Re: (TFT) Are TFT Magic Items Too Complicated?

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

David Michael Grouchy II wrote:
>   If I had my wish, there are three things I would like to change.
>
>   1.  Every spell can be a potion (trailtwister)
>   2.  Every potion can be a magic item (youth)
>   3.  And every magic item can be a spell (crystal ball)

#3 is generally the easiest.  I mean, why isn't there a flaming weapon
spell?

#2 is a tough one.  Unless you make the IQ very high and the ST cost
very, very high it's hard to imagine a Youth spell without 'material
components', something TFT steers clear of for actual spells (wisely,
I think).  But either way, it could be done.

#1...well, that's the really tough one.  Since you don't have to know
spells or be a wizard to make potions, just have the Alchemy talent,
the connection between potions and spells is much more tenuous than
the connection between items and spells.  Then there's the matter of,
"So I drink this potion and it creates a temporary stone wall somewhere?
What?"   It could be done this way, but just seems extremely odd.

What might be better would be to create a general class of one-shot
items, perhaps to include potions.  Either that or, as Thorn says,
explain 'the breaks' and detail why not every spell has a potion.
That's what I'd really prefer.

>   Also as a general change in the numbers I really feel it takes too 
> long to make magic items.  I have been GMing for countless years and 
> only one character has ever made a magic item.  And that was a +1 sword.
>   I would like to see all the times changed from weeks to days.  So a +1 
> sword could be made in one day.  It's a great part of the system, but no 
> one gets to use it because it just takes too long.

It all depends on how you run your campaign.  To my mind, the difficult
part is for the PC's to manage to learn the Enchant spells and secure
the formulas for the items they want.  PC's capable enough to achieve these
feats shouldn't have too hard a time accumulating enough scratch to securely
house themselves for a few weeks.  I mean, do orcs and cultists and
assorted conspiratorial skullduggery break down the doors on a daily basis?
Or do the PC's just accumulate such a huge amount of day-to-day responsibility
that they can't be away for a few weeks?

Given TFT's Job Table, it seems that perhaps Jackson contemplated the idea
of PC's occasionally passing blocks of time in week increments.  While that
does sound a bit uneventful, I think it explains the enchantment times.

TFT is really pretty lenient compared to most other games that have a system
for creating magic items,.  Creating items here is an afternoon lark compared
to C&S, for instance.

That all being said, simply ruling that 1 week = 1 day in your campaign is
of course easily done if it works better for you.
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