General Prestige Class : Memory Smith
By Patrick Younts and Jeff Quick, Dragon #311
In ancient times, when the dwarven kingdoms were young and strong, their smiths crafted armor and weapons of legendary power. Unlike the lesser craftsmen among humans and elves, who could only enhance steel by binding spells within it, the dwarves understood the true smith's art and, using chants said to have been first sung by Moradin Soul Forger himself, could awaken the latent magic that lives within all metal. For centuries, dwarves were the undisputed masters of hammer and anvil, but endless wars with the goblin hordes sent their empires into slow decline and much of the ancient skill was lost - much, but not all.
Memory smiths are dwarves dedicated to recovering and reestablishing the lost arts of the ancients. To date, they have had much success; scouring old tomes and exploring the ruins of once great dwarven holds, they have unearthed secrets thought gone forever. Still, much work remains. Although many of Moradin's chants have been recovered, some of the most potent have yet to be found.
Most memory smiths are single class bards, their mastery of voice and wide breadth of knowledge is essential to mastering the old ways. Others are multi-class fighter/bards, using their abilities to punish the traditional enemies of the dwarven race, or cleric/bards, who see the abilities of the memory smith as a natural extension of their dedication to the Soul Forger.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Memory Smith, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Dwarf
- Alignment: Any good
- Skills: Craft (weaponsmithing or armorsmithing) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 3 ranks, Perform 8 ranks, Use Magic Device 5 ranks
- Patron Deity: The character must worship Moradin before all other gods
Class Skills
The memory smith's class skills are Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Gather Information, Knowledge (any), Listen, Open Lock, Perform, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Spot, and Use Magic Device.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are class features of the memory smith prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A character becoming a memory smith gains proficiency in all simple weapons and all martial axes, hammers, and picks. A memory smith is also proficient with all armors (heavy, medium, and light) and with shields, including the tower shield.
Bardic Knowledge: If the character already has the bardic knowledge ability, his memory smith levels stack with the levels of any other classes that grant her that ability for the purpose of determining the bonus, but only when making checks about weapons, armor, or other items crafted of metal.
Bardic Music: If the character already has the bardic music ability, his memory smith levels stack with the levels of any other classes that grant her that ability for the purpose of determining abilities, duration, and so on.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each memory smith level, the character gains new bard spells per day and spells known as if he had also gained a level in the bard class.
Spell Smith (Ex): Each level of memory smith adds new spells to his bard spells known list. The memory smith casts these spells exactly as a bard casts arcane spells. A spell's level is equal to the class level at which the memory smith added the spell to his lard spell list. For example, when the memory smith gains keen edge at third level, he adds keen edge to his bard spells known list as a 3rd-level bard spell. See the Memory Smith Class features table for a list of what spells are gained.
| Memory Smith | Hit Die: d8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Bardic knowledge, bardic music, spell smith (endure elements, magic weapon) | +1 level of bard class |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Spell smith (align weapon, make whole) | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Spell smith (keen edge, magic vestment) | +1 level of bard class |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Spell smith (divine power, greater magic weapon) | +1 level of bard class |
| 5th | +3 | +5 | +4 | +4 | Spell smith (disrupting weapon, fabricate) | +1 level of bard class |
Source: Dragon #311