[9] "Requires relevant spellcasting talent to use!" (Magic Items)

[Joseph R]

Originally Posted by Plane

Like for example, a wand of Minor Healing which ONLY heals 3d for 3 FP. There might be some enchantment spell I'm overlooking (limiting?) but that would probably make the item COSTLIER to design, even though it limits the utility so maybe there should be an option for making it cheaper similar to Bane?

Don't mean to sidetrack from your main post, however I just want to clarify possible confusion as to Minor Healing, as the spell of that name is not indentical to the potion. The potion of minor healing restores 1d HP. The spell called Minor Healing restores 1 HP per energy point (FP etc) put in by the caster, up to 3 energy/HP, or the level of their spellcasting talent, whichever is higher. Major Healing spell does 2 HP per 1 FP. Healing 1d for 1 FP would be very powerful.

In the case of magic items, I would say it depends. Different item types (casting; charged; etc) could have different rules, and there's no reason the GM can't vary individual item specifics within a certain category, of course. Not all magic items should be entirely formulaic, I feel.

That said, I believe that you specifically looking at Casting Items in this instance. To quote from p.10:

Spell Parameters: If the spell has variable parameters – e.g., radius for Area spells, or energy put into Missile or Melee spells – the user determines these at the time of casting.

That chapter doesn't specify an upper limit for the levels of effect that I saw. I could imagine the GM leaving it uncapped for a Casting Item (e.g. those Area spells that aren't limited by talent level), or capped at 6 levels (the normal limit on spellcasting talent), or capping it at the "default" for that particular spell (e.g. 3 for Minor Healing), or treating it just like the normal spell in question and applying varying caps (e.g. capped at 3, or your Power Investiture, whichever is higher).

Ultimately I think it's up to you. My preference is that not all items in any given category be identical, as it adds to the feel that magic isn't an exact science, but that's just me.
Whatever you do decide, it's probably best to note in the item description (especially if like me you do vary the default behaviours from time to time) to avoid confusion or disagreement in future. How talent affects the level of effect, will definitely be something that your players will want to be able to determine with analysis of the item.

Hopefully that has helped :-)