Magical Items in Non-Standard Settings

[Crion]

It was mentioned in the Non-Standard Settings thread (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,25607.0.html) that it would be possible to use the DFRPG in a variety of fantasy settings in various timelines. I personally am using it to power a steampunk/Victorian-era game, and it is working out rather well.

But I am potentially about to face something I didn't think of: magical items.

The magical items we see in the DFRPG are either Items of Power (and, more often than not, define a character) or Enchanted Items (which are only usable by the creator unless extra slots are dedicated to it).

So, if a setting allows magical items to be floating around, how would you adjudicate ruling them? Would you use the Enchanted Item rules (and/or make them pay the mental stress as though it was out of charges) and just be certain the players don't hoard too many of them, or would you actually enforce the Item of Power rules? Would you claim that many of them are just story-based relics with no real mechanical effect, and not charge the player any refresh or mental stress?

With the way some of the sample items are (see below), I think I would have to balance this out with a combination of the above depending on the item, but feedback and opinions would really be helpful.

As always, thanks for the input!

--Crion


To give you an idea, some of the item samples from this setting include:
--Brightblades: Sword hilts that create blades of light when around undead/demonic/certain supernatural entities. The blade can only harm these entities and protect against their attacks; they cannot harm a human body.
--Horn of the Hunt: Calls up the Wild Hunt to go after one target, but can only be blown on the longest night of the year.
--Masks of Shadow: Changes your overall appearance (fitting to the mask) that can only be pierced with the equivalent of The Sight.
--Oubliette Key: Key that opens a "cabinet" into the void to store items/people.
--Speech Stone: Speak and understand languages spoken to you while you hold the stone.
--Spirit Lens: Grants better sight, night vision, and allows to pierce glamours as though The Sight is active.

[crusher_bob]

Remember that you don't have to pay point for things like guns, cars, bulletproof vests, etc.  So if your common magical items are not really any more powerful than (modern) mundane equipment, then you can probably not charge points for them without breaking the game.  Having a lot of common items should be probably be reflected in your resources skill.

Consider the things you can get in the modern age without paying refresh:
A smart phone
Armor: 2
Weapon: 3 or more
Night Vision Goggles
A tactical radio
A automobile
A boat
A lot of guys with all of the above

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Brightblades
Are these things any better than just having a regular sword?
Are demons, etc so common that a small bonus against them would actually be worth points of refresh?

Horn of the Hunt
Barring high level PC shenanigans, like slowing the rotation of the earth, this sounds more like a plot device than a piece of equipment.  If it's not the longest night of the year, then it just makes tooting noises.

Masks of Shadow
Can you go out and buy/build these masks?  Or are you just stuck with whatever appearance you find?  A mask that infallibly makes be look like Bozo the clown is worth a whole lot less than being able to go out and buy a mask that makes me look like just some guy.

Oubliette Key
Are the advantages of this a lot greater than just carrying around a big backpack full of stuff?  A weapon:3 pistol (like the .44 Harry keeps in his pocket) is much better than the normal weapon:2 pistols you can normally keep in your pocket, but it's still equipment you don't have to pay any points to have.  I mean, sure the key is easier to conceal, but one assumes if the bad guys capture you and take away your big backpack full of guns, they'd probably take away your dimensional key to the dimension of guns too.

Speech Stone
This thing is actually probably worth points.  But that's only because you normally need high Scholarship or the linguist stunt to know more languages.  If you want to downplay that advantage of Scholarship, then this thing isn't that big a deal either.

Spirit Lens
This sounds like it could actually be worth points.

[Crion]

crusher_bob, thanks for the notes. This is helping put things into perspective for me with this task, so thanks for soundboarding!

Now, to begin. . .

First, I've played down the Resources skill by a decent bit in this game, and had everyone put Refresh into what their social standing would be (as the original setting set it up as such). It keeps the numbers down and allows the players to put a viable skill out there instead of making every upper-class character waste a set of skill points on money.

Second, to the items!

--Brightblades
The item itself is one part detection (as it can notice when they are around) and one part weapon. It would essentially satisfy The Catch on any demon/undead/whatever entity it strikes. The writers did note that the weapon could harm whatever spirit possesses someone without harming the host.
These entities aren't horribly common, but they can be and are a great options for villains.

--Horn of the Hunt
I figured as much, but it does seem to be a pretty major item when you think about it.

--Masks of shadow
The setting gave three samples: the first makes you look and sound like a specific dead person, the second makes you appear to be a hideous monstrosity, and the third makes you invisible. Sadly, there isn't much information in the basic setting than that.

--Oubliette Key
It seems like this is mostly for having a huge pocket to store people and things into. Of course, it would be the equivalent of storing someone into the NeverNever, and people who stay there too long go mad. The flavour of the item also makes the holder of the key hear whispers and whispered shouts when they are alone.
Overall, it seems like an item that could be useful, but that's about it.

--Speech Stone and Spirit Lens
I agree that both of these items can be worth points, but some of them are rather limited in scope. The Speech Stone is really only going to be of use whenever the party dashes into an unknown area/country or capture a criminal that doesn't speak English, so with my setting, I would feel guilty charging them.
The Spirit Lens, on the other hand, could be worth points, but again, I am curious if it should be worth points if it is something that can be purchased/found/created, or if there was a better way to balance it out.

--Crion