Re: Salvaging Helms

Leroy wrote:

>The problem with helms, when it comes to their salvagability,
>is that they are usable right out of the box.  If you find a helm
>you can easily turn it around and bolt it to another ship, which
>makes them very easy to sell. Obviously buyers must beware
>of people looking to sell spell-created helms and other forms
>of fraud, but there is otherwise few barriers.

>
>Imagine if every time someone sat down to pilot a helm that
>had to say or think a command word.  If you didn't know the
>command word, you couldn't link with the helm.  And, like the
>very nature of helms themselves, the command word could
>not be discerned with normal magic.  You couldn't use Indentify to
>find it.  The only way to find the word is the Arcane, who seem
>capable of discerning it with a glance.
>
>The Arcane, though, don't give them out.  You can ask them,
>but they charge a huge fee, say half the cost of the helm.  They
>will also freely purchase helms, also at half cost.  So it is easier
>to just take them to the Arcane and sell them than try to sell them
>on the market.


IMC, we use some limited rules for difficulty of installation (it usually
just takes someone with Profession: engineer or shipwright to do it right).
But we also have something called Arcane Registered Titles.  These are
documents available from the Arcane for a measly 500 gp.  They appear to be
normal paper worked over with some enchantments to make them immune to fire
and the like (similar enchantments are used on Arcane Bank Notes, but that's
another post).  The document has information regarding the proper owner and
captain of a ship and producing these documents to customs officials often
makes entering new ports a little easier.  More importantly, the document is
covered with invisible runes which become visible under detect magic, read
magic, or the light of certain relatively common spacefaring mosses.  These
runes are completely unintelligible for the most part to anyone but an
Arcane, but there is one portion which is readable to any literate person.
This portion repeats the visible information on the documents, and also has
a serial number for the helm which is installed on the ship.  This serial
number is an invisible mark similar to those on the documents, and appears
under the same conditions (it is said that experienced helmsmen know how to
make the mark visible whenever they are on the helm, as well).  If the
numbers don't match, the customs official knows that the helm doesn't match
the ship and owner, and was probably stolen.

The means by which these runes are made are unknown to non-Arcane, and so
they cannot be forged.  The reliability of these markings means that Arcane
Registered Titles are expected at nearly all civilized ports, and those
without proper documentation for their ships find their stay (if permitted
at all) expensive and unpleasant.  These documents come in mighty handy
whenever captain's are accused of piracy (if they are innocent of it, that
it).  It is a relatively simple thing to have a serial number changed on a
Title to match a new helm bought from the Arcane, who will do so free of
charge.  Those who buy their helms elsewhere find the Arcane charge
exorbiant prices (1000- 5000gp) to have the serial number on the Title
changed.  In addition, the Arcane have agreements with many local
governments that they will not change the serial number of a Title for
anyone who cannot produce a proper bill of sale for the helm (making getting
away with piracy more difficult, as the helms have to be moved to a port
where such agreements do not exist).  These same governments also usually
make a deal to get a reduced price on title changes (usually 500gp) for
ships which were seized by the government in war or as a fine for crimes.
It is rumored that some less scrupulous Arcane have issued false titles to
certain individuals, but these claims have never been confirmed.

The use of the title makes for an interesting minor plot, too.  PCs can be
sent to recover stolen titles or track down a ring of minor wizards who
claim they can produce false titles and are selling them at a more
"reasonable" (500-1000gp) cost.  It can also be a real pain for PCs who want
to sell captured ships.

Tim Gross

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