Magical Items

***Rarity***

The rarity of a magic item corresponds with the power level of the item. The more powerful the magical item is, the more difficult it is to craft, and thus fewer copies of it exist in the World. Indeed, some items can be so unique or powerful that only one version of them exists. The majority of the most powerful and rarest magical items were created during the War of Collapse by divine inspiration and touch by the Enneade, and therefore most of these items can’t be replicated as their creators are gone. Magic items can be categorized into five different tiers of rarity; common, uncommon, rare, very rare, and legendary.

In the Age of Riahn and the start of the Age of Resurgence in Frostmark, even common magical items would be extremely rare. As the inquisition gathered all magical artifacts and either hid them away, exiled them to another Realm, or even destroyed some, there are no magical items to be found in any normal marketplace. A few magical items can have slipped the inquisition’s attention by being hidden by a cult, masquerading as a family heirloom of non-descript value, or forgotten in an ancient tomb, ruin or crack somewhere in the corners of Frostmark. On the other hand, in bazaars and marketplaces of the other Realms where magical items are far from outlawed, larger communities usually have a shop or two that peddles such items. Even so, magical items do not fall from trees like apples. Common magical items in the other Realms are still rare, but still prevalent.

As the rarity gives a hint towards how powerful a magical item is, the GM should be careful with rewarding their players with too many and/or too strong of magical items depending upon the party’s level. However, feel free to give powerful magical items at lower levels if you as GM have ideas on how to incorporate them into the narrative and enrich the story.

***Trade of Magical Items***

Of course you can decide the cost of magical items yourself, but you may use these tables as a guide. In the tables below, magical items are not only categorized by their rarity, but also their usage: Single-Use, Limited, Charged and Permanent. Single-Use magical items are consumable items, once used they are spent. This includes items such as potions, ammunition, and spell scrolls. Limited magical items have a limited number of uses, which includes Bag of Beans and Chime of Opening. Charged items can be used a limited number of times during a time period, such as items that can be only used once until next dawn or items with a number of charges that are regained after a long rest. Permanent items have enchantments that are always active, such as +1 weapons and armors. If an item has several uses, such as a permanent effect and a charged effect, count the item as the most consistent usage category between its effects - permanent in this case.

**Table of Potency for Creating Magical Items**

**Table of Soul Potency Cost**

 Potency 1
 Potency 2
 Potency 3
 Potency 4
 Potency 5
 Potency 6
 Potency 7
 Potency 8
 Potency 9

**Table of Cost of Potency for Crafting Magical Items**

**Labor time for magical item creation**

\*days assume 8h work time

\*week assumes 5 days of work per week

\*\*\*7 weeks per month

**Labor cost for magical item creation**

\*Assuming Common and Uncommon magical item creation earns a Comfortable salary (36 cp per hour)

\*\*Assuming Rare and Very Rare magical item creation earns a Wealthy salary (71 cp per hour)

\*\*\*Assuming Legendary magical item creation earns an Aristocratic salary (179 cp per hour)

#### **Magical Item Cost Calculation:**

Cost of Soul Potency + Labor + Non-magical item + profit percentage/extra costs/suppy&demand

Add at least 10% for a baseline, up to 200% extra. This could include the risk of killing dangerous creatures, taxes, cost of keeping a storefront open, travelling fees, employees, market swings due to demand and supply, etc. Attunement items have a baseline of 5% instead due to their limited nature for the customer. Cursed items may be given a discount instead if the seller is honest or aware.

Example

*Armor of Invulnerability* (legendary, permanent effect, plate armor)

400.400 gp (Potency) + 3.500 gp (labor) + 1.500 gp (plate armor) + 5% (baseline, attunement) = 425 670 gp

*Bag of Holding* (uncommon, permanent effect, backpack)

440 gp (Potency) + 50 gp (labor) + 2 gp (backpack) + 10% (baseline) = 542 gp and 2 sp

*Potion of Healing* (common, single-use, glass vial)

40 gp (Potency) + 1 gp (labor) + 0.8 gp (vial) + 10% (baseline) = 46 gp

***Crafting magical items***

If a character chooses to craft a magic item, it will require the base item and the souls listed above. The effort of placing the enhancement on the item would usually an Occult (Cunning) check, with the DV set by the GM according to the item's value. A failure by a margin of ten or more means the souls are forfeit.

***Identifying Magical Items***

What effect a particular magical item has is not obvious when a character picks it up. Some magical items do not look anything different from their non-magical counterparts even, but once held by a character there is no denying their magical nature. For magical items with non-complex effects, the GM can hint at what the effect is as flavor. For example, when a character attaches Amulet of Health to themselves for the first time the GM can say “You feel uncharacteristically hearty and healthy”. A potion can be tasted where the character will experience a weaker version or a shorter version of the potion’s effects. The players can then guess what they have picked up. If the item has any command words, they are usually branded upon the item in some way.

A more sure way to discover the powers of a magical item is to spend a short rest with the item, experimenting with it until its effects have been realized. Alternatively, an Identify spell will instantly reveal its nature. If the item can be guessed through a quick encounter with it, a short rest or an Identify spell is up to the GM.

***Attunement***

Some magical items require a connection to their wielder, a direct link to their wielder’s Soul to be truly enabled and utilized. There are several rules to abide by when dealing with a magical item that requires attunement.

* You attune to an item by spending an uninterrupted short rest (otherwise it fails) whilst having physical contact with the item (learning a magical item’s properties and attuning to an item can be done in the same short rest)
* When you have attuned you learn every property of the item, including any command words but excluding any cursed effects
* You can only attune to three items at once
* You can’t attune, or remained attuned, to a magic item with a prerequisite you don’t meet
* You can’t attune to a copy of an item you are already attuned to
* Any items you wear that you have not attuned to still work as normal items, but any magical properties are not activated
* An item can only be attuned to one wielder
* You lose attunement to an item that has been more than 30 m away from you for at least 24 hours
* You can voluntarily switch one of your attunements to another by spending a short rest

***Cursed Items***

For whatever nefarious reasons, some items are created or turned cursed. The item’s description will reveal if the item is cursed or not. Cursed items enchant the wearer, some curses last after the wearer has stopped using the item. All stated identifying methods, including the Identify spell, will fail to reveal the cursed status of the item. Only any potential history about the item may hint towards it. Without breaking the curse, like a Greater Restoration spell, the attunement of the item can’t be ended voluntarily.

*Armors*

You can only wear a magical armor of a type for which you are proficient. Some armors state what type of armor they are, those who don’t the GM may decide which type they are or determine it randomly. Unless specified, a character needs to wear the armor for its effects, both mundane and magical, to take effect.

*Potions*

Potions are consumables that take effect immediately and are subsequently used up. They are made of some kind of liquid, be it from some kind of brew, some special source, or created as an oil to be coated on items. Using a potion, chugging it down yourself, or administering it to a teammate, is an action. The time it takes to coat an item in an oil-based potion is specified in its description. Most potions consist of about 3 dl of liquid.

*Rings*

Magic rings must be worn on a finger, or a similar digit, for their fantastical magical powers to take effect.

*Rods*

A rod is usually about 1 to 2 kg heavy, 0.5 to 1 m long, and about 2 to 4 cm thick, thus a heavy and long cylinder. These scepters are usually made out of wood, metal, or bone.

*Scrolls*

A scroll is another type of consumable magical item and when the magic within is invoked the scroll is used up. Usually, a scroll is a stored spell and Soul. Most scrolls take the form of a piece of parchment, rolled up, and stored within some kind of casing, like a box or tube made out of leather, wood, metal, stone, etc. It is an action to open up a scroll and read the contents within, which activates the magical effect, after which the Soul escapes to reincarnation, the words fade or the scroll turns to dust. The scroll is written in Copta and carries an enchantment that causes anyone that reads it to understand its contents.

*Staffs*

Staffs come in different forms, some smooth, some gnarly and can be made out of metal, stone, bone, or wood. They can have ornamental details, like runs, carvings, crystals, shapes, etc. Most staffs are however about 1.5 to 1.8 m long and weigh between 1 to 3 kg depending upon its materials. As long as the Staff’s description doesn’t state otherwise, the staff can be used as a quarterstaff.

*Wands*

Wands are similar to staffs, though much shorter. Most wands are created to be about 40 cm long.

*Weapons*

You can only use a magical weapon of a type with which you are proficient. Some weapons state what type of weapons they are, for those who don’t the GM may decide which type they are or determine it randomly.

*Wondrous Items*

This category is a catchall one, including any magical items that the above categories do not state. Outside of objects, such as carpets, crystals, figurines, and censors, wearable items are also common in this category, such as boots, belts, cloaks, jewelry, etc.

***Wearing and Wielding Items***

To utilize a magical item’s powers, the item must be worn or wielded correctly if it is of the wearable or wieldable type. For example, a helmet should be worn on the head and a shield should be strapped to your arm. In most cases, magical items change their size and shape for their owner. A halfling could use a magical armor that a goliath was wearing beforehand, the armor shrinking to its new master’s size. By the GM’s decision, some magical items do not need to abide by this rule. If a particular item was created for a specific race, for example, it may not be able to be worn by a member of another race. Take a dwarven armor for example, especially crafted to be used and worn by dwarves, might not fit an elf for example. Whether a non-humanoid can wear a magical item should be handled on a case to case basis. A snake creature can’t wear boots, but a creature with tentacles might be able to sport a magical ring.

No creature, character or not, can’t however wear two magical items of the same kind. Technically a character might be able to wear two cloaks or fasten more than one amulet around their necks, but only one magical item worn in its proper place will have its properties activated. For example, when dressing up for a gala at the royal court a character might want to pimp themselves out by wearing as many of their most expensive necklaces as possible. In this case, the character needs to inform the GM which necklace is the active magical item. If the character wishes to switch the active one, the character needs to remove any other magical items worn in the same place. Any creature can possess two active magical rings, however.

As for paired items, like boots or gloves, for their magical properties to work both of the paired items need to be worn properly.

***Activating a Magical Item***

Some items require some kind of activation to work their magic and such details can be found in the item’s description. Most often it takes the form of speaking out loud some kind of command word. A command word can be a single word or a specific sentence and an item can’t be activated if it requires a command word in an environment where speaking is prevented, such as within the range of a Silent spell. If the item’s description specifies that the item requires an action to activate, the action isn’t a part of the category of “use an item actions”.

***Spells***

Some staffs, rods, wands, scrolls, potions, etc., allow the wielder to cast spells. This spellcasting does not consume any Souls (as the Souls are already trapped within the item), or spell slots and keeps every property of its normal casted spell counterpart unless it specifies otherwise. It may require the user to use concentration (including spells cast that normally requires concentration) and might ask for a spellcasting ability modifier. If the creature does not possess a spellcasting modifier, simply use their proficiency bonus instead.

***Charges***

Several magical items have something called charges, which details how many times a magical item can perform a certain ability. Whenever the ability is activated, a charge is expended. How many charges a magic item possesses currently can be gleaned through an Identify spell or attunement, in addition, attunement also allows the character to learn how many charges the item has recovered.

***Magic Item Resilience***

All magical items, since a Soul in some capacity inhabits the objects, are incredibly sturdy and have resistance to all damage. More rare items might even be indestructible and incredibly hard to destroy.