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Large Magic Items


tooley1chris

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I realize MW states no knew Magic item's can be enchanted but are there rules in others similar systems/supplements for creating large Magic Items? Floating castles, air ships, magically fortified castle walls, ect...?

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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Apart from the Artificing rules from the out-of-print Corum supplement, there's no pre-existing rules.  Then again, Artificing was closer to non-human technology than magic.  You might also raid the clockworks section from Clockworks & Chivalry, also a steampunk magical technology, but I haven't read it yet.

 

In most Magic Worlds, the magic to enchant entire castles definitely belongs among the Lost Secrets of the Ancients.  As a GM you can create whatever you want, but PCs should be aware that castles are generally not portable.  (Maybe they can relocate or steer a floating castle.)  Enchanted vehicles should likewise be Artifacts from a Lost Age.

 

If you want to let PCs create such things, I would send them on a quest to find the aforementioned Lost Secrets.  They they must build the vehicle/structure according to very specific, and usually expensive, ritual requirements.

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Frank

"Welcome to the hottest and fastest-growing hobby of, er, 1977." -- The Laundry RPG
 
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Yeah, thanks for the references! Corum.... have to do a search. Surely someone sells a PDF. LOL.

My problem is two fold.

1 using my Manual of Monsters I introduced a Cloud Giant castle

2 I've been working on an artifice supplement and play testing with my group. A PC is an Enchanter and raised the question if such a thing was possible. My first response was "Yes, for a deity. " but it got me thinking about all the others times I've seen such High Magic and don't remember a reason behind it. Such as Eidolon from Shadow World, is an entire floating city.

I'm not really looking to introduce such power in my campaign but was curious if the mechanics were out there somewhere.

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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Corum is well worth it.  The book has a fantastic take on the Sorcery rules.  In a nutshell Sorcerers have a list of effects that they can put into their spells.  As a example you could take the choking and fire effects, throw those into a spell that burns and chokes your foes at the same time.    

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Okay so the Artifact rules in Corum can indeed be used for larger objects, one of the examples is a boat.  The thing is the rules don't really give any abilities like flight, or invisibility to a object, you are limited to three options.  

 

1) Quality - artifacts with this option are of superb quality.  Armor crafted with this option protect for its maximum rolled value, a weapon with this quality always does max damage. 

2) Mechanics - this option allows you to create clockwork mechanisms, beasts, vehicles, servitors, even limbs.

3) Plane Shift - the artifact allows you to shift to another plane

 

You can combine all three of the options into a single artifact, so for example you could have a Quality Clockwork ship that requires minimal crew, and can shift all aboard into another plane.

 

I think if you combined the Corum Sorcery and Contrivance rules together you might get more what you are looking for. 

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Can't you work something out using the Advanced Sorcery supplement?

 

I was thinking the same thing except with RQ3 Sorcery (which I think was what Advanced Sorcery was based on).

 

In RQ3 most enchantments either worked on 1 being, or 1 hit location of armor,.

 

For most things other than enchantment, Increasing any of these typically meant +1 POW per doubling. The +1 POW for doubling though, could be adapted and used to scale up magic items. You could give a default in SIZ or ENC, and just up the POW by +1 per doubling. 

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

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Mongoose's Hawkmoon has science-sorcery rules for creating artifacts. Each artifact type is basically a spell, which requires time, materials and a long term investment of Magnitude focus points (essentially Magic Points). CHA and CON can be sacrificed by the wizard to increase it.

 

eg.

Ornithopter

Casting Time: 6 months + 1 month per point of Magnitude

Artefact, requires Laboratory

Consumes 30,000 SP plus 10,000 per point of Magnitude

 

This spell is used to create a personal Ornithopter...For each point of Magnitude above one, the caster may increase the vehicle's speed, structure, piloting skill etc...

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Can't you work something out using the Advanced Sorcery supplement?

This was the first thing I peaked at but you are limited to about 10 sq.ft. per POW of the caster. A caster with 20 POW could effect 200 sq ft.

If I wanted a city wall, say 5000' Long x 10' high to hold an enchantment it would be 50,000 sq ft it would require 250 castings, and 250 point sacrifice of permanent POW to make it permanent?

Ouch.

Does the MW spell Chain of Being work with 1 sorcerer and 50 non-sorcerors? Ah, but even then they only share Magic Points, not POW...

Thanks for taking the time to look this up, Clapham!

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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This was the first thing I peaked at but you are limited to about 10 sq.ft. per POW of the caster. A caster with 20 POW could effect 200 sq ft.

If I wanted a city wall, say 5000' Long x 10' high to hold an enchantment it would be 50,000 sq ft it would require 250 castings, and 250 point sacrifice of permanent POW to make it permanent?

Ouch.

Does the MW spell Chain of Being work with 1 sorcerer and 50 non-sorcerors? Ah, but even then they only share Magic Points, not POW...

Thanks for taking the time to look this up, Clapham!

Well you could come up with a different Chain of Being spell that allows non-casters, and POW expenditures. The crossing the Hawkmoon and Corum rules might be interesting. If I am recalling correctly the Corum rules don't have POW expenditures, you need special crystals to power the artifact. The bigger the artifact, the more crystals you need.

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Yeah, thanks for the references! Corum.... have to do a search. Surely someone sells a PDF. LOL.

 

Sadly I don't think there was ever a pdf of Corum distributed.  It's the one rpg book that I have two copies of because 1) it's a wonderful book and 2) I figured with it's limited run the info it contained might disappear one day.  Best to have a second copy, just in case.

70/420

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Okay so the Artifact rules in Corum can indeed be used for larger objects, one of the examples is a boat.  The thing is the rules don't really give any abilities like flight, or invisibility to a object, you are limited to three options.  

 

1) Quality - artifacts with this option are of superb quality.  Armor crafted with this option protect for its maximum rolled value, a weapon with this quality always does max damage. 

2) Mechanics - this option allows you to create clockwork mechanisms, beasts, vehicles, servitors, even limbs.

3) Plane Shift - the artifact allows you to shift to another plane

 

You can combine all three of the options into a single artifact, so for example you could have a Quality Clockwork ship that requires minimal crew, and can shift all aboard into another plane.

 

I think if you combined the Corum Sorcery and Contrivance rules together you might get more what you are looking for. 

 

If I remember right, the limits of those three things are porous though.  Invisibility or flight can be achieved by mucking with the aspects.  For example, plane shifting is great for invisibility.  Flight can be tied to plane shifting or mechanics, depending on how it's written up.

70/420

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I think it would be neat to use the Demon Summoning rules to do this sort of thing.  Scaling up the Rune rules might also be an option to explore.

A spell that drains bound demon POW... Not a bad idea for an epic quest. Enough of this type of use to enchant larger magic items might corrupt the item or get the attention of hierarchy of hell (shadow)

Muhahahahaha!

Actually I think this might be how Solomon built his kingdom ...using demons

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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OK. Since I'm working on an alchemy supplement along side my Enchanting supplement I've included a few items that can ONLY be produced if Master Alchemists and Enchanters work together. I made a new item (brought to you via inspiration from Bard Games Compleat Spellcaster) called a "Soul Stone"

What this does is as follows:

Any being with a soul can have it trapped in the item (an expensive process)

When a caster attunes to the stone he/she can "borrow" MPs from the soul trapped inside or if that soul is a extraplanar being (demon) use the trapped souls POW as sacrifice for permanent POW expenditures. When the soul reaches 0 POW The stone shatters.

Thoughts?

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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Well it's similar to what was done in Warp World.

 

Also, with RQ3 and COC magic I could see some sort of "Bind Spirit" , "Bind Soul", "bind Demon"  spell  that transfers the soul into the gem. 

 

I wonder if it would be possible to work up a continual effect spell powered by a soul stone? 

Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself.

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Any source of POW is appreciated. Now all we need is more guidelines on using that POW for making magic items.

Not official Canon but:

It's a coming . It's a coming.

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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Necromatic Arts from MRQ2 had rules for places of power.  A sorcerer skilled in the right spells could tap into these places, drawing off points of POW for their enchantments.  It was one of the ways necromancers in the book got around the POW limitation on undead creation.  With unlimited access to a place of power a sorcerer could easily raise a army of the dead.

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