SKILLS, SPELLS & PLAYER HELP

FORGED

"FORGED" "FORGED GEAR" "FORGED ITEMS" "ITEM QUALITY" QUALITY ARCHETYPE ARCHETYPES LOOT
Forged gear rolls its own stats when it drops, so no two pieces are quite
alike. Monsters in some zones drop it straight into the inventories of the
players who kill them: everyone grouped with the killer in the room rolls
separately, and gets a piece made for their class. (Pets don't roll, and a
player more than 5 levels above an area's gear gets none.)

Quality comes first, and decides how many stats a piece gets and how strong:

Poor about 30% (1-2 stats) Superior 1 in 20 (2-3 stats)
Common about 40% (1-2 stats) Exceptional 1 in 200 (3-4 stats)
Fine about 25% (1-3 stats) Perfect 1 in 10,000: every
stat at its best

Most pieces have 1 or 2 stats; 3 are uncommon and 4 are very rare. Every
point of damroll, hitroll or a main stat costs more than the one before, so
top rolls are rare, and armor rolls less damroll than weapons. In Upper and
High gear a main stat (str, dex, int, wis or cha) can roll twice: two +1s in
two of the piece's stat slots. A piece may roll a drawback (a negative stat)
for more power elsewhere. Armor rolls its armor class (low, typical or
right up to the best for its slot) and weapons their damage dice the same
way.

Each piece is made for an archetype, and only the classes that fit it can
use it:

Caster mage, cleric, monk, druid int or wis, mana, regen
Battlecaster mage, cleric casting stats plus damroll (rare)
Striker warrior, paladin, antipaladin, ninja, monk, druid
Tank warrior, paladin, antipaladin, monk, druid hp, con, armor
Crusader paladin, antipaladin str, wis, damroll, mana
Skirmisher thief, ninja, druid dex, damroll, hitroll
Minstrel bard cha, int, str, mana
Warden druid wis, int, dex, con
Spellblade monk int, str, damroll

Now and then a piece blends two of your class's archetypes ("of the
Hunter-Blade", "of the Warmage") and any class of either can use it.

A piece's minimum level is rolled within its area's tier range: newbie gear level 0,
mid-level 6-10, upper 11-15, high 16-22, ultra 22-25, and endgame 22-25. Its name comes from its
area (a squire's copper helm, a Stygian bronze greave) and its best stats, and
shows in its quality's color: gray, white, green, blue, purple, gold. The
area's style only names and describes the piece; it never changes its stats.
IDENTIFY or INSPECT shows the rest.

Ninjas can also find a forged blade sheath (saya) for their sheath slot, and
their forged weapons are always katanas. Bards always receive or craft forged
musical instruments (lutes, lyres, harps, mandolins, citterns, fiddles,
theorbos, zithers, flutes, panflutes, shawms, war-horns, cornets, tambourines,
war-drums, or chime-staves) as their wielded weapons, rolling full weapon
damage dice and a Harmony Tier (Standard, Silver, or Golden).
Forged lanterns use the light slot, not the held slot, and never burn out.
Wear one with WEAR <light>.

Some named boss items also have independent Mythic forged copies. They keep
their original name, identity, wear slot and special properties, but their
core stats or weapon dice roll within a controlled range. Their quality color
shows the result. The normal named item can still drop independently. Mythic
is a named-copy label, not a stronger tier, and these copies cannot be
rerolled with REFORGE.

Where it drops now: the newbie areas (The Prismatic Caves, The Forge Side
Winery, The Plush Menagerie, The Pixie Fortress), the Midgaard
Clock Tower (levels 5-14, 1 west of Temple), the Training Grounds (mid-level), Annie's Tavern, the Straight Path and Kurokage Academy (upper),
and Elias' Ascendant (upper on floors 1-2, high on floors 3-4).

Shopkeepers won't buy forged gear. See SALVAGE.