Examples and discussion
Given the apparent disparity in loots give out I thought a positive way to address this would be a greater sharing of ideas. Ive put together a list of items for people to both comment on and add to.
Please do not place items written by other GMs to this list without checking with them first. See talk
I believe a constructive way to use the example page would be to
1.Consider the level of the item. Add items you think are appropriate for various levels.
2.Put up items you think are well/poorly written. Why? What can we learn?
3.Share any gotchas or loopholes you've found. Save future GMs from suffering!
The dont even need to be existing items, make them up!
Some keen wiki person should sort these by level.
Emerald Moss Potion
| Game |
Portals III |
| Level | Medium |
| Description |
Emerald Moss Potion |
| Comments | |
| A well written item and balanced item. As a 20pt healing potion is valued at 1000sp, I would value this higher ~5000sp. - terry | |
| I would probably put it in as 1000, but 500 is ok. I presume it doesn't restore spell fatigue. That should probably be mentioned but all in all an excellent 'healing potion' mechanic. Mandos 13:24, 20 Sep 2006 (NZST) | |
| So this will heal EN and FT independently, rather than EN then FT? It is possible to interpret as "work out the amount of damage to be fixed as (EN lost/2 + FT lost/2), but fix all EN before fixing FT". I think the first is what is intended. It's unlikely that this will heal less points than a 20pt HP (and generally in a more useful way), I would have thought that 1,000sp would be nearer the mark, but no biggie. | |
Siren's Prize
| Game |
Portals III |
| Level | Medium |
| Description |
Siren's Prize |
| Comments | |
| Increating stats, particularly above racial max, is very tough. The downside is very damaging. - terry What happens if the Pearl is destroyed? Does it leave the previous possessor crippled or does the effect go away? Mandos 10:40, 18 Sep 2006 (NZST) | |
Ashen Steel hand and a half sword
| Game |
Into the Valley |
| Level | Medium |
| Description |
Ashen Steel hand and a half sword
Weight 4lbs |
| Comments | |
| A well written item. I would price this higher - terry | |
Bone Bracer
| Game |
Into the Valley |
| Level | Medium |
| Description |
Bone bracer (Right arm) |
| Comments | |
| A well written item. - terry | |
Tyrfing
| Game |
Little Ragnarok |
| Level | Med ??? |
| Description |
Tyrfing |
| Comments | |
|
Great writeup.- terry | |
Bucket of Carrying
| Game |
Little Ragnarok |
| Level | Med ??? |
| Description |
Bucket of Carrying
Thus the bucket containing 1000 gallons will weigh only 36 pounds. However it may
take a long time to fill or empty it.
Strongly magical or living liquids will weigh their normal amount, and the bucket will
not hold more than 4 gallons.
Provenance: Unknown, though undoubtedly of Nilf manufacture. Used in the kitchens
of Ashgird since time immemorial. Presented to the guild party as part payment for
warning the Ash of the Jotan invasion starting Ragnarok This bucket will be known by
anyone with knowledge of Norse cooking, and any servants of the Norse gods or
similar forces. |
| Comments | |
|
Great writeup.- terry | |
Waters of Relaxation
| Game |
Loot from Insel der Freiheit - | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Med ??? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Description |
Waters of Relaxation
Doses: 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
| Comments | |
|
Nice writeup.- terry | |
Potion of Animal Growth
| Game |
Loot from Insel der Freiheit - |
| Level | Med ??? |
| Description |
Potion of Animal Growth |
| Comments | |
|
Replicates an existing spell, providing stat changes that are lacking in the spell description. The addition of the trollskin prevents the death of the animal. Nice writeup.- terry | |
Blessing of the Heart
| Game | Lurking Evil |
| Level | Medium |
| Description |
Blessing of the Heart
|
| Comments | |
| What was it valued at Terry? Mandos 13:32, 20 Sep 2006 (NZST) | |
| I didnt value this. Im open to suggestions. - Terry | |
| Will this regenerate lost limbs, or simple heal the remaining stump? You have not put this heal or injury in contex to DQ, so this may lead to a wide range of interpatations from GMs. I take it since you have said heal and not regenerate that this will heal the stump. You say injury and do not say damage anywhere so I take it Jet would be able to heal lost attributes, that would have recovered with time? (say drained Willpower) Is this your intention? --Jono Bean 19:45, 22 Sep 2006 (NZST) | |
| My interpretation would be that it heals one Spec. As they are Specific Grevious Injuries. The term isn't used elsewhere. I would assume it would remove all damage and effects of one Spec Grev. It will most likely save a healer 12-30 hours worth of work to fix. I would probably value it at around 15,000sp (3000sp/charge).Mandos | |
Pearl of Health
| Game | Lurking Evil |
| Level | Medium |
| Description |
Pearl of Health |
| Comments |
| Terry. If a character swallows the pearl does it affect the healing performed on the character or by the character? Mandos 10:33, 18 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| Well spotted, that isnt clear. It effects healing recieved.
i.e. when a rank 3 healing ability is used on the target make calculations as if they were rank 8. (it doesnt make the r3 healing rank 8, they cant resurrect the target) a rank 5 healing spell have the effect of rank 15. |
| Suggested re-word This item enhances any healing performed upon the entity who swallows it for 1 week. |
| Is the item destoyed or does it pass to be used again like others I've heard off Michael |
Amulet of Hora
| Game | A timely Ghost |
| Level | High |
| Description | Amulet of Hora These amulets are small and intricately made hourglasses 1 inch long edged with true-silver and gold. Instead of sand they have a small pool of liquid star-silver. The amulet is tied to XXXXX and may only be used by them. Each High Holiday the amulet will store 5 seconds of time which may be used at whim by XXXXX. When activated all time will stop for everyone else and XXXXX may use the pulses stored within the amulet to take actions. These actions are restricted only in that XXXXX may not make contact with any other living creature while they are outside time. GM Mandos |
| Comments |
| Having had a thorny problem solved by what I believe to be this item, I am grateful for its existance. When you say "may not make contact" do you mean "can not"? Or does the effect wear off if the user contacts a living creature? What is contact? What is a living creature? Swarm of bees, Swarm of undead, Swarm of undead bees? Greg G |
| I explained this bit verbally to the players that received them :-) I wanted the leave the judgment for that in the hands of the GM. This is why I didn't explain what would happen if you did touch something. The idea being that most possible abuses or conundrums would be caused by touching living creatures and the GM is able to see how the item is being abused and can apply punishment as they see fit at the time. If I tried to detail it all the item would be twenty pages long and complex legalese. Best to leave it clear in terms of intention and leave interpretation to the GM at the time. Mandos 11:20, 19 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| Eexcellent... (taps fingers together :-) ) Greg G |
Piercing of Permanence
| Game | The Scary Door |
| Level | Extreme |
| Description | Piercing of Permanence These metallic barbs may be pierced through the flesh of an entity to make one non-permanent spell or ritual permanent. This will affect any spell/ritual that has an effect on a single target entity and has a normal duration of more than one hour. Only one piercing may be worn by a living entity however those of an undead persuasion may use as many as they wish. The ritual will dissipate as soon as the piercing is removed. The piercing also drains life force to maintain the ritual and so the user's maximum endurance is reduced by 3 while the piercing is in effect. |
| Comments |
| Is it resistable? Greg G |
| I had not considered the possibility of people attaching them to unwilling victims. So no it isn't. An unwilling victim can simply remove it anyway unless they had their will bound or similar. Mandos 10:52, 19 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| So binding will/enchanted sleep/mental attack/ agony??? etc would be permanent on an unwilling victim? Still, at 40,000 it's not cheap. Greg G |
| Until they pull it out. After all it doesn't require anything special to remove it. Mandos 11:20, 19 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
Estoc of Stat Swap
| Game | ?? 10+ years ago |
| Level | Medium? |
| Description |
ESTOC Wgt: 2lbs BC:50% DM +7
Should this reduce their MA to 0 they will be stunned until the weapon is released, normal stun recovery thereafter. MA is recovered a 2 MA per full hour. |
| Comments |
| This weapon suited Darien at the time wonderfully. He had/has lots of spare MA, and for some time gave him an extra DP required to stun. Destroyed in a magical conflagaration in a magical forest ~3 years ago --Errol 23:26, 19 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| Nice item, well balanced and a good clear description of the downside. I like it. If anything I would value it a bit lower but it a cool weapon. Mandos 13:38, 20 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
Aquilan Estoc
| Game | Orb of the Western King '93 |
| Level | Medium? |
| Description |
ESTOC |
| Comments |
| I've managed to avoid taking this anywhere where the arms on it would be an embarrassment (or have had an Illusionist), and only used it to bluff being a minor noble once (off-plane) --Errol 23:26, 19 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| Wow Alastair items are pricey. Mandos 13:38, 20 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| But look, pretty stones! :-) I was young and inexperienced at the time of bought it, as well as (obviously) flush, especially for a Low character. To add insult to injury, I got the Stat swap one shortly afterwards, and left this one in the cupboard until the other one got slagged.--Errol 14:01, 20 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
Depraved Ring of the Gigolo
| Game | The Lunar Winter Games - |
|---|---|
| Level | High |
| Description | WGT: 2 oz Value: 5,000sp This small magical ring is made from gold, and pure silver, with red stone set on the
top with delicate support work as a band around the set stone.
Two different people of the same family within the last 24 hours (stats can go above personal maximums):
Three different people of the same family within the last 72 hours (stats can go above racial maximums):
The wearer also gains +10% resistance to diseases and/or illness that they could have contracted from these liaisons. They are also 50% less fertile than a normal person, but if a child is conceived then the unborn child will gain the appropriate 'stat bonus' as listed above (except for the IV and MR), as a blessing on unborn child.
GM: William Johnson-Dymock, Jon McSpadden, Jono Bean (ph 828 2959) |
| Comments |
|---|
| We play in a world that has slaves and brothels. With some research/effort I can see no reason to not allow the max bonus to always be gained. Easy achievable stat bonus are not desirable in the game. Additionally MD provides a XP discount to some skills, so the item allows free XP, another feature not desirable in the game. terry |
| Such stat bonuses are not usable for training purposes e.g. You cannot use the various standard magical means of increasing PS to give you the stats to rank a weapon that you don't have the natural PS for. Stat bonuses only count for training if the write-up specifically says they do. (Hmmm, is this written down as a rule anywhere?)--Errol 10:16, 18 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| Yes and no.
Only your natural stats count for XP discounts (unless explicitly stated otherwise in the item) - probably not in the rules but reasonable and well established. But using stat boosting items and spells to rank weapons you cannot normally use does happen and is accepted - you just need to make sure you pay the associated costs in time/money/favours/backfires/... -- Stephen 10:27, 18 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| Darn, another example of why these rulings should be written down (Yay Wiki!)--Errol 10:44, 18 Sep 2006 (NZST) |
| With some research/effort I can see no reason to not allow the max bonus to always be gained.
This will of course be up to the GM of the game being played in. In the Alusia I play and GM in, brothels with three members of the same family working there are not a dime a dozen and cannot be assumed to be available. |
| If the rules not written down then its quite likely a new player/GM to ignore it, and possible that older player make forget. I can recall multiple instances of experienced players, within various gaming systems, not agreeing on the unwritten rules. Theyre reasonable and rational players that have forgotten/misremember the rule. Only recently a clarification was required for shadowform as some players were stacking this with other defense spells.
--Terry |
| Why do I think its reasonable?
We play with diverse cultures. Polygamy is alive an well in todays culture, the King of Swaziland has 15 wives. Its wouldnt be difficult to find a culture that support multiple wives and make an arrangement for your character. We play in a medieval world. Many instances in literature have the wealth price/merchant/whatever sweeping a peasant girl off her feet with his wealth. Many instances of multiple mistresses. Sure a brothel with three sisters is difficult, but once you've found one prop them a pile of cash and have them on tap. According to the players guide it costs 6sp/night for a wealth private room 3sp/night for a large meal x 3 meal/day So thats just over 3K to main someone for a year x 3 = 10K year. Not a lot of money for an experienced adventurer. As I said with effort/research I think its reasonable to do this. I would let a player establish this and provide them a write for the next GM. As a player Id always use it as a power up before the large fight I was aware preparing for. It can be setup/used regularly without any 'immoral' acts. The only downside is cost money.
--Terry |
Sawn off Falchion
| Game | |
| Level | High |
| Description |
Falchion |
| Comments |
| This was left over loot from a recent game I gmed. Total spoils for the party was 3,800 sp each Greg G |
Sawn off Scimitar
| Game | |
| Level | High |
| Description |
Scimitar |
| Comments |
| This was left over loot from a recent game I gmed. Total spoils for the party was 3,800 sp each Greg G |
Fira Armour
| Game |
Football of Purple Summer 801 |
| Level | Med |
| Description |
This Rank-10 armour consists of almost skin-tight soft leather made from Ugly-sheep (the texture of chamois) dyed black; the inside of the armour over the main body, as far as the upper thigh & upper arm, is lined with soft fur. Immediately over this armour is a metallic superstructure of a toughened Silver-Bronze alloy in a rococo design of flame-like curlicues and spirils [No penalty to casting]. There is a matching fur-lined helmet, crown-like in appearance, which leaves the face fully open but securely protects the top & back of the head. An almost impossibly unbreakable Cabochon garnet is set in the rim of the forehead. Besides sheer artistry of design, the Rank-10 armourer has gone into hardening the superstructure (+1 prot) & making it less restrictive (+1 AG). It has been fitted to the wearer, but may be adapted to a humanoid of approximately the same size by a Rank-10 armourer.
Should it be damaged it must be repaired by a Rank-10 armourer, or be temporarily down-graded. The armour is effectively non-magical (hence may have appropriate spells cast on it). However the Garnet allows the wearer to subtract 10 of the actual dice-roll (combinable with life/death aspect; but not Lesser Enchantment; doesn't affect a roll of 00) when resisting any Necromantic spell or ritual. Guild Valuation: 14,400sp |
| Comments | |
Ring of Resistance to Pain
| Game |
Was in 1994 |
| Description |
The wearer of this ring increases the Effective Damage required to Stun them by +2 (eg. a character with 18 EN would need to be struck by 9 points of Effective Damage rather than 7 to become Stunned). Guild Valuation: 3,000sp |
| Comments | |
Rotting Heads of Ill luck
| Game | Rio |
| Description |
These evilly aspected heads allow the wearer to reduce change a dice roll by 1 per head carried, this may be either the tens or ones dice and affects any roll, including damage. They can also be sacrificed in order to avoid any single blow, with the head taking the impact instead. The heads are from the recently deceased and will last until the flesh finally rots off them ((1st Blossom 806WK) They exude a foul odour as they rot as well as attracting flies lice and other such creatures. They may not be preserved in any way or the magic will dissipate. The stench requires willpower checks as per Noxious Vapours for the entity carrying the head with an effect equal to 5 ranks for each head carried. Eg 3 Heads gives an effect identical to Rk15 Noxious vapours. If used by Orcs the wearer must make a check (10% per head cumulative) or become infected with a magical infection requiring a Rank 5 Healer and 30 hours to cure. The infection will cause D+2 Endurance damage each 24 hours and the damage caused may not be healed until the infection is removed. For non-Orcs the chance of infection is 100% as soon as the head is touched and requires a rank 8 healer to heal the infection. The heads do not last long (2 weeks from time of creation). Gm: Mandos |
| Comments | |
| These were not actually available to the players as they got used up by the enemy trying to avoid dying. | |
Spell Crystal
| Game | Crystal Ship |
| Description |
This shard of Kyanite crystal has been attuned to receive a single spell cast. Once a spell has been cast at the crystal it may not be changed and additional casts will have no effect. The spell may be triggered from the crystal periodically and it will recharge over time. The BC for the trigger is 99%. The rank of the spell cast at the crystal determines the speed at which the crystal will recharge. A partially charged crystal may be triggered and will have a chance equal to the amount charged of working E.g A rank 14 spell that was used 12 hours ago will have a 60% chance of working. If any trigger fails the crystal will be destroyed.
|
| Comments | |
Ceramic Heart of the Restrained Soul
| Game | Skin Trade |
| Description |
This item is formed from two pieces of ceramic which can be placed around a living heart by a Healer who can resurrect. Once in place the item ties the users soul to their body such that if they die a Healer of Rank 5 can resurrect them. If the resurrection is performed by a healer of less than Rank 8 there is a chance the heart will be broken of (9-Rk))*10% (so 40% chance of breaking if the resurrection is performed by a Rank 5 healer. Healers of Rank 8+ may resurrect the user with a +20% to their base chance. Rank 8 Healers who are elves and normally restricted from resurrecting may also resurrect users of this item as per a Rank 5+ Healer.
|
| Comments | |
| Characters who have one of the original write-ups please see me to organise a replacement with the version detailed above. --Mandos 12:50, 8 Jun 2008 (NZST) | |
