Magical loot

[PhilHibbs]

I'm trying to work out what level of magical loot I should dish out. I get the impression that MP storage should be quite rare, and I've let one character have a 2 point storage matrix, but the Power Storage crystals are 3d6+6 which I think is quite huge! That would essentially let the sorcerer cast spells more or less continuously without worrying. I like that they have to be careful with their Magic Points, two of the four characters were completely out of MPs by the end of the "dragon" fight.

What kind of magical loot have you let your players have? It should be clear from the write-up that I'm running quite a high-magic game. I think the limited-uses divine enchantments in A&E are a really good thing to dish out quite generously.

 

[Dan True]

You could dish out temporary magical items, or powerful items whose use are not directly for combat, but story or investigation purposes.

- Dan

 

[taxboy]

You could dish out temporary magical items, or powerful items whose use are not directly for combat, but story or investigation purposes.

- Dan

Potions are my favourite, consumable, realistic and useful...

 

[ThatGuy]

You could dish out temporary magical items, or powerful items whose use are not directly for combat, but story or investigation purposes.

- Dan

Potions are my favourite, consumable, realistic and useful...

I like potions that aren't "Potions". Salves, dried mushroom caps, powders that mix into water or wine (with varying results), a dried herb that must be smoked or burned, a clear tincture that when applied to the ears allow the listener to understand languages. That sort of thing.

What I like most is just saying: "You find a powder." Which makes the figuring out of what the powder is and does, almost a side quest.

As far as magical items, I prefer things that are "gray".

Ie. A Sword that always employs a Bleed CM, but will make anyone who sees the owner brandishing the sword in battle incredibly angry at them, forcing a persistance roll or the person will attack the owner. This may, or may not include friends.

Or a ring, which when worn, increases all lore skills by 10-20%, but makes the wearer quite ugly (or makes him smell like he has defecated upon himself, or something similar) decreasing any skill that requires interaction by -40% (or maybe -80% in the case of the defecation).

There kind of "limitations" tend to keep the magic item in its scabbard (or in the pocket) until it is actually needed, and can thus keep the players from abusing it. It can also make for situations in which a magic weapon is the worst option for the character to use. The Sword that attracts attackers in a war for example, or the ring of lore (that makes the owner smell as if he has defecated upon himself!) slipped on at court could make for a bad (but memorable!) situation.

 

[taxboy]

You could dish out temporary magical items, or powerful items whose use are not directly for combat, but story or investigation purposes.

- Dan

Potions are my favourite, consumable, realistic and useful...

I like potions that aren't "Potions". Salves, dried mushroom caps, powders that mix into water or wine (with varying results), a dried herb that must be smoked or burned, a clear tincture that when applied to the ears allow the listener to understand languages. That sort of thing.

I love this idea!

 

[Runefang]

The crystals are stored MPs, so need to be refilled. That will be a pain at times if enforced.

I agree, temporary items are good filler, though occasional special items help too. I liked it when a character could design his own items and we actually had a sorcerer who made a living doing such.

 

[Mixster]

I like the magic points for magic items system suggested on here earlier.

A magic sword has a common magic score and some magic points that it get back depending on some circumstances (which could either be an amount of time, or some circumstance like being drenched in dragonblood). It can use those points to activate a number of abilities, that are much akin to common magic, without it requiring any action on the wielders part.

Particularly attuned wielders can use their own magic points to fuel their thingamajicks as well.

 

[PhilHibbs]

I'm also thinking that non-refillable MP reserves might be fun.

Also, I think the number of uses on Blessed items is way too low. I'm rolling 3d6 for the number of points in the item, roughly double what the A&E rules give.

 

[taxboy]

I'm also thinking that non-refillable MP reserves might be fun.

Also, I think the number of uses on Blessed items is way too low. I'm rolling 3d6 for the number of points in the item, roughly double what the A&E rules give.

Esp. if they are expensive to craft...

 

[Dan True]

I'm also thinking that non-refillable MP reserves might be fun.

Also, I think the number of uses on Blessed items is way too low. I'm rolling 3d6 for the number of points in the item, roughly double what the A&E rules give.

I've boosted it by adding specific materials that add a multiplier to number of charges. In Eberron I have wands that have 5 times as many charges as a normal item. You could introduce something like this, saying that if the item is blessed beforehand it has double the amount of charges etc. ?

- Dan

 

[PhilHibbs]

Another idea for limiting access to magical crystals would be to require dedicating a point of POW to attune it. That might provide a disincentive to using crystals that are associated with an enemy religion, e.g. Malkioni might be considered heretics if they use "pagan" crystals.

*edit* I just checked, and MP regeneration is based on POW minus Dedicated POW, so that makes it even more of a tricky decision. Maybe POW already dedicated to a deity associated with the source of the crystal might count, otherwise Divine users who already have very few MPs would not be able to benefit from them. Perhaps a Pact roll to attune it without dedicating POW. Or maybe this rule could be used for Blessd items, as those are clearly related to a specific cult whereas crystals aren't.

 

[Hopeless]

As a player my durulz thief sorry scout has managed to get a 6pt powerstone sorry mp storage, a bone item holding a fear spell, a healing magnifier crystal, bought several potions thanks to having the most money (which he found and dispersed accordingly, fortunately he never revealed how much he found but he did share somewhat...) and for a very short while got to wear some durulz runic items though wasn't aware the torc was one too!

Sorry forgot the lead ring that allows him to cast disruption, I think I didn't miss anything else!

Meanwhile in the game I'm planning I was looking at a battle axe that when struck against a shield effectively allows the wielder to cast a 1pt Bladesharp on the axe, been wondering about the rest since I was more looking at low magic or at least a plausible reason for why these items are there.

The Axe I was planning on explaining as being a heirloom dedicated to a specific cult which one of the players could actually use but thats still a long way off at this stage, but I am wondering about this!

 

[simonh]

Meanwhile in the game I'm planning I was looking at a battle axe that when struck against a shield effectively allows the wielder to cast a 1pt Bladesharp on the axe, been wondering about the rest since I was more looking at low magic or at least a plausible reason for why these items are there.

The Axe I was planning on explaining as being a heirloom dedicated to a specific cult which one of the players could actually use but thats still a long way off at this stage, but I am wondering about this!

Maybe that's old uncle Gareth's axe, he used to always hit it against his shield before casting Bladesharp. One time he did it while on a hero quest and killed a demon, which dealt him a mortal blow before it died, soaking the axe in his own blood. His friends on the quest brought back the axe, and it's always gained the benefits of a Bladesharp that way since for any of Gareth's kin.

Simon Hibbs