From: Neil Asato <[n--sa--o] at [wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu]> Subject: BTRC: magic items To: jerry (Jerry Stratton) Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1993 14:53:17 -1000 (HST) Variant Rules for Magic Items in BTRC copyright 1993 by Neil Asato Author's note: This article is for a campaign that has had the development of magic equal to TL 16 technology, so the GM must decide whether or not to incorpaorate anything in this article into their own campaign. Alteration to the table for materials that can be enchanted: Material point/kg kg/(m^3) point/(m^3) Pine 7 550 38,500 Maple 10 600 6,000 Oak 15 690 10,350 Limestone 10 2,700 27,000 Sandstone 15 2,500 37,500 Granite 20 2,600 52,000 Obsidian 50 2,500 125,000 Opal 100 2,500 250,000 Quartz 200 2,690 538,000 Ruby 25,000 3,900 97,500,000 Emerald 7,000 3,900 27,300,000 Diamond 100,000 3,520 352,000,000 Chrysoberyl 18,000 2,400 43,200,000 Topaz 70,000 3,900 273,000,000 Sapphire 25,000 3,900 97,500,000 Glass 70 2,500 175,000 Iron 50 7,900 395,000 Meteoric Iron 100 8,100 810,000 Gold 15 19,300 289,500 Silver 10 10,500 105,000 Copper 10 8,900 89,000 Aluminum 25 2,700 67,500 Titanium 70 4,500 315,000 Steel 25 7,800 195,000 Ice 2 920 1,840 Bone (Power of creature)/2 1,400 Leather (creature's Power)/5 700 Dead creature Initial Power 750 Cloth 3 1,200-1,400 3,600-4,200 Plastic 3 910-2,200 2,730-6,600 Notes on the table: The "points" depends on whether or not the item qualifies as being "well-crafted for enchantment." This requires that someone with the appropriate Magery skill be involved in the construction of the item. What is "well-crafted" for one type of magic may not qualify for another. An example would be that an item made for Religious enchantment will not be treated as being "well-crafted" for Generic type of enchantment. Items that are not "well-crafted" can only hold its amount of enchantment in Points (Attribute or Skill). Items that qualify as being "well-crafted" can hold its amount in Levels (Attribute or Skill). If a "well-crafted" magic item suffers any damage to its BP, then the enchantment is lost as in the rules. If a magic item that is not "well-crafted" AND does not have all of its "enchanment space" used, then it will only lose its enchanment if it suffers damage more than the proportional unused "magic space." Example: 10 % of an item's allowable "space" is unused, so it can lose 10 % of its BP before losing its enchantment. This is generally used for items that have to withstand the effects of time and erosion while still retaining their enchantments, like structures like Stonehenge. This resistance to damage is due to the large "error tolerance" in the enchantments, but comes at the price of inefficiency with the more powerful enchanments. Woods have densities ranging from 400 to 800 kg/ (m^3). In some cases, I was not certain as to the density, so I approximated with the closest related substances (in particular: maple, opal, chrysoberyl, bone, leather, and dead creatures). I treated meteoric iron as one of the more dense iron alloys. In general, the GM may include a 5 % deviation for point/kg (depends on bonding and arrangements of atoms) and the density. In general, items that came from things that were once alive and enchanted to act like it did when alive (basically zombies and skeletons) can be treated as being "finely crafted" while getting the benefits of unused "enchantment space" like "unfinely crafted" ones. Similarily, parts from strongly magical beings can get similar benefits (like a unicorn's horn). Some types of magic which are strongly associated with certain substances can get similar benfits, but at the expense of being unable to enchant other substances due to this specialization. It is possible for living materials to be able to hold enchantments far greater than it might otherwise hold by having grown in an area with greater than Power of 1 ambiently, provided all of the following conditions have been met: the Power must be greater than what the living plant has, the Power must be from a non-living source (generally some low-level gate; this is because living sources normally have "impurities" which is the same problem that causes unintentionally intelligent enchanted items when taking Power from some living beings), and the living material must have been in the area at least most of its growth. Pre-enchantment Work From the table above, the material used has quite a bit of influence on the portability of the item. The choice of material is in turn affected by its cost. For most enchantments, diamonds is the ideal material. They are manufactured magically by the following steps: 1) Obtain carbon. This is usually done by heating wood in a low- oxygen environment. This is done magically by using a heat spell on the wood in a pressure cooker-like arrangement with a air inlet valve. 2) Convert carbon into diamond. Use a combination spell of heat manipulation (high temperature), force manipulation (to squeeze the carbon), and transformation (to weaken the bonding and repulsion of the carbon: negative modifier to AV and BP). The idea is to get a modified effect of greater than 20, then you get a diamond. 3) Release the air valve, and then remove the diamond. The diamond is then usually broken up into smaller pieces for enchantment. Most magic oriented shops will have rough diamonds for sale (sort of like screws and other equipment are sold in hardware shops). Normally, the cost is generally 1 credit/100 effect for the small diamonds, with 200 effect diamonds being the most common. Enchantment Process Nearly all wizards of at least the generic magic type use a technique known as "spell stacking." It involves using a spell similar to the Spell of the Common Mind to combine the base effect of the same spell from different sources (wizards or magic items) into a single base effect. There are some rquirements that must be met for this to work: 1) All of the spells cast must be the same and of the same magic type (generic magic would not be able combine with gizmo magic), 2) All of the spells must be successfully cast, and 3) All of the casters must be cooperating (the casters must be working with and aware of each other, and, if applicable, the movement of the spell must be agreed upon). If the conditions have been met, then the base effects can be added together. The richer and powerful wizards will often have numerous enchanted jewelry on them that use spell stacking to create formidable base effects. Similarily, nearly all professional enchanters and healers will use spell stacking to enchant extremely powerful objects or heal beings with high Power, without having to exceed their aptitude Power. The energy used to enchant items is dependent on economic, technological, and social effects of the area. In areas where there are industries involved in farming animals and high Power plants, the enchanter might use that as a source of Power (generally between 2 and 8 Power). While using the Power from sentient beings do exist, they are primarily used by ritual magic users, since these enchantments often take on characteristics of the beings they came from. In general, most enchanters favor converting "normal energy" (like heat, light, and electricity) into Power. This works by treating the base effect gotten as Attribute points. Some examples are: solar furnaces, using the heat from lava, electrical outlets, and wood-burning furnaces. Those normally are used to get up to around 100 points. For the most powerful enchantments, using a variant of the Denature spell to convert explosives into points of effect are used (1 effect/gram; average density of 1 gram/cm^3 of explosive; as with Denature spell, it should be done in a well-ventilated area). When the enchanter has the materials and the shop ready, the following steps are used: 1) Use the enchant item spell. 2) Put skills and non-Power attributes into the item. 3) Put the Power attribute in. 4) Item is ready to use (Some enchanters might want to check to see if any aberrant side-effects have occured, like personality traits that were not planned). Although spell-using magic items do not need Concentration skills to cast spells, it will usually be included for efficiency. The ideal ratio of Concentration to Willpower is 22 % for getting the same base effect. Techno-magic/magitech items use different rules for construction. They are constructed in the same way as normal technological items (like using mental tasks to draw up the designs), but use the Magery skill in magitech as the main skill. The magery skill is normally augmented by skills involved in technology, like electrical engineering to aid in electrical-based magic items. The items do not have to have "enchanment space" for the enchantment spell or be filled with Power. This is because they are not true magic items, being based on scientific principles of transforming, transferring, and control of Power. The enchanter still needs to have the "spells" that is to be "placed in the magic item" (actually the design skills for that power). They must get their energy from an outside source, which works similar to a channel or conversion spell in principle. This means that a 100 point energy source will generate 100 base effect, which the items could use. The item must be designed for the energy source (one that operates on kinetic energy will not be able to use electricity for Power). Those with "computer systems" (to have Intelligence, Willpower, Bravado, and personality) normally require 1 base effect to operate. The base effect can be distributed among different "systems" as needed. An alternative source of energy is to use living Power (normally the user's Power), which is treated as the item's Power (the user does not need to project power into the device, just properly attach it). Enchantment Correction The movement rate for magic items (page 103) needs the following corrections and clarifications. Walking: velocity(m/s) = strength after lifting own mass. acceleration: 1/4 max. speed (n). deceleration: 1/2 max. speed (n). Flying, swimming, slithering: 2 * mass (for calculations). Wheeled: 1/2 mass (for calculations). The example correction: 100 kg automaton with Strength 20 (400 kg lifting possible). 400 kg - 100 kg = 300 kg (300 kg)^(1/2) = 17 Strength => 17 m/s Sample result: Bimmer: 37 m/s (135 kph, 84 mph), accel.= 9 m/s, decel.=18 m/s; wheels 28 m/s (101 kph, 63 mph), accel.= 7 m/s, decel.=14 m/s; in air Sample Prices With the effects of the "spell stacking" method, energy-to-Power conversion method, and relatively cheap magic-produced diamonds, this has significant impact on the prevalence of magic items. Magic items become competitive with their technological equivalents. Casting costs are generally modified as follows: The base cost for casting a temporary spell is ((base effect)^2)/100 (u) in credits. "Permanent" spells (including enchanting magic items) cost twice the base cost. Market prices of magic items are generally about twice the base cost to make them. The following list are the base costs for the magic items: Crystal sword: 324 megacredits (needs 90,000 worth of effect each). Medallion of clear thought: 784 credits for the normal version. : 127 credits for the 15 Power version. Guns(steel): Effect held Base enchanting cost(credits) 12 6 25 25 37 55 50 100 75 225 100 400 125 625 Bullets(diamond core): 1/4cm*1/4cm*1/4cm = 5.5 points = 4 Power (if finely crafted for this). Generally costs 4 credits each due to restrictions. Arrows: same as bullets. Shotgun slugs: 20mm cube equivalent core = 2816 points = 106 Power. 317,195 credit minimum per slug (used only by military related forces). Cannon balls (30 mm): 4963 points = 140 Power = 985,255 credit minimum. (20 mm): 1474 points = 76 Power = 86,907 credit minimum. Radio ring: 560 credits Forcefield amulet: 240 credits. : 312 credits for the Power 10 version (base effect:30). Dealer's choice: 327 credits. Slinger: 915 credits. Wand of pain: 414 credits. Smartwhip: 162 credits. Magic lantern: 190 credits. Bag of holding: 264 credits. Tentfield: 197 credits. : 360 credits for the 4 hex radius, Willpower 8 model. Climbing gloves: 521 credits/pair. Portable door: 760 credits. Bimmer: 12,400 credits (includes flight option and loyalty). Eyebeam: 170 credits. Further ideas for the GM Here are some fields that GMs and players might want to make magic items for and thoughts on the matter: Lighting: Like the Magic lantern. Alternative ones might include heat or electrical spells for "zapping" bugs that touch the lighted parts of the lantern. Air conditioning: A combination of heat manipulation spells to have a comforatable temperature and humidity. Electrical manipulation spells can help clear the air of some pollutants. Travel: Similar to the Bimmer in design. An idea for getting the magic equivalent of a 747B is to have four 408 Strength engines (total weight: 351,500 kg; 1,006 kph max. velocity). Communications: Similar to the Radio ring in design. Compact mirrors and full length mirrors are more likely to be the equivalent of television sets than crystal balls. Earthmoving: Basically the same as Travel, but with caterpillar wheels. 4 hex teleport spells are likely to be incorporated in most equipment, allowing easy short-ranged movement of soil. Similarily, a fair amount of contruction equipment would use magic to cut the cost of energy significantly (Example: Force manipulation for pumping equipment). Bulk Transport: Same as Travel. In some cases, organized teleportation and gateway networks can cut transport costs to an incredible degree. Will typically be controlled by governments for postal services and the like. Weapons of mass destrction: Similar to the above except oriented toward the military. Generally includes magical powered armor, tanks, the missles (can be components of missiles like guidance), and similar aspects. Most governments restrict such equipment to themselves. A kind of magic item would be living bio-engineered items. They generally have Power based on mass like other creatures. They are made with Instinctual/Heroic magic. Most have little mental attributes (like Bravado), except those related to magic. The exceptions tend to be large beings where loyalty and intelligence is desired (example: spaceships that can navigate and protect themselves). They normally have extremely high Concentration skills.