1.12.8 Magical items

If a character is fortunate, he/she may have amongst his/her possessions, one or more magically enchanted items.

For wealth calculation purposes, each magical item is considered to have a monetary value, made up of the total of:

• the (non-magical) value of the item in which the enchantment is focused (see examples of other possessions), and
• the monetary value of the magical enchantment that is focused in the item.

The monetary value of a magical enchantment is based on the difficulty of the enchantment placed into it (i.e. the total of the enchantment's Power, Finesse, Duration, Range, Area of effect, Concealment and Investment), as follows:

For example, Erik Shadow-walker has a magical dagger (Serpent's Fang), which is of excellent workmanship made from mithril (+2 to attack, parry and damage dice rolls) with a large well-cut black opal inset into the hilt. The intrinsic cost of the dagger is £30 for the mithril (0.15 kg), plus £300 for the large well-cut gemstone, all multipled by 125% for the excellent workmanship, making a total intrinsic value of £412 10s. The dagger is built to inject fast-acting nerve poison into anyone struck by it, and contains 10 doses (0.3 kg) of poison, worth approximately £1. A number of enchantments have been focused into the item as follows:

• A permanent field of magical darkness surrounds the dagger, so it is shrouded in darkness. This is a Darkness magic Change environment focused enchantment with Power 10 (reduces light levels by 5 levels, enough to turn bright sunshine into total magical darkness), Finesse 4 (enabling Erik to control the level of darkness at will), Duration Permanent and autonomous (i.e. 13), Range fixed on enchanted object (i.e. 0), Area of effect single object (i.e. 0), Concealment 0 (i.e. obvious as magical to onlookers), Investment 0 (because focused enchantment) = Difficulty 27. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £10.
• A permanent weapon enchantment is placed on the dagger. This is a Death magic Weapon enhancement focused enchantment with Power 8 (+4 to damage dice rolls), Finesse 8 (+4 to attack dice rolls), Duration Permanent and autonomous (i.e. 13), Range fixed on enchanted object (i.e. 0), Area of effect single object (i.e. 0), Concealment 0 (i.e. obvious as magical to onlookers), Investment 0 (because focused enchantment) = Difficulty 29. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £14.
• A warded attack spell is placed on the dagger to trigger when anyone other than Erik touches it (including when it hits an opponent). This is a Death magic Attack enchantment with Power 9 (basic damage of 18), Finesse 6 (attack dice roll of 12), Duration instantaneous (i.e. 0), Range touch (i.e. 1), Area of effect single target (i.e. 0), Concealment 0 (i.e. obvious as magical to onlookers), Investment 10 (permanent, 20 times per day) = Difficulty 26. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £8.
• A teleportation spell is invested in the dagger, so that Erik can call the dagger back to him at will. This is a Darkness magic Teleportation enchantment with Power 2 (enough to teleport 1kg), Finesse 4 (enough to get back to a location Erik knows very well, i.e. his hand), Duration instantaneous (i.e. 0), Range global to touch (i.e. 11 total), Area of effect single target (i.e. 0), Concealment 0 (i.e. obvious as magical to onlookers), Investment 10 (permanent, 20 times per day) = Difficulty 27. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £10.
• A telepathy spell is focused in the dagger, so that Erik can communicate with any death-aligned creatures. This is a Death magic Telepathy enchantment with Power 5 (quite difficult to block), Finesse 4 (enough to communicate simply), Duration permanent and autonomous (i.e. 13), Range person touching dagger (i.e. 1 total), Area of effect 30 metre radius reducing over area (i.e. 3), Concealment 3 (i.e. not obvious to onlookers - communication is mind to mind), Investment 0 (focused enchantment) = Difficulty 29. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £14.
• A further telepathy enchantment is focused in the dagger, so that Erik can communicate with any darkness-aligned creatures. This is a Darkness magic Telepathy enchantment with Power 5 (quite difficult to block), Finesse 4 (enough to communicate simply), Duration permanent and autonomous (i.e. 13), Range person touching dagger (i.e. 1 total), Area of effect 30 metre radius reducing over area (i.e. 3), Concealment 3 (i.e. not obvious to onlookers - communication is mind to mind), Investment 0 (focused enchantment) = Difficulty 29. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £14.
• A characteristic boosting enchantment is focused in the dagger, so that whenever Erik is touching or wearing the dagger, his ST is boosted. This is a Darkness magic Characteristic boosting enchantment with Power 6 (+3 to his ST), Finesse 5 (resultant ST may not exceed +5), Duration permanent and autonomous (i.e. 13), Range person touching dagger (i.e. 1 total), Area of effect single target (i.e. 0), Concealment 3 (i.e. not obvious to onlookers), Investment 0 (focused enchantment) = Difficulty 28. The monetary equivalent of this enchantment is £12.

The total monetary value of Serpent's Fang is, therefore, £412 10s + £1 + £10 + £14 + £8 + £10 + £14 + £14 + £12 = £495 10s, a not inconsiderable sum of money (approximately $1M in modern equivalent).

Note that if a character benefits from a long-term enchantment (>1 day, autonomous) either because he/she is the target of the enchantment or because the enchantment was focused into an item which he/she carries, the referee will normally rule that the character must take the Enchanted talent and pay character points to reflect the benefit of the long-term enchantment on the character. In this case, the referee rules that it costs Erik Shadow-walker 10 character points to own Serpent's Fang.

A character who benefits from a long-term enchantment that is cast on him/her rather than on an item does not pay any wealth for the enchantment, but will tend to pay more character points for the Enchanted talent.