abyssalbrews

Stoneshearer

Added 2022-07-21 16:01:03 +0000 UTC

Greetings adventurers!

Deep within the mountains, dwarves work laboriously to break through earth and stone. Those with the particular know-how have turned to magical items to make this process easier. One of the most effective ways to break down stone to rubble is the ever popular Stoneshearer. Difficult to craft, but purpose made, it would be at home in the hands of any particularly destructive individual looking to bring pain and ruin to a battlefield.

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Design notes from Matthew:

I love warhammers. There’s just something about these big smashy boys that brings a feeling of joy to my abyssal heart. I’m not sure why. It’s not like I have any particular attachment to a character that wielded one, but I just love the idea of hitting something with a big old instrument of bludgeoning. When we talked to Tom Cartos about his Ruin & Rebuild series, and making another item in it, well a warhammer was top of my mind.

I knew from the start that I wanted to give it similar mechanics to a siege monster. I don’t know that I’ve seen that mechanic brought to the player side before, but I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get a particularly destructive thing in the hands of players. Look, there’s too much door opening for me and not enough door smashing sometimes.

Thinking of actual combat prowess, I wanted to give this item something that could make it beneficial in combat, but not as straightforward as extra damage. Instead, giving it the ability to destroy cover and let ranged allies reign havoc seemed like a fun little twist on the battlefield. Finally, I’m a sucker for interesting RP so the idea of being able to make a stone replica of something with the smack of a hammer just conjured up tons of interesting scenarios. Overall I really enjoy this one. I think we nailed the feeling of a very destructive hammer and I’m excited to bring it to you.

Illustration notes from Fernando:

I really enjoy working on these collabs with Tom, he’s very professional and his feedback and input is always welcome; I appreciate that he tells us exactly what he’s looking for and makes himself available to us any time we need to pick his brain.

That was the case with this item, we explored different directions to go with it and presented Tom with three choices that were wildly different from each other. We wanted this weapon to have a dwarven feel which to me means lots of sharp angles, not dangerous jagged ones like you would find with goblins, rather more industrial, straight lines and avoiding curbs as much as possible.

Tom picked what was already my favorite design of the three, I like it because it fits the theme and it’s interesting to look at thanks to the layering. I’m also pleased with how the head of the hammer came out, it feels heavy and solid which is precisely what we were aiming for.

I love the illustration on this. I think it conveyed a very technical piece and something that Fernando put a lot of time and effort into. The thing feels like it would have some weight and that’s perfect for what it is. We’ve got a very special week next week with some bigger releases coming. We can’t wait to put them in your hands!

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