Magic Item Guidelines

Magic Items
Creating Permanent Creating Ephemeral
Artificing Guidelines Artificing Skill List
Magic Items Magic Items
Permanent vs. Magic Items as
Points or Currency Ephemeral Commodities Altering Magic Items
The creation and proliferation of Magic Items has a very large effect on any
Fantasy setting, as it enables non-Magic Users access to Magical powers. Because of
its powerful ramifications, this subject garners a lot of close attention by GM's in any
game system.
Following are some considerations for handling Magic Items, with a focus on my
particular approach. After a high level coverage of how I handle Magic Items from an
accounting point of view, there is a lengthy section on how I handle the creation of
Magic Items.
POINTS OR CURRENCY
The classic dichotomy for Fantasy HERO revolves around whether Magic Items are
treated as Equipment and cost money or are treated as Power constructs and cost
Character Points. My approach is simple: they can be either depending upon their
permanency.

PERMANENT VS EPHEMERAL
As a Campaign Rule, in my Campaigns all Magic Items must be bought as either
"Permanent" Independent Foci or as "Ephemeral" effects on Foci with Nonrecoverable
Charges.
Thus, if Independent the points contained in an item can be lost or gained as the
vagaries of adventuring dictate. If on Nonrecoverable Charges, the Item eventually just
ceases to work when its Charges are expended.

Permanent Magic Items

Magic Items that last until destroyed should be designed using the Foci and
Independent Limitations. Such items are considered Permanent and cost Character
points to create, but not to acquire.
Most Weapons and Armor, "Miscellaneous Magic Items", Rods, Staves, Wands,
Rings, and the like fall into this category.

Ephemeral Magic Items

Some Magic Items are of limited use; the number of uses is finite. When modeling
such items in the HERO System Nonrecoverable Charges should be applied as a
Limitation to the Powers in the Item instead of Independent. Such items are
considered to be "Ephemeral Magic Items" and do not have to be paid for with
Character Points at any time. They are treated as a commodity.
Most Scrolls, Potions, Salves, Wands, Rods, Staves, and other such items
generally fall into this category. Some Wands, Rods, and Staves may be Permanent
magic items.
To prevent abuse or over-proliferation, the GM should assess some penalty of time
or money or both to crafting such items based largely on how common they want them
to be in their campaign.

PAYING FOR MAGIC ITEMS

As stated, Permanent Items cost Character Points when created, but thereafter can
be bought, sold, stolen, found, or otherwise acquired without any further ado as is
typical of Independent Powers.
One exception to this general rule is that Permanent Magic Items are paid for with
Character Points if started with at Character creation (since this is indistinguishable
from "creating" the items in a real sense).
Magic Items gained during the course of play do not cost any Character Points to
the new owner.
Obviously the GM controls what items are given out as treasure, and what
the GM alloweth the GM can taketh away; thus wise players should not bank too
heavily upon their Magic Items or abuse them too often or else the GM should
take steps to divest the Characters of the abused items.

Starting with Magic Items via Character Creation

If a Character starts the game with a Permanent Magic Item, then they must pay
Character Points for it as noted above. However, to reiterate, Permanent Magic Items
stolen, taken as booty, given as payment in-game, traded for, or discovered in the
course of an adventure are not paid for in Character Points.
Further if a Character starts play with Permanent Magic Items, and any of those
Items are taken from them then the Character simply loses whatever points they
invested in the Items. The only way to regain the points is to reacquire the Items via
in-game events, or acquire other Items.

Creating Items In Game

If a PC with the appropriate skills crafts a Permanent Magic Item using
the Artificing rules during the course of play, then that Character must pay the Real
Cost in Character Points for that Magic Item.
Alternately if the Magic Item is made specifically for another Character (and with
that Character's consent), in which case the commissioning Character pays the Real
Cost of the item in Character Points instead
With GM's permission two or more players could even pool Experience Points
together to gather enough Character points to pay the Real Cost of a newly created
Magic Item.
All that really matters is that one or more Characters willingly contribute a number
of unspent Character Points equal to the Real Cost of the new Magic Item.
NOTE: This accounting of where the Character Points necessary to pay the Real
 Cost comes from is assumed to be part of the enchanting Magic and handled "behind
the fourth wall" -- i.e., not mentioned or referenced in-game. In the game, it is simply
known that the creation of Magic Items is a process that exacts a cost on the
essences of those involved in their creation.

MAGIC ITEMS AS A COMMODITY

Generally speaking it is assumed that Magic Items can be bought and sold as a
commodity in High Fantasy campaigns. The following section suggests some
guidelines for determining the monetary value of Magic Items.

Suggested Monetary Rates

As a basic guideline, the following baseline formulas for Magic Item costs are
recommended:
Concern Formula
Ephemeral Item Base Value Real Cost * Active Points in xc
Ephemeral Item Creation Cost 75% Base Value
Permanent Item Base Value (Real Cost * Active Points) * 5 in xc
Permanent Item Creation Cost 75% Base Value
xc = base currency of economy; gold coins in a gold based economy, silver coins
in a silver based economy, etc.

Figuring Active Points of Framework-based Items

Some multi-purpose Magic Items are built using a Power Framework, particularly
a Multipower or an EC. The following modifications to the above process apply in
such a case:

Multipower: Consider a MP as a single Power Construct with Active Points equal

to the Pool, +10 Active Points for every slot in the Multipower
EC: Consider it a single Power Construct with Active Points equal to the largest
Power in the EC, +5 Active Points for each additional Power in the EC
VPP: Consider it a single Power Construct with Active Points equal to the Pool
plus the Control Cost

Actual sales prices should be heavily modified by economic forces such as supply
and demand, availability, and of course game mechanics like Trading Skill Rolls. Also,
some Items should always sell at a premium such as "Rings of Power", mighty Staves,
or basically any beneficial item with 200 or more Active Points in it.
Items of high magnitude should generally sell at top dollar in a big enough market
pulling in at least 200% to 300% the base monetary value of the item. Still more
powerful items such as Artifacts, some intelligent weapons (whether built with Artificial
Intelligences or by some other means), and the like are effectively priceless and
generally sell for whatever the market can bear. Some metropolitan cities might even
have one or more consignment agents and/or auction houses where Magic Items can
be brokered or bought as well.

ALTERING MAGIC ITEMS

It is not permissible to alter an existing Magic Item's abilities, however it is possible
with GM's permission for a Character with the appropriate Artificing Skills
to add abilities to an existing Permanent Magic Item, or to improve abilities already in
a Permanent Magic Item by adding more effect. Ephemeral Items cannot be altered
whatsoever.
Crafting Permanent Items

The following guidelines apply to the creation of Magic Items and are intended for
use by players of Characters that have the appropriate Skills to create Magic Items.
GM's are of course free to just write up the Magic Items they want to use without going
through the process of making Skill Rolls to determine success.

PERMANENT MAGIC ITEMS

APPLICABLE SKILLS: KS: Artificing, KS: Investiture, KS: Runecrafting
Permanent Magic Items can take on almost any form factor and range from just
about any item of apparel, tool, weapon, armor suit, jewelry, artwork, musical
instruments, and even in some rare cases have the appearance of buildings.
Some Permanent Magic Items are relatively simple and have only one Power
Construct in them, but some are quite complex and are composed of many Power
Constructs; sometimes just existing as an array of abilities to be activated at need, and
other times combining together to manifest some multifaceted or potent behavior.
The only real limiter on what Permanent Magic Items can do within a given setting
is the GM's discretion.
DEFINE ITEM
To create a new Permanent Magic Item, first determine the pertinent details of the
new Item:
1. Base Item: Determine the physical form of the Item being enchanted. I.e. is the
Item a weapon, or jewelry, or a garment, or a musical instrument, or whatever.
Does the item have any practical mundane abilities based upon its nature that
should be defined in addition to any magical abilities?
2. Powers/Effects: design the mechanics of the Item using HERO System Power
creation rules
3. Description: provide some "fluff" or "chrome" summarizing and describing the
Item and what it does. It is sometimes fun to also provide some made-up
historical context for extra "flavor".

DESIGN RESTRICTIONS
The following design restrictions are imposed on the creation of Permanent Magic
 Items. An Item must comply with all of these rules to be acceptable.
No Item may have an Endurance Cost.
All Permanent Magic Items must take the Independent Limitation, but may have a
limited form of Independent with GM's permission.

VARIATIONS ON INDEPENDENT
Independent Useable Only by: Modifier Subsets of Independent worth
1 Sub-Profession less of a Limitation are available for
-1/2 Items that are only usable by certain
(i.e., only by Bards)
1 Profession or 2 Sub-professions groups of people, such as Usable
-3/4 only by Wizards.
(i.e. Bards and Enchanters)
2 Professions -1 For instance some very arcane
3 Professions -1 1/4 Magic Items are designed to be used
4 Professions -1 1/2 only by a specific Profession and /
1 Race, 1 Organization, 1 Group -1/2 or Race.
2 Races or Organizations or Groups -3/4 The fewer people able to use a
3 Races or Organizations or Groups -1 Magic Item the less the likelihood
4 Races or Organizations or Groups -1 1/4 someone is going to take the Item
Specific Race and Profession combo away from its possessor and use it
-1/4
(i.e. Dwarf Fighter) against them, thereby reducing the
severity of the Limitation.
RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTATION
Once the mechanical design of the Item is complete out of game, in game the
Character attempting to create the Magic Item must carry out some Research and
Experimentation prior to creating the Magic Item.
The Item creator must have appropriate materials for Research and
Experimentation, and this can be quite expensive in some circumstances. What
constitutes appropriate materials (and their cost and acquisition) is left to the GM's
discretion, as it will vary from Item to Item and campaign to campaign.
This is a soft control for the GM to manage how difficult or easy making a particular
item will be. If a GM does not wish to impede creation of the Item(s) being created they
may put few if any narrative barriers in place; if the GM does wish to throttle creation
they can of course raise the stakes. It is also an opportunity for the GM to attach
narrative hooks; acquisition of appropriate materials to make one or more Items could
be an adventure unto itself.
R&E RESOLUTION
1. Initial R&E requires a number of hours equal to the total Real Cost of the
proposed Magic Item
2. After this time period, an appropriate Item Creation Skill Roll must be made with
a penalty equal to the Real Cost of the Magic Item being created divided by ten
(RC/10)
 o Twice the required amount of R&E time may be spent to reduce the penalty
by half to a penalty equal to the Real Cost of the Magic Item being created
divided by twenty (RC/20)
o A failed roll may be re-rolled once after an additional amount of time of R& E
equal to one day per point the roll was failed by (the same penalty is applied
to the second Skill Roll).
o A second failed roll indicates a flawed concept and the Character may not
attempt to create the Magic Item until their appropriate Item Creation skill roll
has been improved by one or more levels.

R&E OPTIONS
The R&E roll could be made by the GM for the Character and concealed from the
player to heighten suspense.
A particularly bad failure may indicate, at the GM's discretion, that the Character is
convinced that they've hit upon the correct path, causing them to do the necessary
work to enchant the desired Magic Item only to discover that the Item does not function
correctly. This may even be incorporated into a setting as a way that "cursed" Magic
Items come into existence.
SKIP R&E
A Character can decide to skip R&E altogether, but suffer a severe penalty when
actually creating the Magic Item (described later).
R&E IS A ONE TIME ENDEAVOR
A Character only needs to conduct R&E to create a particular sort of Magic Item
once...if they are successful. Whenever they make other Magic Items the Character
must still go through the R&E process for them, of course.
ENCHANTING THE ITEM
If the initial Research & Experimentation process is successfully concluded, the
Character can create the Magic Item, using the following process.
1. The base Item to be enchanted must be constructed. The Character may
subcontract to craftsmen at whatever costs are deemed appropriate by the GM;
otherwise the Character must make all of the appropriate Craft skill rolls himself.
For instance if the Magic Item being created will be a Magic Sword, the
Character first needs to make or acquire a Sword to enchant.
2. For each separate Power Construct in the Item it takes one hour per 10 Active
Points to prepare and enchant the Item
o For each separate Power Construct in the Item a Skill Roll with the
appropriate Item Creation Skill and a Magic Skill Roll with the appropriate
Magic Skill for the Power being added to the Magic Item must both be made
with a -1 penalty per 10 Active Points in the Power Construct..
The crafter may opt to take twice as long for each roll, reducing the
penalty to -1 per 20 Active Points in the Power Construct.
If the Research & Experimentation (R&E) phase was skipped, the Skill
 roll penalty is -1 per 5 Active Points in the Power Construct.
This penalty may be reduced to -1 per 10 Active Points in the Power
Construct by taking twice as long, and -1 per 20 Active Points in the
Power Construct by taking four times as long.

FAILED ROLLS
If any of these Skill Rolls are failed the Character has made an error somewhere
but does not realize it. They think they are successful but once they are finished
creating the Magic Item it will prove to be flawed.
The Item is either only partly useful (if the Magic Item contained multiple Power
Constructs and some were added successfully), completely useless, or even "cursed"
-- which is to say it has a detrimental effect on its user depending upon the GM's
discretion and the severity of failure.
An Item that is simply missing a single Power Construct out of several may still
work fine, simply being less powerful than other similar Items, but Items missing critical
Power Constructs might actually be dangerous to use if they work at all.
OPTIONS
Again, the GM might decide to make all applicable Skill Rolls and conceal their
results from the player to heighten suspense.
The process of enchanting the Item is only complete when the last Power
Construct in the Item has been rolled for. Whether the time spent to craft the item must
be continuous or not is left to the discretion of the GM.
NOTE: This process is deliberately drawn out and difficult to discourage casual
Magic Item creation, but ultimately the GM should take the initiative to make
Permanent Magic Item creation as difficult or as easy as they want it to be for their
campaign. If easier creation is desired, simply streamline all the rolls down to a single
Item Creation roll, decrease the time involved, or some other option. The main thing is
to just be consistent and thus fair.
Frameworks
Some multi-purpose Magic Items are built using a Power Framework, particularly a
Multipower or an EC. The following modifications to the above process apply in such a
case:
Multipower: When enchanting the Magic Item consider a Multipower to be a single
Power Construct with Active Points equal to the Pool, and +10 Active Point for
every slot in the Multipower for the purposes of determining all Skill Roll Penalties,
time needed to create the Magic Item, etc.
EC: When enchanting the Magic Item consider an Elemental Control to be a single
Power Construct with Active Points equal to the largest Power in the EC, +5 Active
Points for each additional Power in the EC for the purposes of determining all Skill
Roll Penalties, time needed to create the Magic Item, etc.
VPP: When enchanting the Magic Item consider a Variable Power Pool to be a
single Power Construct with Active Points equal to the Pool plus the Control Cost
for the purposes of determining all Skill Roll Penalties, time needed to create the
Magic Item, etc.

SIMILARITY BONUS
A Character making an Item similar to an Item they already know how to make
gains a bonus to all of their Skill Rolls ranging from +1 to +5 at the GM's option based
upon exactly how similar the new Item is to the other Item, with +5 being for an
identical Item, to +1 being a mildly similar Item (such as a Character that knows how to
make a Ring of Fireballs trying to make a Wand of Firebolts).
A Character should keep a list of all Items they have successfully made.
RECIPES, MANUALS AND SCHEMATICS (LAB NOTES)
A Character might be fortunate enough to have a text to work from detailing how to
create a Magic Item. Such guides should be keyed to the use of a specific Item
Creation Skill, and the GM should assess a Skill bonus of +1 to +5 originating from
such a work.
A Character can also make their own notes on how to create an Item they have
successfully crafted. To do so they need a skill called Diagramming (Pro Tip: if using
Hero Designer, you can use the Computer Programming skill as it is unlikely to be
used in a Fantasy Context and in the user interface dialog simply type over the name
of the skill).
By spending a number of Days equal to the Real Cost of the Magic Item the
Character can attempt to render their knowledge and experience of how to create the
Magic Item into a usable form. and taking a penalty of -1/20 Total Active Points in the
Item, a Character can successfully produce full and useful notes on the process of
creating that Item which they themselves can use or which they can sell.
A Diagramming Skill Roll at -1 per 20 Active Points in the Magic Item must be
made at the end of this time. The Character may take twice as long to diagram,
gaining a +1 bonus to their eventual Skill Roll per doubling of time.
If the Diagramming Roll is made by 9 or more then the document gives a +5 bonus
to Skill Rolls necessary to make that Magic Item again in the future; if the roll is made
by 7 or 8 then it grants a +4 bonus, by 5 or 6 then it grants a +3 bonus, and so forth. If
the Diagramming Roll is failed the notes are flawed and are obvious useless. If the
Diagramming Roll is failed by a lot, at the GM's discretion the notes could look useful
but actually grant a penalty.
A Character with notes of this sort halves the R&D time necessary to make the
Magic Item in addition to the Skill Roll bonuses.
A Character can use their own notes later on, and they can also give them away or
sell them to other Characters that have the necessary Skills to make Magic Items of
that type for use in their own efforts.
CREATING MULTIPLE COPIES OF THE SAME MAGIC ITEM
Once a Character has successfully created an Item they no longer need to conduct
Research & Experimentation to make another Item of that type; they simply need the
materials and to spend the time to enchant the Item. All of the Skill Rolls required to
enchant the Magic Item are still required, but the crafter benefits from a +5 Similarity
bonus on each Skill Roll as detailed above.
However, if the design of the Item is altered in any way the Character must go
through the Research & Experimentation cycle again as if creating a new Magic Item,
although they will likely benefit from some form of a Similarity bonus.
NEW PERMANENT MAGIC ITEMS AND CHARACTER POINTS
If a Character with the appropriate skills crafts a Permanent Magic Item, then that
Character must pay the Real Cost in Character Points for that Magic Item.
Alternately if the Magic Item is made specifically for another Character (and with
that Character's consent), the commissioning Character pays the Real Cost of the item
in Character Points instead.
With GM's permission two or more Characters could even pool Experience Points
together to gather enough Character points to pay the Real Cost of a newly created
Magic Item.
All that really matters is that one or more Characters willingly contribute a number
of unspent Character Points equal to the Real Cost of the new Magic Item. This is the
primary hard control on the proliferation of player created Permenent Magic Items
NOTE: This accounting of where the Character Points necessary to pay the Real
Cost comes from is assumed to be part of the enchanting Magic and handled "behind
the fourth wall" -- i.e., not mentioned or referenced in-game. Characters in the game
are not aware of the concept of "Character Points" of course; it is merely known that
crafting Magic Items extracts a cost in essential vitality.
Altering Magic Items
It is not permissible to alter an existing Magic Item's abilities, however it is possible
with GM's permission for a Character with the appropriate Artificing Skills
to add abilities to an existing Permanent Magic Item, or to improve abilities already in a
Permanent Magic Item by adding more effect.
Crafting Ephemeral Items
The following guidelines apply to the creation of Magic Items and are intended for
use by players of Characters that have the appropriate Skills to create Magic Items.
GM's are of course free to just write up the Magic Items they want to use without going
through the process of making Skill Rolls to determine success.
Crafting an Ephemeral Magic Item is identical to the rules laid out for Permanent
Magic Items except that instead of having Independent, Ephemeral Items have
Nonrecoverable Charges instead, and never cost Character Points to create. They are
treated as a commodity like any other physical object.
Most Ephemeral Magic Items take the form of a Scroll, Potion, or Wand, but
endless variations exist. Most Ephemeral Magic Items merely hold a given "Spell", or
Power Construct, primed for use and usable a certain number of times from one to
many.
 COMPLEX EPHEMERAL MAGIC ITEMS
APPLICABLE SKILLS: KS: Artificing, KS: Investiture, KS: Runecrafting, KS:
Brewing & Concocting
Some Magic Items are indistinguishable from a Permanent Magic Item to the naked
eye but only hold a finite amount of power like Rings of Wishes or Swords of Nine Life
Stealing and similar Magic Items that have a limited number of uses.
These are built as if they were Permanent Magic Items using the rules given, but
instead of Independent they have Non Recoverable Charges. These Items do not cost
Character Points to create.
SPELL BASED EPHEMERAL MAGIC ITEMS
Ephemeral Magic Items that hold a "Spell" Effect essentially take the Spell's write
up, remove any casting Limitations (such as Concentration, Extra Time, Incantations,
Gestures, and Material Components) affecting the activation of the Spell, and apply
Nonrecoverable Charges and usage Limitations appropriate to the medium of the
Ephemeral Magic Item (Scrolls must be read, Potions must be drunk, Salves must be
applied, etc). Any Limitations particular to the base Power of the Spell are retained.
The primary advantage to do this is that it can have significant benefits for combat
Magic. For instance Scrolls, though they take prior effort, effectively can allow the
"fast-casting" of some Spells with stringent casting requirements such as lengthy time,
demanding requirements for concentration, and bizarre material components.
The two most common forms of Spell-Based Ephemeral Magic Items are Scrolls
and Wands.
SCROLLS
APPLICABLE SKILLS: KS: Scroll Scribing.
Scrolls are a particularly common form of Ephemeral Magic Item, used by Magic
Users of many styles for several purposes. In addition to their usefulness as combat-
castable firepower, Scrolls can also be used to transfer Spells from one Magic User to
another.
Rather than using a Scroll to bring a Spell-effect into being, a Magic User with the
appropriate Magic Skill may attempt to learn the Spell contained on the Scroll to his
Known Spell List instead (following the normal rules for learning new Spells applicable
to that Character's Magic System). This usage, whether successful or not, uses 1
Charge of the Scroll and if the Scroll only has 1 Charge it is destroyed by this process.
SCROLL SHORTHAND LIMITATION
Mechanically, Scrolls can be quickly built by applying a straightforward "short-hand"
Limitation which works for the majority of Scrolls to a given base effect as follows. The
Required Skill Roll portion of the Limitation ensures that only Characters that have the
appropriate Skill Roll (or Spellcraft) can use the Scroll.
SCROLL: -5 1/2
The breakdown of that shorthand Limitation is as follows:
SCROLL: RSR: Specific Magic School (-1/20 Active Points, -1/4), Requires Light to
Use (-1/4), 1 Nonrecoverable Charge (-3), Obvious Accessible Focus (Fragile; -1 1/4),
Extra Time: Full Phase (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4); Total Limitation: -5 1/2
SCROLL COMPREHENSION
Scrolls are normally only usable by a Magic User that has the Magic School Skill
appropriate to the Spell(s) on the Scroll, or Spellcraft. However, there is a way to
circumvent the need to have the appropriate School Skill to use any particular type of
Scroll; a Custom Talent called Scroll Comprehension.
Scroll Comprehension (Custom Talent):
This Talent allows the use of any Scroll bearing any Spell effect which the
Character lacks the appropriate Magic Skill to use normally. A failed roll may indicate
destruction of the Scroll without other effect, or a more catastrophic outcome
depending upon the margin of failure and the GM's whim. This Talent is upgradeable
to Spellcraft for +10 points.
Scroll Comprehension: 5 Points for a base 11- roll, +1 to roll for 2 points
Upgrade to Spellcraft: +10 points to upgrade to Spellcraft
NOTE: If a Character has both Use Wand and Scroll Comprehension, it only costs
+5 points to merge both and upgrade them to Spellcraft.
POTIONS
APPLICABLE SKILLS: KS: Alchemy, KS: Brewing & Concocting
Similarly to Scrolls, Potions are a popular form of Ephemeral Magic Items,
particularly among adventurers. Potions and their like, such as elixirs, salves, creams,
etc. are very similar to Scrolls in effect, but usable by the masses at large and
therefore more useful to those not initiated in the Magical Arts.
However, unlike Scrolls which on occasion hold vastly powerful Spell effects,
Potions usually are fairly weak, filling more of a "utility niche"
ALCHEMISTS
Normally a Magic User must know a Spell (or equivalent effect) in order to brew a
Potion based on the Power Construct in that Spell, but some Characters are
Alchemists and know Recipes instead of Spells, enabling them to brew certain Potions
and the like without actually being able to cast a corresponding Spell.
Alchemists must pay for a 1 point Familiarity for each Recipe they know. They do
not have any Spellcasting capability, or a Magic System to speak of; all they can do is
create Potions (inks, dusts, creams, salves, unguents, elixirs, and so on) based upon
the Recipes they know.
At the GM's discretion they could also know recipes for simple explosives, smoke
bombs, agents and reagents, glues, poisons, and other such classic Hermetic
Alchemy concepts.
A Base Package Deal is provided for Master Alchemists, but check with your GM to
determine if such types of Characters are permitted in the game setting, and if so to
establish guidelines for how powerful they feel Alchemical effects should be within the
context of the campaign (for instance some GM's might want to place an Active Point
on the abilities created using Alchemy; in such cases 60 Active Points is
recommended).
POTION SHORTHAND LIMITATION
Potions can be quickly built by applying a straightforward "short-hand" Limitation
which works for the majority of Potions (and by extension, inks, dusts, creams, salves,
unguents, elixirs, and so on).
POTION: -5
The breakdown of that shorthand Limitation is as follows:
POTION: 1 Nonrecoverable Charge (-3), Obvious Accessible Focus (Fragile; -1
1/4), Extra Time: Full Phase (-1/2), Restrainable (Must be Imbibed or Applied, -1/4);
Total Limitation: -5
WANDS
APPLICABLE SKILLS: KS: Wandcrafting, KS: Brewing & Concocting
The chosen weapon of many Magic Users, Wands are typically used for offensive
Magic, giving a Magic User vastly expanded combat effectiveness, able to whip out
attack Spells with abandon. Wands typically hold mid-level offensive Spells, with fewer
holding lesser offensive Spells, and a very few holding utility Spells. Magic Users tend
to hoard good Wands and pull them out when the stakes are high and the chips are
down.
Wands invariably just hold equivalents to Spell Effects known by the person that
created them.
WAND SHORTHAND LIMITATION
Wands can be quickly built by applying a straightforward "short-hand" Limitation
which works for the majority of Wands. The Required Skill Roll aspect insures that only
Characters with the appropriate Magic School Skill to the Spell effect in the Wand can
use it.
WAND: -3
The breakdown of that shorthand Limitation is as follows:
WAND: RSR: Specific Magic School (No Penalty, -0), 50 Nonrecoverable Charges
(-1 1/2), Obvious Accessible Focus (Fragile; -1 1/4), Gestures (Make Arcane Gestures
With Wand; -1/4); Total Limitation: -3
USE WAND
Wands are normally only usable by a Magic User that has the Magic School Skill
appropriate to the Spell effects in the Wand, or Spellcraft. However, there is a way to
circumvent the need to have the appropriate School Skill to use any particular type of
Wand; a Custom Talent called Use Wand.
Use Wand (Custom Talent):
This Talent allows the use of any Wand bearing any Spell effect which the
Character lacks the appropriate Magic Skill to use normally. A failed roll may indicate
destruction of the Wand without other effect, or a more catastrophic outcome
depending upon the margin of failure and the GM's whim. This Talent is upgradeable
to Spellcraft for +10 points.
Use Wand: 5 Points for a base 11- roll, +1 to roll for 2 points
Upgrade to Spellcraft: +10 points to upgrade to Spellcraft
NOTE: If a Character has both Use Wand and Scroll Comprehension, it only costs
+5 points to merge both and upgrade them to Spellcraft.
CHARGE STONES
This form of Magic Item is explained in depth in the Piedragemas Magic System
document.
Altering Magic Items
Ephemeral Items cannot be altered whatsoever (unless the GM determines
otherwise).
Artificing Skills
Artificing is a Skill based process whereby a Character knows one or more Skills
that correlate to the creation of specific types of Magic Items.
There are several means to a common end when Artificing, indicated by various
Artificing Skills. It is possible, even common for Artificers to know several Artificing
Skills, enabling them to make many different types of Magic Items.
The following list of Artificing Skills is not comprehensive; it simply collects the
Artificing Skills that have been defined for various Magic Systems presented on this
web site. A given Artificer may have studied one or more of these Skills or other
Artificing Skills that are not on the list, but note that some of them are redundant or
have overlap.
Item Creation Skills
ARTIFICING
KS: Artificing: The principle Magic Item Creation Skill for the practice of Wizardry and
many of its spin-offs.
Used to: create Magic Rings, Staves, Miscellaneous Magic Items, Weapons, Armor, and
other Permanent Magic Items.
Used by: Wizards, Magni, Sorcerers
Signature Items: Sword of Sharp Edges, Apparati of Maalys, Bottomless Bag,
Helm of Mighty Accomplishments, Books of Enhancing Education, Footware of
Hastiness
INVESTITURE
KS: Investiture: The principle Magic Item Creation Skill for the practice of Priests. In
order to use this Skill an Artificer must be able to cast Divine Spells and may only craft Items
that are suitable to the strictures of the granting Patron.
Used to: create Divinely invested Magic Items by the followers of some Deities and other
such entities to literally invest a portion of their patron's power into a physical item. These
items are usually only usable by either a faithful of the granting patron or at least those not
found displeasing to that patron, using a modified version of Independent as explained in
the Creating Permanent Magic Items document.
Used by: Clerics
Signature Items: Hammer of Purity, Blessed Vestments, Crook of Warding,
Vessel of Blessed Water, various "Holy" Symbols of specific Patrons.
SCROLL SCRIBING
KS: Scroll Scribing: Used to create Magic Scrolls holding a readied Spell needing only a
few words or a gesture (or the equivalent) to complete. Can also be used to transfer Spells
from one caster to another. (Ephemeral Magic Items)
Used to: create the Ephemeral Magic Items known as Scrolls. Perhaps the most common
type of Magic Item, Scrolls are Ephemeral Magic Items (meaning that they are Non-
Recoverable Charge based and therefore do not cost Character Points to create). This form of
Artificing is practiced by many types of Magic Users. "Scroll" is a generic term; the actual
physical representation of a Scroll (or the medium if you prefer) might be tablets, woven
cloth, candles, or something more outlandish.
Used by: Wizards, Magni, Sorcerers, Clerics, Elementalists
WAND CRAFTING
KS: Wandcraft: Wands are Ephemeral Magic Items that are like multi-uses Scrolls.
Unlike Scrolls however, Spells cannot be transferred between Magic Users via Wands. Much
like with Scrolls, a "Wand" does not have to literally be a Wand; any suitably obvious
physical form will serve the same purpose at GM's discretion.
Used to: create Ephemeral Magic Wands that typically allow a user to activate a specific
Spell effect a certain number of times. (Ephemeral Magic Items)
Used by: Wizards, Magni, Sorcerers, Elementalists
ALCHEMY
KS: Alchemy: One of the most common and popular forms of Magic Items are Potions,
Elixirs, Creams, Salves, Dusts, and similar things that typically result from some Alchemical
Process. Ideal for mid to low-power "utility" Items.
Used to: create potions, powders, special inks, and the like. Alchemical Items are always
Ephemeral.
Used by: Wizards, Magni, Sorcerers, Clerics, Alchemists
Signature Items: Potion of Healing, Elixir of Restoration, Dust of
Nonappearance, Fireproof Salve
RUNECRAFTING
KS: Runecrafting: The means by which Runecrafters make Items, Runecrafting focuses
on three broad types of Magic Items: Weapons, Armor, and Magical Wards. Though limited,
the essential practicality of these type of Items makes Runecrafting very viable.
Used to: create Runic Weapons, Armor, Tattoos, and Wards. Runecrafters make both
Ephemeral and Permanent Magic Items.
Used by: Runecrafters
Signature Items: Runic Armor of Steely Might, Runic Banesword, Runic
Hammer of Skybolts, Runic Dimensional Ward
BREWING & CONCOCTING
KS: Brewing & Concocting: More or less a combination of Artificing, Alchemy and
Wandcrafting, but limited to Ephemeral Magic Items of 30 Active Points or Less
Used to: create limited simple Ephemeral Magic Items such as might be made with
Artificing, Alchemy, and Wandcrafting.
Used by: Stregari
Signature Items: Charm of Eyecatching, Poultice of Healing, Elixir of Wound
Cleaning
STONE CHARGING
PowS: Gemstone Lore: A limited art used by Piedragemasi to make simple Ephemeral
Magic Items called "Charge Stones".
Used to: create simple Ephemeral Items that are roughly equivalent to Wands.
Used by: Piedragemasi
Signature Items: Sapphire of Force Shielding, Ruby of Advanced Bolts