[Frostburn] The Midgard Dwarf

[Saintheart]

Not sure if this has been the subject of discussion or logging for interest in the past, but this character-available species out of Frostburn (p.124) strikes me as a nice starting race for an Artificer, if not some other create-y sort of class.

Its main drawback is it being LA +4, which is one hell of a hard hit, but arguably you make up for it by being able to build +5 weapons and Rings of Three Wishes, at first level, depending on how you interpret "prerequisites", and possibly only limited by available gold. That's because one of the Midgard Dwarf's abilities is worded as follows:


Master Smith (Ex): Midgard dwarves gain Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, and Forge Ring as bonus feats. They are considered to possess the prerequisites necessary to craft any magic item of those types, even if they do not otherwise meet the requirements or have the ability to cast the necessary spells.

Now, then, per the SRD as to what prerequisites means...


Certain requirements must be met in order for a character to create a magic item. These include feats, spells, and miscellaneous requirements such as level, alignment, and race or kind. The prerequisites for creation of an item are given immediately following the item’s caster level.

Price is recorded on the same line as the prerequisites, so arguably the gold itself is a prerequisite to making the item - which the Midgard Dwarf is always considered to have, per the Master Smith ability. You could argue that the Midgard Dwarf, who is themed towards making epic-y stuff anyway, is supported thematically on this interpretation as well.

Caster Level doesn't come into this, either, since the caster level of an item is, per the SRD, the minimum caster level required to meet all the prerequisites. But a Midgard Dwarf is always considered to have the prerequisites anyway, so there's nothing to stop a level one Midgard Dwarf making an artifact-level item.

Admittedly this trick would only apply to Rings, Wondrous Items, and magic weaponry, but it's certainly a big load off the Artificer who wants to conserve his UMD checks for Wands and Rods (although the Midgard Dwarf gets a +4 racial bonus to that, not to mention a +8 to Craft checks.)

Anything I'm missing here?

[tyckspoon]

Every distinct section of a magic item's creation info is separated by a semicolon. For example, the Ring of Feather Fall:

Faint transmutation; CL 1st; Forge Ring, feather fall; Price 2,200 gp.

School of magic and strength; caster level; prerequisites; market price. Price is not a prerequisite. It is a cost. So no, it's not covered by the Midgard Dwarf ability. (This is basically the same layout that lets us determine that the given caster level of an item isn't actually necessary to make the item.) Difference between 'prerequisite' and 'cost' would be that a prerequisite is what you must have in order to make the item at all; cost is what you pay to complete the item. Two different and distinct conditions that must be met to craft an item.

[Downysole]

I agree with Tyckspoon. Definitely have to pay the cost in order to make the item.

Avoiding this rule would definitely break the game for a PC (or even an NPC). Just imagine an army outfitted with maxxed out weapons and armor with all sorts of crystals and stacking effects by a level 1 Midgard Dwarf.

Anyone that does item creation has to pay the cost in gold as well as the cost in XP or you get a very broken system.

[mattie_p]

Not sure if this has been the subject of discussion or logging for interest in the past, but this character-available species out of Frostburn (p.124) strikes me as a nice starting race for an Artificer, if not some other create-y sort of class.

Its main drawback is it being LA +4, which is one hell of a hard hit ... *SNIP* Anything I'm missing here?

The main drawback is the 8 outsider hit dice. Meaning 8 + 4 = ECL 12 character. And even with LA, you can't buy that off pre-epic.

[Hirax]

Yeah, they're pretty much unplayable due to their HD+LA, they probably only see use in games that aren't very serious with rules, and with hi op wizards using shapechange to exploit their crafting ability so they don't need to actually take those crafting feats.

[Duke of URL]

Actually, this wouldn't be particularly good for an artificer:


Master Smith (Ex): Midgard dwarves gain Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, and Forge Ring as bonus feats. They are considered to possess the prerequisites necessary to craft any magic item of those types, even if they do not otherwise meet the requirements or have the ability to cast the necessary spells.

Other than getting Forge Ring a bit earlier (and really, not by much thanks to starting ECL), the only thing this ability does is bypass the need for UMD checks to create the items, which any mid- to high-level artificer is going to succeed on anyway.

What this could be used for is some type of "B" side for a gestalt build where you want Artificer-like abilities without being an Artificer per se. I'd still rather have 12 Artificer levels than 8 Outsider RHD, though -- only reason not to would be if ECS wasn't allowed as a source but Frostburn was.

[Saintheart]

I agree with Tyckspoon. Definitely have to pay the cost in order to make the item.

Avoiding this rule would definitely break the game for a PC (or even an NPC). Just imagine an army outfitted with maxxed out weapons and armor with all sorts of crystals and stacking effects by a level 1 Midgard Dwarf.

Anyone that does item creation has to pay the cost in gold as well as the cost in XP or you get a very broken system.

Otherwise accepting my well-deserved spanking by the Playground at large :smallwink: this could be an interesting adventure element: assume a team of enslaved Midgard Dwarves whose tongues have been taken out or otherwise been rendered incapable of using their cursing ability. Players might not have big resources, but BBEGs or evil organisations certainly do. Said Midgard Dwarves could be forced into making powerful magic weapons for the BBEG's minions, thus leading to the bad guys having an army outfitted with maxxed out weapons and armor with all sorts of crystals and stacking effects.

I am aware, of course, that this would probably lead to the players having maxxed out weapons/armor/etc, but the dwarves' curse abilities might convince the players to hand the stuff back to these guys once they're freed.