Re: Enspelled items

--- Michael Sandy <wuggadad@??????.com> wrote:
>What kinds of enspelled items are there out there?
>An enspelled item is something that is less potent
>and less permanent than a magic item.  Sometimes it
>is simply some natural substance with magical properties
>that can be exploited.  Sometimes it is a simple spell or
>ritual that lasts for a long time.
>
>Fire trap and Glyph of Warding arrows for example.  (and
>special carrying cases that prevent them from being
>accidentally touched and discharged)
>
The elves have many enspelled arrows, and these could also be adapted to
ballistae and other "arrow styled" things, perhaps even javelins or
short spears; the Complete Elves' Handbook (2E) gives some ideas, but
they're transferable to 3E.  There's a lot of enspelled item ideas in
the Arcane Age: Cormanthyr suppliments too.
>
>
>The material from which mana sails are made would be an
>important trade commodity.

Now that is an interesting idea.  What is used to make mana sails
anyway?  Any ideas?  Threads taken from nebulae?  Crystal shell
shavings?  Woven comet tails?  I have a lot of romantic ideas. :)

>
>A creature with extremely sharp claws might have those
>claws (or teeth) end up tipping precise engraving tools, or
>surgical tools, or sewing needles.

We have had dragon claws do that.  More commonly (different game but
same idea) we had White Wolf werewolves who used their claws in similar
manners.

>
>
>Maybe an Iconograph, like Terry Pratchett's Disc World
>series, perhaps using a small sized permanent phantasmal
>force to capture the image.  Perhaps a crystal that can
>store images in a facet, such that when a narrow beam of
>light is shown through it (in a darkened area), it casts
>that image on the far wall.
>

There's an obscure spell from 2E called "Crystal Portrait" (don't ask me
what suppliment it's in, I got it out of the Wizards' Spell Compendium.)
It does more or less what you describe - captures an image in a crystal
ball.  The ball can be of any size, but it limits the size of the image.
Material component is the ball.  It's a first or second level mage
spell; our characters have come to use it fairly extensively (although
admittedly, the most common uses it sees are as the Arcane Medieval
equivalent of America's Funniest Home Videos, and as a way to capture
the image of beautiful women.

>Perhaps some kind of water elemental is trapped to power a mill.
>
We have had a windmill powered by an air elemental.

>And there are always means of focusing Continual Light spells
>for signalling or dazzling, or put on a ballista bolt to fire into
>an enemy ship so as to track it more easily.

Sure, why not?  The drow do it with signalling mirrors; our characters,
who had some drow among them, developed exactly that technique for
signalling; see the Drow of the Underdark or the Menzoberranzan boxed
set.

>
>Perhaps a sewer system leads to some monster which processes
>the waste.
>
Here's a weird one for you - a Sphere of Annihilation as a garbage disposal!  (I've seen it.)

Yours truly,
Sable

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