Author Topic: Help with Enchanted Item?  (Read 6497 times)

Offline MacAllen

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Help with Enchanted Item?
« on: May 04, 2011, 03:40:16 PM »
New player, still wrapping my mind around the rules and want to find out if an Enchanted Item is feasible and, if so, how would be the best way to make it.

I want a book that gives a bonus to Lore/Scholarship when looking for information. 

The RP idea is that my Wizard is wearing glasses and everything he reads goes into this book.  He's worn them forever and everything he's read/seen is in this book in text, even articles read in passing.  The book is large (picture big leatherbound Oxford dictionaries in libraries) and not easily movable and the bonus would apply when he's doing research/data dumps/etc...he's a Bibliothcary.

I haven't found yet how to make an EI that effects skills, just powers (again, new to the rules).  Any suggestions on this to make it or improve upon it?  Thanks :)

Offline Wolfwood2

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2011, 03:53:45 PM »
New player, still wrapping my mind around the rules and want to find out if an Enchanted Item is feasible and, if so, how would be the best way to make it.

I want a book that gives a bonus to Lore/Scholarship when looking for information. 

I would have the item place an Aspect on your character of "Consulting my Library".  (Thaumaturgy rituals can place aspects, and an enchanted item can duplicate the effects of a thaumaturgy ritual.)  You can then immediately tag that Aspect when you make the Scholarship or Lore roll.

Offline MacAllen

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2011, 04:06:47 PM »
I would have the item place an Aspect on your character of "Consulting my Library".  (Thaumaturgy rituals can place aspects, and an enchanted item can duplicate the effects of a thaumaturgy ritual.)  You can then immediately tag that Aspect when you make the Scholarship or Lore roll.

No no, there has to be a harder way! (aspect on another character I'm making)

LOL.  Because it's a "thing", I immediately assumed it had to be enchanted.  But would the limit of being able to invoke it once become an issue?  Hmmm.

Offline Tedronai

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2011, 04:34:13 PM »
If you want to be able to invoke it more than once, then put a few more shifts of power into it and make it sticky.  That shouldn't be too much of a problem if you've got a decent Lore.

Also note that thaumaturgy rituals (and thus enchanted items) are also capable of directly simulating skill rolls (though you'd probably have to limit the results of any such individual enchanted item to a single skill).
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Offline MacAllen

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2011, 04:40:01 PM »
If you want to be able to invoke it more than once, then put a few more shifts of power into it and make it sticky.  That shouldn't be too much of a problem if you've got a decent Lore.

Also note that thaumaturgy rituals (and thus enchanted items) are also capable of directly simulating skill rolls (though you'd probably have to limit the results of any such individual enchanted item to a single skill).

Superb Lore on the character (fits the concept), but I meant that if it was an aspect, aren't I limiting in invoking those (replying to the prior poster)?

BTW, thanks for the help on this, love this community :)

Offline Wolfwood2

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2011, 04:45:52 PM »
No no, there has to be a harder way! (aspect on another character I'm making)

LOL.  Because it's a "thing", I immediately assumed it had to be enchanted.  But would the limit of being able to invoke it once become an issue?  Hmmm.

You can only tag it once for free, but the Aspect will last the whole scene and you can use Fate points to keep invoking it during that scene... but what are the chances you're going to have to make multiple Scholarship/Lore rolls in a single scene, anyway?  One will probably do you.  Also, you probably have other Aspects you could invoke anyway.

By the way, remember that you can continue to use enchanted items after their uses/day have been exhausted by taking 1 mental stress per extra use.  (An easy to miss rule at the very end of the enchanted items section.)  So essentially it's going to be a free +2 to a Lore or Scholarship roll once per scene, which seems pretty awesome.

Offline sinker

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2011, 06:18:39 PM »
Another thing you can do if you're worried about the number of times you can tag the aspect is simply add more aspects. Thaumaturgy is capable of creating multiple aspects in a single ritual and you can tag each one. So for example you could make it a 9 shift item (I know that seems a little high) that would give you three aspects that could be tagged once and then would disappear. Or you could make two sticky aspects that would stay after you tagged them.

Offline ironpoet

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2011, 07:41:29 PM »
New player, still wrapping my mind around the rules and want to find out if an Enchanted Item is feasible and, if so, how would be the best way to make it.

I want a book that gives a bonus to Lore/Scholarship when looking for information. 

The RP idea is that my Wizard is wearing glasses and everything he reads goes into this book.  He's worn them forever and everything he's read/seen is in this book in text, even articles read in passing.  The book is large (picture big leatherbound Oxford dictionaries in libraries) and not easily movable and the bonus would apply when he's doing research/data dumps/etc...he's a Bibliothcary.

I haven't found yet how to make an EI that effects skills, just powers (again, new to the rules).  Any suggestions on this to make it or improve upon it?  Thanks :)

How attached are you to the idea of a "bonus" to Lore/Scholarship?  It would be fairly straightforward to make an Enchanted Item that temporarily replaces those skills for a particular skill check.  In some ways, that might make more thematic sense, since the knowledge in the book isn't necessarily dependent on the knowledge of the reader.  You could also make the book usable by anyone, which would allow fellow teammates to still look up answers when your character is unavailable (even if their Lore/Scholarship skills are terrible).

Power 6 Enchanted Item:
1/day, allows user to make a Legendary (+6) Knowledge skill check (Lore or Scholarship, but it must be a knowledge-based skill check)
- Add 1 to the Power Level to let anyone use it (I may have this number wrong...)
- Add 1 to the Power Level to use it more than once a day

Offline evileeyore

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2011, 10:57:30 PM »
How about an IoP that gives a Stunt when it's used?  The stunt would be a flat +2 to Lore and Scholarship checks when consulting the Tome.


Which is actually how I sorta say Bob as operating for Harry.

Offline MacAllen

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2011, 11:04:15 PM »
How about an IoP that gives a Stunt when it's used?  The stunt would be a flat +2 to Lore and Scholarship checks when consulting the Tome.


Which is actually how I sorta say Bob as operating for Harry.

That sounds perfect, but alas I'm only Chin Deep so I can't  be a Wizard with a IoP, don't have the Refresh, at least as far as I can see.  That was actually my first thought :)

Offline MorkaisChosen

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2011, 12:55:32 AM »
How about an IoP that gives a Stunt when it's used?  The stunt would be a flat +2 to Lore and Scholarship checks when consulting the Tome.


Which is actually how I sorta say Bob as operating for Harry.
A Manoeuvre EI does a similar thing, except you have to spend an Enchanted Item use or take a mental stress hit every time you use it (or make it Sticky and spend a use/stress point per scene, then carry on with fate points).

I honestly think that's the best way to go about it.

Offline InFerrumVeritas

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2011, 03:00:27 AM »
Superb Lore?  What do your other items look like?

I'd make an item like this:
Mystic Tome (or whatever)
3/session Character may make maneuver to place the temporary aspects CONSULTING THE TOME and READ THIS SOMEWHERE on themselves.
Focus Item+1 Power Bonus on Crafting
1/session Considered a Fantastic Quality workspace
Cost: 3 Enchanted Item Slots, 1 Focus Item Slot

Offline @BCrosswood

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2011, 06:06:14 AM »
Forget the Tome. Enchant the glasses to store the information, perhaps by binding a spirit like Bob to them. The effect would be similar to that of a fighter pilot's heads-up display. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-up_display
This would also provide a realistic method of retreiving the information without having to go back to your library. This way the GM could also have the spirit suggest things if he feels your party isn't asking the right questions to solve a tricky problem.

Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2011, 08:36:29 PM »
You could have the enchanted item count as a library of a quality equal to its power.

Offline Wolfwood2

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Re: Help with Enchanted Item?
« Reply #14 on: May 06, 2011, 03:00:53 PM »
You could have the enchanted item count as a library of a quality equal to its power.

I've read the rules several times and I still don't really understand what libraries even do.