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| 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). |