Blacksmiths in Dungeons and Dragons

Blacksmiths in Dungeons and Dragons might serve different purposes depending upon whether they are found in a small town or village or a major city. Those in small towns would likely be doing mostly minor repairs to metal objects. They might be shoeing horses or doing other mundane tasks. In a major city they might be making or repairing armor or weapons.

Primarily blacksmiths are a service business. They rarely kept many goods in stock for sale. Instead they performed services on request. They might have a few mundane items for sale which are needed daily. Otherwise they would be completing tasks as they came.

When a player character visits a blacksmith shop they better expect to hurry up and wait. The blacksmith was often busy completing tasks for other customers and there might be quite a delay before they freed up to work on the next task.

Why would Dwarves be such good blacksmiths? Well if you live to be several hundred years old wouldn’t you be really good at your job?

Some blacksmiths specialize. If they live in a major city then they can afford to do so. They could only make armor or weapons. Or they could work with other metals and make other things.

What kinds of things would one find in a blacksmith shop? Some items that come to mind are as follows:

  • A forge
  • An anvil
  • A hammer
  • Bellows
  • A hot poker
  • Long tongs for picking up hot metal objects
  • Chisels
  • Sets – A type of chisel with a handle or shaft
  • Hardy – A special chisel that fits the tool hole of an anvil. It was used with a hammer
  • Punches – These are used for hot work and came in various shapes to remove the minimum amount of metal
  • Drifts – These were really short punches

Sooner or later your player characters will want to visit a blacksmith in some town or city. Knowing what they are likely to find there is important to the Dungeon Master who intends to make the experience memorable. Blacksmiths were busy people and were unlikely to suffer fools for long. They were often big and hearty men. While they might not be experienced adventurers they would likely to be intimidating looking people.

They would likely have big personalities and perhaps even big egos. They might not have much stock in trade but they would have a great deal of confidence that they could make just about anything needed out of metal given the right amount of time and the proper ingredients.

Punishment in Dungeons and Dragons

Crimes and offenses in a medieval world such as a Dungeons and Dragons campaign could be various depending upon the severity. Minor offenses might be punished in the following ways:

  • Imprisonment
  • Whipping
  • Payment of fines
  • Forfeiture of estates
  • Being placed in the stocks
  • Pillory – Similar to stocks but stocks held only the legs and the Pillory framework held the neck and wrists as well
  • Branding
  • Removal of a body part such as a hand or foot

More serious offenses resulted in capitol punishment. Hanging was the norm but occasionally burning was used.

So why is this important for Dungeons and Dragons? Sooner or later player characters will visit cities. Public punishment was frequently on display. Anyone visiting such a medieval city would likely see examples of such punishment being used. It is important to the flavor of the campaign for city life to seem realistic.

Of course such punishments were often meted out by a trial by jury. These jury trials were part of a manorial court held several times a year. Villagers made up these juries but only men would actually sit on the jury.

More serious crimes were judged by a King’s Court. This was known as a Trial by Ordeal. There were three types of these Trials by Ordeal:

  • Ordeal by Fire – The accused had to pick up a red hot bar and carry it several paces. They then had their hands bandaged and returned to the court after three days. If their hands were showing signs of healing then they were judged innocent.
  • Ordeal by Water – The accused had their hands and feet tied and were thrown into water. If they floated they were guilty. If they sank then they were innocent.
  • Ordeal by Combat – Noblemen would sometimes fight (usually to the death). The winner was considered to be in the right.
Dunking in water while tied to a stool

There were also some very strange punishments that were meted out during those times. Some are peculiar. Others were still very deadly. Here are some of the most bizarre ones used:

  • Apologizing while wearing a white sheet
  • Wearing animal masks and humiliating badges
  • Being thrown into water while tied to a stool
  • Wearing a custom made bridle
  • Plucking a stone out of boiling water
  • Being suffocated in mud
  • Hanging in a cage
  • Having a metal pear poked up the wazzoo

And then of course….there was torture. Torture was not considered punishment per se but a means to extract a confession. But that is the basis of a different article on this site.

Wearing animal masks and humiliating badges as punishment

Other Interesting Play Aids for Dungeons and Dragons

After writing the last article about miniatures I decided to include another article discussing some things that go with that subject. Specifically I am talking about:

  • Pathfinder Pawns – Minis are expensive. And you can never quite have enough of them to cover every possible encounter. There are just so many monsters out there and so few dollars to spend on buying minis for them all. Fortunately there is a solution. This one is not perfect as it often does not include enough of specific types of monsters to cover battles with large groups of humanoids. But it does cover a wide variety of creatures that could be out there for Dungeons and Dragons or other fantasy games. The link here shows just one of the sets. There are many different types of sets including ones for characters.
  • Pathfinder Flip Mats – These maps provide awesome looking terrain to play games on with miniatures. There are just so many different types of maps out there. These are made by Paizo but others make them as well. Some come in very large map sizes and some come as cards that you can build on the table as the players move through the dungeon. The link shows just one of these products but you might want to explore. All kinds of terrains are provided including: cities, ruins, temples, dungeons, hills, forests, deserts and many more Prices vary as there are some packs with multiple maps and there are many different sizes.
  • Hirst Art Terrain – I confess I bought and built many of these but have used none yet in games. The molds allow you to produce dungeon terrain from city dwellings to dungeons and castles. There are many different molds out there and they are pretty awesome. Unfortunately they are not cheap. And you must also buy material to pour into them. This is a time intensive hobby so be advised it is not for the casual gamer.
  • Dwarven Forge – I will admit that I do not own any of these. They are a bit out of my price range. I have, however, met the maker of these (Stefan Pokorny) a few times at the NTRPG. He is a pretty cool fellow and runs a great AD&D game at his table. I include these here in case they might be in your price range and interest. He used these terrains in his games and has built some amazing stuff with them. Another DM built the entire moathouse from village of homlet and we played through that at NTRPG the last time I went. Stefan played at the table with us as a player.

You may have noticed links in this article. I am getting no affiliate income from Amazon or Hirst. I just provide the links for your convenience.

There are many products out there that are really cool. It would be nice to buy all of them but it is just too expensive to do so. The header picture in this article is a Dwarven Forge Example. The other pictures below are examples from Hirst Arts Molds.

A crypt
A fieldstone wall ruin
Even some cool sci fi terrain can be made

More on Miniatures in Dungeons and Dragons

Lately I have been buying and painting miniatures for Dungeons and Dragons. Specifically I have been painting them for future use in my campaign. So far none have ever been used by me in my own games. Certainly I have played with minis before in other peoples games at conventions and at gaming tables.

Miniatures are an expensive hobby. Yes. Sure. You can buy a 3D printer and make your own right? Well that is the subject for another article. But using a 3D printer is not exactly as easy as it is all made out to be. Nor is acquisition of the data files which make such 3D minis. And it is certainly not all free either.

And official Dungeons and Dragons, pathfinder and other such minis are a terrible rip off. You get maybe two minis (if lucky) for about $4 or $5. Does that sound like a good deal? How often do you use just two orcs? Or goblins? Or whatever? Obviously big monsters might be encountered singly but humanoids, undead and other such things are often encountered in numbers.

So what are the alternatives other than not using them at all? Surprisingly I have found a few which are good alternatives and are far cheaper to use. Some examples that I have personally bought include:

  • SCS Direct Fantasy Creatures – These guys sell a pack of creatures which include many different D&D and fantasy monsters. Most of these come with 10 of each creature in the pack for a total of 98 pieces for $25. They come in two colors (gray and white). Apparently the maker considered them similar to plastic army men and decided to make two armies. They are still easily painted. A similar set is available from the same company which includes most of the favorite monster horror film creatures like mummies, vampires, werewolves and frankensteins (flesh golem). The scales are not perfect however. But the price is right. You get multiples of a lot of creatures that you would use in a DnD game for a hell of a lot less than you would pay for an official to scale version.
  • Drunk n Dragon DnD minis – This set includes ogres, goblins, archers, wizards or cultists or priests depending on how you see them, something that looks kind of like a jackalwere to me and other pieces. Currently it says this is unavailable but I bought it a year or so ago. Perhaps the big bad WOTC shut them down. I don’t know. I will link it anyway just in case they become available again.
  • Wildspire Minis – This is a very interesting set. It comes with some pretty cool pieces. It is not cheap but is still probably better than buying traditional D&D or Pathfinder Minis. It comes with one massive dragon which is reading from a book. A spell book perhaps. It has some baby dragons, a barrel which seems to be a mimic or something, a massive demon or devil, a weird shark bear creature and many more interesting figures. It cost $42 but has like 28 pieces to it.
  • Another Interesting Set – This one has big yetis, treasure chest shaped mimics, stone men (golems perhaps), gnolls, were-rats and even cockatrice. 40 figures for $32. Not too bad a price and these are close to scale for D&D.
  • An all Green Set – Ok this one has some weird pieces but some fit perfectly for D&D. The set is printed in all green but can easily be painted. It has lizard men, witches or hags, various blobs and oozes and some other pieces which I am not exactly sure what they are intended to be. 40 pieces for $10. For that price you can just ignore the ones that you do not intend to use.
  • Path Gaming 40 Set – Ok this set is made for D&D and is set to scale. This one includes some fan favorites including: Mind Flayers, Dwarves, Goblin Shamans, were-boars, rakshasa, bards, little goblins or kobolds riding lizards as mounts and other pieces. Forty pieces for $25.

These are just some of the options out there. You may have noticed that all of these links go to Amazon. FYI I am not getting affiliate income from that. I do get some affiliate income on this site but not from Amazon. Amazon just had an excellent selection of these types of miniatures available. I suspect that if I delved deeper I would find them on other sites as well and perhaps other and better variations. The point is this. You do not have to buy official D&D or pathfinder minis. There are lots of cheaper options out there. And many of those options include more than a couple of each piece.

I have painted some out of each of those sets I listed above. The paint sticks better to some than others but you can prime them with spray paint first and then paint sticks pretty well to all of them afterwards. I will put up another article later with pictures of some my painting. I am no Picasso but even I can paint minis at least half ass. My (much younger) sister painted many for me as well. She probably did a better job on some.

OSRIC Products Planned for 2023

With the changes to the WOTC OGL I plan to do more OSRIC products during the coming year. Some of the products that I have planned include:

  • More adventures
  • Another installment or two of Malcon’s Tomes
  • At least one more adventure involving Malcon himself

Generally I write these adventures during down time between writing Cepheus Engine material. Sometimes I just see a map or picture and get an idea in my head. Then I just sit down and write it until I get the bug out of me.

Rampage continues

The adventurers continue exploring the cave and underground lake in search of the strange blue fungus needed for the potion that the sage Remacle intends to make which may weaken the Tarrasque. The last time the adventurers explored the cave they fought off some kind of strange underwater tentacled beast that was grabbing them and dragging them down into the water.

This time the adventurers explored the cave itself further and found a large cache of treasure which they collected. But in the process they were engaged by a large group of trolls. After defeating the trolls the adventurers proceeded into the water.

Only three of the adventurers had water breathing magic so the other two stayed above. This turned out to be a near disaster for the party.

Kopoacinth

After defeating some giant gar and an eye of the deep (lake variety) they were engaged by a group of Kopoacinth along with more tentacles from the unseen creature and the real threat in this lake…..an Aboleth Savant.

This battle did not go well. The tentacles began pinning the adventurers as the other creatures did damage to them. The Aboleth Savant did take a bit of damage but then healed herself. The adventurers smartly broke free and got back to the surface and escaped with their lives.

Aboleth Savant

Rampage!

My high level adventurers once more embark on an epic adventure. After exploring the mysterious castle of Tiamat which appeared near the capital city of Zanzia the adventurers were hoping for a little down time to retire to their keeps. But this was not to be the case. For a new threat to the kingdom, and even to their individual keeps, arrived swiftly.

The Legendary Tarrasque has been spotted nearby. It has destroyed towns and villages in the kingdom and appears on a collision course with the capital of Zanzia and the keeps of the adventurers themselves. It is only a matter of time before the beast arrives and destroys everything in it’s path.

The king summons the adventurers and tells them that a reclusive sage one escaped the Tarrasque as a boy. He has been studying this creature ever since and is the recognized expert in the kingdom on the subject of the beast. Perhaps this reclusive sage might have ideas on how the creature could be defeated.

The adventurers begin an expedition to the dark forest of Zanzia and locate this sage named Remacle. Remacle tells the adventurers that there is but one hope. A special weapon might be created to temporarily reduce the resistances of the legendary creature for a short time. This could potentially give the adventurers a short window in which to destroy the creature.

But the task will not be easy. In fact….defeating the Tarrasque itself might be easier. For this weapon is a potion which must be thrown upon the creature. The potion requires special ingredients which will be very difficult to obtain. These ingredients are:

  • Dust from the skull of a Demi-Lich
  • Egg from the largest Roc in Zanzia
  • Ink from the largest Kraken in Zanzia
  • Special Mold from the bottom of a nearby lake cavern (Owned by an Aboleth Savant)
  • Central eye from an undead hive mother
  • Egg from the worm tunnels of Zanzia

Any one of these tasks might be fatal to most adventurers. All of them together is a nightmare. But despite these risks the adventurers accept this task and begin with an expedition to the cavern nearby with the lake.

Shriekers wailing

Things begin quickly. The cave has an alarm system of shriekers. These begin wailing the moment the adventurers arrive and bring a large pack of trolls to investigate. A large battle ensues.

Angry trolls

After this battle the adventurers find themselves set upon by dark tentacles reaching out of the water. Some of these begin grabbing adventurers and dragging them down into the brackish water. After a very long battle these tentacles are finally driven off back down into the depths of the lake. Before this occurs 39 of the tentacles lay on the cavern floor.

The adventurers retire and camp in the woods nearby where they fight off two random encounters with little difficulty.

Dark Tentacles

Finishing up the Mysterious Castle

By now the adventurers realize they are in a castle owned by Tiamat the queen of dragons. They enter an enormous room with a ceiling more than a hundred feet over their heads. There is a little old lady with five birds of different colors flying around her. Rather than killing them she offers them a choice: Fight me and die or take the contents of one of my treasure rooms (and the doors to these fly open) or do a little task for me.

Little old lady Tiamat

The task offered is to kill a little old man who lives nearby and tends his garden and feeds his little gold birds. This old man is no old man. This old man is Bahamut.

She is, of course, no little old lady. She is Tiamat and her five little birds are her dragon mates.

The players wisely chose the middle option and took the contents of one treasure room. The castle then disappeared and Tiamat returned to her home plane.

Bahamut

The Adventurers Continue Exploring the Green Level

By now the adventurers have realized that they are in a castle owned by Tiamat the queen of dragons. In tonight’s exploration they fought a two headed green dragon. It did not got entirely well for the adventurers. They did win the battle but lost two of their number. One was killed by friendly fire. When they tried to take the massive dragon hoard they were chased away by a group of skeletal warriors, a priest, a monk and a wizard. The adventurers could not win this battle after being depleted in men and resources so they wisely retreated and left their spoils behind.

My players wanted to play with critical hits so I imposed critical fumbles as well. And one was swinging a vorpal sword……..

They also faced a group of Skeletal Warriors as well as a group of Yuan TI and another group of Gorgons. They have but a few rooms left to visit before descending to the final level of the castle.

Exploring the Green Level of the Castle

The adventurers continued exploring the green level of the castle. By now they have seen a red, blue, black, white and green level. What this may signify is unknown. Tonight they engaged a Grand Old Master protected by two Umber Hulks. When they struck the master eight Neogi broke out and engaged the party in combat. This battle was very destructive. The magic user fell in combat.

After raising the magic user the adventurers returned and explored the north end of the level. They found themselves fighting eight phase spiders which became an even more destructive battle. Three of the party had to be raised after failing saving throws against poison in succession. This was turning out to be a tough night for the adventurers.

An Umber Hulk breaks through the wall

They explored another area in a secret passage beyond the spiders and found a staircase leading downward protected by spirit nagas. The nagas proved no match for the adventurers.

Before retiring for the evening the explorers visited one more area in the northwestern part of the level. They found a strange puzzle. A statue of a shambling mound stood before them with a strange metal ring hanging above it. It was almost as if the mound were reaching for this ring. The adventurers failed to solve this puzzle and caused the statue to animate and attack them. They dispatched it and could not solve the puzzle. If they had but thrown a lightning bolt at the statue the mound would have grown in size and pulled the ring releasing it’s treasure.

Spirit Naga