Re: Rick's Magic items for Horses (and other riding animals).

[Rick <rick_ww@lightspeed.ca>]

Hey Rick,

Overall, some cleaver ideas which might be useful in the right situations.

I have one general thought, which is why is it for the Shoe of Permanence that each shoe counts as one item, but not for any of the rest?  All of the shoes should be treated one way or the other to keep it simple.  If it goes the way of all being each shoe is a separate item, then the costs will have to go way down.  Also why wouldn't that also apply to bipedal boot-type items like Boots of Speed or Haste for consistency (also resulting in a lower cost)?

For the Shoe of Walking on Water, you say they "should only be used on glass smooth lakes", but then go on to detail the penalties for walking on rougher water.  Maybe soften the language in the original quote (e.g., "it's risky to walk on anything but glass smooth lakes").

For the Riding Crop of Speed, since "it [is] triggered by whacking the crop against the flank of the horse".  Does that require an action, because it sounds like it should?  If so, it means I can't cast it until after movement is over, so if the spell lasts just 2 turns per "casting", does that mean they only get 1 turn of sped-up movement since movement comes before actions?

for the Shoes of Lighting, by the cost being "Identical to the weapon / armor enchantment, but add 5% onto the price", is that per shoe or for the whole set?  It better be for the set otherwise it is way to expensive.  Why not just say $1,050 so people don't have to look that up and do math?  Surely there aren't 2nd levels of this (like W/A +2) that... cast more sparks?

For the Feedbag of Purity, 5 times/day is an odd number.  I know it technically means 12 AM, 5 AM, 10 AM, 3 PM and 8 PM, with the next feeding available at 1 AM the next day, but it's just a weird split relative to the day and harder to remember.  How often does a horse feed normally?  My quick research says 2/day for domestic horses, or many times a day in small amounts.  A weaker version of this item that suits the domestic type of horse would probably be much more popular.

What game effect does the Saddle of Lightness have?  Can a horse carrying a rider with this saddle go 15% further in a day; the same distance, but 15% faster or go 15% more days in a row without fatigue?

For the Spurs of *Something*, you have "Self Powering but once per day. 10% self powering price."  The price of self-powering is *10, so *10 * 10% = 1 and therefore no cost difference.  In your rules on Glyffs, once per day is 60% of the usual cost and twice per day is 80% of the usual  cost, so maybe go with that.

Hope this helps,
Matt