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Magic item creation. How it works or what it does?
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8681063" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>For my part, regardless of system, I prefer magic item creation to be a process, ideally one that actually involves effort and choice on the player's part.</p><p></p><p>So, for example, in my Dungeon World game, I gave one of my players a fun magic item. At first, it just appeared to be a staff made of living wood, which meant that its bonuses carried over into his animal forms when he transformed (he's a Druid.) But after doing some research and learning more about his "living stick," he found out that it's actually a disassembled artifact: it USED to be one of the Scythes of the Sun or Scythes of the Moon, but the blade was somehow detached without destroying the artifact. As a result, he's been on the hunt for the <em>right</em> material to restore it to its full glory. This is a pretty significant thing, as these two druid orders died out a long time ago, and restoring an artifact of theirs with a thematically-appropriate material would be an extremely significant symbol in a world where symbols have real (if not always directly visible) power. There were quest hints and concepts on where this could go, but the character is currently on hiatus, as the player wanted to try some new things with a different character. We'll see if it gets resolved or not.</p><p></p><p>Other examples: dried-out wondrous pigments that need some kind of special liquid so they can be restored to proper potency; ancient magic items that once belonged to the First Sultan, which grow stronger the more of them you have; and magic items that 'resonate' with the magic a person knows how to use, allowing them to do more than they normally could (e.g. a Hat of Disguise for a normal character is just a solid, magical disguise; for our Bard who picked up non-combat Druid transformations, it allows him to appear like essentially anyone he wants, and it's a <em>physical transformation</em>, not an illusion, so it cannot be "seen through.")</p><p></p><p>So, if this player wants something of this nature...make it a quest! Make it an <em>experience</em>. Give the player actual challenges, not just in terms of "can you roll high enough numbers to kill this thing," but "to what lengths are you willing to go to get this? What price are you willing to pay?" Getting to the end of <em>that</em> journey will be so much sweeter than just pouring in the money and having a magic item pop out, and I guarantee your players will remember it for a lot longer.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8681063, member: 6790260"] For my part, regardless of system, I prefer magic item creation to be a process, ideally one that actually involves effort and choice on the player's part. So, for example, in my Dungeon World game, I gave one of my players a fun magic item. At first, it just appeared to be a staff made of living wood, which meant that its bonuses carried over into his animal forms when he transformed (he's a Druid.) But after doing some research and learning more about his "living stick," he found out that it's actually a disassembled artifact: it USED to be one of the Scythes of the Sun or Scythes of the Moon, but the blade was somehow detached without destroying the artifact. As a result, he's been on the hunt for the [I]right[/I] material to restore it to its full glory. This is a pretty significant thing, as these two druid orders died out a long time ago, and restoring an artifact of theirs with a thematically-appropriate material would be an extremely significant symbol in a world where symbols have real (if not always directly visible) power. There were quest hints and concepts on where this could go, but the character is currently on hiatus, as the player wanted to try some new things with a different character. We'll see if it gets resolved or not. Other examples: dried-out wondrous pigments that need some kind of special liquid so they can be restored to proper potency; ancient magic items that once belonged to the First Sultan, which grow stronger the more of them you have; and magic items that 'resonate' with the magic a person knows how to use, allowing them to do more than they normally could (e.g. a Hat of Disguise for a normal character is just a solid, magical disguise; for our Bard who picked up non-combat Druid transformations, it allows him to appear like essentially anyone he wants, and it's a [I]physical transformation[/I], not an illusion, so it cannot be "seen through.") So, if this player wants something of this nature...make it a quest! Make it an [I]experience[/I]. Give the player actual challenges, not just in terms of "can you roll high enough numbers to kill this thing," but "to what lengths are you willing to go to get this? What price are you willing to pay?" Getting to the end of [I]that[/I] journey will be so much sweeter than just pouring in the money and having a magic item pop out, and I guarantee your players will remember it for a lot longer. [/QUOTE]
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Magic item creation. How it works or what it does?
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