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So, I'm making a campaing and I want the PC's to meat this dwarf that it's an awesome blacksmith. He crafts swords, and shields, and armor, and has an axe named Mathilda.
So, in order to have the PC's interested on having this dwarf as an ally to help them craft items, Mathilda the Dwarven axe must be a really good axe indeed.
So the request is simple: Help me build Mathilda the dwarven axe =D
(according to the crafting rules ovbiously =P)
Any help?
What price range were you thinking? What level is this dwarf? Is he a sword and board fighter or two-handed? Is he even a fighter?
Master Craftsman would allow him to craft magic weapons without being a caster, which allows for some versatility as to what the dwarf is.
Were you looking for unique abilities to give Mathilda, so as to make it stand out?
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I usually give NPC's a 3-4 level boost over the players they want to impress. Bearing that in mind let's build the dwarf crafter at level 8. Looking at NPC wealth by level that gives him a 2700 gp weapon. Not much to work with for Mathilda. All of this being said, let's completely ignore all of this and make something up from scratch:
Thurlak of Dunspar is known simply as Thurlak The Forge. Not an impressive moniker until you realize that, in the lands of the Dunevain which contain thousands of dwarven smiths he is known far and wide as THE Forge.
Thurlak began his career as a smith for Argentheim in the foothills of the Storm Spires. Even in his earliest days he was commisioned to work for the captains of the Argent Shields; the elite defenders of the hall. Then came the Goblinbane War and with it 5 years of endless battle. Thurlak rose in the ranks, not with the hall, but as part of a band of heroes from Dunspar known as The Iron Dragons.
At the height of the war the young dwarf entered Blackfurnace Caves. Together the Dragons plumbed the depths of these volcanic environs and finally routed the horde. But it was not his last trip to Blackfurnace for he returned a few months later, this time with a crew...and an anvil.
Its said that his beloved Mathilda was forged from the burning lake beneath Blackfunace. The steel of her twin blades are tinted by the unearthly heat to a nearly black indigo. Like any good dwarf maiden she sings when she attacks; the weapon's decorative knotwork and designs whistle as she swings. But her real power is in her name. It is a compound of Old Dwarven: Macht meaning might and Huildeh meaning battle.
She grants Thaluk inhuman strength when wielded in battle. As well the heat of her birth still courses through her and her kiss sears the flesh it parts. On occasion she's even been known to explode in a rage of flame unknown outside the realm of the arcane.
And so it is that Thaluk The Forge holds his title and honor in the lands of the Dunevain.
Ouch, I just looked at Table 14-9 in the Core Rulebook to see what an NPC's gear would look like and it is pitifully low. A heroic level 10 NPC is suppose to spend about 4,000 on a weapon, which is only enough for a +2 enhancement bonus on a weapon if he makes it himself.
A PC of the same level would have about 30,000 to spend on a weapon (enough to craft a +5 weapon), so if you really want your dwarf to be a bad ass, that might be the way to go. Just be careful not to step on the PCs' toes; remember, they are the heroes, not the NPCs. Also, DO NOT let them loot that dwarf (I imagine you know that though).
As far as unique abilities goes, I figure whatever the axe does is going to need to complement the dwarf's fighter style. So what kind of a fighter did you have in mind?
If it were a hammer I'd suggest a bonus to Craft skill checks.