Temper
“The perfect story is like the perfect blade: It’s well-balanced, it has a point, and it can leave a mark you won’t soon forget.”
Background
Temper’s mother was the first in the family to take up the blacksmith's hammer. With her fire genasi heritage granting her precise control over the forge, she was a master of her craft. In Temper’s youth, she listened in awe as her mother told stories of the elemental planes of fire where she was born. While the young girl stoked the fire or swept the floor, she begged her mother for more tales of the molten rivers and storms of ash, and the people who made their homes amongst the flames.
When she was old enough to lift a hammer, Temper began her formal apprenticeship under her mother. Her skills grew — but so did her love for stories, especially those recounted by the adventurers who visited their smithy. She learned to produce common goods like nails and horseshoes with ease, but it was the rare work on blades and breastplates that truly captivated her attention. The hours repairing armor or weapons were spent lost in thought, imagining the battles each piece had seen and the journeys that lay ahead of it.
This fascination did not sit well with Temper’s mother. “We are blacksmiths, not bards,” she would say whenever she caught her daughter questioning customers about their adventures. They argued frequently, and as Temper approached adulthood, she began to dream of leaving the forge behind and pursuing her passion for storytelling.
One day, a band of Gnoll raiders fell upon the settlement. Temper’s mother was killed in the attack, but by some miracle, the smithy still stood. Temper used the skills she had learned under her mother’s careful tutelage to help the survivors of the attack rebuild. Ever since that day, Temper carries on her mother’s legacy at the anvil — though her dreams of being a storyteller still burn in her heart.
Temper’s Smithy
If you stop in at Temper’s smithy, you will find her dusted with soot and eager to receive a visitor. Though she will accept work crafting horseshoes or nails for local folk, she most enjoys working on weapons and armor for traveling adventurers. She loves to hear their stories of adventure, and spends her free time recounting (and exaggerating) the tales her customers tell her in the form of an epic ballad she is writing.
Haggling with Temper
Temper has a few simple weapons on hand for sale, is willing to purchase simple weapons from adventurers at a reduced rate, and is available for custom work. While these prices begin at the standard rates available in the handbook, there are ways your party can affect the prices by interacting with her.
Make a bargain. Characters can attempt to haggle with Temper the way they would any shopkeep, but due to her fiery disposition, her reactions may be stronger. A Charisma (Persuasion) check of 10 or higher will earn a 10% discount, and a result of 15 or higher will increase that discount to 15%. However, a result below 10 will give the character disadvantage on any further Charisma checks against Temper, and a result below 5 will offend her, causing her to ban the party from her shop.
Spin a tale. Any adventurer willing to recount a story of their exploits can roll a Charisma (Performance) check to determine the quality of their story. A result of 15 or higher will earn a 20% discount, while a critical failure will cause Temper to impose a 10% fee increase instead of offering a discount.
Charm the cat. Characters may spot Temper’s cat, Ash, and choose to interact with him. A Wisdom (Animal Handling) roll of 12 or higher will make Ash friendly towards the character, which impresses Temper. She’ll throw in their choice of a grappling hook, 10 feet of chain, or a bag of 1000 ball bearings with their order at no cost.
Quest Hooks
Want to include Temper in your game? Here are a few ideas.
Tainted Blade
Another customer told Temper of a poisoned sword rumored to have been broken in two and buried with its dishonorable wielder in a lost crypt. If the party can retrieve the pieces, Temper can turn the halves into two Daggers of Venom, one of which the party can take as payment.
Wayward Apprentice
Temper’s first apprentice, a young Dragonborn named Melrin, has gone missing. She last saw him when he left two days previous to pick up a shipment of ore from the docks. If the adventurers can bring him back safely, she will reward them with a Weapon of Warning.
Empyrean Alloy
Rumors are circulating of a fallen meteorite made of a powerful, celestial metal. If the party can retrieve it from the monster-infested forest where it fell, Temper will use some of the metal to craft a Ring of Evasion as their reward.
