9.4.4 THE FORGING SKILL (Trade)
Syntax: FORGE FOR <design #> (iron and steel)
CRAFT WEAPON/ARMOUR <design #> (wood and leather)
Only those with knighthood may learn the forging trade skill. If you are
a resident of a city or commune, you will automatically be a member of
the forging cartel in that location and able to use the unique patterns
of that cartel. Forging is the skill of creating a wide assortment of
weapons and armour.
In order to forge something, you must first find a forge. Chances are it
will not be burning, in which case you must buy some coal (probably at
one of the markets), and put it in the forge. Then, you must FIRE FORGE
to get it going. If a forge goes too long without anyone forging in it,
then it will go out. Once you have got the forge going, you can try to
forge something. Each item has certain commodity requirements which are
viewable on the forging pattern you use.
For all forging commands, you should use the exact pattern number of the
item. Once you've established that you have the proper ingredients, you
may FORGE FOR <pattern number>. The commodities will be removed from your
inventory and put in the forge, at which point you cannot recover them.
You then simply continue to type FORGE everytime you regain balance. The
exception is leather items, in which case you CRAFT <WEAPON or ARMOUR> in
place of FORGE. After a certain number of "forgings" (which differs for
every item), you will have turned your useless mass of commodities into
your desired item. However, the weapon or piece of armour will be an
inferior product at this point. Continuing to FORGE will randomly and
slowly raise the stats of your weapon or armour. In the case of weapons,
the ones that can be raised are speed, damage, and precision. In the case of
armour, the stats are protection vs. physical blunt damage and protection
vs. physical cutting damage. There is a maximum number of times you can
"forge" each item, and when this number is reached, you will be told, and
any further forgings will be useless.
Note that you CAN remove the item from the forge at anytime after it
first becomes formed, but once removed, it cannot be forged again. It
should be noted that refining some weapons with repeated "forgings" after
the initial item is formed has great benefit (such as the better weapons
and armour) while the benefit gained from refining, say, a club or dagger
might not be worth it considering the time it takes. We will leave it to
you to experiment and discover what works best. In order to see the
statistics on a particular piece of weaponry or armour, you need the
WEAPONPROBE ability in the Combat skill (it is quite low in it). Finally,
forgers learn dwarven runes which may be inscribed with coal upon armour
and weapons to improve their effectiveness.