Player Requesting Custom Magic Item

[Palanan]

I'm about to start my first Pathfinder campaign, and one of my players has made an unusual request: an item which allows his character to communicate with his mother "at length" once per week.

We're starting at first level, and while I'm not completely opposed, this seems like a little much--especially the extended duration. Is there anything in Pathfinder that would accomplish this, without being way overpriced for this level?

[LordOfCain]

Not a big PF person but maybe a simple 1/week message item? Using custom magic item creation guidelines. Make 1/week equivalent to 1/7 of once per day or something like that

[Ninjaxenomorph]

I would make him do it the old-fashioned way: write letters. If he's out in the wilderness and can't mail any... well, that's just something he needs to prioritize.

[Honest Tiefling]

Uh, what class levels does Mum have? I would double check all backstory elements...

Or maybe something that'll just deliver a message (like a book where if he writes in it, a copy of the same page will be written in her book) will be better? It still has the feel of keeping in contact with home, but if either book gets stolen that's an issue. Both parties need time to read/write the message, so it can be handled outside of the session and won't disrupt a tone of urgency.

And you can be mean and take away his ink/quills to prevent him from writing back. Teehee.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Ninjaxenomorph
I would make him do it the old-fashioned way: write letters.

Yup. My first thought was to tell him about the imperial postal system. :smalltongue:


Originally Posted by Honest Tiefling
Or maybe something that'll just deliver a message (like a book where if he writes in it, a copy of the same page will be written in her book) will be better?

In fact I thought of something just like this, inspired by similar approaches in several different fantasy novels. It's a cool idea, and I'm keeping it in reserve.


Originally Posted by LordOfCain
…maybe a simple 1/week message item?

Right now what I'm thinking is a pendant of Message, which would operate for 10 minutes once per week.

I don't know what the item creation cost would be, but it doesn't seem like this would be all that extravagant.

[Diarmuid]

Problem with using Message is the range limitation. If you're within a few hundred feet of someone you're generally going to be better off just walking over to where they are and talking to them.

I think you're more thinking of Sending, but that's a much higher level spell and much more costly than an item of Message.

[Zanos]

A once per week person specific Sending isn't a huge deal. Limiting it to only working on one person severely limits how much use you can get out of it. Have you asked why he wants it?

[Beardyface]

What does he consider "at length"? There were Sending Stones in 3.5 that worked 1/day, but that probably wouldn't be a lengthy conversation...

[digiman619]

Honestly, if the character isn't going to sell it, it's only for that purpose, and it doesn't dominate the session, just wave your hand and let him have it. Then again, I'm a very permissible DM, so there's that.

[GreyBlack]

Take the following with a grain of salt. I generally prefer to run low magic settings, where magic is rare and actually mysterious to the common folk. As an addendum, I also operates on the theory that people max out around level 6, so level 7-20 should be something absolutely extraordinary. Einstein was a level 6 physicist, for example.

In that vein, I vote no. How would this character be capable of obtaining an item (custom made, no less) which required a literal level 3 Spellcaster? Level 3 casters are experts at their craft, often hailing from universities which wouldn't normally take offers from peasantry and the like. These are the character's in DnD with the medieval equivalent of a masters degree in electrical engineering: why would the caster waste his time on making such an item? Maybe if the character in question or his mother was a wealthy patron, but otherwise it makes little to no sense.

Mechanically, I guess it's not too big a deal as long as you keep that in mind, but I'm still baffled why any Spellcaster would waste their time and XP to create such a limited item.

[upho]

I think this sounds like an excellent idea (without the imperial postal system). And actually, I don't think the magic item involved has to be much of a boon at all. In fact, if the player welcomes it, it could even be tailored as something of a curse made from a multitude of tragicomic and all too familiar human(oid) ingredients the players can connect with and use to fuel their RP, building on the trope of "the weekly call from mother". Imagine that about once a week, dear old mom (read: "hopelessly reactionary and sad old mom") uses her family heirloom amulet to have a meaningful dialogue with her son (read: "to deliver her usual monologue"), her shrill voice suddenly screaming loudly from the PCs paired amulet, seemingly always at the most inconvenient times to cause the maximum amount embarrassment possible. :smallbiggrin:

Without really listening to what the PC says or asking if he might be busy, she starts off by reporting every little tragically mundane detail from her usual unimaginably boring meetings with various other old ladies the PC doesn't remember having ever met. Then she continues by berating her no-good, 'black sheep of the family'-son for his poor life choices, the lack of grandchildren and the bad company he keeps, making him promise to not leave home without wearing the (truly horrendous) sweater she knitted for him so he doesn't catch a cold, complaining that he never visits, about his poor etiquette, his social awkwardness, his lack of a 'proper' career, title, family, a.s.o in a seemingly endless stream of passive aggressive statements. All which only serves to make her sad lonely life and yearning for meaning, for being needed, the more painfully obvious, especially in contrast to the PC's increasingly grandiose life as a heroic adventurer in the company of close friends... :smallfrown:


Right now what I'm thinking is a pendant of Message, which would operate for 10 minutes once per week.

I don't know what the item creation cost would be, but it doesn't seem like this would be all that extravagant.I wouldn't actually worry one iota about the actual cost, provided the use is actually limited to communicating with dear old mom. And if you feel it's need, you could always make the item practically "abuse-proof" by simply making it impossible for him to initiate contact with his mom, together with a maximum number of minutes of use/week.

[Afgncaap5]

I'd allow it, personally. Make it an ancient family heirloom that was blessed by a passing witch that the family showed kindness to or something. Make it apparent that even really weak abjuration magic can interfere with it (something as simple as a Hold Portal spell on a room they're in might interfere with it depending on how the Hold Portal caster gets their magic or uses their magic). I wouldn't even make it cost too much if anything, personally. Consider it a free "background feat" to have it, sort of like how Adventure! could give everyone a fun little gadget or friend or base or something without it really impacting the rest of their character.

Best case scenario, some fun roleplaying and character building happens. Worst case scenario and this highly fallible walky-talky begins wrecking your campaign in entirely unpredicted ways, at which point you have a villain destroy it during a fight or a bandit steal it and get away during a badly planned ambush of the party and hey, your character's got a plot hook to get the item back (or a more personal reason to swear vengeance on the guy who broke it or something.)

[Crake]

What does he consider "at length"? There were Sending Stones in 3.5 that worked 1/day, but that probably wouldn't be a lengthy conversation...

once per week sending stones would cost 200gp if you divide the 1/day version of 1400gp by 7. Still out of most starting gold ranges, though if you change it to 1/fortnight, then it drops to 100gp, and becomes more possible. Still, it's only 25 words either way, but that's enough to check up on someone, make sure they're alright, still eating their vegetables, not maimed and dead yet sort of thing.

Edit: One could argue that since he only has half of the set, he only has to pay half the price, since his mother has the other 100gp worth, so 200gp for a set for 1/week, and he has one stone, worth 100gp, so still affordable

[Quertus]

I think this sounds like an excellent idea (without the imperial postal system). And actually, I don't think the magic item involved has to be much of a boon at all. In fact, if the player welcomes it, it could even be tailored as something of a curse made from a multitude of tragicomic and all too familiar human(oid) ingredients the players can connect with and use to fuel their RP, building on the trope of "the weekly call from mother". Imagine that about once a week, dear old mom (read: "hopelessly reactionary and sad old mom") uses her family heirloom amulet to have a meaningful dialogue with her son (read: "to deliver her usual monologue"), her shrill voice suddenly screaming loudly from the PCs paired amulet, seemingly always at the most inconvenient times to cause the maximum amount embarrassment possible. :smallbiggrin:

Without really listening to what the PC says or asking if he might be busy, she starts off by reporting every little tragically mundane detail from her usual unimaginably boring meetings with various other old ladies the PC doesn't remember having ever met. Then she continues by berating her no-good, 'black sheep of the family'-son for his poor life choices, the lack of grandchildren and the bad company he keeps, making him promise to not leave home without wearing the (truly horrendous) sweater she knitted for him so he doesn't catch a cold, complaining that he never visits, about his poor etiquette, his social awkwardness, his lack of a 'proper' career, title, family, a.s.o in a seemingly endless stream of passive aggressive statements. All which only serves to make her sad lonely life and yearning for meaning, for being needed, the more painfully obvious, especially in contrast to the PC's increasingly grandiose life as a heroic adventurer in the company of close friends... :smallfrown:

I wouldn't actually worry one iota about the actual cost, provided the use is actually limited to communicating with dear old mom. And if you feel it's need, you could always make the item practically "abuse-proof" by simply making it impossible for him to initiate contact with his mom, together with a maximum number of minutes of use/week.

This is almost exactly what I was going to say ;)

I'd just add the idea that the player's cursed amulet may well bear no significant enchantment beyond being cursed; ie, the power to communicate to target paired amulet (or with any of a set of amulets, for that matter) may well reside entirely in mom's amulet.

[GreyBlack]

I think this sounds like an excellent idea (without the imperial postal system). And actually, I don't think the magic item involved has to be much of a boon at all. In fact, if the player welcomes it, it could even be tailored as something of a curse made from a multitude of tragicomic and all too familiar human(oid) ingredients the players can connect with and use to fuel their RP, building on the trope of "the weekly call from mother". Imagine that about once a week, dear old mom (read: "hopelessly reactionary and sad old mom") uses her family heirloom amulet to have a meaningful dialogue with her son (read: "to deliver her usual monologue"), her shrill voice suddenly screaming loudly from the PCs paired amulet, seemingly always at the most inconvenient times to cause the maximum amount embarrassment possible. :smallbiggrin:

Without really listening to what the PC says or asking if he might be busy, she starts off by reporting every little tragically mundane detail from her usual unimaginably boring meetings with various other old ladies the PC doesn't remember having ever met. Then she continues by berating her no-good, 'black sheep of the family'-son for his poor life choices, the lack of grandchildren and the bad company he keeps, making him promise to not leave home without wearing the (truly horrendous) sweater she knitted for him so he doesn't catch a cold, complaining that he never visits, about his poor etiquette, his social awkwardness, his lack of a 'proper' career, title, family, a.s.o in a seemingly endless stream of passive aggressive statements. All which only serves to make her sad lonely life and yearning for meaning, for being needed, the more painfully obvious, especially in contrast to the PC's increasingly grandiose life as a heroic adventurer in the company of close friends... :smallfrown:

I wouldn't actually worry one iota about the actual cost, provided the use is actually limited to communicating with dear old mom. And if you feel it's need, you could always make the item practically "abuse-proof" by simply making it impossible for him to initiate contact with his mom, together with a maximum number of minutes of use/week.

.... by Odin's eye socket, that's a horrendously evil idea. I like it. Even if I am opposed to the whole "PC starts with magic item" thing.

[Pugwampy]

My gnome ranger had a small magic mirror to communicate with a fairy queen . Even with cheapo help from queenie in tough spots it was a double edged sword , as she was an unwanted big brother cam .

If mum is some sort of Sorcerer Goddess it wont hurt you very much to give mama,s boy a "cellphone" cause he and his buddies will have to be well behaved .

If mum is a nice lil old lady with too many cats . This is nothing .

[Jay R]

You don't have to design his custom magic items. Let him design it, within the limits of his WBL. You just decide if his design is acceptable in your campaign.

[upho]

This is almost exactly what I was going to say ;)Great minds think alike. The same obviously goes for petty evil ones... :smallbiggrin:


I'd just add the idea that the player's cursed amulet may well bear no significant enchantment beyond being cursed; ie, the power to communicate to target paired amulet (or with any of a set of amulets, for that matter) may well reside entirely in mom's amulet.True. Makes any actual cost even more of a non-issue.


.... by Odin's eye socket, that's a horrendously evil idea.Well thank you! :smalltongue:


I like it.So, wanna hang out with the cool kids from Team Evil? :smallbiggrin:


Even if I am opposed to the whole "PC starts with magic item" thing.By flavoring the paired items as a family heirloom of a noble house whose once great fame and glory have long since faded, I think this could work fine even in a low-magic setting. Especially if mum's amulet is actually the one containing any real magic worth mentioning and the items are inextricably bound to family members (meaning they have no significant value to others and thus haven't been sold like most of the family's other old treasures).

[quzar]

Take the following with a grain of salt. I generally prefer to run low magic settings, where magic is rare and actually mysterious to the common folk. As an addendum, I also operates on the theory that people max out around level 6, so level 7-20 should be something absolutely extraordinary. Einstein was a level 6 physicist, for example.

In that vein, I vote no. How would this character be capable of obtaining an item (custom made, no less) which required a literal level 3 Spellcaster? Level 3 casters are experts at their craft, often hailing from universities which wouldn't normally take offers from peasantry and the like. These are the character's in DnD with the medieval equivalent of a masters degree in electrical engineering: why would the caster waste his time on making such an item? Maybe if the character in question or his mother was a wealthy patron, but otherwise it makes little to no sense.

Mechanically, I guess it's not too big a deal as long as you keep that in mind, but I'm still baffled why any Spellcaster would waste their time and XP to create such a limited item.

I run E6 as well, and the way I'd deal with this is that it's a unique/wondrous/special item created by forgotten means/an eccentric caster/special materials. The idea would be that it does not reflect any existing spell in the game or common form of magic. Having such an item from the beginning can set the precedent that the world is stranger and possessing of other magics than what the characters can learn by mere experience.

[GreyBlack]

So, wanna hang out with the cool kids from Team Evil? :smallbiggrin:

Who said I didn't? XD


I run E6 as well, and the way I'd deal with this is that it's a unique/wondrous/special item created by forgotten means/an eccentric caster/special materials. The idea would be that it does not reflect any existing spell in the game or common form of magic. Having such an item from the beginning can set the precedent that the world is stranger and possessing of other magics than what the characters can learn by mere experience.

It's not that I run E6 so much as I tend to invoke a Tolkein-meets-Lovecraft aesthetic in my campaigns. High magic does exist, but for the majority of the world it may as well not, and is often hidden behind knowledge of the inner workings of a world which has long succumbed to decay and is rotting from the inside out. Adventurers beyond level 7 are viewed as epic and can shift world events, while 14+ generally operate on an interplanar level, dealing with legit angels and demons. With this approach, I often find the players might feel significantly weaker at the beginning, but feel severely empowered at mid to late levels of adventuring.

[Bucky]

once per week sending stones would cost 200gp if you divide the 1/day version of 1400gp by 7. Still out of most starting gold ranges, though if you change it to 1/fortnight, then it drops to 100gp, and becomes more possible. Still, it's only 25 words either way, but that's enough to check up on someone, make sure they're alright, still eating their vegetables, not maimed and dead yet sort of thing.

Edit: One could argue that since he only has half of the set, he only has to pay half the price, since his mother has the other 100gp worth, so 200gp for a set for 1/week, and he has one stone, worth 100gp, so still affordable


Building out on this, you can further have an "Item Requires Skill to Use" discount, with his mother having the requisite skill - probably Knowledge(Geography).

----

If you're willing to go into minor artifact territory, you can make the player's portable stone very cheap; it's only a divination-beacon for his mother's considerably more expensive (and bulky) equipment. The 1/week on the portable component just makes the home phone ring, the home phone (when picked up) starts spending its own spell charges on the conversation, and after 30 minutes the portable stone is discharged and cannot anchor any further conversation until next week.

In theory he could circumvent the 1/week restriction by carrying multiple beacons, but then he'd still be limited to 30 minutes' total conversation per week before the home phone runs out of charges.

[DeadMech]

I'm getting Mirrorshades flashbacks from the description of this magic item. Those who don't know. It was a shadowrun game hosted on itmeJP's youtube rollplay show.

One of the characters had a stereotypical overbearing mother who would pop up from time to time in the story. Mostly by phone call. It tended to be a real highlight of the session listening to just how into it the player and GM got, seeing how much "Ma" could embarrass or guilt trip her daughter. Her daughter who was really more and more like her mother than she realized. Fun stuff.

Another idea that pops in my head is that the character is a mama's boy who desperately needs to cut the apron strings. Only they are probably the last person to realize this fact.

either way it might make a useful plot device later. Make the characters make a choice about pursuing some goal or running home when they hear dear ole Ma is in some danger. Or maybe she lied about the family of dragons burning the country side just to trick him into coming back home cause she missed him.

Would I allow it? Probably. But I'm also the sort who likes to throw random "useless" magic knick knacks at my parties just to see what happens. After someone told me about the "Tiny mechanical one way portal to the elemental plane of fire" (or as other people call it "a lighter") I've made sure to give one to every party at some point. Knowing the chaos that comes with players, fire, and it being the "solution" to most problems only makes me all the happier to do so.

[Incorrect]

An elf with Cha15+, and the Alternate Racial Trait: Dreamspeaker can cast dream as a SLA 1/day. The communication is one-way, but can be any length. If they are both elves with Dreamspeaker they can communicate every night.
Or homebrew a shared dream between them 1/week.

[Jay R]

I'd spend some time trying to figure out how it could be abused, and how you will prevent it, before allowing it.

Step one is to guarantee that nobody except his mother can use it, and that his mother won't deliver tactical information for him

[Metahuman1]

I'd just give it to him. It's harmless really from the sound of it. If it becomes a problem you can always steal or break it.