A Question about the perk “Named Possession”

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

To me it should be something that 'legends' are made of...

Which works out fine with the RAW phrasing, as long as that's also how you give out XP to the PC. (See whswhs's question.)

But if the PCs get 5 xp per session when they slay a few orcs, and the item gets 5 xp only when the party destroys the Evil Overlord and ends the plotline after 20 play sessions, then the PCs outrace their items. And rather than a cool growing signature item that becomes part of the character's legend, it becomes just another +1 short sword taken from the mook patrol tossed into the closet in favor of the latest loot. Might as well not have it at all; certainly not worth spending CP on.

[Kuroshima]

I set the bar rather low, myself. The point is to have an item that "levels up" with the character, and given the energy costs of standard enchanting, if you're too stringy, the item will never amount to anything. Accuracy/Puisance+1 needs 10 CPs. Accuracy/Puisance +2 costs 40 CPs. Accuracy/Puisance +3 costs 200 CPs. This means that turning a named standard sword into a +1/+1 sword requires performing significant deeds worth 20 CPs.

Personally, I give CPs to the item in every situation where the item is used significantly (if you draw a weapon, and then critical miss and drop it, you might have used it, but it doesn't count). I also give it bonus CP each time the character gets a reputation that could include the item (so if he gets a reputation as a fearsome hunter, the named bow would get the CPs).

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Which works out fine with the RAW phrasing, as long as that's also how you give out XP to the PC. (See whswhs's question.)

Untrue. You don't only give EXP to the PCs for 'significant' events or deeds.

Or rather I don't. As the book suggests, I reward good play.

But if the PCs get 5 xp per session when they slay a few orcs, and the item gets 5 xp only when the party destroys the Evil Overlord and ends the plotline after 20 play sessions, then the PCs outrace their items.

As they should?

I don't see the problem. The Perk largely exists to emulate certain stories about weapons becoming stronger the more they are used, or the more they take part in legendary events, etc.

And rather than a cool growing signature item that becomes part of the character's legend, it becomes just another +1 short sword taken from the mook patrol tossed into the closet in favor of the latest loot. Might as well not have it at all; certainly not worth spending CP on.

1CP for a +1 sword is not a waste.

A +1 Accuracy weapon in DF as Signature Gear is 10CP. And in a game setting where you can't enchant weapons any other way than via Named Weapon Perk? That weapon may be priceless.

But sure, if you're running a Monty Haul DF game, then why are your Players wasting even a point on this Perk? The next loot haul would probably outstrip a Named Weapon with even 200CP 'sunk' into it (that's only 5000 energy for the viewers without a score card, which is Accuracy or Puissance +3, not both and nothing else).

[safisher]

Originally Posted by Lost on Venus

This is a question of about the perk “Named Possession”, there have been many questions raised in our group about how this perk is applied.

See GURPS Thaumatology, p110-113 for some helpful advice on this. Essentially, one simple way is to give the PC a certain amount of points to spend among his named items, each convertible to, say 25 energy points. The number of points, both CPs and EPs, is very much up to the GM.

[Balor Patch]

Instead of trying to parse "significant" I would look at this from the other end. If the possession gains points 1-for-1 with the character then for each [10] the character gains he also gains 250 enchantment worth $5000 in DF prices. At a 1-for-10 rate he's getting $500 per [10], and $50 at 1-for-100.

How many points and loot per session are you handing out and how valuable do you want the perk to be?

[Phantasm]

For games that I'd use Named Possession in... they wouldn't be Dungeon Fantasy. These would be heirloom weapons, possibly sentient, and one-of-a-kind deals that cannot easily be replicated in their settings.

Glamdring and Orcrist were not typical swords of Gondolin, after all. They were the swords of the King of Gondolin and the greatest goblin-killer, with a body of tales surrounding them. Excalibur is not just any sword; it's a sword tempered by dragonfire (if you go by one tale) and keyed to the Pendragon bloodline. Mjolner is not just any warhammer; it was forged by Dwarves, one working the bellows and another casting spells, with a shorter handle than expected due to Loki's interference. These are not settings where just anyone can walk into a magic shop and buy a magic weapon, nor go delving through dragon hordes to outfit a whole party with magic weapons (Smaug had a few treasures in The Hobbit, though those ended up plot points or were considered "excellent quality" rather than "legendary" - the Arkenstone was one of a kind, and Bilbo's mithril shirt was not considered superior to other shirts of its kind, though certainly superior to regular mail shirts).

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Excalibur is not just any sword; it's a sword tempered by dragonfire (if you go by one tale) and keyed to the Pendragon bloodline.

PC is weapon shop: "I'd like three Excaliburs, two Gáe Bulgs, and a Mjolnir for the priest, since he can't use edged weapons."
Clerk: "We're also having a sale on sentient caltrops."

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

For games that I'd use Named Possession in... they wouldn't be Dungeon Fantasy. These would be heirloom weapons, possibly sentient, and one-of-a-kind deals that cannot easily be replicated in their settings.

Ditto. They'd be in games where such items were the only, the few actual magic artifacts.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

For games that I'd use Named Possession in... they wouldn't be Dungeon Fantasy. These would be heirloom weapons, possibly sentient, and one-of-a-kind deals that cannot easily be replicated in their settings.

Originally Posted by RyanW

PC is weapon shop: "I'd like three Excaliburs, two Gáe Bulgs, and a Mjolnir for the priest, since he can't use edged weapons."
Clerk: "We're also having a sale on sentient caltrops."

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Ditto. They'd be in games where such items were the only, the few actual magic artifacts.

I don't actually have a problem with games where certain types of magical improvements to weapon performance are well understood and easily replicated by every enchanter, thus available for purchase if at astronomical prices, but there exist legendary weapons with names and histories as well.

A PC can own a nameless magical dagger that he bought from a delver with too many magic knick-nacks as a back-up. That dagger might be sharper and better balanced than ordinary weapons, as well as never losing its edge. It doesn't really make it comparable to Cairlachan, the Cutter of Stone, the PC's mythical claymore that was made for him by a magical artisan of surpassing power as the prize for winning a gladiatorial contest near the beginning of his adventures*, has been his primary weapon through more heroic quests that you could count and is now a part of his personal story and legend.

*Some 11 years ago in Earth years, I think it was.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I don't actually have a problem with games where certain types of magical improvements to weapon performance are well understood and easily replicated by every enchanter, thus available for purchase if at astronomical prices, but there exist legendary weapons with names and histories as well.[/SIZE]

I could see that working if the general enchants were kept weak and low powered. And cue the rending of shirts and gnashing of Player's teeth...