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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
 Posted - 26 May 2006 : 14:05:02
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With the web enhancement for PHBII out I think we now know how he Red Wizards can produce magic items so quickly and offer them so cheaply:
they use slaves/captured adventurers/prisoners. A combination of the Talisman of Transference and a couple of vile feats they probably have enough XPs at hand to mass-produce the suckers, after all we have enough slaves/prisoners in Thay.
If this is the case buying a magic item from a Thayan enclave is not very nice...
The more I think about the idea the more I like it!!! *VEG*
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Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2006 : 20:10:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Mace Hammerhand
With the web enhancement for PHBII out I think we now know how he Red Wizards can produce magic items so quickly and offer them so cheaply:
they use slaves/captured adventurers/prisoners. A combination of the Talisman of Transference and a couple of vile feats they probably have enough XPs at hand to mass-produce the suckers, after all we have enough slaves/prisoners in Thay.
If this is the case buying a magic item from a Thayan enclave is not very nice...
The more I think about the idea the more I like it!!! *VEG*
Hmmm... what powers does the Talisman have? Transfer life force into Magic Item Creation XP?
I seem to recall that sacrifices yielded only about 25 XP/soul (according to the rules presented in BoVD) so you needed to slaughter a whole town to finish a moderately powerful item   |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2006 : 20:39:12
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| Link to the WE in question. |
Edited by - Arivia on 26 May 2006 20:39:31 |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
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Dhomal
Senior Scribe
USA
565 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 04:08:00
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Hello-
I noticed that the web enhancement listed one author at the top - and Eric L Boyd at the bottom.....
Dhomal |
I am collecting the D&D Minis. I would be more than willing to trade with people. You can send me a PM here with your email listed - and I can send you my minis list. Thanks!
Successfully traded with Xysma! |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 04:21:53
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Well, I would have thought it was already a bit of a deal with the devil to buy from a Thayan enclave, but yes, this would definately aid with that. It would be a fun plot hook to see the PCs find out that a given enclave is using the "life force" and "experiences" of its slaves to build its magic items. If they didn't already feel bad enough about there being slaves in the first place.
I would not assume that every enclave used this method however. Some enclaves do seem to be more neutral and above the table than others, and the enclave in Scardale Town is ironcically said to be a pretty even handed enclave of merchants. |
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Skeptic
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1273 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 04:29:18
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One of my player secretly (from the party) got a magical tatoo at Luskan's enclave... When a group of undead ambushed them out of nowhere on a dark night targetting only him, he has to talk 
So after Red wizard's new GPS spell, I'll add this one to my campaign |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 09:59:45
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Well, I would have thought it was already a bit of a deal with the devil to buy from a Thayan enclave, but yes, this would definately aid with that. It would be a fun plot hook to see the PCs find out that a given enclave is using the "life force" and "experiences" of its slaves to build its magic items. If they didn't already feel bad enough about there being slaves in the first place.
I would not assume that every enclave used this method however. Some enclaves do seem to be more neutral and above the table than others, and the enclave in Scardale Town is ironcically said to be a pretty even handed enclave of merchants.
It didn't have to be the enclave itself that produces those 'sucked' items. If I understand correctly minor mages produce the bulk of them in the enclave, but if you do the math there is only a specific amount of items a 3rd level wiz could create before he runs out of xp, so it could be argued (especially with some of the magic creation feats not really being available to a 3rd level wizard) that magic weapons of minor enchantment would be produced in Thay and then shipped to the various enclaves. Same would hold true for every other item that requires a more powerful caster to create.
It would also explain the comparatively low prices for all sold items. If you want to flood the market with cheaper items that have the same high quality than comparable higher priced items you have to have cheap resources.
Sure, metal could be forged by slaves, but in all honesty the Thayans would be stupid to let slaves forge their weapons. Not only would they risk the slaves using the weapons themselves, but the quality of the item would suffer because a whip is not a very good motivator for a smith. Since there are no nuances of masterwork items, which you need for magic weapons, it can be concluded that the Thayans actually employ smiths. Since smiths who can produce masterwork weapons are expensive and you cannot shave off on the materials it leads to the conclusion that the magic "power" (xp) comes from a different source, a cheap, renewable source.
Gods, this idea is really really really bad! ... erm ... good! |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:36:07
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Well, that does get me to wonder something though. Originally I had thought of the whole "everything is in our warehouse" idea with magic items coming in from Thay, but if you read the section on Thayan enclaves in the FRCS it states that each item is stamped with the enclave's personal symbol, so that if anything goes wrong with a magic item, or if an item too powerful is sold, they can trace it back to the enclave that sold the item.
Its possible that they just stamp the item with the enclave symbol when they sell it, but I always kind of pictured that they do something to it at the enclave to "finish" the magic item.
Then again, if all of the enclaves are sponsored by certain higher up Red Wizards, then I guess the master of the enclave would have authority to put the enclaves stamp on them, which means they could still have an evil version of Santa's workshop going on in Thay, although there wouldn't be one big "factory" but slightly smaller ones run by the individual owners of the enclaves.
But none of that really excludes the idea of using slaves as "XP farms" to syphon off of in order to create magic items. Its really a rather nasty idea that fits Thayans really well. |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:44:45
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Hehehe, I just figured out a way how they could even drain a, say, 8th level adventurer dry. Level drain.
If a character suffers from level drain he is set at the middle point between his last and current level... bang and a couple more thousand XPs to waste... |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:52:02
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You are enjoying this idea just a little bit too much . . . |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2006 : 15:58:55
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| Please don't get me wrong, I would never do that sort of thing to player characters. It's just in my nature to think things through, once the floodgates are opened... I just can't help it. |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore
USA
1695 Posts |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11830 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2006 : 23:15:03
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If the slaves didn't want to be used to power magic item creation, don't you think they wouldn't have let themselves get caught? You guys make it out like its something bad <g>.
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jun 2006 : 01:36:50
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
If the slaves didn't want to be used to power magic item creation, don't you think they wouldn't have let themselves get caught? You guys make it out like its something bad <g>.
Phillip aka Sleyvas
Umm...uh... |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2006 : 04:28:30
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Yeah, its been a while since this thread was around, but we scribes like to dust off old scrolls. Someone over at Paizo asked what you would say when you ask someone to donate XP for a magic item, and this was the "in-game" comment I had to explain it:
"All permanent magic has a cost. Most of the time, this cost is paid by the creator of the item. The cost is taken from one's own being, part of oneself is left in the item. A bit of memories, of your experiences, of the things you have done and seen in life. Its not that you will forget them, but they will be as if someone else lived the events, as if they are somehow, inaccessable to you from the point you give them up. I can only give so much of myself, so I ask now if you are willing to give a bit of yourself so that you might benefit from this sword that I am enspelling for your benefit."
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boombrakh
Acolyte
Sweden
10 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2006 : 10:11:59
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| So, there is a Feat that enables the creator of a magic item to get/take the xp from someone else? What is this called? |
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Regarding Thayan enclaves
