Illegal Magic Items

[Dark Psion]

I was watching House of Flying Daggers and if you have not seen it yet, the "house" is a band of rebels who use what would be magical daggers in D&D (Flying, Returning & Homing).

I was thinking, with this group causing all this trouble, posesion of magical daggers might be illegal or at least suspect as a possible member of the house.



Has anyone made certain magical items illegal in their game?

Maybe several members of an Alchemist's Guild are busted for making Drug potions and now all potions are illegal.

A famous weaponsmith is convicted of murder of a noble and now all his weapons and declared illegal.

In a nation at war with Elves or Dwarves, items made by that race might be illegal or make you suspect as a spy.

A Church that rules a city might make all Divine scrolls not made by them illegal.

In the House of Serpents Novels, the main character makes Magical Ropes for the local thieve's guild. If a guild is taken down, how many craftsmen might be implicated by them and now items they made may be considered illegal?

 

[Khayman]

Magic arms and armour are the province of nobles or military, and the average schmuck had better have a good reason for having one. I'd imagine rules like this would show up in high-Law societies run by hobgoblins or accountants.

 

[Crothian]

Yes, there are many powerful magic weapons that people just can't walk around with. Most wands and staffs are right out.

 

[Khayman]

Scrying items (crystal balls and the like) are another easy target. Everyone likes their privacy.

Teleportation doodads and magic are another iffy area but easier to restrict rather than outlaw --- I can see high magic cities avoiding the matter by casting dimensional anchor all over the place.

 

[tarchon]

Yeah, I had a law in one particularly LG state that required newly created magic weapons and armor to have an enchantment that prevented the item from working for evil-aligned users (due to a state of war with a bordering humanoid-giant controlled state). The PCs learned of it when they were buying some potions and the proprieter asked them to sign a petition against it. I had some magic weapon smuggling scenarios planned, though I never used them.

 

[Rev_Spider]

How about licensing magic items? Maybe magic arms (I really see no need to license magic armor in a city that isn't run by despots) need to be license in order to be carried in the city. Maybe the guards at the gate confiscate them until such license is obtained or maybe they can license them on the spot.

 

[Dagger75]

Not really magical but I owning a Repeating crossbow was illeagal. The govenments police force used them only and anyone found with one obviosly stole it. I made them a little more powerful than the standard ones but thats about it.

 

[SamhainIA]

Shouldn't it make you wonder where exactly all of those "Hands of Glory" or "Hands of the Mage" come from? I Played in a game that made the creators of those items (along with those that sold them) require documentation to show that the source was a "legal donor" or some such.

-Pax
--Samahin

 

[Steel_Wind]

Yes,

IMC, the Tower of High Sorcery closely monitors and forbids the creation of items which may have disastrous effects if employed by non-magi.

The greatest example of this is the relatively innocuous potion of suggestion. In DragonLance, enchantment is black magic and the creation of a potion of suggestion, whose potential mischief commonly includes rape and can include incitement of war, is considered highly dangerous, unethical, and illegal.

Anyone who creates such an item outside of the Tower is considered a renegade and dealt with harshly. Those who create it wihin the Tower must not let it fall into non-magi hands, under threat of banishment by the Conclave.

 

[Savage Wombat]

I did have a game where any spell that had no purpose other than inflicting damage was banned. This got rid of a LOT of spells.

Wizards in that game used spells like "Theoden's Drill", which uses magical force to drill a hole through a solid object. The spell has detailed warning attachments instructing the wielder NOT to cast this at or towards a living creature, for fear of accidentally inflicting 1d8 damage for 1 rnd/level.