Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6299689" data-attributes="member: 42582">MarkB is correct that we have no answers to the questions that he asks.But the very fact that it makes sense to ask those questions means that it is too early to say that these are roleplaying-only drawbacks.For instance, it may be that the item imposes penalties on actions that are not taken in conformity with its desires (like a Geas spell). That's a bit boring, but there are much more interesting possibilities for giving mechanical effect to those sorts of options (eg at the other end of the scale, 1x/game day the player can take advantage on one check made in pursuit of the item's desire).I don't mind mysterious magic items, but the traditional D&D approach of guessing games, or using Identify or visiting a sage, isn't really a great way of achieving this in my experience. It introduces a procedural element into play, rather than putting any sort of mystery at the centre of the play experience.  Artefacts, with emergent or "awakening" properties, are more genuinely mysterious in my experience.</blockquote>