Re: How This Works: House Rules and Clarifications
Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 7:30 pm
Unusual Magical Items - Intelligent, Evil, Cursed, and Heroic:
Unusual Created Items
Magic, as formulaic as its application often is, is as much an art as a science, and there is always a lot of room for things to go not wrong but strange when it is harnessed. Apart from cataclysmic magical failure (as can happen with research of various kinds), there are three primary manifestations of these random happenstances when an item is being intentionally created: item intelligence, evil items, and cursed items.
Intelligent Items
Contrary to popular belief, it is not generally considered possibly by the most learned arcanists to intentionally construct intelligent items. It is more likely that an item will be imbued with intelligence by divine intervention, but it may also be the result of magical accident. The most common type of magical accident resulting in item intelligence is the death of an apprentice or creator in the process of making a magical item where something goes awry.
Intelligent items retain the entire consciousness of the individual trapped within, including their ego and goals. It is not always possible for the trapped intelligence to directly communicate, but often the intelligence is able to exert its will to some extent, either by rejecting users or insinuating goals, behaviors or responses to stimuli into their users unbidden. Intelligent items are often more powerful than traditional magical items as a result, with augmentation of latent magical abilities by the resident intelligence and made available to users that are considered worthy.
Evil Items
Items become evil for two reasons--one, a malevolent spirit might be nearby, guiding the production of an item without its creator being aware of it, twisting its intended purpose to something less savory. Alternatively, a deity might create an item for a specific purpose and its evil nature is bound to its existence for that purpose. In any case, an item that is evil will actively resist being used for noble purposes and may actually attempt to twist the intentions of its user toward more sinister ends--in worse situations, it may not reveal its purpose, recognizing that it can serve that purpose by remaining inert until such a time as it is in a position to best make a coup on its desired target, or to imperil its non-evil wielder in such a way to guarantee that it passes to someone that will share its sense of purpose. Evil items are generally not intelligent, as such (though intelligent items can be inhabited by evil intelligences, which is different), and do not communicate directly--they influence and they pursue goals based on the intent of whatever malign spirit shaped it.
Cursed Items
Cursed items are the result of incompetence or mistakes on the part of the creator, and do not involve direct intervention by outside forces. A cursed item results in the intended product, at least to most inspection, but with unintended (usually negative) side effects. These side-effects can range from the simply irritating or inconvenient (a suit of armor that takes twice as long to put on or remove, or that changes one's hair color) to the downright disastrous (whenever the weapon misses its intended target, it strikes an ally instead--or it only deals minimum damage--or makes the user easier to hit in combat--and so forth). These effects only become evident when the item is used for its intended purpose, and once they have been activated the items are exceedingly difficult to be rid of, requiring divine intervention to break the bonds they create with their wielders. A common secondary effect of cursed weapons, once they are used in combat, is to always spring to hand regardless of the weapon the wielder intends to use. Cursed armor is sometimes impossible to remove at all.
Imbued Items (aka Heroic Items)
In addition to these three types of items that can experience altered creation processes, there is a final class of unusual items. Heroic weapons. As adventurers travel about, experiencing amazing things and surviving terrible encounters, the residue of their experiences clings about them, contributing not only to their reputation and eventual legend but also to their self-possession and the things that define them.
These items are known as Imbued Items - they are assigned an amount of Item XP that represents the amount of imbuing or imprinting the adventurer's soul has done on that item and how important that item is to the adventurer. These items:
At the end of any expedition, each surviving character will receive a number of Item XP equal to the non-treasure-related XP they earned during that adventure. This Item XP can be distributed in any way the player likes among his or her current possessions (including non-magical items and animals). This represents the integral quality of that item to the identity of the individual and its association with his or her experiences. Magical items found will have a current XP total based on their overall power and enchantment level that will be revealed when they are identified as magical. The item XP value revealed by detect magic can be interpreted IC as the potency of the hue - helping to differentiate those items with minor sympathetic heroic residue from those deliberately created by magic users (which will generally be far more potent).
Animal companions can be assigned XP instead of items; they can gain unusual traits as negotiated with the DM, or upon gaining enough XP they can simply increase in hit dice, gaining additional hit points and to-hit ability as appropriate.
Each player will be responsible for reporting assignment of Item XP and tracking Item XP on the inventory line for a specific item on their character sheets. Any XP not assigned when the adventurer departs on another expedition is immediately forfeit. Each item should be tracked (including name, xp, description, effects, and history) on the Notes page of the character sheet by the player. As items are advanced, a master record will be appended by the DM on the character sheet thread in the player's private forum.
When using the Tribute to Living Adventurers rules, if an item that the Tributee has invested XP in features prominently in the tribute, then the item also gains XP at the same rate as the tributee (only one item per tribute). Naming the item in a Tribute adds to the storied deeds of the item and grants a one-time award of 50 item xp.
The following is the "level up" chart for items:
Basic Item: 0xp
First upgrade: 2001xp
Second upgrade: 4001xp
Third upgrade: 8001xp
Fourth upgrade: 16001xp
Fifth upgrade: 32001xp
Sixth upgrade: 64001xp
Seventh upgrade: 128001xp
Eighth upgrade: 256001xp
Ninth upgrade: 512001xp
Tenth upgrade: 1000000xp
Each time an item is capable of being upgraded, the possessor of the item selects either to enhance its basic function, provide it with an additional unusual trait or ability, or enhance the power of an existing unusual trait or ability.
Basic function upgrade:
Provides a +1 bonus to a relevant attribute/quality (for a weapon or armor this is equivalent to a straight +1 enhancement bonus, but for another item it could be an attribute modifier or a +1 to a specific kind of activity). No more than half of the total upgrades for an item can be of this kind (meaning it cannot be a First Upgrade).
Unusual Trait upgrade:
This can make an item lighter than usual, provide it with a kind of spell-like ability, or enhance a weapon or armor in new ways (like bonus damage types). The unusual trait must be narratively related to the way in which the item is designed to be used, or is used by the Hero wielding it. A base-level unusual trait cannot be more powerful than a first level spell, and is either charged or permanent. A charged items has five charges and can be used at-will, but loses the enchantment when expended. A permanent item begins at 1/week or 1/expedition.
Trait Enhancement:
There are limits to the power of a given enhancement--but once an item has an ability, that quality can grow and intensify. This could enhance elemental damage of a weapon, turn an item that stuns an enemy into an item that paralyzes or petrifies them, turn boots of jumping into boots of flying, and so forth.
Options for an upgrade include:
- The item weighs half of what normally would.
- Missile weapons can use a strength bonus.
- The normal function of the item is enhanced (lamps burn longer, knives stay preternaturally sharp, etc)
- Bonus to hit, damage, or save in a select situation or against a select enemy type.
- Upgrading spell-like ability with charges by adding another five charges.
- Upgrading spell-like ability from useable once per week to useable once per day.
- Upgrading spell-like ability capability's potency one spell level.
Unusual Created Items
Magic, as formulaic as its application often is, is as much an art as a science, and there is always a lot of room for things to go not wrong but strange when it is harnessed. Apart from cataclysmic magical failure (as can happen with research of various kinds), there are three primary manifestations of these random happenstances when an item is being intentionally created: item intelligence, evil items, and cursed items.
Intelligent Items
Contrary to popular belief, it is not generally considered possibly by the most learned arcanists to intentionally construct intelligent items. It is more likely that an item will be imbued with intelligence by divine intervention, but it may also be the result of magical accident. The most common type of magical accident resulting in item intelligence is the death of an apprentice or creator in the process of making a magical item where something goes awry.
Intelligent items retain the entire consciousness of the individual trapped within, including their ego and goals. It is not always possible for the trapped intelligence to directly communicate, but often the intelligence is able to exert its will to some extent, either by rejecting users or insinuating goals, behaviors or responses to stimuli into their users unbidden. Intelligent items are often more powerful than traditional magical items as a result, with augmentation of latent magical abilities by the resident intelligence and made available to users that are considered worthy.
Evil Items
Items become evil for two reasons--one, a malevolent spirit might be nearby, guiding the production of an item without its creator being aware of it, twisting its intended purpose to something less savory. Alternatively, a deity might create an item for a specific purpose and its evil nature is bound to its existence for that purpose. In any case, an item that is evil will actively resist being used for noble purposes and may actually attempt to twist the intentions of its user toward more sinister ends--in worse situations, it may not reveal its purpose, recognizing that it can serve that purpose by remaining inert until such a time as it is in a position to best make a coup on its desired target, or to imperil its non-evil wielder in such a way to guarantee that it passes to someone that will share its sense of purpose. Evil items are generally not intelligent, as such (though intelligent items can be inhabited by evil intelligences, which is different), and do not communicate directly--they influence and they pursue goals based on the intent of whatever malign spirit shaped it.
Cursed Items
Cursed items are the result of incompetence or mistakes on the part of the creator, and do not involve direct intervention by outside forces. A cursed item results in the intended product, at least to most inspection, but with unintended (usually negative) side effects. These side-effects can range from the simply irritating or inconvenient (a suit of armor that takes twice as long to put on or remove, or that changes one's hair color) to the downright disastrous (whenever the weapon misses its intended target, it strikes an ally instead--or it only deals minimum damage--or makes the user easier to hit in combat--and so forth). These effects only become evident when the item is used for its intended purpose, and once they have been activated the items are exceedingly difficult to be rid of, requiring divine intervention to break the bonds they create with their wielders. A common secondary effect of cursed weapons, once they are used in combat, is to always spring to hand regardless of the weapon the wielder intends to use. Cursed armor is sometimes impossible to remove at all.
Imbued Items (aka Heroic Items)
In addition to these three types of items that can experience altered creation processes, there is a final class of unusual items. Heroic weapons. As adventurers travel about, experiencing amazing things and surviving terrible encounters, the residue of their experiences clings about them, contributing not only to their reputation and eventual legend but also to their self-possession and the things that define them.
These items are known as Imbued Items - they are assigned an amount of Item XP that represents the amount of imbuing or imprinting the adventurer's soul has done on that item and how important that item is to the adventurer. These items:
- Generally contain secondary effects in addition to a "bonus," following the imbuing rules below
- Are tied to the alignment/nature of their previous owner. This is not "intelligence" or "evil items" as can happen with intentional creation (where the item can willfully act of its own accord). Instead, it is impressions, inklings, and desires that can bleed from the item into the consciousness of the wielder. The greater the disparity between then item's XP and the wielder's XP, the more it is recommended that the item impact the character. I will provide these in private forums where appropriate and it is up to the player to decide how and if they wish to roleplay this element. It can be recognized and ignored by the character or impact the character's thoughts or actions at the player's choice.
- Investing one's own Item XP into the item will dampen and eliminate this effect as the object becomes attuned to a new wielder.
- Imbued items can be discerned from Created Items with Detect Magic. The powers of both types of items are researched the same way.
- Research into an imbued magic item can be used to learn more about the previous owner, as the magic imbued is directly tied to the previous owner's essence.
At the end of any expedition, each surviving character will receive a number of Item XP equal to the non-treasure-related XP they earned during that adventure. This Item XP can be distributed in any way the player likes among his or her current possessions (including non-magical items and animals). This represents the integral quality of that item to the identity of the individual and its association with his or her experiences. Magical items found will have a current XP total based on their overall power and enchantment level that will be revealed when they are identified as magical. The item XP value revealed by detect magic can be interpreted IC as the potency of the hue - helping to differentiate those items with minor sympathetic heroic residue from those deliberately created by magic users (which will generally be far more potent).
Animal companions can be assigned XP instead of items; they can gain unusual traits as negotiated with the DM, or upon gaining enough XP they can simply increase in hit dice, gaining additional hit points and to-hit ability as appropriate.
Each player will be responsible for reporting assignment of Item XP and tracking Item XP on the inventory line for a specific item on their character sheets. Any XP not assigned when the adventurer departs on another expedition is immediately forfeit. Each item should be tracked (including name, xp, description, effects, and history) on the Notes page of the character sheet by the player. As items are advanced, a master record will be appended by the DM on the character sheet thread in the player's private forum.
When using the Tribute to Living Adventurers rules, if an item that the Tributee has invested XP in features prominently in the tribute, then the item also gains XP at the same rate as the tributee (only one item per tribute). Naming the item in a Tribute adds to the storied deeds of the item and grants a one-time award of 50 item xp.
The following is the "level up" chart for items:
Basic Item: 0xp
First upgrade: 2001xp
Second upgrade: 4001xp
Third upgrade: 8001xp
Fourth upgrade: 16001xp
Fifth upgrade: 32001xp
Sixth upgrade: 64001xp
Seventh upgrade: 128001xp
Eighth upgrade: 256001xp
Ninth upgrade: 512001xp
Tenth upgrade: 1000000xp
Each time an item is capable of being upgraded, the possessor of the item selects either to enhance its basic function, provide it with an additional unusual trait or ability, or enhance the power of an existing unusual trait or ability.
Basic function upgrade:
Provides a +1 bonus to a relevant attribute/quality (for a weapon or armor this is equivalent to a straight +1 enhancement bonus, but for another item it could be an attribute modifier or a +1 to a specific kind of activity). No more than half of the total upgrades for an item can be of this kind (meaning it cannot be a First Upgrade).
Unusual Trait upgrade:
This can make an item lighter than usual, provide it with a kind of spell-like ability, or enhance a weapon or armor in new ways (like bonus damage types). The unusual trait must be narratively related to the way in which the item is designed to be used, or is used by the Hero wielding it. A base-level unusual trait cannot be more powerful than a first level spell, and is either charged or permanent. A charged items has five charges and can be used at-will, but loses the enchantment when expended. A permanent item begins at 1/week or 1/expedition.
Trait Enhancement:
There are limits to the power of a given enhancement--but once an item has an ability, that quality can grow and intensify. This could enhance elemental damage of a weapon, turn an item that stuns an enemy into an item that paralyzes or petrifies them, turn boots of jumping into boots of flying, and so forth.
Options for an upgrade include:
- The item weighs half of what normally would.
- Missile weapons can use a strength bonus.
- The normal function of the item is enhanced (lamps burn longer, knives stay preternaturally sharp, etc)
- Bonus to hit, damage, or save in a select situation or against a select enemy type.
- Upgrading spell-like ability with charges by adding another five charges.
- Upgrading spell-like ability from useable once per week to useable once per day.
- Upgrading spell-like ability capability's potency one spell level.