[RPM] The Charm Craftsman / Alchemist as a PC

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

Thinking about eventually using Ritual Path Magic in a fantasy game, I've wondered what would the life of a Charm-maker be like? (One of my players had an Enchanter PC back in the day, so please don't say PCs don't do that sort of thing.) Here's some stuff I understand so far:

Being a charm craftsman requires a serious investment. A Basic Workspace Kit takes up a hue 70% of Starting Wealth at TL3, and a non-insignificant 13% at TL8. And then there's the requirement of having at least Magery 0+ [5+] and skill 12+ in Thaumatology and the relevant Path (varies). Ritual Adept (Connection) and (Consecrated Space) aren't necessary, while (Time) is very nice but not essential. An Alchemist has a slightly easier time due to having Alchemy as the default skill, not lower of the two. (But the 12+Magery limit still applies.)

A skill-12 enchanter is expected to make charms of up to 34 energy, which is about 0.58 monthly pay ($406 at TL3, $1,508 at TL8). Even assuming that the broker takes 50% of the income (or that the less energetic variants are made most of the time), this seems like a nice job with short working hours, whether at TL3 or TL8. The one big question, however, is how often are charms bought and used?

Given that a Charm can usually be crafted on demand within a day, I think encharmters are likely to be selling them quite often.

Anyone tried using RPM in fantasy in the same context as I'm describing? Any experience or observations to share?

Thanks in advance!

[Ptaloth]

I am working on a witch character right now, who will do a lot of charm and potion selling. I can't offer any gameplay experience so far, but i have some thoughts on the matter.

One thing to keep in mind, would be the limit on condtional spells.
If you craft to many charm to fast, your oldest ones will stop working.

Some customers might get angry with you when the charms stop working to soon.
Quirky charms or potions will probably make them "pitchfork" angry.
Some good grimoires will help with the quirk problem.

You should keep a few conditional spells around for yourself, just to be prepared when things get ugly.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Ptaloth

I am working on a witch character right now, who will do a lot of charm and potion selling. I can't offer any gameplay experience so far, but i have some thoughts on the matter.

One thing to keep in mind, would be the limit on condtional spells.
If you craft to many charm to fast, your oldest ones will stop working.

On one hand, agreed. On the other, a sold Charm should probably have a negotiated expiry date that affects cost. Basically, for every month the mage maintains the Charms unused, s/he's losing money.

Originally Posted by Ptaloth

Some customers might get angry with you when the charms stop working to soon.
Quirky charms or potions will probably make them "pitchfork" angry.
Some good grimoires will help with the quirk problem.

Actually, I wonder whether the purchased Charms assume a presence of Quirks.

Originally Posted by Ptaloth

You should keep a few conditional spells around for yourself, just to be prepared when things get ugly.

True. But remember that someone needn't be primarily a mage as an adventurer in order to be a mage/enchanter on one's day job. The investment is non-negligible, but being able to earn by making Charms and occasionally cast a spell of one's own is nice for the investment, compared to having another skill-demanding job.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Actually, I wonder whether the purchased Charms assume a presence of Quirks.

2 sections in the shop. The "Absolutely 100% Quirk-Free!" section is premium, and caters to only the wealthiest of people.

[Ptaloth]

I don't think it practical to have a premium section in the shop for wealthy customers.
The oldest charm always expires when you go over the alowed limit.
An expensive premium charm, waiting for a wealthy customer, will expire just like the quirky stuff.
But it should be possible to detect quirks with Sense Magic.
A Transform Magick would allow to fix quirky charms.

It would be tricky to get a good economic model on the charm selling trade.
The rules on buying charms (p.27) at first suggest that charms last for weeks.
But the second part about the costs of a charm, suggest otherwise.
A typical charm seller at skill 12, would need to sell a charm every 3 days, to earn a living.

This is much less of a headache, if you use Alchemy with Expiration Date as per p.30.

[Ptaloth]

I noticed one more thing.
34 energy at skill 12 is over 5 times save treshold.
This is very unlikely to be quirkfree and will crit fail 50% of the time.

The Lesser Controll Magic (5) in each charm alone is just a little bit under the safe treshold. Even something realy cheap like Cure Disease(7) would push you to double safe treshold.

If you don't get a bonus from somewhere, skill 12 wouldn't work to earn a living.
A Good Workshop +1, a Grimoire +2 and Ritual Mastery +2, would bring safe treshold to 29 wich is much more manageable.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Ptaloth

I noticed one more thing.
34 energy at skill 12 is over 5 times save treshold.

No, it's exactly 4 times the safe threshold, so it hits the "over 3x safe threshold" limit. Note the actual formula is "10 energy + 4 x the safe threshold," because the assumption is that a significant chunk of energy will come from the caster's mana reserve, FP sacrifice, friends, etc. I simplified all of those to "10 energy" based on experience; that seemed to be about what my PCs found was easy to "get" before having to gather ambient energy.

[Ptaloth]

Looks like i was using a different assumption.
I was just looking at the "Quick and Dirty Rituals and Charms" Box and didn't include any energy sources.
Also i was assuming a lone caster with Magery 0 and a skill of 12.

Even with the 10 "free" energy you have to roll 12 or less (quick and dirty) to avoid critical failures.

You should avoid to sacrifice big animals. A good grimoire is a much better investment than a cow for a single sacrifice.
At TL 3 $1500 could buy one oxen (Basic Set 460) or a Grimoire +5.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Ptaloth

You should avoid to sacrifice big animals. A good grimoire is a much better investment than a cow for a single sacrifice.
At TL 3 $1500 could buy one oxen (Basic Set 460) or a Grimoire +5.

It actually probably makes more sense to hire people to tap into their FP (Willing Sacrifice). That's basically one hour worth of pay for 6-30 FP (depending on stuff like Breath Control, and the maximum frequency of casting).

[Ptaloth]

Sure, but the first paragraph on self sacrifice states that it hurts.
The emphasis on the wort hurts lead me to belive that this is a realy unpleasant experience.
I think 6-9 FP or 2-3 Energy per ritual would be pretty safe figure.
Depending on the cost of unskilled labor, a small grimoire could still be a valid option.
Perhaps you could even require the customer to assist in the casting.

If the young lady wants a love charms, she is required to bring a chicken, add a few drops of her own blood and dance herself to exaustion.
It all depends on the settings flavor.