Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Magic] Rare Permanent Enchantment, Common Elixirs and Scrolls

StevenH · 12-14-2020, 07:19 PM

You also have to remember that there are people who have Magery, and there are people with Magery that have been recognized as having it, and some of those are actually trained (some people with Magery might not have the aptitude to actually learn any spells, due to inclination, talent, or learning disabilities).

So while 1 in 50 people might have Magery, there are far fewer actual practicing wizards, and only a subset of those are enchanters. And this is in a normal mana, "magic is relatively common" world.

In a city of 48,000 people, I have one enchanter (well, two, if you count his assistant, who is competent as an assistant, but wouldn't really be any good by himself). And he's originally from out of town. And he only has the ability and skills to enchant maybe a half dozen items.

So yeah, magic items are rare. The fact that they take a long time to make also leads to their rarity (and thus the high prices).

On the other hand, there are several enchantments that are "small" enough to use the Q&D method; those items will be much more common, such that even the working class folk might be able to have an enchanted item or two in the family.

12-14-2020, 07:19 PM	#8
StevenH Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Portland, Oregon	Re: [Magic] Rare Permanent Enchantment, Common Elixirs and Scrolls You also have to remember that there are people who have Magery, and there are people with Magery that have been recognized as having it, and some of those are actually trained (some people with Magery might not have the aptitude to actually learn any spells, due to inclination, talent, or learning disabilities). So while 1 in 50 people might have Magery, there are far fewer actual practicing wizards, and only a subset of those are enchanters. And this is in a normal mana, "magic is relatively common" world. In a city of 48,000 people, I have one enchanter (well, two, if you count his assistant, who is competent as an assistant, but wouldn't really be any good by himself). And he's originally from out of town. And he only has the ability and skills to enchant maybe a half dozen items. So yeah, magic items are rare. The fact that they take a long time to make also leads to their rarity (and thus the high prices). On the other hand, there are several enchantments that are "small" enough to use the Q&D method; those items will be much more common, such that even the working class folk might be able to have an enchanted item or two in the family. __________________ Warmest regards, StevenH My current worldbuilding project. You can find the Adventure Logs of the campaign here. I try to write them up as narrative prose, with illustrations. As such, they are "embellished" accounts of the play sessions. Link of the moment: Bestiary of Plants. In a world of mana, plants evolved to use it as an energy source. It is also the new home of the Alaconius Lectures, a series of essays about the various Colleges of Spells.