Horses as Power Items

[Anders]

The rules on p. 115 says no living creatures, but would it break anything to change that rule? I have seen the rules for customizing horses in Doug's Bestiary and calculated that the best horse - the Shadowfax, if you will - would cost in excess of $150,000. That's a nice Power Item.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Anders

The rules on p. 115 says no living creatures, but would it break anything to change that rule? I have seen the rules for customizing horses in Doug's Bestiary and calculated that the best horse - the Shadowfax, if you will - would cost in excess of $150,000. That's a nice Power Item.

Other than the risk of setting a bad precedent (I'm not sure I want players to buy smaller pets, or slaves, as power items) I don't see why it would be a problem.

From a player's perspective though, it seems like a bad choice. There are lots of places you might want to go you can't take a horse - like inside a building or dungeon. I'll admit DF is a little unclear on it, but I'd certainly rule you have to be able to touch your Power Item to use it.

[JulianLW]

DFRPG is a version of the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy line without all the "under the hood" stats showing. But if you look at GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 18: Power Items, mounts are expressly forbidden as power items:

"Any discrete, unliving object can be a power item. This rules out uncontained powders, liquids, and gases; energies and force fields; and abstract concepts. It also forbids pets and mounts (a familiar can provide an Energy Reserve instead; see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies) ...."

$150K seems like too nice a power item to me - if it can also run and fight like an Ally.... That's an ER of 65 that the horse somehow has... But can't use.... But that the rider can use.... It seems unbalanced. Nothing like a Powerstone at all, which is where the inspiration for Power Items came from in the first place.

[benz72]

What about a Golem in the shape of a horse? those things are crazy expensive, though possibly the rule on magic not counting for price is relevant (no sure since I think that applies to enchantments to improve the item, not magic used to create it).

[sir_pudding]

You probably also don't want a power item that will inevitably die.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

You probably also don't want a power item that will inevitably die.

Come to think of it, what does happen to a power item that becomes less valuable somehow? In the case of a physical transformation (like death) it makes sense for it to either lose any energy above the new maximum for its new value (as dog food), or for it to stop working entirely. But what about other value changes? If you take your heavily decorated power item to the Paraelemental Plane of Treasure, where the natives dismiss it as trash made of common stones and worthless yellow rocks, what happens?

[benz72]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Come to think of it, what does happen to a power item that becomes less valuable somehow? In the case of a physical transformation (like death) it makes sense for it to either lose any energy above the new maximum for its new value (as dog food), or for it to stop working entirely. But what about other value changes? If you take your heavily decorated power item to the Paraelemental Plane of Treasure, where the natives dismiss it as trash made of common stones and worthless yellow rocks, what happens?

In that particular case I'd leave the power level alone. The value is relative to the PC's home environment. Taking a steel item to a land where metal is extremely rare and costly does not increase the ER value. If the campaign shifted references at some point a recalculation might be in order at that time.

[David Johansen]

That's why fourth edition GURPS changed based Fatigue on Health instead of Strength.

I recall a campaign, long, long ago where a player character and his familiar would change into elephants to cast enchantments.

[ericthered]

$150K seems like too nice a power item to me - if it can also run and fight like an Ally.... That's an ER of 65 that the horse somehow has... But can't use.... But that the rider can use.... It seems unbalanced. Nothing like a Powerstone at all, which is where the inspiration for Power Items came from in the first place.

Having the energy in the mystic bond between the two sounds fine to me: my first thought with this thread was "A mount as a power item sounds awesome!". The energy doesn't belong to the horse or the rider: its about the magical bond.



Power Items can be useful, and at lowish levels, they're pretty consistently useful items. My DF elementalist has his in an very custom axe, and I've seen people recommend armor as a good target.



On the other hand, the potential to buy the horse as an ally gives me pause. What's the value then? does the cost of the horse apply in a world where people ride griffons and even occasionally dragons? What if the mount is a willing companion, not a "possession". Which is probably why pets and mounts are forbidden.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Anders

The rules on p. 115 says no living creatures, but would it break anything to change that rule?

Horsepower is fine in imperial campaigns, so GURPS will generally work without adjustment. European players using 1 meter hexes will want to use kilowatts however.