Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
I've seen plenty of settings where cheap magical items are plausible, they're just not rare magic settings, and they either aren't low tech (I mean, they might be TL 3+4 or something, but not TL 3) or the magic items have very limited functions.
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Now that I think of it I have read other fantasy series in the distant past where cheap, common magic items are plausible. Like you said, however, they're not straight medieval fantasy with rare magic.
The way to have cheap magic items in a setting where
mages are rare is to have spontaneous enchantment. Assume that mana is an ambient force that normally interacts weakly with ordinary items and people. As the inhabitants of a magical world go about their lives, sometimes purely random events or seemingly random actions result in a temporary or permanent enchanted item, blessing or curse. Taken to extremes, spontaneously enchanted items can act like loot boxes in video games.
Good random results create one-use enchantments or elixirs. Bad random events result in ordinary animals mutating into monsters, people getting possessed by evil spirits or items being affected by minor curses.
Other laws of magic might also trigger spontaneous enchantments, like a master crafter's tools gradually being imbued with some of their skill or a sword gaining limited power to find or kill certain types of enemies. At the lowest level, these items are nothing but the Weapon Bond or Equipment Bond perks, but other minor magical effects are possible.
Mages can easily detect such items, and can also determine their relative power and potential uses. Inventing new spells requires trying out random combinations of words, gestures and psychological intents to predictably evoke what would have otherwise been a one-off random event.
07-09-2024, 03:03 PM
Re: [Thaumatology] Setting magic item prices to make economic sense
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