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Old 05-17-2020, 08:18 PM   #11
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by Pragmatic View Post
There's always ceramics. I work for a manufacturer of (among other items) ceramics (e.g., some darn fine ceramic kitchen knives).
How fragile/breakable is it though?
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Old 05-17-2020, 08:56 PM   #12
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

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How fragile/breakable is it though?
Honestly don't know. I'm in accounting. :-)

It's for high temp and as strong as steel, from what I remember.
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Old 05-17-2020, 10:47 PM   #13
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

Ceramic has great ability for sharpness so good for cutting but vulnerable to shattering from impact. But with magic? avoiding that drawback or just making it easier to repair would make for widespread usage and raw material cheaper than iron.
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Old 05-17-2020, 11:41 PM   #14
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

Another thing to consider is the spiritual aspects of elements, especially if using the Chinese Elements. Earth would be associated with spirits that call the material world home. Fire would be associated with the Hells and the punishment of the vicious. Metal would be associated with the Underworld and the afterlife for balanced souls. Water would be associated with the Heavens and the reward of the virtuous. Wood would be associated with the Spirit World and the capricious spirits of nature.
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Old 05-18-2020, 01:00 AM   #15
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice View Post
I figure good metal is much more common simply because mages can filter out all the impurities. But what would you peg that as if it were technology? TL5ish?
I think the primary impact is on prices for equipment, rather than its capabilities.
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I wrote this into my setting bible. Thoughts?
Presumably this is meant to be the source of cinematically good equipment? You might want to break up the improvements into more levels or options, to avoid reaching "You have as good gear as exists" too early in character development?
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Old 05-18-2020, 04:49 AM   #16
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

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That's not a bad idea. "Super" Porcelain might be highly useful for things other than decoration.
Porcelain swords would make for a very distinct feel. Isn't there magical glass in DF? You could steal the stats from there.

Edit: Maybe make the brittleness depend on mana. In no or low-mana areas, they are fragile, with +2 to breakage. In normal- to high-mana, they perform as steel. And in very-high mana areas, they are better than steel, with -1 to breakage.
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Old 05-19-2020, 05:11 AM   #17
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

Quote:
Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
Ceramic has great ability for sharpness so good for cutting but vulnerable to shattering from impact. But with magic? avoiding that drawback or just making it easier to repair would make for widespread usage and raw material cheaper than iron.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Porcelain swords would make for a very distinct feel. Isn't there magical glass in DF? You could steal the stats from there.
Porcelain weapons would be pretty neat. Hmmm. I'll have to consider how to implement it. The Tempered Glass from DF would likely be a good fit.

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Edit: Maybe make the brittleness depend on mana. In no or low-mana areas, they are fragile, with +2 to breakage. In normal- to high-mana, they perform as steel. And in very-high mana areas, they are better than steel, with -1 to breakage.
I'm not using mana at all, instead, too much of an element in an area cancels out the use of other elements.


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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
I think the primary impact is on prices for equipment, rather than its capabilities.
Could you give me some specifics?

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Presumably this is meant to be the source of cinematically good equipment? You might want to break up the improvements into more levels or options, to avoid reaching "You have as good gear as exists" too early in character development?
Good point.
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Old 05-19-2020, 05:53 AM   #18
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
I think the primary impact is on prices for equipment, rather than its capabilities.
The effect on prices would be impacted by a) how easy & fast it is to make the un-enchanted items and b) how much mages can get away with charging for enchanting the items.

What they can charge is generally up to the rarity of their ability/abilities and how much effort it takes to use.

It would be plausible for one setup to make equivalent items cheaper than listed, it would also be plausible a different setup to make equivalent items to be available a couple of TL earlier.
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Old 05-19-2020, 11:24 AM   #19
johndallman
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
I think the primary impact is on prices for equipment, rather than its capabilities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice View Post
Could you give me some specifics?
Well, on a normal TL path, blades are Fine at no extra cost from TL7 onwards. In places where metal magicians are well-established, prices won't be quite that good, because it's still craft-work rather than industrial production, but Fine blades might be only +1CF rather than +3CF. Then add the markup for any enchanted properties.
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Old 05-20-2020, 04:45 AM   #20
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Default Re: Common Magic for a TL3 Wuxia Fantasy Campaign

Quote:
Originally Posted by WingedKagouti View Post
The effect on prices would be impacted by a) how easy & fast it is to make the un-enchanted items and b) how much mages can get away with charging for enchanting the items.

What they can charge is generally up to the rarity of their ability/abilities and how much effort it takes to use.

It would be plausible for one setup to make equivalent items cheaper than listed, it would also be plausible a different setup to make equivalent items to be available a couple of TL earlier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Well, on a normal TL path, blades are Fine at no extra cost from TL7 onwards. In places where metal magicians are well-established, prices won't be quite that good, because it's still craft-work rather than industrial production, but Fine blades might be only +1CF rather than +3CF. Then add the markup for any enchanted properties.
I really like this for a lot of reasons. Number is it's *easy* - easy to implement, easy to understand.
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