Re: (TFT) Discuss: Explosive Gems

[Stan <srydzews@ix.netcom.com>]

Thorn wrote:
>
> Another place I've seen lots of different opinions is Explosive Gems.

All these remarks are prefaced with "In my campaign..."  Not trying to 
tell anyone how to run their game or criticizing any other way of doing
things.

> How much cost per die of damage?

I ramp up the ST cost for bigger gems.  I use a ST Cost of 6 + (dice of damage, 
squared).  I wanted it to be fairly easy to make a 2 or 3 die gem, but rather
tough to make an 6 die gem.  

> What quality/cost of gems are needed?

20x($2^dice of damage). (40 for a one-die gem, 1280 for a six-die.)

That might not sound like much (or maybe it does, I don't know), but IMC a 
$1000 gem is a rarity.  

> Laboratory 'Enchantment' or field-castable Spell?

Field castable, IMC.  You gotta the ST, you make-a da gem.  If you blow your
DX roll, try again later.  Of course, no one actually casts it "in the field",
they do it at home, but its just a spell and does not follow the rules for 
creating magical items.

> How many 'sensitivities' are there?

I try to hew as close to ye booke's wording:"...may be made to go off when 
disturbed at all, or to explode when thrown.  Its maker may handle it without
danger".  I take that last sentence real seriously. 

Ones set to go off when disturbed at all are unusual, because the wizard 
has to keep them on his person pretty much continuously.  If they're not
on his person and ANYTHING happens to them, boom.  OTOH, the wizard can 
fall down a mine shaft and the gems won't go off, as long as they're on 
his person.

If the wizard dies, then all the 'can't touch this' gems are armed and 
dangerous.  I like your rules on how to handle this sort of situation.

Ones set 'go off when thrown' do exactly that.  They won't go off if the
wizard gives them to someone else, if the person carrying them falls down,
etc.  Someone has to take the gem in his hand and throw it, period.  No 
sticking them onto arrows or other such foolishness.  *Throw* it.  However,
the gem doesn't have to break or anything, it's the act of throwing that 
arms it.  Its basically a hand grenade.

So I guess I make the gems quite "user friendly" but relatively tough to 
make.  (In a campaign with readily available $1000 gems, they wouldn't be
that tough, I know.)

> Any other notes?

IMC, Remove Thrown Spell will remove this spell.  I treat the damage
as fire damage.  If someone wanted electricty gems or whatever it would
be a different spell.
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