.1%1 | 120 |
| Vultite | 2.1%1 | 180 |
Uncommon metals
These were sold off the shelf at certain events, and show up somewhat regularly in the slab generator.
| Metal Type | Percent chance in EG 2015 Slab Generator |
Seconds per Forging Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Drakar | 3.7%1 | 80 |
| Gornar | 2.8%1 | 80 |
| Mithglin | off the shelf only | 1404 |
| Rhimar | 3.5%1 | 80 |
| Zorchar | 3.7%1 | 80 |
Rare metals
These have only been available through auctions or raffles.
| Metal Type | Percent chance in EG 2015 Slab Generator |
Seconds per Forging Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Eahnor | 0.063%2 | 120 |
| Eonake | 0.209%2 | 200 |
| Faenor | 4.0%1 | 80 |
| Golvern | 0.063%2 | 140 |
| Kelyn | 1.610%2 | 1404 |
| Razern | 2.5%1 | 100 |
| Rolaren | 0.230%2 | 180 |
| Vaalorn | 1.9%1 | 1604 |
| Veil iron | auction/raffle only | 200 |
| White ora | 1.212%2 | 100 |
| Black ora | auction/raffle only | 100 |
- Notes:
- Percentages come from two different sources, using the bigger sample when possible. Thus, percentages will not add to 100%.
- 1Uncommon metals taken from Frorin's sample of about 680 slabs.
- 2Rare metals taken from Liia's release of slab generator data, totaling 4784 slabs between Prime and Platinum.
- 3Frorin did not break out iron and steel results; they combined to around 37.5%
- 4Has not yet been confirmed with in-world testing
Tempering Oils
In order to complete a head or blade, you must have the proper oil in the trough. You empty the trough by pulling the cork and then POURing the oil into the trough. Below is a table which, while not comprehensive, hopefully offers pertinent examples and tricks, sufficient for most needs.
| Oil | Enchantment | Pertains to (examples) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| water | less than 0x | bronze, iron | free |
| tempering oil | 0x | steel, invar† | ~ 10 silver |
| enchanted tempering oil | 1x to 2x (up to +10) | mithril, kelyn, faenor, (white) ora | ~ 2,000 silvers |
| twice-enchanted oil | 3x to 4x (+11 to +19) | razern‡, imflass, mithglin, vaalorn, eahnor | ~ 10,000 silvers |
| ensorcelled oil | 4x and above | vultite, eonake, rolaren, golvern, veil iron | ~ 20,000 silvers |
- Notes:
- †Invar is naturally +2 but is neither enchanted nor nor magical.
- ‡Razern in principle seems to fall into the previous category, but requires twice-enchanted oil, likely owing to its natural critical weighting.
Weapon Glyphs Available
The following is a list of weapon glyphs available at the various forging workshop locations.
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Usefulness of Forging
Forged weapon AvDs are increased over those of normal weapons at a flat rate; therefore, it is similar to increasing the enchant slightly. Below is a listing of the quality ranks, their bonuses, and which race will provide the given adjective by default (where applicable). Forged weapons may be blessed, enchanted, ensorcelled, and otherwise improved through various profession, merchant, and Premium Point services.
| Quality | STR/DU Breakage Bonus |
Damage Factor Bonus |
AvD Bonus |
Assembly Race |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect | +2/+2 | 6% | +3 | Any |
| Superior | +1/+1 | 4% | +2 | Not Giantman, Halfling, Dark-Elf, or Dwarf |
| Hefty | +1/+1 | 4% | +2 | Giantman |
| Nifty | +1/+1 | 4% | +2 | Halfling |
| Exquisite | +1/+1 | 4% | +2 | Dark-Elf |
| Well-crafted | +1/+1 | 4% | +2 | Dwarf |
| Elegant | +0/+0 | 2% | +1 | Not Giantman |
| Well-made | +0/+0 | 2% | +1 | Giantman |
| Fine | +0/+0 | +0 | +0 | Any |
| Nice | +0/+0 | +0 | +0 | Any |
| Plain | +0/+0 | +0 | +0 | Any |
| Simple | +0/+0 | -2% | -1 | Any |
| Crude | -5/-5 | -4% | -2 | Any |
| Flimsy | -10/-10 | -6% | -3 | Not Halfling |
| Lop-sided | -10/-10 | -6% | -3 | Halfling |
How to Make a Hammer
Crafting a forging hammer is critical when moving from crafting to forging. A forging hammer can be made by anyone, however many forgers prefer to make one of their own. A magic metal forging hammer is needed to forge weapons from magic metals. There are two parts of a forging hammer that must be crafted individually before they are combined into the finished forging hammer.
- 1. You need to create a hammer-head using the head-glyph in the workshop.
- 2. You need to create a hammer-handle using the handle-glyph in the workshop
Steps
Prepare your metal slab for crafting the forging hammer head:
- 1. Buy a slab, you will need a magical material to forge magical material weapons. (Mithril +)
- 2. Enter Workshop
- 3. >measure head-glyph - This provides you with the size of the material you will need in pounds.
- 4. >poke slab-cutter - Poke will show you the current weights of the two halves your slab will be cut into.
- 5. >push slab-cutter - This will allow you to change the weight of the slab pieces you're about to cut, the cut slab weight to match the measured weight in the step above.
- 6. >pull slab-cutter - This cuts the slab.
- 7. Repeat these steps until you're left with a scrap piece that is less weight than your measured glyph, which will most likely be trashed.
Craft your forging hammer head:
- 1. Enter Workshop
- 2. Get your cut slab that matches your measurement.
- 3. >stare head-glyph
- 4. >turn grinder - This will complete this portion of making a HEAD piece.
- Messaging for a Superior/Perfect quality weapon: You smile as you realize that this piece is the very best that you can create.