Ritual Path Magic and Magic Item Creation

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by RaRaRasputin

So by contrast, if I wanted to make a magic shortsword as a metatronic generator, it would look a bit more like this:

Cutting Attack 1d6 (Armor Divisor (2), +50%; melee weapon, reach 1, -25%; magical, -10%; reliable 2, +10%; ST-Based, +100%; thrusting blade, +15%) [21]

Cost would be 17 points (+140% of modifiers x 7 points = 16.8), but yeah. That's about right.

Originally Posted by RaRaRasputin

I'm not sure whether it would have Apparatus (+0%). Some of the example generators have it, some of them don't, and it doesn't make a difference to their cost either way.

Apparatus' are specifically for non-weapon gadgets.

Originally Posted by RaRaRasputin

I wouldn't have to worry about the fact that a ST 24 person swinging the shortsword has a 4d6+2 cut swing attack [33] and a 2d6+2 imp thrust attack [21], I'd just calculate the metatronic generator price based on the profile above.

Yes. Exactly.

Originally Posted by RaRaRasputin

If I call the sword a "small" class generator, it should have a cost of $52,500, weigh 3 lbs, an XS power cell for 6 hours (unless it it loses "shots" with each swing?), a bulk of at least -5, and a minimum ST of 4 (which gets replaced with the sword's minimum ST of 8).

This is where it can get a little tricky. For most magical items, I highly suggest that you use the Self-Powered modifier. Otherwise, it'll last for six hours of continous use, after that it's just a normal sword. Most of the time you'll need to add 50% of the weight and cost of a normal weapon to the cost of the generator.

Originally Posted by RaRaRasputin

I'd then take the shortsword's 2 lb. weight and $400 base cost (unless I make it Very Fine, which is probably worth it), multiply them each by 0.8, and add them to the above for a final weight of 4.6 lbs and a final cost of $52,820.

For most weapon generators you don't need to do this as long as it emulates a attack - you will need to add 50% of the cost/weight (see above) though. Adding the cost like in your example is explicitly for weapon-shaped generators like mind-control staves, weather control hammers, etc.

Originally Posted by RaRaRasputin

If I think that weight is a bit much (or I've got money to burn), could I use the "mini" class instead, and pay $63,320 for a sword that weighs 2.24 lbs and uses T cells?

Yes. Sure. One thing, if magic items are rare in your world use the listed costs. If they are uncommon reduce final cost by 10% to 20%. Common items could reduce final costs up to 50% - this might lead to the DnD problem of too many +1 weapons though.