No magic items for starting characters?

[hcobb]

What other restrictions do you put on their starting grand, if you give them that much?

And what keeps the party from passing around a goblin sorceress (always fun at parties) to brand all their bolts?

BTW: Any guesses as to my house ruling that Sir Irving didn't consider when he hired Molly for mass branding in anticipation of the target to use these bolts on?

[tomc]

For me it depended on the characters backstory and the power level of the adventures I planned on running. Anything magic or exotic (such as boomerangs) needed serious justification, and would often draw the "You've never heard of those." veto from the GM.

TFT has such a wide variety of weapons, magic items, and equipment, that I never felt the need to open up the whole catalog all at once.

[hcobb]

Which is why you need to keep the goblin and elf sorceress out.

Otherwise they can cast brand for guys like this:

ST 9 DX 12 IQ 11 MA 12
Very fine expert Javelin(1d+2, -1 DX to be attacked), Brand tied to a pole(1d-2 magic weapon, stops 2 hits via 2-weapons talent)
Pole Weapons(2), Running(2), Two Weapons(2), Weapon Expertise - Pole weapons(3)

[tomc]

Originally Posted by hcobb

ST 9 DX 12 IQ 11 MA 12
Very fine expert Javelin(1d+2, -1 DX to be attacked), Brand tied to a pole(1d-2 magic weapon, stops 2 hits via 2-weapons talent)
Pole Weapons(2), Running(2), Two Weapons(2), Weapon Expertise - Pole weapons(3)

Now this character could be in a cohort of light, mobile troops. She's trained fanatically, spending 9 of her 11 points and running and fighting with her Javelins. She's even entrusted with a magic brand, quite an investment in a junior soldier.

Is she learning to throw the javelin now, or does she have some outside interest that may be holding her back from taking her place among the elite Jaguars of the Flame?

If she's off adventuring, why did she leave (flee?) her platoon? Wanderlust got the best of her? Insubordination? Revenge? Secret mission?

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by tomc

She's even entrusted with a magic brand, quite an investment in a junior soldier.

The point of having a Goblin/Elf Sorceress in the party is that Brand is "free".

The only question is why isn't she making $60 * 25 fatigue/day / 5 fatigue per success (at 50% success rate) * 5 days a week = $1,500 a week branding the Army's bolts?

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by hcobb

What other restrictions do you put on their starting grand, if you give them that much?

Characters need to belong to the setting and make some sense. Magic items are rare and tend to get snatched up the by wealthy and powerful often for several times list price.

Depending on what the player wants, though, and the type of game, I may or may not restrict such things. Sometimes starting with a magic item is fun and harmless, and can provide an interesting connection into the game world. e.g. the PC starts with a special item given to them by particular NPCs for a particular reason, which can lead to interesting things.

Originally Posted by hcobb

And what keeps the party from passing around a goblin sorceress (always fun at parties) to brand all their bolts?

How about the very first line of the description of a Brand?
"This magical torch requires as raw material a stick of well-aged wood about 2 feet long."
No quarrel is two feet long.

Otherwise, there is that no one in my TFT campaign world has ever known or heard of the Brand spell... and if I introduce it, it will tend to be a version without any effects that I don't want.

But even as written, and applied to an arrow, or even if a GM allows it on a crossbow bolt, it only says it's a flaming arrow, as in, an arrow that is on fire and doesn't go out very easily. But it does say that it goes out in "a few seconds" in a wet element (like flesh & blood). And there is no listed combat effect, so the GM might interpret it as just being something you could start fires with, but not really worthy of extra damage. In fact, since the proper Flaming Weapon enchantment lists at $10,000 versus $60, I'd say it does not give you anything like the same combat effect. I'd tend to say it doesn't do any extra damage.

[JLV]

Ahhh. The good old "I'm the GM and can control my world" ploy! ;-) Gosh I get tired of all the rules lawyer stuff...

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by JLV

Ahhh. The good old "I'm the GM and can control my world" ploy! ;-) Gosh I get tired of all the rules lawyer stuff...

Well and also, I don't expect SJ really intended Brand to effectively give everyone +2 crossbow damage that would normally cost $10,000, for $60 or 4 fatigue.

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Skarg

Well and also, I don't expect SJ really intended Brand to effectively give everyone +2 crossbow damage that would normally cost $10,000, for $60 or 4 fatigue.

That too, of course! ;-)

[warhorse11h]

Originally Posted by Skarg

Well and also, I don't expect SJ really intended Brand to effectively give everyone +2 crossbow damage that would normally cost $10,000, for $60 or 4 fatigue.

I don't think that was the intent either. Reading the brand description, an arrow is possible, but you can't create a quiver full of them.

"The Brand enchantment, cast on an arrow, creates a reliable flaming arrow which will remain burning for a minute after it is fired. A Brand does not require a regular Magic Item Creation spell. It can be made by any wizard who knows 7-Hex Fire. Casting the spell that way requires 4 ST. A Brand usually sells for $60, but prices may go up if the wizards are busy or a big adventuring party is buying up the supply."

The brand arrow is created by a version of 7-hex fire. The fire spells all have a duration of one minute. If you don't shoot the arrow within a minute, it is a pile of ashes. The reference to the cost of brands is in reference to the torch, not the arrow.

So, the goblin munchkin needs to stand by the archer and enchant away for as long as her ST holds out.