A new spin at crafting

[Blk4ce]

I woke up having an idea. What if you used crafting with a new approach? For example, use it like a maneuver to put a tag on someone, like making a ward amulet and giving it to someone? Or enchanting a gun so that it shoots lightning? I just thought of it, so details are not clear, but I'm looking for feedback to see how feasible it is.

EDIT: Extra idea: reskin the biomancy theme. Instead, it works on inanimate things.

[Taran]

I'm not sure if i undertand what you're saying because crafting can already do those things.  The only stipulation is if you're planning on having it work for someone else, you need to reduce the power by one...unless you craft it as a 'potion'.

So maybe i've misunderstood the question.

[Blk4ce]

Put aside the chapter of enchanted items for a minute.
I was thinking about a more on-hands approach. Do a standard ritual (channel shifts, roll control every turn) to imbue items with magic (lightning gun, reinforce a door so that it can endure more hits [a block=shifts basically], put enchantments on mundane equipment [a maneuver for a temporary power] etc). In order not to add variables, I thought to use item power=complexity, item frequency=control for refinement bonuses.
That's why I said it was akin to biomancy but to inanimate things. With crafting you put magic to your items. But why should you keep it only to yours?

[blackstaff67]

Like when I toughen up the exterior of my car and the windows/walls of my house so thugs can't shoot me?  Actually, that'll be more like taking something out via Ritual and enhancing it (though variation may...vary, I guess).  Such a Ritual would probably add about four (4) blocks of Armor if you don't want to spend too much time on it.

Lore=4
Model of house/car/whatever: Crafting tag +2
Up all night chanting: Endurance tag +2
Link to Object: Unknown, GM might give it +2, but that's the GM for you.  Still necessary.
Deep in Concentration: Discipline tag +2
Ritual cleansing of the object in question: Alertness tag +2
Minor Mental consequence to self: +2
Cast at the Witching Hour: Scholarship tag +2
Model has silver trimmings: Resources tag +2
Model is also made of the appropriately affiliated wood, be it ash, oak, apple, etc.: Lore tag +2

That should give you sixteen to eighteen shifts (16-18) to toughen up something for a decent amount of time, say a couple months or even a season, depending on toughness (and Zones affected!).  You could justify it by taking yourself out of a scene to do it or do it between sessions.

[Blk4ce]

Yeah, that was one of my thoughts. Can you use the theme Crafting to imbue magic to other things than your enchanted items, like your example?

[Taran]

Depending on what you are doing, this is how I'd run it (and have run it)

On a house, I've had an earth wizard make all the windows extremely hard.  This was an easy block/2 for armour.

On a weapon, I'd use skill replacement or just a maneuver to place appropriate aspect:  Magically sharp(sword);  Incredibly durable (armour) etc..

For straight up armour effects, It might be crafting or conjuration but I'd use resource skill replacement.  So it'd be like buying armour/weapons.
Or craft skill replacement...whatever...the resource table is much more detailed though, so I'd use that to determine required shifts.

You want the equivalent of a Kevlar vest, it'd be a ritual of "X" (where "X" is the cost) + duration.  If you wanted it to be the equivalent of riot gear, It'd be the price of riot gear  + duration, + extra shifts if you wanted your riot gear to look and feel like regular clothes (since that would be the equivalent of buying super high-tech/secret military gear.)  There wouldn't be extra difficulty for "availability/legality" or whatever, since ritual lets you bypass those kinds of restrictions.

I'd do the same thing for a gun that shoots electricity, I think.  Choose a weapon type, cost it out, add some extra shifts because it's shooting electricity instead of bullets.

When duration wears out, the item breaks and needs to be fixed/recharged.  Meaning, you need a new ritual.

Thaumaturgy makes my head hurt.

[Blk4ce]

Yeah, that's how I too visualised it.

I have to voice one question though, there would be times that you don't care if it looks and feels like regular clothes, as long as it does its job. Then, there are no disadvantages if you just don't care about believability, even if it looks like a blob of mud, right?

(Hmm, now I gave myself the idea of hardened ectoplasm [filed for future reference] )

[Taran]

Yeah, that's how I too visualised it.

I have to voice one question though, there would be times that you don't care if it looks and feels like regular clothes, as long as it does its job. Then, there are no disadvantages if you just don't care about believability, even if it looks like a blob of mud, right?

(Hmm, now I gave myself the idea of hardened ectoplasm [filed for future reference] )

Yeah.  The disadvantage to having Armour 3 riot gear is that it looks like you're walking around with riot gear.  You should pay more for that kind of equipment being less obvious.  If you don't care how it looks, then you shouldn't have to pay for it.  Depending on what you do with it, it could be grounds for a compel/complications...so that's where the "cost" gets added.

EDIT:  the narrative is important. "crafting" equipment might be harder notice to counter-spell, while having hardened, ectoplasmic goo covering your body would be an obvious spell that might be counter-spelled.

[Blk4ce]

That is also true.