2 new categories of magic items [3.5]

[Kol Korran]

in a campaign i'm making different cultures may have different classes of magic users. steming from that is knowledge of how to use and how to craft types of magical items.

the party wil lstem from a culture who'se casters are all termed "witches" (all 12 types of them). they bear certain common charectaristic, mostly a more instinctual, personality fueld magic, an affinity to curses/ voodoo magic and a bit of unreliability. a major competitor culture has more educated and studious casters, such as the wizards and clerics.

PLEASE don't start criticising if this is fun, if i'm limiting the players and so on. the players like it, the flavor of it and are going with it.

the witches' culture doesn't know the use of scrolls or wands. (they need a UMD check to activate them, and can't craft them, at least not at first)

but i want a new category for items, items that might reflect the nature of which society more. which is where i need your help.

Charms

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Concept: Charms are a sort of "all can use, short acting wand with unpredictable results".

Description: a charm can be anything small that can easily be carried on the person- it can be a pin, and earing, a bracelt, a marble in a sack, eye patches and more. their variety is the equal only to the imagination of the witch that created it.

Each potion holds a spell or power (such as a warlock invocation, a bard's song, a dragon shaman's aura.) within it, that the owenr might try to use. (a power works for 10 minutes or it's duration, whichever is shorter. i don't intend to compare power levels of powers and spell here, this is for another time)
Activation: activating the charm takes as much time as it would to cast the spell, concentrating on it, and requires no special skill, knowledge, aptitutde or the like. anyone can use a charm. (similar to potion)

a brand new charm works normaly- activates the charm at the CL and spells level it was created with. but it's "misshap" probability rises by 1. the same happens with every succesful use of the charm.

each further time the charm is used, the user rolls 2d10. if the result is equal to the misshap or less, a misshap happens:
- if the spell was up to 2nd level including, you are jinxed (a witch ability, equal to a 1st level spell) for 1 hour (and the spell doesn't function). the misshap probability goes up by 2 instead of 1.
- if the spell is 3rd to 5th level you suffer a witch's curse (similar to bestow curse, only a bit weaker) for 1 hour (and the spell doesn't function) the misshap probability goes up by 3 instead of 1.

no charms of spells or powers above 5th level exist.

implementing the charms: i see them as very useful at first, but growing riskier the more they are used, till the ymay be used only in grave situations. alternate to wands and scrolls, with a bit more unpredictability thrown to the mix. the witches can still craft potions for safer use.

What i need help with:

• what do you think of the idea? any glaring problems?
• would you as a character, as a player would like to use it? what if acquiring scrolls and wands would be more complicated?
• what is the "safe range" of using a charm would you say? i think up to about 6-7 misshap probability? what do you think? would you use it beyond the "safe zone"?
• laslty, but QUITE important- how would you price it? what multiplication of Cl and spell/ power level? i'm thinking around 200 * CL * Spell level?

Djamo (Magical protection)

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Concept: In a world fraught with magic and powers, a magical defense is highly sought after. dispel magic might be one of the most usefull spells in the game, but with mostly spontaneous casters, not many would choose it. each of this affect but one spell (or perhaps a group of spells? what might consitutes a group? the aim is that 5 spells is a bit group)

i present 3 types of "magical countering/ protections" a witch can create:

Spell shield: (need a better name)
looking similar to a charm, it too hold a single spell. it's purpose is simple- if the spell/ power is cast on the attacker (even if he is not aware) the spell/ power must make a caster level check (DC =11+CL) to work properly.

it's for a single spell only (decided on creation) every time it is used, the DC decreases by 2.

Spell armor: (again, a better name)
like a spell shield, only more useful, more withstanding. the spell armor is a more substantial item, requiring a slot on the body to the choice of the wearer (though not a ring). it too uses one spell/ power, any spell/ power that SR can be effective against.

the armor provides a SR against that specific spell, SR of 15+ spell level. however, if the spell does break through the SR, it has some other adverse affect on the character (I think this will be dependent on spell, but a penalty to the save, stunning, sickness and such might be appropriate. something that enhances the spell/ power in question.)

What i need help with:

• what do you think of the idea? any glaring problems?
• would you as a character, as a player would like to use it? do you think it might be useful? flarvorful?
• Do you think the shield's "degrading" mechanic is interesting enough? does it needs something more spicy?
• any suggestions on how to deal wtih the adverse affect of the armor not working?
• lastly, but QUITE important- how would you price it? what multiplication of Cl and spell/ power level?

thank you, hopefully this will make the game more fun. thanks!
(search word: piratewitch)

[Bastian Weaver]

a potion can be anything small that can easily be carried on the person- it can be a pin, and earing, a bracelt, a marble in a sack, eye patches and more. their variety is the equal only to the imagination of the witch that created it.

I suppose that by "potion" here, you mean "charm"? It can be confusing.

[Kol Korran]

I suppose that by "potion" here, you mean "charm"? It can be confusing.

you are correct. thanks. fixed that.

[DracoDei]

the aim is that 5 spells is a bit group)

Do you mean "big group"?

Rephrase Spell-Shield to be spell-resistance against that specific spell, since that is what it basically already is.

[boomwolf]

Djamo is unneeded, as magic items to protect from magic already exist. not even that rare.

As for Charms, they can be interesting...but some of us don't KNOW what's witch, or where is it from so we can't really tell the mishap side-effects...

[DracoDei]

Djamo is unneeded, as magic items to protect from magic already exist. not even that rare.

As for Charms, they can be interesting...but some of us don't KNOW what's witch, or where is it from so we can't really tell the mishap side-effects...

Yeah, but they are much more reliable in general. Something that shakey allows some playing around with SR at lower levels than otherwise.

[Kol Korran]

Djamo is unneeded, as magic items to protect from magic already exist. not even that rare.

As for Charms, they can be interesting...but some of us don't KNOW what's witch, or where is it from so we can't really tell the mishap side-effects...

I am not awefully familr with magic items that grant spell resistance. i know of the armor enchantments, and perhaps some mage robes, but i thought they are quite expensive (at least for a group starting at level 2?)

As to Witches, perhaps i should have explained (i hoped the general description would suffice, but perhaps more is in order)
there are 12 Witch classes. most with some minor or more radical changes)
They are: Warlock, favored soul, shadowcaster (with the creator's fix), spirit shaman, binder, bard, sorcerer (with something akin to bloodline), dragon shaman, duskblade (yes i know he's mostly a caster, it fits i nthe theme of the setting), beguiler, spell thief (with radical changes, making it stronger) and hexblade (using one of the fixes on this site, giving alternate curses as part of it)

all share some similarities:
- some spells function a bit differently than other cultures' magic users.

- they all posses the ability to cast Jinxes at low level (a 0 level very minor curse, mostly for flavor. it's comparable to a -1 to a skill for the duration, though most tend to be more colorful like making the subject hair blue, or making him curse every fifth word and such) or when they reach 6th level a witches cure (like bestow curse, only limited duration). these are the powers mentioned in the charms.

- ALL withces also have a familir, but instead of an actual animal that can die it's a sort of spirit that represents aspects of the witch's personality, usually aspects the witch does not display openly. the familiar rules are a bit different than the usual ones.

- they deal differently with magic items than casters of different cultures (mainly they can't activate scrolls or wands and they don't gain item craft feats the usual way). this caused the need for alternate magical items, of the nature i detailed in the first post.

does this help?

Yeah, but they are much more reliable in general. Something that shakey allows some playing around with SR at lower levels than otherwise.

so do you think this idea might have merit?

does ANYONE have any idea how to price these? or similar affects? or how to alter them to make them more appealing

[DracoDei]

so do you think this idea might have merit?

Yes.

does ANYONE have any idea how to price these? or similar affects?

A few QUICK thoughts about spell-shields:
They should have a multiplicative factor of the level of the spell it protects against. Ordinary spell resistance protects against up to 9th level spells (and beyond if you use Epic, but let us not get into that).

More importantly you can break it down into a bunch of single-use items. The problem with this is that it might increase the overall cost. But if not, then something that initially provides SR 16 against a given spell could be thought of as a one-use item that provides SR 16, plus one that provides SR 14 against that same spell, plus one that provides SR 12, plus one that provides SR 10, and so-forth. Maybe use the potion pricing rules for a starting place?

Considering it as a fallible version of Spell Immunity may be of utility.

Taking a wild guess I would say that something that initially provides SR 12 would be worth about as much as a potion for a spell of that level.

or how to alter them to make them more appealing

I can't say because they look plenty appealing to me.