Item Creation: Arcane Enchanting

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Venatus Vinco
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Item Creation: Arcane Enchanting

Post by Venatus Vinco »

Item Creation: Arcane Enchanting

Usable both by Arcane Enchanters and GMs and players building Signature Items, these rules may be used to quantify just how much an enchanted magic item costs. These rules stand apart and do not stack with technowizardry or super-tech construction. Wild Card PC Enchanters are limited to their power list, just like Wild Card PC Techno-Wizards.

Signature Items are not limited to any particular power list.

Signature Item Example
Splugorth Slaver’s Net Gun
  • Type of Item: A bulky alien looking rifle
  • Enchantments (Two Major, Two Minor): Entangle, Power Mastery Edge, +5 PPE, +5 PPE
  • P.P.E.: 15
  • Trait: Shooting
  • Trappings: Throws a glowing blue mystical net over a subject or area. The user can flip a selector switch to choose between single or group capture as well as normal or mega power usage for each.
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[b]Splugorth Slaver’s Net Gun[/b]
[list]
[*][b]Type of Item[/b]: A bulky alien looking rifle
[*][b]Enchantments [/b][i](Two Major, Two Minor)[/i]: Entangle, Power Mastery Edge, +5 PPE, +5 PPE
[*][b]P.P.E.[/b]: 15
[*][b]Trait[/b]: Shooting
[*][b]Trappings:[/b] Throws a glowing blue mystical net over a subject or area. The user can flip a selector switch to choose between single or group capture as well as normal or mega power usage for each.[/list]
Enchanted Item
Arcane Craftsmen are weird scientists using Arcane Background (Enchanting). Any Arcane Craftsman can make enchanted items. Crafting an enchanted item is a fairly straightforward process, though not quick.
  • Note: The Arcane Artificer edge tree from Shaintar offers similar abilities, but is more edge intensive. It works from more traditional magical types, however, and that has its own quality that is included in the balance. The Arcane Artificer edge from Shaintar (only available to Shaintar based characters) would allow basic enchanted item creation, as well as minor upgrades, as per these rules at the Novice and Seasoned ranks. Instead of automatically opening up at higher ranks, the character must have Enchant to create major upgrades (at the Veteran and Heroic levels). The final upgrade slot for Legendary is only unlocked with Improved Enchant. It is worth noting that they can be used all the time, and not just at advances. Their items also lose the Malfunction requirement due to the more available magical energy on Rifts Earth. This brings them in line with the items created by these rules.
Preparation: The Arcane Craftsman needs parts costing one-third of the item’s initial (list) price. The procedure takes 6d12 hours for personal weapons or gear, or 2d6 weeks for larger installations, such as furniture, vehicles, seige gear, or building parts (such as enchanted doors and hinges for the castle armory).

Base Enchanted Item
Not all enchanted items have powers or extra trappings. Some are simply magic swords. Choose an item that has the appropriate effect (i.e. a vibro-sword for a mega-damage magical melee weapon or stealth suit from the Sci-Fi Companion for a cloak of shadows) and say it works by enchantment instead of technology. Generally this works with all melee weapons, wands and staves (pistols and rifles re-trapped), armor, and even golems (power armor, robots and robot vehicles). A hover cycle might become a magic carpet, etc. Cost is based on the original item. Other items will have to be adjudicated by the GM for cost.
  • Build Roll: The Arcane Craftsman makes a roll using the lower of Knowledge (Engineering), Knowledge (Arcana), or the Enchanting Skill; this is the standard roll for Enchanted Item design and is called a Build roll. On a failure, the time and parts are wasted, but on a success the enchanted item is complete. If the Craftsman gets a raise, he may add one Minor Upgrade (see below). Melee weapons can be converted to enchanted devices, but have little impact unless Minor Upgrades are applied, except that they count as magical against creatures vulnerable to such. note these devices are "always on" and require no external power to function.
Minor Upgrade
Minor Upgrades add a small magical benefit to an enchanted item. Adding a Minor Upgrade to a enchanted item costs 5,000 credits in parts and requires 3d12 hours. Enchanted item are limited to a number of slots based on the enchanter's rank, shown in the chart below.
  • Novice: One Minor Quality
    Seasoned: Two Minor Qualities
    Veteran: One Major Quality, Two Minor Qualities
    Heroic: Two Major Qualities, Two Minor Qualities
    Legendary: Four Major Qualities, Two Minor Qualities
They may exchange Major Upgrade spaces for additional Minor Upgrades, but an item can only have the same upgrade twice. As above, a failure wastes the time and materials, a success installs the upgrade, and a raise grants a second Minor Upgrade (as long as the item can take another).
  • +1 to a specific Trait roll appropriate to the item.
    +1 damage to a weapon.
    +2 armor to armor, shield, or clothing.
    +1 Parry to a shield or close combat weapon.
    +5 stored PPE only usable to activate item or its features.
    Halve the weight of the item (quarter if taken twice).
    Apply an arcane Trapping to the device.
    Other Minor Upgrades as allowed by the GM.
Major Upgrade
Starting at Veteran Rank, Arcane Craftsmen can add more powerful abilities to enchanted items. Enchantment takes 2d6 days + 1d6 per 10,000 credit cost of the Major Upgrade. Cost depends on the specific upgrade (listed below). The Arcane Craftsmen makes a Build roll (lowest of Knowledge: Engineering, Knowledge: Arcana, and Enchanting) but at −4 for a Major Upgrade. Failure wastes the time and parts; success installs the upgrade; on a raise, the Arcane Craftsmen may choose to add a Minor Upgrade and then only if the enchanted item has a space to add one.
  • Add a power to device (Cost: 20,000 credits per Rank of power).* # &
    Add an Edge to device (Cost: 20,000 credits per Rank of Edge).* &
    +1 die type to a specific Trait appropriate to the item (Cost: 10,000 credits).
    +10 stored PPE only usable to activate item or its features(Cost: 30,000 credits).
    Other Major Upgrades as allowed by the GM (Cost: Varies).
* The Craftsman can only install powers and Edges of his Rank or less. Embedded powers must be from the Craftsman's powers list (though he doesn’t have to actually know them). For five times the cost, the power activates as part of another action (an attack roll for a weapon or roll to activate another power) using the Trait result of the primary action as its own. The user must still spend Power Points before making the roll, and a failure on the primary action means the power fails as well. Imbuing a magic item with powers automatically gives the item a base of 10 P.P.E. to activate them (major and minor improvements can add more power points).
An enchanted item which stores PPE recharges automatically over time. If solely from Powers or Minor Upgrades, the enchanted item gains 1 PPE per hour. If any PPE is gained from a Major Upgrade, the item recharges 1 PPE per 30 minutes.
# Availability of powers is limited to the craftsman's power list.
& Master of Magic is not generally useful on an enchanted item. Instead use the Power Mastery edge (see house rules)
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Re: Enchanted Item Creation Rules (Non-TW)

Post by Venatus Vinco »

This is not a discussion thread.

Try: Enchanted Item / Super Tech Hosing

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Magical Tattoo Creation Rules

Post by High Command »

Full Magical Tattoo Rules here.

Making Tattoos
With all pun intended, tattoos are a re-skinning of a variety of power types and sources. Making the magic extremely versatile. This versatility is limited by the strain each tattoo applies to the body, thus limiting the number of powers and coming at the cost of sanity. Experienced players will recognize that tattoos have shades of techno-wizard modifications. To create tattoos requires choosing the ability you want to emulate. GMs and players should work together to create something that balances.

Tattoo Creation
A tattoo functions like a minor TW device, allowing each tattoo to grant 2 Minor or 1 Major upgrade (excluding the additional PPE upgrade).
Determine Strain: Minor upgrades add 1 point of strain, Major upgrades add 2 points of strain
Determine Activation Cost: Powers use normal cost and duration for TW items:
  • Combat related abilities (weapons, armor, combat edges, etc.) cost 1 PP for 3 rounds
  • Other benefits cost 1 PP/hour (Trait increases, non-combat edges, etc.)
  • Adding an edge increases activation costs by 1 point
  • Powers used as part of another attack (such as on a weapon) use that skill, but also increase activation cost by 1 P.P.E.
  • The Tattoo Alchemist follows the above rules for designing magical tattoos, including the similarities to techno-wizard item activations. But the process is closer to that of enchanting (see above) than the kitbash methodology of techno-wizardry. The following schedule shows how many elements can be included in a magical tattoo at the rank of the Tattoo Alchemist.
    • Novice: One Minor Quality
    • Seasoned: Two Minor Qualities
    • Veteran: One Major Quality, Two Minor Qualities
    • Heroic: Two Major Qualities, Two Minor Qualities
    • Legendary: Four Major Qualities, Two Minor Qualities
  • Note: NPC Tattoo Master Alchemists can break these limits, but usually do not.
  • Inking Roll: The Arcane Craftsman makes a roll using the lower of Knowledge (Alchemy), Knowledge (Arcana), or the Enchanting Skill; this is the standard roll for Magical Tattoo design and is called an Inking roll.
    • On a failure, the time and parts are wasted, both the Alchemist and the recipient gain a level of Fatigue, but a critical failure instead deals a wound to the recipient, and two levels of fatigue to the Alchemist.
    • On a success the tattoo is complete. If the Craftsman gets a raise, he may add one Minor Upgrade (see below). Melee weapons can be converted to enchanted devices, but have little impact unless Minor Upgrades are applied, except that they count as magical against creatures vulnerable to such.
    • The time to get Inked varies based on the work and the health of the recipient, but in general it takes a week per quality for a magical tattoo with Minor Qualities to heal and for the recipient to learn how to use it, and one day per feature to Ink it. A tattoo with a Major Quality takes a one week per minor feature and two weeks per Major feature to heal and for the recipient to learn how to use it, one day each for all Minor Qualities and three days for each Major Quality. GMs should feel free to play with these numbers as it fit but keep them in mind as a rule of thumb.


Tattoo Trappings
In addition to normal power trappings, tattoos have a unique set of trappings that can be used on activation.

Fast Activation: Using fluid strokes and fast acting inks the tattoo alchemist can sacrifice flexibility for speed. Add +1 power point to activation and the tattoo becomes self only but can be activated as a free action.

Power Symbol: Adding this mystic symbol to a tattoo takes things to a whole other level. This power can only use the mega version! With all great power there is a cost, the hero takes a level of fatigue when activating a power with this trapping. Fatigue can be restored with an hour of rest, but not succor. If the hero is already a Master of Magic then a +2 bonus to the tattoo arcane skill is given instead.

Sunlight: Both Atlantean and Splugorth are eternal enemies of vampires. A sun added to any tattoo gives it the power to hold vampires and other undead at bay. All living beings are considered to have a level of Arcane Resistance versus the power (+2 armor, +2 to trait rolls), but the undead (particularly vampires) must make Fear checks when hit with it.
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