Special Items

[Darren Hill]

There's that section of the character sheet taunting me, tempting me, teasing me: Special Items.
What sort of thing is that box for, and if it's for special items accumulated as rewards in quests, are they the sort of things that provide bonuses, and if so, what sort of bonuses (and how easy are they to destroy!)?

[rafial]

Well, on the Island of Kythros (which I have not yet got around to posting), one of the Quests involves the Shield of the Sun, which the characters can find and use.  And I defined it thusly:

Shield of the Sun: counts as a standard shield (d8), as a permanent divine weapon, and grants the wielder the power "Fiery Form".

[iago]

Well, on the Island of Kythros (which I have not yet got around to posting), one of the Quests involves the Shield of the Sun, which the characters can find and use.  And I defined it thusly:

Shield of the Sun: counts as a standard shield (d8), as a permanent divine weapon, and grants the wielder the power "Fiery Form".

Holy crap, that's a very potent item.

[rafial]

What, you expect Heroes to get het up about some lame "Sword +1" shit ? ;)

[Darren Hill]

I don't think your response is very fair to Fred. My response was very similar to his. There are lots of ways to make magic items interesting at lower power levels, without going the "+1 magic item" route.
I'd personally slap a divine weapon cost on both of those abilities (the permanent divine favour I might make free, but only against "creatures of the night," or some such limitation). Permanent Divine Weapon takes some of the fun of fighting monsters out of the game - no need to investigate to find out their weaknesses. (That 5-point Divine Fravour ability also saddens me for the same reason, but it's expensive and so manageable).

In any case, it's interesting to see what power levels different people find acceptable for their games.
When you say, "which the characters can find and use," does that mean they keep it when they leave the island, or is it just for some particular situation on the island?

And, make no mistake, I'm still keen to see that island!

[Valamir]

I'm planning on making the "Sword of Malleus" which just gives a d8 Advantage die to the wielder.

[rafial]

Well, keep in mind this is a shield, so its use as an attacking weapon is limited. The divine status was mostly to indicate that the fiery form would affect monsters as well as beasts an men.  Although when I ran the quest it is part of at GenCon, Remi came up the excellent idea of having a contest to trick the monster into attacking the shield bearer.  That became the basis of my idea for "Tricks" as posted on the Wiki.

And yes, my intention was that a Hero could carry the shield and use it in future adventures.  Frankly, as the Antagonist, I'm not really that concerned about giving one of the Heroes a cool toy.  Just think of it as the fighty version of a Golden Apple :)

[John Harper]

It's cool, Darren. Wil (rafial) was just joking with Fred. Also, in actual play at the con, it turned out that the shield worked just fine.

Besides, if the shield turned out to be a problem in the group, Apollo could always step down from Olympus and demand that the heroes return it to his temple. No one said the Antagonist has to be subtle. :)

[iago]

It's cool, Darren. Wil (rafial) was just joking with Fred. Also, in actual play at the con, it turned out that the shield worked just fine.

Besides, if the shield turned out to be a problem in the group, Apollo could always step down from Olympus and demand that the heroes return it to his temple. No one said the Antagonist has to be subtle. :)

Yeah. I'd totally make the item a problem, rather than a fix. :)

I'm all for short-term BIG BANG items.  It's long-term where I start to frown a little.

Though that said, I know exactly how you address the introduction of such an item into the game...

Namely: Okay, whoever gets this shield owes an oath to everyone who didn't get it.

[Darren Hill]

Frankly, as the Antagonist, I'm not really that concerned about giving one of the Heroes a cool toy.  Just think of it as the fighty version of a Golden Apple :)

I wouldn't be concerned, usually - it's the PvP elements of Agon that triggered my "OhOh" meter. I was worrying about the potential for an item to make it easier for one player to consistently get greater glory. The fact that it's a shield (and the difficulty of attacking with shields in Agon) does make it a touch less worrying. :)
So you're the one behind those Trick rules. I like them a lot.

And Fred, just one Oath? :)

[Darren Hill]

I'm planning on making the "Sword of Malleus" which just gives a d8 Advantage die to the wielder.

Am I right in guessing that this is a case of just buying an Advantage die for an NPC, and deciding the condition for losing the bonus is losing the sword? That seems pretty elegant.

[John Harper]

Yes. Ralph's Agon-fu is mighty. Study his ways.