Ye Mystick Artefacts!

stonegolem

stonegolem

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So I was laying about thinking of awesome stuff, as I am wont to do, and it occurred to me that one of the things I don't tend to see a whole lot of in Alliance LARP (this is an anecdote, your mileage may vary, see below) that is more common in fantasy novels, tabletop roleplay and video gaming is the Named Piece of Treasure.

You know the kind. The Sword of Truth. Sting. The Talisman of Triumph. Mjolnir. The Eye of Vecna. Excalibur. The Arkenstone.

Instead, we get a lot of "The Statuette of 1/d Sleep" and "The Ring of 30 Assassinate, Must Be Worn To Be Used."

Now, I'm only speaking from my admittedly limited personal experience. I realize that plot teams are 99% booked solid with trying to get all of the amazing stuff they have already written, and treasure policy being as deliberately random as it is there isn't really a lot of time or ability to write out epic backstories and names for all the junk that gets looted.

All the same, I think it can be said that most people would prefer to Undertake A Perilous Journey and go gallivanting after the Beast Glatisant, and be rewarded with "Solidus, the Ring of Assassins" which incidentally allows me to use the Assassinate skill once per day.

My questions to you, Gentle Reader, are these: Have you ever acquired an artifact of legend? Do you own any named blades, hallowed armor, jewelry of which bards have sung? How did you get them? What are their stories? Did you forge them yourself, or were they a gift, a reward hard-won? BOTH?

Do you, as a plot writer, ever send out Ye Mystick Artefacts?
 
The answer is very easy: Do it yourself!

My primary character has been played for 16 years now and has two named items that he himself has created and named. It means *more* that way - instead of being handed something, I've had the chance to make them myself - and build the stories surrounding them from scratch. By now the name of my sword (Translator) is pretty widespread, as I've had it for many many years and it's been seen in a number of different chapters. That's pretty awesome to experience, and is something which any character in Alliance can do whether or not they happen to be working in-depth on plotlines or not.

Beyond that, I've seen and been involved with a number of Plot-generated artifacts over the years. The downside of these is that they go away after your time with them is done, whereas player-generated treasure stays around and becomes linked with your character story over years :)

-Bryan
 
That is a totally awesome reply and I hope someday to witness the power of Translator myself. Also an excellent name.

I know that a lot of the folks my PC rolls with carry some pointy sticks that they've named themselves, and said pointy sticks definitely have some excellent stories attached to them. Someday, I'll have my own self-forged legends, too. What about non-artifacts? Would you (or anyone else reading this!) find an item that you went a-questing for specifically as compelling, or compelling at all?

I don't necessarily mean like a Plot McGuffin (although I do love me a tasty McGuffin, yessir.), but... well, let's use my previous example. A ring with a skill store, once a day, that didn't necessarily have any kind of relevance to the plot but instead simply had a bit of legend attached to it.

Would such items add enrichment to the game world, or would they simply become more trinkets and baubles to shove into a belt pouch and cast from the Key Ring Fulla Tags?
 
My PC has a pair of magical pants that he got off a BBG from a gigantic plotline in Chicago; said pants weren't some big plot artifact with some super-awesome powers (other than they helped define said BBG's appearance), but they're awesome because they're The Pants of Reinious Thargatian. He also hoards little not-magical souvenirs from various things he's done or been a part of, even if some of these relics aren't grand themselves (such as a 3-inch strip of blue fabric).

Items are one of those things that can really make a game cool if done well, and I personally am a gigantic fan of magic items "meaning something" by having some sort of history or connection to something, even the "common, everyday" items that get dropped at events. I like to be able to look at an item, and remember where it originally came from and, if applicable, who had it originally. History in stuff like this makes the game world more immersive, rather than just "the plot team had X amount of production that they dropped as magic stuff this weekend".
 
I would also love to see more named items in my chapters, but at the same time, I think having an item you name and create a story for, is even more enjoyable. The way people are going to know about the item is if you constantly reference it when it's necessary.

I have an Owl statue, it's about the size of my hand and it used to do 2/d Wall of Force, with a flaw that it must "be placed down and watch the wall". After an event of using it I named it Hooter McGaven. Every event thereafter I would refer to this item when I used it as Hooter McGaven. Pretty soon, if I needed a wall, I'd say I can have Hooter McGaven do it; he's saved many lives in the 2 years I've had him, and I'm looking forward to re-enchanting him for more good years.

Another PC has a throwing weapon in the shape of a purple mushroom. It's not rendered, it's nothing special, but it's name is Barnabus. Whenever the PC ask another PC if they have met Barnabus and say no, it gets thrown at them. Over 3 events, Barnabus is essentially it's own person. People refer to it as Barnabus, it's acknowledged when it's thrown, it has it's own history.

The point is, half the fun of a named item is giving it one yourself. However, for artifacts, having them be named does bring that history back into mind. Where were you when you got it, what role did it play, etc. I have something called The Cord of the Forsaken and whenever I look at it I'm instantly reminded of the Sat night fight against these vampires when it was acquired.

I love 'em and think more chapters should create histories for items if they already don't.
 
Somehow my Barrister/Healer in Chicago land has become the repository of every item that requires remembering someone when used which is fairly amusing to me and has comes up a few times. I do very much enough our one customer made sword my group has named "The Azure Blade" it's always in someone's hands (rarely mine) and it really is fun to see it move around.

I'm definitely a fan of artifact items as long as there aren't 5 in town all the time. I'm an even bigger fan of PC made group items that people learn to know.
 
Standing together wayside lives...is one such item that is pc made with a bit of plot help that has become the 3 per day life that the hole town knows about and loves...other items come to mind, it needs some creative flaws, incants, to go with the item as created. And suddenly nothing outside the rules is needed to accomplish the same idea. Of a named or generally named and accepeted item...Although the idea of named items is great in my mind I think they already exist just need to be embraced more by plot and pcs.
 
Two words: Group wood.
 
I'm drawing from tabletops here, but perhaps there was a ritual lik "legend lore" or something that would allow characters to figure out the history of an item? It might even be a cool plot tool.
 
Undrask said:
I'm drawing from tabletops here, but perhaps there was a ritual lik "legend lore" or something that would allow characters to figure out the history of an item? It might even be a cool plot tool.
Click to expand...

This already exists as a ritual scroll.

Two words: Group wood.
Click to expand...

While I'm sure this is amazingly funny to the group in the know, from the outside it sounds like one of those things I used to hear some random d+d group snickering about when they were 14 or so ^.^
 
The Group Wood was awesome! Due to it's size, shap, effect, and means of activation you couldn't mention the item without an innuendo joke. :D

It was a wooden, ribbed cylinder approximately 12 inches tall with 4/d Earth Storm that had to be upright between your legs to activate. It was acquired in Valdanis and made it's way to Andar and Taneryn, frequently passed among a group of friends. Sadly, it expired. But it was fun while it lasted.
 
Absolutely. Stories help make a LARP better, and items with stories? Absolutely a good thing.

Of course, sometimes they make their own names by what you do with them, but it's the fact that there's a story to pass along with the item that matters.
 
The thing about 'Ye Mystick Artefacts' as you mentioned is their rarity. There was only one Excalibur, only a half dozen magical swords and 20 magic rings in Tolkien's fables and so on.

In Alliance, they're as common place as... well maybe not dirt but not much rarer. Where magic is used just like any other tool without any real thought to it's grandeur, how can you hold it in awe?

To put it another way... how many people in today's world name their jackets or their power tools?
 
obcidian_bandit said:
I have a hammer named "the Problem Solver"...
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Strangely, he never seems to have the same problem twice...
 
markusdark said:
The thing about 'Ye Mystick Artefacts' as you mentioned is their rarity. There was only one Excalibur, only a half dozen magical swords and 20 magic rings in Tolkien's fables and so on.

In Alliance, they're as common place as... well maybe not dirt but not much rarer. Where magic is used just like any other tool without any real thought to it's grandeur, how can you hold it in awe?

To put it another way... how many people in today's world name their jackets or their power tools?
Click to expand...

I know plenty of people who name cars, motorcycles, give nicknames to computers or game consoles. Those are common, but they tend to be important to the people who name them nonetheless.
 
I"m sure you do. And I'm sure for every one person you know, I could go through the US and give you 10,000 that don't. On top of which I could take your friend's named car and ask everyone in California if they've heard of that car and none of them will have (assuming that your friend doesn't live in California).

My point isn't CAN you name the items but what is the value to doing so in regards to becoming an artifact of legends.

Legendary things are rare and unique usually with a bit of awe thrown into them. Magic items in Alliance aren't any of those things. You may be able to build a singular item that does a whole lot of stuff but nothing that can't be duplicated easily enough by carrying a few trinkets that can be made or bought within a couple of nights.

The legendary factor within Alliance has nothing to do with the item but more with the individual who wields it. They push the legend. I've heard of Polare's sword "Translator" because his character told me the name of it (or maybe it's written on the blade, I can't recall). I don't know what it does. Heck, for all I know it's a non-magical sword. But he makes it special and therefore it is.

However, for every person who names an item in the game, there's dozens more who don't bother. In my 20+ years of being in the Alliance and playing in chapters all over the US, I can count on one hand how many times I've heard a magical item referred to by a name instead of by it's abilities.

It isn't done because to the vast majority, it's just another "sleep x3 daily" - just about as special as a couple of sleep gas globes or some scrolls that can be made by someone with less than half a dozen events under their belt. A tool almost as common as any weapon out there.

Now I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It's the way magic in Fortannis works - another way to beat the bad guy down - just you use packets and activatables instead of weapons and armor.

It's just that the mystic artifact of legends, if and when found, really isn't anything to go whoopity doo over. The only exception being when plot writes in that item X is the only thing that will let you get to the final goal of the massive quest. But that item becomes moot after the final goal is reached. It keeps the allure (this is the coronet that allowed our fighter to be able to wound and kill the big bad guy) but it's functionality becomes non-existent.
 
Pulling this back around, to answer your question Evan: Abso-friggen-lutely.

But it needs to be done with some form of rarity. Otherwise the 'legendary sword of that dude who died' will end up being a dime a dozen. (you have the Sword of Vengeance! I have the Sword of Truth. And that guy has the Axe of Sleepiness, and the Throwing Star of Boredom etc etc..)

However, Polare (and others) who name their own weapons? Totally legit, and I actually really like the little extra level of RP it adds to the game. Because it comes from that player itself. It makes you go "Oo! Why did you name it that?" And thus, RP storytime. Moreso than "It came that way." Plus, as time goes on, those weapons can be handed down to other players - which makes them legacy items, which is also something pretty cool. :)

- Ali
 
What I am taking from this conversation, then, is that items who -earn- names are more valuable to players than items who simply -have- names. It is more enjoyable to experience a living legend and partake in its building, than to simply be handed an item with its own lore - whether it be a crafted item, like Polare's Translator, or an item that had a story attached to its acquisition, like Ganadian's Pants of Reinious Thargatian.

In other words, which might have more meaning to readers I know personally than to others but I am sure you can get the gist, "Junior" is a much more entertaining item than "Excalibur."

That seems obvious on its face, but it doesn't address the issue (and I believe it is an issue) that markusdark is alluding to. All those Sleep 3/d items, that are functionally no more impressive than a longsword, and therefore not as interesting. Another socket in the 60-piece ratchet wrench case, and probably the giant huge one that looks cool but hardly ever gets used.

I would love to find a way to marry the concept of the "commonplace" magic item to the concept of items that have both personal history and their own legends. I kinda think it would be a cool thought to have some relic from beyond time with a long story, and then append to it "in the year dippety-twelve, it did fall into the hands of Angrag Skulltaker, who used its fury to rescue all the ice cream from Lord Funsucker, etc etc etc," even if that relic really is nothing but a dopey ring off some bozo lich's finger that lets me cast Flame Bolt once a day.

Is there a way to do this?
 
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