Object Reading: the definition of ownership

[Three_Haligonians]

Hey all,

A quick question about the Object Reading power (using the 3.5 XPH). I understand the power right up until this part:

This power will not identify casual owners. (Anyone who uses an object to attack someone or something is not thereafter considered a casual user.)

My question is about objects that have not been used as weapons. What do you think defines "casual owner"? In my current campaign, for example, one of the PC's has started to recieve annonymous letters that supply her with useful information. The group as a whole are a little worried about getting burned by a mysterious benefactor so they want to track down whose sending them and they think Object Reading will help.

However, I'm not sure if writing a letter is anything more than casual ownership. For that matter what is the "object" here anyway? Is it the letter itself or is it just the piece of paper? If the object is the letter as a whole, then I can see the original owner being the one who wrote it. Otherwise, wouldn't the shopkeep who had the paper be a previous one? The man who physically made the paper be the owner before that?

Am I reading way too much into this? (Pun intended of course..)

Thanks,

J from Three Haligonians

 

[werk]

Pretty subjective here, i think it would fall to the individual DM to decide.

IMO, writing a letter would not be casual ownership, you are intimately aware of the item. A postal worker delivering the letter (knowing not the contents or anything about the letter) would be casual.

I would say that it has everything to do with knowledge of the item. A gold coin would be casual, where a coin purse would be intimate.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I pretty much agree with Werk's opinion.

 

[Arnwyn]

Yeah, pretty subjective.

To be honest, the first thing I thought of is that the person receiving the letters is considered the owner... *shrug*

 

[magic_gathering2001]

If chucking a dagger you found on the street at a rat is more than casual then writing a letter is too. it involves more time more thinking and more of most things that have to do with ownership