[DF/Fantasy] Special Costs for Mutliply Enchanted Items

[scc]

So for a while now I've been kicking around the idea, courtesy of DF8:50, that a 'magic item' can have enchantments from more then one source, at least if those sources are reproducible. Further I’ve been thinking that you can’t just keep sticking more enchantments onto an item without running into trouble from the enchantments interfering with one enough, this is likely to be especially complicated when you cross power sources. And while this is primarily aimed at DF or DF-inspired fantasy worlds (DF plus actual roleplaying) people can chime in with comments based on other booklines if they fit.

So I’m thinking that every time a new enchantment is added to an item after the first, for every enchantment on item, including the one just added, an additional enchanting task with an energy cost equal to 5% of the energy cost of the enchantment being worked on energy cost to date must be performed by a single enchanter, who must be able to enchant all the spells invloved. Recasting an enchantment at a higher level for greater benefit is an exception, if that specific enchantment is the only one of the item then no additional enchanting is needed, it is assumed to be part cost of the higher level. If there are other enchantments on the item already the task for the enchantment being upgraded only accounts for the new level, for the rest of the enchantment the cost has already been paid in the past.

Example: Kelly the Knight has a sword with Accuracy +1 that she wants upgraded to Accuracy +2, so she pays her friend Emily the Enchanter to perform the upgrade her sword. Once Emily and her assistants have finished the recasting the enchantment Emily gives the sword back to Kelly and they go their separate ways for now.

Example continued: Sometime later Kelly has saved up some more money and asks her friend Emily to again upgrade her sword, this time with Puissance +1 and again Emily is happy to do this, unfortunately as this is the second enchantment being placed on the sword adjustments need to be made so that they don’t interfere with each other and Emily must these alone. The adjustment to the new Puissance enchantment isn’t that hard and doesn’t take too long, 5% of 250 is 12.5, round up to 13 and only adds $13 to the cost. The adjustment to the Accuracy +2 is a different story however, 5% of 1,000 is 50, well over the amount of energy Emily can spend on Quick and Dirty enchanting so it takes her 50 days and adds $1,250 to the cost, ouch.

Example continues again: Kelly once again wants her sword upgraded, this time with Puissance +2. Once Emily and her assistants have completed the recasting Emily settles in to adjust things Now the Puissance +1 gets along fine with the Accuracy +2 already, so no need to make changes there, but the Puissance +2 doesn’t. So the Accuracy +2 needs another 50 energy to adjust, costing another $1,250. The Puissance +2 is 750 energy so Emily needs to perform an adjustment of 38 energy costing $980

Right, so far so good but I’ve only touched on Wizards. Clerics and Druids are fairly simple as they use the same system for Enchantment, but I figure if/when using both, or one and Wizard, the adjustment cost goes up to 10% and possibly be at a premium as you need to find someone to make the adjustment who can make both (Or even all three) sorts of enchantments. The Power Enchantment might pose an issue but, it may only be available to Wizard Enchanters, which raises a problem if you want to use it to power a non-Wizard one. In the case of leveled Enchantments where more then type might cast them we gut instinct is that you can’t mix and match to get a discount.

And that’s the easy stuff, all three of those Enchanters use the same rules, beyond there it gets a bit tricky.

As for the other possible enchanting sources from DF8:

Alchemical: It’s technically still magical, but with no energy costs to create, hard to work with. That said, I’m of the opinion that an item have alchemical enhancements added or changed after creation. Enchantments from other sources can still be added afterwards, but double the adjustment cost to account for the difficulty.

Artistic: Probably not supernatural at all, safe to Enchant with no special rules.

Chi: How is this made? It’s an important question even outside of these rules, players may want to purchase items made this way instead of with magic. If the answer is they can only be found in dungeons, then they can’t receive Enchantments from other sources.

Cosmic: Mortals further Enchanting an item made by the gods probably can’t happen. Of course you may encounter items that where first Enchanted by men and then by Gods…

Emotion: This reads more like a trigger requirement for an existing source, not one on it’s own.

Materials: This is simply a non-magical take on Alchemical, same rules apply.

Moral Force: Like Emotion this reads more like a trigger then anything else.

Psionic: The big question. Psi power usage requires energy expenditure in DF, so in theory any Psionic Items would have required energy expenditure, is so use the same rules as for Wizards, etl above.

Racial: The exact wording says that this is science so advanced it looks like magic, in which case these rules don’t apply, it’s not supernatural and can be Enchanted like Artistic above. On the other hand if there are races that have powers in your setting.

Spirit: Probably not compatible with these rules, as the adjustments would have to be made while one Enchantment or the other is added.

Will: Again how it this made? Where does it draw it’s power from?

Possible changes: Ditch the second benefit for leveled Enchantments, the one about existing levels not counting when upgrading. Change the adjustment cost to add up the cost of all Enchantments, apply percentage but only 10% needs to be done in a single taks.