steeldragons
Steeliest of the dragons
Back in 1e (and forever since) someone in my old group came up with named "off screen spells", as it were, to describe the use of the Identify spell.
So, when we would find items and identify them, pcs or npcs, we could be told "in-setting terms" for what they could do. I continue to use the bulk of these today, with a few alterations and additions added over the years.
Off the top of my head, here are the most common. To begin, you start with:
"Enchanted" is a weapon that is +1 to hit and damage, shields/armor +1, and necessary to outfit a given weapon or armor/make it receptive to applying additional spells/powers.
"Mystic" is a weapon that is +2 to hit and damage, shields & armor +2.
"Bullseye" is used exclusively to create missiles, arrows of slaying or similar highly magical ammunition, that gives a +3 to hit and damage.
Those are the bases enchantments to be found on any magic weapon/armor. To those can be added any of the following:
Piercing: additional +1 to hit only, mostly found on missiles or thrown weapons. But not exclusively.
Accuracy: additional +2 to hit only.
Force: additional +1 to damage only, most commonly found on bludgeoning weapons.
Smiting: additional +2 to damage only.
Striking: additional +1 to hit and damage
[EDIT: this "Deflecting: additional +1 to shields or armor" is wrong. I was mistaken.]
Protection is additional +1 to defensive items (shields, armor, cloaks, bracers, etc...).
Deflecting is additional +2 to defensive items [/edit]
Specified Smiting [against X]: (originally, "Chosen Smiting") additional +2 to a specific being/type of creature). So, those old school weapons of "+1 [to hit and damage all of the time], +3 vs. X" were a weapons layered with "Enchanted + Specified Smiting against [whatever]."
Returning: self-explanatory, applied to weapons that would be thrown.
Repeating: a somewhat sci-fi kind of over-the-top addition, used mostly on crossbows, but possible on other missile weapons, that allowed conjured ammo or energy bolts each round without reloading. Yeah, we went there on occasion. Dwarf culture in my homebrew world have a mechanical variation that can do 6 mini-quarrel/bolts before needing to reload the clip. 1 round is required to change a pre-loaded clip. 3 rounds to reload an empty clip with 6 bolts. Most dwarven guards/patrols (in dwarven lands) are armed with these, with each crossbowman having at least 1 backup pre-loaded clip. But that's really another thread.
Elemental [fire, frost, lightning]: the appropriate variation creates flame tongues and/or frost brands, obviously.
Retraction: a common property of elvin made weapons [on Orea] allowing the weapon to shrink to the size of palm grip and extend fully. In the great tradition of things like Diana the Acrobat or Cheetara's quarterstaves and many other cartoon weapons.
elf-made bows that could be worn strapped on the hip, with an attached quiver that would shrink to about the size of a belt pouch/small hip satchel. When activated, the bow extended (to short or long bow length, short bows significantly more common to find than long ones) and the quiver expanded out to its full usable size.
Extension: another elvin innovation/property, mostly on reach weapons such as spears or staves, that allows the weapon to stretch extra length (usually no more than double its original length).
Suiting: was the explanation for the old trope that a magical weapon or, moreso, armor and worn items altered in size and shape to fit its owner, regardless of the creature's size/race or that of its previous user.
Permanency: of course, was essential in the crafting and the final spell on all magic items to "seal" the item, make the applied enchantments "stick".
From there, pretty much everything else was extrapolated. I recall a thief PC [waaay back in the day] with/find a short sword with shadow-stuff related powers. When we got around to figuring out all of what it did/identifying it, we discovered it had been fitted with the basic "Enchanted" (that was pretty much the base layer of any magical weapon or armor) and then a variation of "Elemental" that accessed the [then] plane of shadow. Plus things like Darkness and Dimension Door to account for other of its properties.
Whenever possible, actual spells were used to explain additional powers of weapons/armor, e.g., a suit of ethereal plate, for example, was a "enchanted" plate with a Plane Shift or Etherealness spell added on top...sealed with a Permanency.
So, when we would find items and identify them, pcs or npcs, we could be told "in-setting terms" for what they could do. I continue to use the bulk of these today, with a few alterations and additions added over the years.
Off the top of my head, here are the most common. To begin, you start with:
"Enchanted" is a weapon that is +1 to hit and damage, shields/armor +1, and necessary to outfit a given weapon or armor/make it receptive to applying additional spells/powers.
"Mystic" is a weapon that is +2 to hit and damage, shields & armor +2.
"Bullseye" is used exclusively to create missiles, arrows of slaying or similar highly magical ammunition, that gives a +3 to hit and damage.
Those are the bases enchantments to be found on any magic weapon/armor. To those can be added any of the following:
Piercing: additional +1 to hit only, mostly found on missiles or thrown weapons. But not exclusively.
Accuracy: additional +2 to hit only.
Force: additional +1 to damage only, most commonly found on bludgeoning weapons.
Smiting: additional +2 to damage only.
Striking: additional +1 to hit and damage
[EDIT: this "Deflecting: additional +1 to shields or armor" is wrong. I was mistaken.]
Protection is additional +1 to defensive items (shields, armor, cloaks, bracers, etc...).
Deflecting is additional +2 to defensive items [/edit]
Specified Smiting [against X]: (originally, "Chosen Smiting") additional +2 to a specific being/type of creature). So, those old school weapons of "+1 [to hit and damage all of the time], +3 vs. X" were a weapons layered with "Enchanted + Specified Smiting against [whatever]."
Returning: self-explanatory, applied to weapons that would be thrown.
Repeating: a somewhat sci-fi kind of over-the-top addition, used mostly on crossbows, but possible on other missile weapons, that allowed conjured ammo or energy bolts each round without reloading. Yeah, we went there on occasion. Dwarf culture in my homebrew world have a mechanical variation that can do 6 mini-quarrel/bolts before needing to reload the clip. 1 round is required to change a pre-loaded clip. 3 rounds to reload an empty clip with 6 bolts. Most dwarven guards/patrols (in dwarven lands) are armed with these, with each crossbowman having at least 1 backup pre-loaded clip. But that's really another thread.
Elemental [fire, frost, lightning]: the appropriate variation creates flame tongues and/or frost brands, obviously.
Retraction: a common property of elvin made weapons [on Orea] allowing the weapon to shrink to the size of palm grip and extend fully. In the great tradition of things like Diana the Acrobat or Cheetara's quarterstaves and many other cartoon weapons.
elf-made bows that could be worn strapped on the hip, with an attached quiver that would shrink to about the size of a belt pouch/small hip satchel. When activated, the bow extended (to short or long bow length, short bows significantly more common to find than long ones) and the quiver expanded out to its full usable size.Extension: another elvin innovation/property, mostly on reach weapons such as spears or staves, that allows the weapon to stretch extra length (usually no more than double its original length).
Suiting: was the explanation for the old trope that a magical weapon or, moreso, armor and worn items altered in size and shape to fit its owner, regardless of the creature's size/race or that of its previous user.
Permanency: of course, was essential in the crafting and the final spell on all magic items to "seal" the item, make the applied enchantments "stick".
From there, pretty much everything else was extrapolated. I recall a thief PC [waaay back in the day] with/find a short sword with shadow-stuff related powers. When we got around to figuring out all of what it did/identifying it, we discovered it had been fitted with the basic "Enchanted" (that was pretty much the base layer of any magical weapon or armor) and then a variation of "Elemental" that accessed the [then] plane of shadow. Plus things like Darkness and Dimension Door to account for other of its properties.
Whenever possible, actual spells were used to explain additional powers of weapons/armor, e.g., a suit of ethereal plate, for example, was a "enchanted" plate with a Plane Shift or Etherealness spell added on top...sealed with a Permanency.
Last edited:
