Seems like quite good idea to me.
So im looking forward for first person who explains me why it isnt. xD
First
I like the idea to “unlock” an NPC who can upgrade items by finishing a quest. But what you suggest is a quest that promises the player a reward only to tell him at the very end that he isn’t getting anything for his efforts until Chapter 2!
On top of that, this quest line is pretty restrictive. To get +1 Items the player would need to:
- Discover the forge in the basement of the Blighted Village, which can be easily missed if one doesn’t explore the area thoroughly.
- Having to kill the Goblin Ambushers even if he successfully managed to talk them down, because there’s no way they’re letting the Tiefling smith pass through.
Or that the smith would enter a village full of hostile Goblins in the first place.
- Not siding with the Goblins, because that results in the death of the smith. Meaning that there’s even less reason to take the evil route.
- Not killing the Goblin leaders before solving this quest, because that results in the smith leaving.
I like the idea of visiting an NPC to upgrade weapons and armors. But there should be multiple such NPCs in the first chapter so that you don’t screw yourself for simply completing a quest. Alternatively, if there’s only a single NPC who is able to do this, he or she should be a camp follower. Preferably one who’s almost impossible to miss or even joins your camp automatically when take a long rest for the very first time. There can still be a quest that must be completed first, but it should be really hard to miss. Because this is an important feature.
