That which we acheive too easily, we esteem too lightly - Questing for magic items.

Of course it's a good idea!

                A few articles back, I talked about giving players quests in order to have them gain magic items. A question was posed to me in the comments which asked how I suggest game masters go about such a task. This is something that I had to think about, because, primarily, what can I suggest that has not been talked about by other people? As always, the best I can do it to present some solutions with which I have had success in my own campaigns. With that in mind, here are the (admittedly limited) methods I have used successfully. As a caveat, while most of my ideas are used in the low-fantasy, sword and sorcery settings that I am personally obsessed with, it stands to reason that these should work well in any setting. And remember, as always, tweak these ideas like there is no tomorrow.

  

              Before I dive in, I would encourage you to read my other posts on magic items in a low-magic setting. The ideas laid out in those posts directly inform the strategies I will discuss here and are, in my opinion, necessary components thereof. In case you don’t have time/don’t feel like going back and reading articles on magic weapons and alchemical items, allow your humble servant to give you the tl;dr version: 1) Magic items should have names because they are special; 2) magic items should not be easily acquired for they are rare; 3) rarer still is the person who can craft such items; 4) items should have properties beyond bonuses “to hit” and damage; and 5) the more magnificent the item, the more costly (not necessarily monetarily) it should be to obtain it.

Hand wave it

Sometimes the easiest way to get something done is to just do it yourself. Players can be downright unpredictable, and if the storyline you have written (or a character’s long-term goal) hinges on the possession of some item or another, it is easiest just to hand wave the thing and simply give it to the player character. I am not, however, suggesting that the item be found in the treasure hoard of some normal (or even deadly) encounter in the course of the normal adventure. That would undermine the very idea of magic items being difficult to come by. Rather, the Game Master could construct a narrative in which the acquisition of the necessary item is described.

There are, I think, two ways of doing this. The first would be to write a well-thought through piece of prose wherein the event is described in evocative detail. The other way to hand wave this process is by simply summing up what happened as a short expository speech. This all depends on the play style of your gaming coterie. Either way, hand waving may be more efficient, but it is usually not very satisfying.

Blue booking

Similar to hand waving, blue booking allows the player character to acquire the item in question while allowing the main narrative of the campaign to continue. This method is especially useful for groups that are not able to meet often. In order to blue book successfully, parameters need to be set for the manner of the interaction between Game Master and player. There should be a time frame established, as well as an agreement on the depth of writing involved. After all, it is never fun to be the person contributing a disproportionately large amount of effort.

Blue booking should begin by the Game Master writing a prologue that involves some information about the quest itself. Then, the player can contribute a short explanation of his/her initial actions. After this, the game master explains the first encounter the player faces. The player writes how his/her character would deal with the situation, and then the Game Master writes up the next encounter. The key is to not get bogged down trying to write encounters on a turn-by-turn basis; that way lies madness and frustration. Because blue booking can take weeks or months at a time, it may be useful to give the player character the item, advance the main game by an appropriate length of time, and continue on with the whole party while you and the PC in question hash out the details.

One-on-one sessions

Assuming you have the time, a one-on-one session is my preferred method for having a single player go on a quest for a magic item. Adventuring parties conceivably need to split up from time to time, and the competent Game Master can come up with plenty of activities for the various members to do. After all, everyone should have a fleshed out enough backstory to enable their characters to have goals outside of the main plot. Perhaps the fighter is going to clear that land for his keep, the magic-user may actually have time to research that new spell, or the thief may have the opportunity to get in good with the local Guild. A series of short adventures could be constructed for each of these characters in order to pass the time, or (for things like clearing land or spell research) blue booking provides a suitable means for getting characters through the “down time”.

The main reason to have a one-on-one session is when the majority of the party wants to keep adventuring, but the the quest of a certain character is one that is either of a highly personal nature, or one that other members of the party simply have no interest or personal stake in. If something like this happens, my advice is to simply allow it. For instance, in my AD&D game, were I to send the paladin on a quest for a Holy Avenger, the rest of the party (made up almost entirely of chaotic, murder-hobos) would have no interest in going along. In this case, I would provide a separate adventure for the remainder of the party, and have them establish a rendezvous point for when they are ready to return to the main plotline.

Sub-plots

The easiest way to incorporate the quest for a magic item into your game is to simply use it as a sub-plot. Need to get to Sigil? Perhaps the party must first find a gate key of some kind. Summon a demon? Have an adventure wherein the player characters quest for the necessary ritual components. There is not really a wrong way to do this. I, however, tend to stay away from item quests as sub-plots because, most of the time, the item being sought after is only important or, ultimately, usable by one character. If you drag everyone in the party along, there is a good chance the players might get salty about not receiving magical items of their own. Of course, this is only a significant problem if you are a low-fantasy junky such as myself.

Strong on his mountain (er…at his desk),

PJ

She held aloft Excalibur: concerning magic weapons in sword and sorcery games.

A few posts back I discussed how to make an anthropocentric,low-fantasy campaign. I touched in a very minor way about magic items, but at the time I felt like this is a subject that could be dealt with in greater detail. It is in this spirit that I turn towards the idea of magic items in a low magic, sword and sorcery style setting. While this discussion is not likely to exhaust the matter, it should give the prospective DM a good jumping off point and a way to appease his/her players when they inevitably complain about the lack of magic items.

I am not going to re-plumb information I have already written about, so instead I will attempt to offer up something new for the consideration of the reader. The first thing to remember about magic in this sort of setting is that it should be rare, powerful, and mysterious. When players find a magic item, they will not have a way of really knowing whether or not the item is or is not imbued with eldritch properties, because they will be unlikely to have a spell that can identify the item. This makes it so description by the Dungeon Master and experimentation by the player characters. I will go a little more in depth about the identification process in just a bit. Let’s jump in to some quick guidelines for magic items, shall we?

Make It Wondrous

The first guideline I follow is to make sure that magic items given out (aside from minor, alchemical items) are always wondrous in nature. Too often players find boring, quasi-mundane items (“ooh a +1 sword, how original…”). In a high magic campaign this is legitimate because of the sure multitude of magic items that are floating around in the world; heck you may even be able to straight up buy magic items. In a low magic campaign, by contrast, these items are not readily available and it can be very discouraging to the player characters to go through a taxing ordeal and only walk away with an item that grants a strictly numerical advantage over what they were previously wielding. It is for these reasons that I propose that the Dungeon Master give out Wondrous Items. While most of them will not be weapons or armor (we’ll talk about that later), they are always items of legendary power and great utility. Would the thief like a +2 rapier? Totally. Would a gem which prevents the thief from being detected by magical means be more epic and amazing from a story stand-point? Unequivocally yes! Besides, giving players something which makes their character truly unique in the world and which allows them to role-play creatively is, in my opinion, intrinsically valuable in a game like D&D (or OSRIC, DCC, LL, BoL, etc., etc.).

Eschew Magic Weapons and Armor

This is the guideline I anticipate getting the most blow-back from. People love magic weapons, and, ultimately, what is not to love? They are sleek, cool, and help you kill monsters better; every warrior's dream. But do they really fit in a sword and sorcery setting? While I am sure we can all think of S&S characters with epic magic weapons (Elric much?), I remain unconvinced that they strictly fit into the setting. Generally, the S&S setting is all about a human character overcoming magical or supernatural obstacles with little more than grit, strength, and good, old-fashioned tenacity. Having said that, it is nice to give players a numerical bonus to hit and damage, especially when a majority of their foes will have resistances to non-magic damage starting at around fifth level (in 5e). So allow me to propose giving weapons qualia which give them a +1 - +3 without making them magic. I will break theses into four levels in ascending order: masterwork, heirloom, legendary, and mythical. I will often use the word “weapon” in place of “weapon or armor”, because having armor of these qualities will be so cost prohibitive that it is unlikely a character will be able to afford the commission of one. Finally, weapons of superior quality should be given names. This adds to their flavor and prestige.

Masterwork: A masterwork weapon is non-magical in nature and is the product of a particularly skilled craftsman. The weapon confers a +1 to hit and damage because of the way it has been forged and the superiority of its balance and edge. A weapons of this quality should cost no less than ten times the amount of the normal weapon type. Hrunting, the sword given Beowulf by Unferth, is good example of such a weapon.

Beowulf fighting the dragon.

Heirloom: An heirloom weapon confers a +2 bonus to hit and to damage, but remains non-magical. This is a weapon made by the sort of smith that only comes around once in a generation, and as such should be incredibly hard to come by. Those who possess such a weapon likely hand it down to their heirs, or lose it in battle with a superior force. Should a player seek to commission such a weapon, it should cost no less than one-hundred times the standard cost of the item, and require some searching to find the artisan capable of crafting such an piece. Beowulf’s sword Nӕgling given him by Hrothgar is an example of such a weapon.

Sigurd and Fafnir

Legendary: A weapon of legendary quality is one that is, in fact, quasi-magical in nature. Conferring a +3 bonus to hit and damage, a legendary item is one that comes into being perhaps once in a lifetime. It is likely made out of esoteric or rare material, made by the greatest craftsman of the age, or both. Acquiring such a weapon should always involve a quest of some sort; whether one seeks an extant item, the material to have it forged, or the artisan who can properly forge the item. On the off chance one wants to commission such an item, it should cost no less than one-thousand times the price of the normal item. Sigurd’s sword Gram with which he slew Fafnir in the Völsungsaga is an example of such an item.

Elric by Michael Whelan

Mythical: A mythical weapon is one that is literally magical in nature. The item does not just confer a “plus” to hit and damage, but contains other properties as well. This sort of an item is one that cannot be forged by human hands (without the aid of powerful magics) and must always be received as part of a quest or adventure. A mythical sword should ignore magic resistance (at least to a certain level) and have other abilities. It is likely that such an item will have an intelligence of its own because it was formed by unearthly means. These items can never be bought with normal currency, but boons, souls, and other more esoteric means may be used to acquire them. Again, I stress that these weapons should have qualities beyond a simple “plus”. Elric’s sword Stormbringer is an example of such a weapon.

Strong on his mountain (er... at his desk),

PJ

In-Game Economy: An Overlooked Aspect

 

                I am going to start by making an assumption: your fantasy game takes place in a pseudo-feudalistic society. Fun fact: so does mine. I have found, however, that far too often the economics presented in fantasy roleplaying games leave much to be desired. For one, the costs of certain goods and services make little sense in relation to others (why does it cost one gold to stay at an inn? Ludicrous.). If you want your game to have a somewhat realistic economy, then you will need to divorce yourself from you modern notions of economics, since these make little sense given the assumed social order of your game’s society.

                Let me digress a moment and talk explicitly about some basics of the feudal society. The first assumption is that the majority of common-folk will be serfs of some description. They will not own land, they will have to tithe portions of their harvests to the local lord and various religious institutions, they will not possess much 9if any) currency, and their general day to day activities will be based around agriculture. Inside towns, you will find craftsmen of various sorts, and it will be up to the DM to decide whether or not these individuals are also serfs (not uncommon at all in the manor system). Mass production and market validation of labor will not be factors in a pre-capitalist economy. Cottage industry will be the norm, and will operate largely on a command basis. Outside of the most sprawling metropolises (which probably have a more mercantilist economy), local artisans will not necessarily have a large stock of products to purchase.

Most such products will be made upon request and could take several days; which is useful if the party needs to pursue downtime activities. Artisans and their families will live either above or behind their shops (thus the term “cottage industry”), and those looking to procure goods and services will likely encounter a young son who is acting as an ersatz apprentice. Almost all products available in town will have been produced locally. Occasionally a travelling merchant may come through town to offer goods not normally available, and, more importantly, buy the primary goods produced by the locals (ore, lumber, grain, etc.), but these instances are likely to take place once a month or so in any given town. Majority of commerce will conducted through barter since few will have actual currency. Life in a rural, feudal town would be quite austere.

                But PJ, you say, we are in a sprawling metropolis. That’s all well and good, but the market in those towns would still be different from what you are used to growing up in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Trade would be highly controlled. Large guilds would set the prices of various goods and determine the qualifications and course of study for those who wish to practice a craft or trade. Within cities, it is likely that the hereditary transmission of trades will be slightly less prevalent because of the guild system. Guilds will be politically powerful and extremely wealthy. While the governor of the city may be appointed by the crown, you can bet there will be a city council made up of appointed (or perhaps elected) officials of the burgher class. Since there is very little production of primary goods inside cities, most people will possess some amount of currency and barter will very rarely be used as a result. 

Market competition was not a factor of this kind of mercantilist system (international competition, however, was), so while two different cobblers may have aesthetically different looking shoes, the prices of those shoes will be the same based on the rates set by the guild; woe to the craftsman who produces goods without guild sanction or violates the price controls. Merchants within the city will have goods from near and far in some abundance, but due to tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade goods imported from other nations will be very costly.

Now that I’ve addressed economics on the macro-level in your game, let’s turn to what you, the DM, can do to limit the amount of currency your PCs have. It would not due to have PCs acquire too much wealth, since a sudden influx of gold could greatly unbalance local economies (see: Spain post-Siglo de Oro)

1.       Encumbrance

This is the easiest way to keep your PCs from acquiring too much loot. I am, in general, a proponent and enforcer of encumbrance rules (yes, the fighter with 18/00 strength should be able to carry more than the wizard with a strength of 9!). Since PCs inevitably carry lots of different items, their capacity to carry bags upon bags of gold coins would be quite limited. Because PCs are ostensibly murder hobos, they will not have a place to store their ill-gotten (adventuring is theft, after all) gains. Banking will be unavailable in all but the largest localities, and even then it will be primitive and inconvenient; PCs will either need to go back to the same bank or have a letter of credit drafted by the bank in order to get money from other banks. Treasure left unattended in a keep or dungeon that has had all the denizens slaughtered will be ripe for the picking, and PCs can pretty much count on all uncollected treasure being taken by bandits, other monstrous humanoids, or locals who became curious when PCs started throwing gold pieces around like it was going out of style.

2.       Be stingy

Another way to keep the player characters from accumulating too much money is to simply dole less of it out to them. Random encounters do not need to drop treasure, for instance. When you run into mooks in a dungeon what is the likelihood they are carrying any treasure on them? Chances are that they are not carrying much of anything. Admittedly, players hate it when DMs do this, but the upside is that if your PCs get used to receiving little treasure from encounters, they will learn to rejoice over whatever they find.

3.       Taxation

All towns have some form of government, and most assuredly that government taxes its population. With that being said it is likely that local governments would want to tax rich adventurers when they come into town. Paying taxes on rooms in the inn, on selling their goods at local stores, on docking ships, on salvage from the area, and on property bought. The key to remember is that everyone is going to take a cut on the way up the chain, so if the local lord establishes a 20% tax on salvaged goods you can bet that the mayor will tack on an extra 5-10%, the clerk an extra 3-7%, and the tax collector and extra 2-5% (the DM can feel free to assign different percentages, these are merely illustrative examples).

4.       Silver Standard

This is an idea I got from the article “A player character and his money…” by Lewis Pulsipher from Dragon #74. Since I cannot do a better job of explaining this concept than Mr. Pulsipher, I will quote the article directly:

In any description of a hoard of monetary treasure, replace the word “gold” with “silver.” (But don’t change prices or values given for goods or services.) Adopt the “silver standard” which actually prevailed in late medieval times. A gold piece (arbitrarily set equal to 10 silver pieces to make calculations easy) becomes really valuable. And silver, once sneered at as “too cheap to carry,” takes its rightful place as the wealthy man’s mode of exchange. (p. 50)

As you can see, this will help to radically decrease the amount of treasure that players are able to accumulate. Also, this will help make finding mundane armor and weaponry very exciting to the players since such things are very valuable under the silver standard.

Pulsipher, Lewis. "A Player Character and His Money..." Dragon June 1983: 50-54. Print.