This document describes various additional rules for the Spell Smith enchantment system that have evolved over years of play.
Spell Smiths and Enchanters often make permanently enchanted sets of tools, anvil and forge, requiring three enchantments. This gives -10% construction time per additional plus they have over the final plus of the item being made, with appropriate training (20 weeks).
Spell Smiths and Enchanters can attempt enchantments for which they lack sufficient levels, with some chance of success. The rules for this are the same as Technologists. Briefly: the chance of 'pushing' by one level is 3% * (INT + (DEX/2)), halved for each additional level. So, a 13th level Spell Smith with INT 17 and DEX 16 would have a 3% * (17+8), or 75% chance of success when attempting an enchantment that requires 14th level, or a quarter of that when attempting something that required 16th level. The number of enchantments that can be in progress simultaneously is halved while a level push is being attempted, and the enchantments that require the push are at double cost. For INT and DEX over 18, each +1 over 18 counts as +5, for purposes of level pushing only.
Elves and Dwarves with Singing proficiency can use it during the enchantment process to reduce construction time or cost by 10%, or boost their chance of success by 10%.
In a campaign that uses the Forge of Power rules (D&D Rules Cyclopedia, page 146), a dwarven spellsmith of 16th level or more, or a dwarven enchanter of 18th level or more, can use a Forge and can create Dwarven Lenses, Oil of Darkness, Rockships, etc. A Forge can be used as if it were a set of +5 tools, anvil and forge; it can only be constructed by the appropriate Immortal.
Dwarven fighters with Enchantment skill, and Dwarven Spell Smiths who haven't chosen to become spell casters, preferring their racial saving throw bonuses against magic, have some significant limitations. For simplicity, these will apply to others who can perform enchantments without being able to cast spells.
They cannot perform Instant Temporary enchantments.
They cannot make or use spell scrolls. They can make potions, and they can make simple one-shot items of spells they know, using Prepared Temporary or One Use enchantments, as appropriate. These generally have no range, and are limited to simple controls at activation time. For example, such an item for Wall of Stone could be made from a small stone tablet, inscribed with various runes, and so on. To be used, it would have to be placed somewhere on the path of the wall and the runes spoken or traced. It would be limited to simple geometric forms, unless a more complex form had been chosen when the tablet was enchanted. In the same way, an item of Dispel Magic would cast an area effect dispel adjacent to the item, which couldn't be targeted on a specific effect or item. An item of Conjure Elemental would conjure a specific type, chosen at enchantment, and the elemental would only be under the item user‘s control if they were also the enchanter of the item.
Non-spell-casting enchanters can make and use protection scrolls, if they know appropriate spells.
Non-spell-casting enchanters can research new enchantments, but it takes them much longer, since they must make test enchantments, at least on a very small scale, rather than casting spells. They take four times as long to do research, and if costs depend on the time taken, they are also quadrupled.
Enchantment work does yield experience points. The usual rate is 10 exp/level/week, plus a quarter of the cost of the enchantment work successfully carried out.
Learning spells is easier if they aren't at your maximum level of spell. The bonus is 5% per 'spare' spell level, to a maximum of 95%, then 97%, 98%, and the absolute maximum of 99%.
Spells that weren't learned successfully can be re-tried when a new level of spells is gained, with the bonus described above.
'Planar' items that don't lose plusses when taken away from the Prime Material Plane can be built, at great cost. For items created on the Prime Material, double time and cost for items that also work unaltered on the Ethereal. Triple it for items that also work on the Ethereal and Inner Planes; quadruple it for items that also work on the Astral, Inner and Ethereal, and quintuple it for items that work on the Outer, Astral, Inner and Ethereal Planes.
The ability to build several items at once for daggers, arrows, etc, is not simply because of their low mass; it‘s a combination of smallness, the 'throwaway' quality of missiles, and the way TSR treasure tables provide missiles in multiples. Multiples should not be extrapolated for other small items that aren't missile weapons.
Name-level dwarves with +3 or better tools can work dureum, taking double time and secret rituals. Plate armours can be inlaid with dureum, giving +2 AC at double weight; this doesn't work effectively for shields since the increase in inertia overcomes the improvement in AC, but a very thin layer of dureum makes the shield effectively unbreakable, and more effective for shield-bashing. Dureum-inlaid items can be used to attack out-of-phase opponents, and those requiring +3 weapons to hit. At least Hill Giant strength is usually enchanted into dureum-inlaid items, so that they can be used without great difficulty.
Large items such as magical balistas, giant-size armour and so forth can be made. This increases the time and cost for enchantments such as Enchant (+n), Lighten (n), Protect (metal), Protection/Rust and other magics that affect the material substance of the whole object being enchanted. The increase is proportional to the increase in volume of the material. For example, a 12-foot giant has about 8 times the volume of an 6-foot man, but his armour is not proportionally thicker: multiply material requirements and the time and cost of enchantment work by (size ratio) to the power of 2.5. Making items more than twice, or less than half, the usual sizes require an appropriately sized set of anvil, forge and tools. These can be built using equipment of the size above, or the size below.
The self-charging progression table for very high level constructors is:
Recharge Level of Enchanter Rate 20-21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28-29 30-31 32-33 34-35 36-37 33 yrs 9 - - - - - - - - 9 yrs 8 9,8 9 9 - - - - - 1 year 7 7 8 8 9,8 9 9 - - Month 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 9,8 9 Week 5,4 5 6,5 6 6 7 7 7 8 Day 3 4,3 4 5,4 5 6,5 6 6 7 Hour 2,1 2,1 3,2,1 3,2,1 4-1 4-1 5-1 5-1 6-1
'Cold iron' is considered to be wrought or cast iron, but not steel. The exact reasons why primitive materials affect some creatures that steel won't bite on aren't clear, but may have something to do with the greater effort and commitment required to make usable weapons out of them.
In some cases 'cold iron' is supposed to be cold-worked meteoric metal, which may well be nickel-iron, maybe with other impurities. Cold-working may avoid loosing special properties that are aquired by the metal having fallen from the sky, in addition to it being 'sky metal'.
(c) John Dallman/Rory O. McLean, 1980 - Jun. 2004
Permission granted to use for non-profit making purposes