Value of Casting Items

Dalin · 06-09-2018, 11:13 AM

One of my players, relatively new to RPGs, came up with a fun character concept that stretches a few boundaries and I'd like to double-check that I'm not misunderstanding the balance issues at stake. He wants to play a young cleric who hasn't learned very many spells yet. But, since the other characters are worth over 250 points, he came up with a backstory whereby he has a holy artifact of his religion—a spear called the Spine of Yssa—that lets the user cast a bunch of spells. So instead of spending 20 points on personal spells, he put 15 spells into the magic item and the other five points for a few basic spells that he figures he would have learned in his first year.

In principle, I love the idea. He came up with a fun story for the character that fits the tone of the campaign. But, using the rules for casting items in Magic Items (pp. 10-14), the item rapidly gets prohibitively expensive. We're talking over $200,000... so not something he can just convert some quirk points into.

In terms of game balance, though, are spells in a casting item significantly more valuable than those that a character knows? The item knows them all at skill 15. The spells never benefit from reduced FP or casting time due to high skill (even if his power investiture goes way up). The item is not powered, so the character needs to spend the FP to cast from his own reserves. Even with Signature Gear, there will likely be times when he is temporarily without the item (no weapons allowed in town, pretending to be a beggar, etc.). These all make the item less useful than a regular spell.

The two main benefits that I see are that the item can be handed to someone else, giving them 15 spells. And, for healing spells, it will allow the cleric to have two sources of independent healing magic (once he learns some healing spells himself). For the former situation, I might just suggest a limitation: can only be used by devotees of Yssa, or maybe just by this particular character. (The backstory has him marked as pretty special, so this fits.) The healing issue doesn't worry me.

Any other wrinkles anyone can foresee? Note that the player is emphatically not a wily munchkin trying to pull a fast one.

If I give him the green light, are there any other mechanics I should require on the character sheet? He's getting Signature Gear, of course. Should I just convert the 15 spell points into an Unusual Background or something and call it a day?

06-09-2018, 11:13 AM	#1
Dalin Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Saint Paul, MN	Value of Casting Items One of my players, relatively new to RPGs, came up with a fun character concept that stretches a few boundaries and I'd like to double-check that I'm not misunderstanding the balance issues at stake. He wants to play a young cleric who hasn't learned very many spells yet. But, since the other characters are worth over 250 points, he came up with a backstory whereby he has a holy artifact of his religion—a spear called the Spine of Yssa—that lets the user cast a bunch of spells. So instead of spending 20 points on personal spells, he put 15 spells into the magic item and the other five points for a few basic spells that he figures he would have learned in his first year. In principle, I love the idea. He came up with a fun story for the character that fits the tone of the campaign. But, using the rules for casting items in Magic Items (pp. 10-14), the item rapidly gets prohibitively expensive. We're talking over $200,000... so not something he can just convert some quirk points into. In terms of game balance, though, are spells in a casting item significantly more valuable than those that a character knows? The item knows them all at skill 15. The spells never benefit from reduced FP or casting time due to high skill (even if his power investiture goes way up). The item is not powered, so the character needs to spend the FP to cast from his own reserves. Even with Signature Gear, there will likely be times when he is temporarily without the item (no weapons allowed in town, pretending to be a beggar, etc.). These all make the item less useful than a regular spell. The two main benefits that I see are that the item can be handed to someone else, giving them 15 spells. And, for healing spells, it will allow the cleric to have two sources of independent healing magic (once he learns some healing spells himself). For the former situation, I might just suggest a limitation: can only be used by devotees of Yssa, or maybe just by this particular character. (The backstory has him marked as pretty special, so this fits.) The healing issue doesn't worry me. Any other wrinkles anyone can foresee? Note that the player is emphatically not a wily munchkin trying to pull a fast one. If I give him the green light, are there any other mechanics I should require on the character sheet? He's getting Signature Gear, of course. Should I just convert the 15 spell points into an Unusual Background or something and call it a day?