DWARVEN MAGIC ITEMS

by
SHADOWDANCER <[email protected]>
and
Nicholas Wilson

In my relatively small collection of sourcebooks and magazines I have vast amounts

of magical items; from swords and spears to keys, decks of cards and even drink
dispensing machines. If I look in the right places I can find pages and pages of
elven artifacts, tomes of power and intelligent swords, but how-ever well I have
looked, I have failed to find enough magical items for dwarves.

Dwarves generally don't have many magic items because they do not have wizards in
their societies and have an innate distrust of all things magical. They do,
however, respect priestly magic, so most of their magical items would have to be
produced either by their priests, or by trusted allies who have access to magic,
and are willing to use it to help dwarves. Psionic dwarves, who are few and far
between, might occasionally make psionic items, but they are very rare and are not
included here.

An important exception to this rule is that of dwarven smiths and craftsmen who
are blessed with the power to create one magical object in their lifetime, usually
a weapon of some sort. A memorable example of this in AD&D fiction is Bruenor in
The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore.

Dwarven magical items usually revolve around dwarven life, which can be summarized
as smithing, mining, fighting, drinking and snoring loudly. The last two are
obviously in no need of magical assistance, but the first three could use a great
deal, particularly fighting. While a battle-axe +1 is a good enough weapon, it is
simple and without any dwarven character. The following magical items can be used
in any campaign involving dwarves, and most can be adapted to suit any level of
adventurer. I hope you can use them, and can fit them into your group.

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DWARVEN AVENGER +2, +5 VS GOBLINOIDS

This magical weapon is a priceless treasure to dwarven warriors and weapon smiths.
Dwarven Avengers are two-handed battle axes 50% of the time (as in PHBR 6 Complete
Book of Dwarves, or Combat & Tactics), plain battle axes 20% of the time, hand
axes 20% of the time and swords, spears or other weapons 10% of the time. When
used by a non-warrior it has no bonus to hit or to damage. When a fighter, ranger
or paladin uses it, it has a +1 bonus to hit and to damage. This magical weapon,
however, only shows its true power when in the hands of a dwarven warrior
(including multi-classed dwarves, and priests of Clangeddin Silverbeard, the
dwarven god of battle). It has three special abilities:

1) It acts as a +2 weapon in combat against anything except goblinoids and dwarves

(see below).

2) When it is used in combat against any evil goblinoid (i.e. orcs, half-orcs,
orogs, goblins, bugbears, gnolls, flinds, hobgoblins, kobolds, etc.), it glows
with a bright white light, and receives a +5 bonus to both hit and to damage.

3) Whenever a Dwarven Avenger kills an opponent, a notch appears on the side of

the blade. Nearly all dwarves like to scratch notches on the blade of their
battle-axe or other weapon after each kill, but with magical weapons this task is
impossible, as they cannot be damaged or scratched. The Dwarven Avenger eliminates
this problem by doing the task for its wielder automatically.
No Dwarven Avenger may be used to strike a good creature, or to harm any dwarf
(with the exception of duergar and derro, or the equivalent in the campaign
world). If the owner attempts to strike a good being or dwarf of his own free will
the Dwarven Avenger vanishes, and appears somewhere where it will be found again
by a dwarven warrior.

Once a Dwarven Avenger is acquired by a dwarf, its special abilities (except for
the +1 to non-dwarven fighters) will never work for any other until that dwarf's
death; a sort of bond is formed between the weapon and the dwarf. The notches are
all erased and new ones are started as soon as the new owner slays an opponent.

There is another, rarer kind of Dwarven Avenger that gives its +5 bonus against
all evil creatures, instead of just goblinoids, but may only be used by a lawful
good dwarf warrior of 10th or higher level. Note that most of the secondkind of
Dwarven Avengers are intelligent, and have high egos. Under 1% of Dwarven Avengers
are of the second category.

XP Value: 2 800 (4 000). GP Value: 10 000 (24 000).

The statistics in brackets are for the second type of Dwarven Avenger. DMs should
note that Dwarven Avengers are not typically for sale.

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WARHAMMERS OF THE EARTH

Warhammers of the Earth are magical weapons made of a rough but very hard stone.
They appear quite primitive, but are in fact very well balanced and make fine
weapons. There are only three in existence, and were forged by an Earth Elemental
lord to repay a dwarven group that freed him from the service of an evil dark elf
priestess. Some say that the hammers were made of the actual flesh of the
Elemental, but it is unlikely. In any case, the dwarves who received the weapons
died several millennia ago, and the warhammers could be almost anywhere by now.

The warhammers have the following abilities:

1) All Warhammers of the Earth receive a +2 bonus to hit and damage, except
against creatures from the Elemental Plane of Earth (such as earth elementals,
xorn, earth weirds, etc.)

2) Any dwarf who holds a Warhammer of the Earth can summon a 16 HD Earth Elemental
(as in the Monstrous Manual) once every two weeks by holding the weapon over her
head and yelling the command word at the top of her voice. The elemental arrives
immediately, and stays for exactly one hour, unless it is killed or released
earlier. The elemental is very friendly towards both the wielder of the hammer and
her companions. Note that it is always the same elemental who appears, and that no
two Warhammers of the Earth may use this ability at once. It is not the elemental
lord who made the hammers, but a servant of his who appears.

3) All dwarves who wield a Warhammer of the Earth gain a +2 to saving throws
against any spells in the Elemental, Earth spheres and schools of magic. In
addition to this, any offensive earth-related spell does one point of damage less
for each die of damage rolled.

4) The warhammer receives a +10 to all of its saving throws, due its extraordinary
durability. This bonus does not apply to the wielder of the weapon.
5) The final ability of these weapons is that twice a day each one can be used to
make the earth shake, causing everyone nearby except the wielder and her allies to
lose their balance. To do this a dwarf must smash the hammer into the ground. The
effect lasts for a round. The range is a circle of radius 20 ft, and all within
must make a successful Dexterity check at -5 or fall, making them pr one targets.
It takes a round to get up again.

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The three warhammers are minor artefacts, and the DM can make them seem linked by
giving each of them a certain quality, whether a name, a personality (if
intelligent weapons are used) or even just a distinctive appearance, such as a
color or spike at the end of the handle.

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This document has been edited for legibility purposes by

OLIK / Ole A. Ringdal

[email protected] / http://home.sol.no/olear
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