I running a game in the Rhine tribunal, city of Trier, and will have my players find a few mundane objects from the roman era in the ruins:
an old pair of leather shoes
a vase
a bronze bracelet
etc...
Now it seems to me that these items should have their points and mutipliers raised due to 1. their age, 2. the fact that they are connected with the romans, 3. the fact that they have been sitting in a magical aura for so long.
So what would be the approrpiate points/mutlipiers?
Yes, I know the answer is whatever I want, its my game. I am interested in what others think would be a reasonable answer.
Also, does anyone have any unique ideas for form and effect bonuses for such roman items, other than those normally listed.
By the way, I wanted to present these items, because vis and silver just arent that exciting or cool: been there, done that.
I like the creativity and thinking outside the box! I agree that even age alone should make items "more magical" ... but how to express that in terms of game mechanics, as you ask.
When you say "their points and multipliers", what game mechanic(s) are you referring to? Their Shape and Material bonuses if they are incorporated into enchanted items? The amount of vis they could have instilled in them if they were made into an invested enchanted item? ...
I had not considered warping! What would an item look like after being in a low level aura for 700-900 years?
I know that there is nothing about preservation inherent in an aura afaik (but my game, so leather shoes can survive undegraded in an aura), but agian never considered warping.
That is a great idea. One could consider any combination of increasing/changing Shape & Material bonus as well as effective size for enchantment level.
I also like the idea of warping, of course such items would warp...physically as well as non-visible effects. Perhaps those shoes have a tendency to walk their own way at times?
Heres a related story idea, which doesnt fit into my saga:
The PC's are given a copy of of Thucydides the "history of Peloponesian War" form a refugee Jerbiton (perhaps one of the only copies in the order- not sure about its availability in 1220). By the way this is an excellent book, I highly recomment it!!
Any players that read it could use it as an aid to finding various battle sites or even the location of the pit in which the athenians and their allies were imprisoned.
With this info they can find all sorts of cool mundane, but ancient objects.
So why would players go questing for ancient mundane items?
Well if you extend their properties in the way I suggest then there is plenty of reward.
Another thing that might draw the players into looking for ancient battle sites, perhaps contacting the ghosts of ancient generals, or ntoable figures.
Sicily has many important battle sites and there are still many city ruins.
Most characters would be more than unlikeley to go for mere mundane stuff, even if it had some properties which would increase the usefulness for enchantments. Some Verditii might be the exception, but most of them prefer to craft their stuff themselves from scratch which improves it for them. But it is more than likely that not every item there was mundane. The banners might have been enchanted with ancient 'luck in battle' charms, perhaps the generals and some heroes had enchanted weapons (more effective in pre-Parma time); there could have been some storms captured in a a container, and finally you can hope to find texts showing details of magical pratices long forgotten. The average seeker will see a great potential for new insights. Then there are all those conjurers of ghosts, most prominent among them our dear friends from house Tremere. Some make a habit out of going to old battlefields to enslave the souls trapped there- other magi, mostly religously orientated ones, would like to lay them to rest. Of course, it is nearly certain that the place of a great historical battle contains vis.
Magi don't need to be sure that they find such stuff there, but when they see a reasonable chance for such a reward, someone should be tempted to set off. Ah, and if you want them to admire and kepp a pair of old boots, just say that the vis of the site has manifested in them and is spell-like vis (cf. RoP:M).
