mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP (04/13/85)
There was mention of the problem of a group of absolute scumbucket magicians
creating backpacks-full of magic items, and then using them with hilarious
impunity. Given the fact the Power That Be in the campaign didn't like it...
One idea that was made popular in "Master of 5 magics" (I think), and I now
use, is to allow theatric results if the enchantment attempt fails.
So, suppose you are a magician attempting to create the dread Wand of
Incinerate Evil-Baddies. You prepare the item, contemplate your navel, etc.,
and then cast the spell into the item. Question: does the magic go into the
item, or into the floor? This can be humorous, gets over-enthusiastic
types killed, and has many side-effects:
1) Creation of an item of destructive import is DANGEROUS, so the caster
does the dirty work in a lab equipped with powerful protections, and
uses items to protect his/herself, the lab, things in the lab, etc.,
and ALWAYS has healing magic and competent, loyal assistants within
helping distance, and outside of the blast radius.
2) Casting many spells in one item requires the risk for EACH spell, so
Staves of Select-The-Method-Of-Dooming-The-Evil-Baddie are rare because
(a) it's risky to make them on account of the many saving throws,
(b) any spell messing will likely destroy the partially created item,
possibly triggering any other spells cast so far, (bang-boom-wump)
(c) cramming the n-th spell of something noxous into that soapwood
wand is just asking for trouble. (should have used mahogany)
3) One campaign led to a mongo mage holding 100 (one-shot each) wands of
Fireballs (honest). This is the trend, that you get what actually shows
up in the magic item lists: lots of wimpy items, and a few good ones.
Actually, this was because of another agency as well, but I'll get to
that. But having the 100 wands turned out to be a disaster when the
roomful of trolls pounced on the pack they were in. (BANG!)
Each item is made by one person (or group), and so that person must stay with
the item for the intervening time. Remember the ill effects of staying
indoors without exercise for a month, and then JUMPING INTO COMBAT. How good
are your clerics with cardiac problems?
But the real limitation is that the risk factor involved in making magic items
is nearly as bad for many small items as for a few big ones. There's a save
for the item breaking during the preparation, one for each spell, and one for
the item when it's finished. That's a lot of saves, and a 1 always misses.
The aforementioned Other Agency: we instituted several different versions
(severities) of enchantment spells. The idea is you can make the by now
hackneyed +1 backscratcher or Handkerchief of Extra-Sneezing with an L3 spell,
but it takes L4 for the Longsword +2 or the potion of Flight, L5 spell for
the Axe +3, L6 for the Sword of Life Stealing, and so on, up to L8 for the
Vorpal Numchucks and L9 for those horrid Marvelous Pigments. This also
prevents low-life players from trying to make new artifacts. (L10, at least)
This concept was playtested, starting several years ago, by Steve Opre, who I
mention just so you don't think I did it all. I liked it, and it wins the
players' approval as a system the players think they can misuse.
But how to limit a true wizard from carrying those 16 wands? Not enough to
be confusing, but enough to be annoying to the Referee. I rely on archers,
who by reflex go for the sap reaching for the Thing in the Sack. This makes
those saps trigger-happy. Others I know use more subtle methods, from ambush
to monsters that drop glue on parties before attacking, to items that power
themselves by draining other items, to monsters with scrolls of protect from
magic, to (perish the thought) some natural constraint on magic (as mentioned
by others). However, I believe the constraint must be something to do with
the manufacture of the item, rather than it's storage or use. This rewards
players who actually manage to outwit the system and get 32767 items. But I
know they won't. There's no money in it.
By the way, what the villagers REALLY don't like is the fact that if the
magician creates a mongo item, and it misses it's final save, it'll probably
take out part of the neighborhood. Even a minor potion going bad will really
fumigate the area. The more powerful the potion, the more noxous the fumes.
(lethal is possible) And remember dues to the local Mages Guild...
This is,by the way, the system I use, and no-one else likes any other part of
my system. This shouldn't be any different.
-Eric
Message to S. Brezden: beep,beep