Re: More Helms

In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Mon 30 May, Novamaster wrote:
> The Craft Wondrous Item feat should work. Here is the SRD version:
> 
> CRAFT WONDROUS ITEM [ITEM CREATION]
> Prerequisite: Caster level 3rd.
> Benefit: You can create any wondrous item whose prerequisites you meet.
> Enchanting a wondrous item takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its price.
> To enchant a wondrous item, you must spend 1/25 of the item’s price in
> XP and use up raw materials costing half of this price.
> You can also mend a broken wondrous item if it is one that you could
> make. Doing so costs half the XP, half the raw materials, and half the
> time it would take to craft that item in the first place.
> Some wondrous items incur extra costs in material components or XP, as
> noted in their descriptions. These costs are in addition to those
> derived from the item’s base price. You must pay such a cost to create
> an item or to mend a broken one.
> 
> The real qestion is what spells would be reqires to make it? Off the top
> of my head:
> Telekenisis, Arcane Eye, Free Action (Or similar, I can't rember the
> name), Fly.
> This list needs expansion, and a minimus caster level for each helm
> should be set...
> 
> Since helms are supposed to be hard to create finding some sort of plan
> or scematic should also be a prereq (and the Arcane don't like such
> things getting out...)

Again, I don't particularly like the enchantment mechanic of
permenently burning xp to make magic items, but I think that I
understand why it is done that way.

I would prefer a need to acquire certain resources, like a
workshop, raw materials of a certain cost, and enchantment skill
represented in some way.

And, the enchantment work taking a certain amount of time, such
as six weeks per spell level for something permanent like a Helm.

Then making the price for the raw materials dependent on the
spell level enchanted, modified by some sort of difficulty
factor, rather than a arbitary purchase cost on a table where I
don't know what the logic of creating the prices is. Reading the
3e DMG didn't inform me a great deal on this, either.

But, this is probably not a suitable place for me to complain
about the 3e enchantment system, except in the specialised case
of using it to make Helms and other SJ stuff! [grin]


Assuming we pinch as much from 2e as possible, I assume that you
would use the Create Minor Helm (arcane 6th, divine 5th) and the
Create Major Helm (arcane 7th) spells as the spells required to
make a Helm. Looking at these, I don't think Permanence would
also be required.

The item price is then the one given in "Concordance of Arcane
Space":

Helm             Price
Minor             100k
Major             250k
Series             75k
Furnace           100k

'Crown of the Stars' and Artifurnaces are assumed to be
artifacts, needing "Create Artifact", and the other sorts of Helm
are of less immediate interest.

Furnace Helms are obviously limited, as they cannot go into the
phlogiston, and Series Helms are most likely of interest to
psionics and others who cannot use the arcane or divine magic
energies they possess to power a Helm. Some DMs might have 'Minor
Psionic Helm' and 'Major Psionic Helm', which psionics use
instead of a Series Helm.


So assuming I understand the above, you need to create an arcane
magic Minor Helm someone with arcane magic capable of casting the
"Create Minor Helm" 6th level spell (11th Wizard?), the "Create
Wonderous Item" feat, 100 days work, 50,000gp of raw materials,
and 4,000xp to permanently invest in the Minor Helm.

It can be assumed that the cost of raw materials includes at
least a suitable normal chair or seat as required when casting
the "Create Minor Helm" arcane spell.

If the enchanter level is 11th then, if this is equivalent to the
caster level of the spell, this Minor Helm can power a 22-ton
ship. This would mean that the standard Minor Helm with its
capacity of 50 tons implies an enchanter of 25th level.
Alternatively, maybe 50 tons is the standard for an enchanted
rather than a spell-created Minor Helm.

Another approach would be to say that enchantment roughly doubles
the capacity, to a maximum of 50 tons, so a 13th or higher level
enchanter would produce a 'standard' Minor Helm. This is probably
not worth messing around with, though, so the standard of 50 tons
makes more sense.

Major Helm is then 13th enchanter, 250 days work, 125,000gp of
raw materials, and 10,000xp. 39 ton ship minimum (standard 100
tn is probably recommended instead). If you used the doubling
rule, above, 17th would be produce a 'standard' Major Helm.


Those are just the mechanics, and as you say above, the process
of making a helm as a wonderous item must be known, probably as
some sort of ritual.


>     -Canageek
> 
> 
> Jonathan M. Thompson wrote:
> 
> > While creating a mechanic for a specific setting is a tried and true
> > method
> > of design, I understand your point. The creation of helms can be one
> > incorporated into the Craft Artifact or something similar, can add a DC to
> > create helms to the appropriate feat. I don’t have the books right here in
> > front of me, but I suspect that I (or anyone else for that matter) could
> > find a workable solution within the existing framework of rules.
> >
> > Jonathan M. Thompson
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Discussion list for the Spelljammer campaign setting
> > [mailto:SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com] On Behalf Of Dreamer
> > Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 12:25 PM
> > To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
> > Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] More Helms
> >
> > I am always reluctant to introduce a mechanic just for a
> > particular setting, and I suspect that a 'Craft Helm' Feat would
> > fall under that heading, if my limited understanding of 3e
> > mechanics is correct.
> >
> > Maybe it could be folded into a 'Create Greater Wonderous Item'
> > Feat, which is on the way to a 'Create Artifact' Feat?
> >
> > What do those wiser than me in the ways of 3e think?

-- 
Dreamer
dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/