| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Saxmilian |
Posted - 11 Oct 2011 : 02:16:25
When creating a magical item it requires a certain amount in "Base materials" but anyone have any ideas of what those materials consist of? How heavy are they? Can they be stored in a backpack for later use? I've got an Artificer wanting to craft magical glasses and the small villaeg they are in has a mere 200 gold worth of resources, he purchased said materials but wanted some details and I drew a blank (He's new and I never gave it much thought). So...ideas?
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| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 11 Oct 2011 : 14:44:43
Get creative with it. You shouldn't make it too easy for someone to make their own magical items. The item to be crafted needs the appropriate spells and components used to creat it. Example: a Wand of Stone Turning could need some physical component from a Medusa or basilisk, etc. Heck, you can get plenty of quests simply by hunting down components for this character :) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 11 Oct 2011 : 07:19:06
Thinly shaved crystal or gemstone "filters" laminated and layered onto the lenses to mystically enhance vision. Alchemical acids to etch and treat the glass surfaces so they might respond to invisible light. The glass itself being formed from rare and special sands carefully melted at extreme temperatures produced only by burning oils distilled out of red dragon blood. Finest-grit magical abrasives could polish the lenses to mystically geometric perfection. The eyelashes of a drow (or some other creature with exceptional nightvision) woven around the lens edges to capture more light in the darkness. Intangible components such as rays of light shone through enchanted diamond-quartz prisms on the night of a full moon, or dipping the lenses into a vat of tiefling tears or a much smellier vat of vitreous fluid squeezed out of a beholder's central eye.
The frames could be fashioned from the purest grades of the most precious metals and alloys, say fine-wrought mithril forged in blinding starlight and alloyed with elemental air. Or they might be carved from bone pieces taken from some mystical or symbolic creature (like a dragon or an eagle) known to possess magical and/or superior vision. Or carved from a wooden branch given freely by a blind dryad or treant, or from any chunk of wood blessed and harvested by a priestess of Shar during a special ritual undertaken in purest darkness. Or fashioned from raw mindstuff on the Astral, or from something strange like a woodlike fungus native to the Underdark, or from some wondrous substance synthesized through alchemical transmutation. They might be a composite (a combination of multiple materials), or the entire item (frames and all) might be formed from a single flawless transparent piece. Any number of mundane or mystical adhesives, solvents, oils, additives, and surfacing or finishing agents might be required, possibly requiring some exotic formulae or ingredients (or laboratory apparatus) supplied to a particularly skilled alchemist.
These are just some quick ideas provided as examples. The original (1E) Dungeon Master's Guide, (1E) "Grey Box" FR0: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, (2E) Forgotten Realms Adventures, (2E) Book of Artifacts, or (2E) Volo's Guide to All Things Magical (once a free download) are all excellent sources of inspiration for magical item creation, even if their rules do not apply to 4E gaming.
You could of course pretend to shop for eyeglasses at your local optical store. Bored and greedy NPC merchants will happily provide you with all sorts of impressive details (true or not) explaining the superior construction or special properties attributed to the eyeglasses, especially if you inquire about how and why the more expensive offerings are supposedly better than the cheaper ones.
[Edit]
Here's a dusty old scroll about Eyeglasses in the Realms. You might want to consider fashioning this magical item as a spyglass, handheld lens, monocle, some kind of visor mounted onto a helm or circlet or crown or torc, or even as a magical hooded cloak. Medieval and renaissance eyeglasses were similar to modern ones, but were still somewhat cruder in overall design; refinements such as nosepads, earpads, hinges, shape and fashion would likely be ignored in favour of simple, basic, durable, and functional form; whereas detailed handcrafted embellishments for imaginatively artistic (or magical) purposes would be unavoidable on any item of real value, even when minimist simplicity is requested. |
| Saxmilian |
Posted - 11 Oct 2011 : 05:28:50
He's invisioned goggles with multiple lenses similar to a view-master for those of you as old as myself, allowing everything from Detect Magic (where he'll begin) to Identify, See Invisibility, True Seeing, Darkvision and So on. He had the masterwork goggles crafted but im more curious about "magical components" are we talking enchanted dust? glowing oils? I mean the gem-lense makes sense but i was thinking that crafting a magical item meant pouring ones-self into an item and the "Base Cost" was just a rule of thumb to keep mages from creating everythign they could think of, not an actual expense-acount. Someone mentioned the idea of converting XP points into material costs has anyone heard of such a rule? and if so the conversion rate? |
| Diffan |
Posted - 11 Oct 2011 : 05:11:07
Really, it depends on the type of magical items. For Glasses, I'd say a pair of really nice glasses for one (probably in the 10-25 gp range) and depending on what he wants to do with them.....could be anything from a specific type of gem used in the lense, gold/adamantine for the frames, and magical properties he wants to infuse them with.
What exactly is he trying to make BTW? |
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