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Thread: Magic items in BR
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06-04-1998, 09:18 PM #11Gary V. FossGuest
Magic items in BR
Trizt wrote:
> ->1. Priests. There's still plenty of priests running around on
> ->Cerilia. In fact, I get the feeling that there are more of them in BR
> ->than in other campaign worlds.
> I would say that FR has alot more priests than BR. The amount of priests isn't
> in any way connected to how many magical items they may produce, it's their
> level. I would say that 90% of all priests are level 0 and 9% of them of such
> low levels that they can't create any magical items. The rest may be able to
> create magical items, but then comes the question, do they have time for this,
> as it can take wery long time to make those.
You're correct about the level requirements. BR is basically a lower level
campaign setting, which is the greater restriction on magic item creation to me
than anything else.
As for the few priests of Cerilia having time to create magic items; it doesn't
take them any longer than priests of any other campaign setting, so I can't see
any reason why they wouldn't. In fact, given the scarcity of such items, I think
a real priest would be more apt to create them. Magic items could sway the
balance of power more, they would make more effective gifts should a church wish
to curry favor, if a priest were going to sell such an item he could practically
ask his price.
> ->2. Elves and dwarves. Racially created magic items seem just as rare on
> ->Cerilia as human created ones, which doesn't really make much sense to
> ->me.
> There haven't been much information released about the cerilian demihumans,
> who knows wha t they may hide in their treasure vaults, maybe magic
> boomsticks? who know? You have to think that demihumans protects their macigal
> items quite much, as if they fall in the wrong hands it may implay the end for
> them, so they send out parties to recover everything which has been lost (on
> battle fields or by thieft).
>
> ->3. Realm magic. Realm magic is a really good way to create magic
> ->items. If a mage has access to a huge amount of magical power, why
> ->can't they channel that energy into the creation of magic items in a way
> ->that characters from other settings are unable to?
> Ususally there is a greater risk creating powerful magical items or using a
> more potent magical source while creating one. The risk of loosing consitution
> while creating a normal permament magical item makes a wizard to think atleast
> twice before trying, what do you think they do if they can risk their own life
> while creating a powerful magical item.
Well, again I don't see any greater risk to BR wizards than to the wizards in
other campaign settings. It has always confused me why a mage would go to the
trouble of creating a +1 long sword in the first place, given the risks, but that
hasn't changed from one setting to another, so the proliferation of magic items in
other worlds in comparison to BR doesn't really make that much sense to me.
> If you want to increase the amount of magical items without unbalacing the
> game, then use charged items instead of permanent items. Let say the PC's
> finds a ring of flying with 5 charges, then the players would use it only when
> really needed instead of using it always.
That's a really good point. I think it's the best option for magic items in the
BR setting. There should be more one shot items or those with charges to reflect
the way magic works in BR. Strangely, there seems to be many more permanent magic
items in the published materials than ones with charges. I could probably count
on the fingers of one hand the number of wands I've seen in adventures, but a
whole slew of folks have magical weapons.
- -Gary
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06-04-1998, 11:32 PM #12David Sean BrownGuest
Magic items in BR
> As far as I knew one would always lose a constitution poit from casting
> permanency EXEPT when using it on magical items (like this it is only 5&
> chance). See Create Magical Item spell (i think).
From what I recall (no, I don't rememebr where I saw it) you lose a point
of Con if you chose to make permanent a spell upon a person, and even then
there are limitations on which spells you can do this for. Makings spells
permanent on an object (creating a magical object) results in a 5%chance
to lose the point of con...I think these rules were changed because it
didin't make any sense for a wizard to lose a point of COn to make a
magical +1 sword...it would take a lot of wizards to make all the magic
items you find floating around in the average campaign...
Sean
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06-07-1998, 12:38 PM #13TriztGuest
Magic items in BR
On 04-Jun-98, Gary V. Foss (GeeMan@linkline.com) wrote about Re: [BIRTHRIGHT]
- - Magic items in BR:
- ->Trizt wrote:
- ->> low levels that they can't create any magical items. The rest may be able
to
- ->> create magical items, but then comes the question, do they have time for
- ->>this, as it can take wery long time to make those.
- ->As for the few priests of Cerilia having time to create magic items; it
- ->doesn't take them any longer than priests of any other campaign
- ->setting, so I can't see any reason why they wouldn't.
It still takes the same time for a BR priest as for any other AD&D priest to
create an magical item, but those few which are cable to create any seems
mostly be the head of the church/temple and have obligations to see that the
church continues to exist. It could happen easily that the highpriest has to
be away 1/4 year during making his magical item, this would implay that she
would loose all her domain actions during that period. So I think it's more
important to improve the church's power than making a +1 mace for an allied
ruler which lateron easily could become the church foe.
- ->Strangely, there seems to be many more permanent magic
- ->items in the published materials than ones with charges. I could probably
- ->count on the fingers of one hand the number of wands I've seen in
- ->adventures, but a whole slew of folks have magical weapons.
Can it be that everyone at TSR has to try to outshine all of Ed Greenwoods
PC's and NPC's when it comes to magical items.
Another way to make the players more careful to use magical items is to have
alignment dependent magical items, eg:
Dark Mace: For a evil aligned person this weapon works as a normal +2 mace,
while for good aligned persons this mace works as a cursed -2 mace. For
neutral persons this weapon acts like a none magical mace. To harm creatures
which only can be hurt by magical weapons (upto +2), thise will only be harmed
if it's an evil aligned person who uses the mace. Neutral persons who uses
detect magic or identify on the mace will only have 5% chance to detect the
magic. Other persons will notice it's magical with help of detect magic and an
identify will reveal that this weapon is a +2 weapon, but nothing more.
//Trizt of Ward^RITE
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06-08-1998, 06:30 PM #14Tim NuttingGuest
Magic items in BR
> Just an aside to this topic, does the definition "Low Magic World"
refer
> to the availability of magic to the general populous or the relative
power
> of the practitioners of magic.
Low Magic, as opposed to High Magic, refers to both, to a degree. In the
DMG you will find references that indicate that every village encountered
should have at least a level 1 or level 2 wizard who is a village elder or
some old fogey who can cast a few spells. This, and the frequency that one
can roll up magic items on the treasure tables, is about the average
campaign setting.
Enter Forgotten Realms. This world is the perfect example of High Magic.
Every footsoldier in most realms of FR is a second to fourth level fighter
with specialization bonuses and an average paycheck of about 100 gp a
month. Player Characters are, on average, not on an equal footing unless
each one has at least a +1 magic weapon due to the extreme toughness of
several of the monsters.
In contrast, Birthright is, in my mind, a very low magic campaign. Yes,
the regents in the rulebook all have very powerful magical items, but hey,
they represent, what, 0.0001% of the total population? (roughly) Their
levels are also rather low in proportion to other worlds where the average
king is a 15th to 20th level character. These items are family heirlooms,
passed down from generation to generation. How did Darien Avan acquire
elfin chain? Probably from his dad, who got it from his dad, etc...
(Well then, how can he wear it? That one's a D&D question - supposedly all
magical armor and rings and such size themselves to their wearer, a
blessing of the enchantment. However, there seem to be some items that
just don't obey the rule, and without any explanation. oh well.)
l8r
Tim Nutting
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06-09-1998, 03:35 PM #15Kai BesteGuest
Magic items in BR
> (Well then, how can he wear it? That one's a D&D question - supposedly all
> magical armor and rings and such size themselves to their wearer, a
> blessing of the enchantment. However, there seem to be some items that
> just don't obey the rule, and without any explanation. oh well.)
As I understand it, magical armor does not adjust its size to fit its
owner. It can only be worn of the new owner is of a similar size, or
it can be refitted if the size difference isn't too big. Some types
of armor (leather) can be more easily adjusted than others (field
plate and full plate, these are custom made).
Since BR elves are about 6 ft. tall Avan should be able to wear the
elven chain if he isn't too fat or too small. BTW, the entry on Avan
in either the 'Ruins of Empire' or 'Sword and Crown' states how he
came to own this armor, supposedly it was given to one of his
ancestors by some elf or another (I don't remember exactly, and I
don't have my books at hand).
Kai
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