Re: Magic Item creation: Notes D thru H. What? What???

[Rick Smith <rick_ww@lightspeed.ca>]

Hi DMG, everyone.
  David, I totally disagree with your points.

  If I hire a wiz for tiny stretches of time (1 to 3 weeks) the wizard has
to find his next job.  If he can't line one up quickly, he loses the 
income from the lab, for the week or three that he has no work, and
still has to pay for the mortgage on the the lab, rental of the land,
taxes, etc.

  If I am a freelancer who is constantly looking for work, I charge 
more than someone who is full time employed.  If I am renting a 
room in a hotel, I charge more for people who rent by the night
than someone who rents by the month.

  Claiming that the wizard is near the end of his life and does not
want to be building magic items (so he charges a premium for
long items) seems pretty preposterous to me.

  I think my economic arguments (that long jobs get a discount 
because the wizard does not need to line up more work) are 
stronger than yours.  

  If you claim that wizards are in such demand that there are always
lots of work lined up.. then that weakens my argument.  The cost is
much lower to line up new work, because their virtually is no 
problem finding it.  However, that argument DESTROYS your
claim that he does not want to be building magic item in the first 
place.

  I also note that all of the quote you made from the TFT erratta,
support my economic argument just as much or more as it 
supports yours.  Nor do those quotes say anything on the D, E, F,
etc. notes.

  Warm regards, Rick.


On 2016-11-03, at 10:32 PM, David Michael Grouchy II wrote:
> Jeffrey is correct.
> 
> It is about taking up so much of the wizards time.  He gives a discount if it takes less time; with daily rates being 1/5th their weekly pay, and hourly rates being 1/8th of even that.  But now you want to book the head enchanter for over two months straight?  He's already old.  Has apprentices he can't train, research put on hold, and all the while the Guild is very political and very built on status.
> 
> Look up the economic theory called "Final degree of utility determines value," or better yet read Karl Marx's "Law of the economy of time."
> 
> When Jeffrey said it was about "fair market value" he is practically quoting Steve Jackson.
> 
> 
>> I wonder if Steve Jackson would answer a question on that?
>> Though at this late date, he might not remember either.  It's
>> been what?  30+ years?
>> 
>> Jeff
> 
> We already have his answer to that.
> Here are Steve's own words from the Errata on Making ITL.
> 
> /begin quote from errata
> 
> Mid-1979: Correspondence with Draper Kauffman, a gamer in St. Louis, turned up some problems with the economics in TFT. That's my weak point; it seems to be one of the Draper's strong ones. He pointed out some problems and loopholes in the sections on jobs and magic items. He also told me how I could fix them . . . and I did, gratefully. (Thanks again, Draper!)
> 
> / end quote from errata
> 
> And the specific mention of Draper Kauffman again in the Advanced Wizard errata.
> 
> 
> /begin quote from errata
> 
> Page 29. Two clarifications, courtesy of Draper Kauffman. Footnote B: "Furthermore, some items, like Trip, Sleep, Fireproof, etc., affect only one hex in their basic forms. A basic Trip would not trip a giant; you would need either a triple-powered Trip (3 wizards, or one wizard and 6 weeks) or 3 normal Trip items. If you want to fireproof your horse, you could use a double-power Fireproof item, or two basic items. If you wanted to put a 14-hex dragon to sleep, you could do it with a 14-power Sleep item ($14,000!)".
> 
> Footnote C: "The basic Drop Weapon item works on figures with ST less than 20; the 2-power version works on any ST."
> 
> Page 30. My "cost of magical items" example is misleading. It was a calculation of the price the wizards would have charged for their work. However, it was NOT the "fair market value" of the coronet. Fair market value assumes the wizards worked in the most efficient way - and these did not.
> 
> Fair market value would be correctly figured thus: Jeweled coronet: $15,000. Add Telepathy spell: $20,000. Add Iron Flesh, doubled cost $32,000. Subtotal with two spells: $67,000. Add 20% of this, since Control Person is an "E" spell: $13,400. Add Control Person (quadrupled cost): $40,000. Add Reversed Missiles (octupled cost): another $40,000. Total value: $160,400.
> 
> Page 31. Apparent pasteup error. If the "Multiply Enchanted Item" rules is read at the beginning of page 30 the rules are more clear.
> 
> / end quote from errata
> 
> Which reads to me that Draper was helping Steve by using both the "Law of economy of time" and "economies of scale".
> 
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> David Michael Grouchy II
> 
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