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Supernatural but non-magical items?

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rathhial	Supernatural but non-magical items?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 54 (12/25/07 18:55:30) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : magic, supernatural, items What are your thoughts on applying the supernatural to certain items, which have powers but are nonmagical? I got this idea from observing that creature powers are divided into 3 categories: extraordinary, spell-like, and supernatural. I was making campaign "gifts" the other day -- said gifts adding flavor to each PC, in an attempt to spark role-playing -- and was suddenly struck by the idea that I could make supernatural items, which acted like magical items yet weren't actually magical. Naturally, I cannot give to the characters the ability to MAKE such items, since they come from supernatural sources, which by definition the players have no access to (since it's MY world, darn it! -- I make the items). But the possibility of non-magical, but still supernaturally powered, items is fairly intriguing. I can do all kinds of wacky stuff with those, and won't have the rules lawyers at the table pwning me left and right. Sweet! -- maybe.
DerekDyer		#1	[-]
Posts: 6354 (12/25/07 20:31:23) Just showed up Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Making them physical items seems a little weird to me. I can see them as some form of permanent on a specific character, but not necessarily as physical items that can be passed around or sold. In my world I would do this as a tattoo, or something else a character could take in a permanent fashion. [fuzzy memory] Like in Races of the Dragon (I think that's the one) there are grafts. These work like magic items, and give properties, but I don't remember if they are "magic" items, or if they work in an antimagic zone. It works by grafting some part of a dragon to the character. Like a legbone, that then gives that character increased jumping ability. Though these grafts came with another drawback, they also reduced the recipients max HP... but all that really does is allow for a reduced GP cost. I have no problem with the idea at all, but I would like to hear some examples. I think it would add a little bit of complexity in calculating a effective value, but I don't have a problem with that. It actually adds some to the fun of creating such things.
Wyrdson		#2	[-]
Posts: 165 (12/26/07 08:13:24) Minimum 1 pt, right? Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Since they are gifts to the characters, I also like the idea that they are non-transferable, but there are a couple of ways you could do that with actual items. One might be items that, like the tattoos DD mentions, are literally bound to the character. A protective ancestral spirit that that takes the form of a necklace or a buckler, for example. It is physically there, for all normal purposes, but if removed from the character's possession, they immediately transport themselves back. As a slight variation, you could have an item that functions beneficently for the character, but acts as a cursed item in any other hands. Or items that literally turn to trash in other hands... like a supernatural blade that turns into cheap brass when held by anyone else. That could lead to some interesting incidents.
Cthon		#3	[-]
Posts: 5468 (12/26/07 08:15:09) No need for labels, right? Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I used to use a "Place of Power" pool that PCs could bathe in, after meeting an appropriate requirement. The spirits in the pool would recognize those who bathed if they met the requirements, then grant a supernatural ability, usually from a choice of 2 or 3 general ideas, like "arcane power, fiery body, or heart of stone." The PC would choose based on some words and associated image, and gain spell power +2, fire subtype, or immunity to extra damage from critical hits, respectively. shrugs It was a high-powered, yet low-magic sort of thing. Does that even make sense? _______________________ bored with changing signatures
rathhial		#4	[-]
Posts: 55 (12/26/07 22:12:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	As character gifts, I haven't set or anticipated a market price. I wanted to exercise my creativity and to get the player more interested in the campaign. The items varied, since I arrived at wacky ideas variously, and ranged from this: Spider Chain Shirt This supernaturally-made chain shirt is NOT magical, and looks very much like a chain shirt, with spider-web designs woven into the chains. Upon a command word "arak", the shirt slithers off the wearer's body as a free action and becomes essentially a Medium Animated Object, looking like a spider formed of chain links, in the next 5FT square as the wearer (now commander, since he's no longer wearing it) chooses. The "chain spider" then acts in accordance to the commander's desires, within a 1 mile radius, like an arcane familiar (but with no other such abilities). It acts on the commander's initiative, and is like a Medium Animated Object in all respects, except that it has maximum (40) hp, cannot act if the commander cannot see to command it, and once slain in combat it reverts to a chain shirt (as a move action) that slithers back to its commander at normal speed (two moves a round) so that it can reform as worn chain shirt armor as a free action. Even though it has hp and simply reverts to a chain shirt when "slain", there are still ways it can be permanently damaged ... like from a Rust Monster; generally, each AC bonus it loses due to such damage also drops its hp by 10 ... hence, if damaged to AC+3, it only has 30hp when transformed, not 40hp. ... to this, the most complex and wackiest of them all: Balloo Almost 6yr ago, at a young age, you awoke after a severe storm had passed through the region and there was this bright orange ball sitting outside your window. The ball (size Small) was rippled and had large whorls like Human fingerprints do. You played with the ball over time due to its rubbery surface. 2 years later, you awoke after another such storm and found that the ball had grown some sort of slim cord, also bright orange, and rippled in the same way. This was a handy feature for using it like a rope-ball, so you played with it thusly for 2 more years. You then awoke after -- yeah, you guessed it -- another such storm, and noticed that the ball (now called a "Balloo" by you) had sprouted hind legs. It takes to hopping around on its own, and seemed to have the sense Blindsense. It obeys your commands, which you eventually figured out were mental commands and didn't require words and gestures. The set of commands (all free actions, done on your initiative) so far are: o WALK - The Balloo walks with its characteristic hopping motion at speed 40. It tends to follow you when walking, but may end up 60FT (d12x5) away while going in your direction. It may jump over obstacles in order to do this, which can be problematic. It has trouble figuring a way around obstacles, other than following you. In an enclosed area (less than 240FT square), the WALKing Balloo will tend to walk around the area for unknown reasons. o FOLLOW - The Balloo follows you at a walk or a run, depending. Again, when encountering obstacles it will try to jump over them, but the FOLLOW command makes it stay right behind you. o GO - The Balloo will walk away from you in the direction you point. It will not walk into a suicidal situation, but its notion of a "lethal threat" is limited. It won't walk into chasms and flames, but will approach creatures that could harm it. One time, it approached your creche cousin Lanyil (nickname: "Lord of Rage"), during one of his characteristic rages, and he smacked it with his club. The Balloo wouldn't approach Lanyil after that, and when Lanyil tried to chase it a few times, the Balloo ran at top speed and evaded him. o GEDDOUT - The Balloo will run away from you in the direction you point, at top speed. o STOP - The Balloo stops and just idles in place (which involves some normal movement, like a slight shifting and hopping). o JUMP - The Balloo jumps over an obvious obstacle. It will not jump upon surfaces that are obvious threats, like spikes or lava. o SPIN - The Balloo will spin in place. It apparently doesn't get dizzy, since it can do this for hours. o THUMPFOOT - The Balloo will thump its foot (arbitrarily chosen by itself), producing a DC(-5) sound. o SWISHTAIL - The Balloo will swish its tail back and forth. Sometimes this is handy when you attach a fan to it. o DANCE - The Balloo will perform a crazy dance, but only once per day. Over time you have figured out it is an extraordinary ability that you've called Dancedance. The rope was now apparently a rat-like tail. It has a move speed of 40, Strength 17, high Dex, low but nearly Humanoid Int, jump skill of 16, AC of less than 20, Run feat, some damage reduction, and once took a 12-point strike (i.e. Lanyil's hit) without dying. One thing which is peculiar is that it never lays down, even when you command it, and when you force it to lay down, it resists. In cases when something makes it lay down, the Balloo tries to get up again. It does get tired, thus has a Constitution score. The Balloo seems resistant to cold and heat (but not flame since it can be burned), but in the heat it's less active, and in the cold it's more active (especially on its own). You have used the Balloo as a mount, but it takes a custom saddle; count this as as "saddle, exotic" from the PH Equipment list, which you must buy (30gp/30LB). You must use the saddle in order for the Balloo to carry any load. Since it is a custom item, you should get the riding saddle that is also capable of serving as a pack saddle, hence requires no saddlebags or other changes. The max loads carried by the Balloo are 0-86LB / 87-173LB / 174-260LB. Dancedance(ex) - Once per day, the creature can perform a quirky dance that mesmerizes onlookers. Those looking at the dancing creature must perform a DC8 Will save or be Fascinated (as in the Bardic ability) for 1 round. Once the save is made, the onlooker doesn't need to save again for a day. Unlike Bardic Fascinate, Dancedance can happen in the middle of combat or amongst other distractions. The creature can dance for as many minutes as it has Con points. I didn't consider at all that I could have attuned each gift to the character in question. That sounds like a great idea for putting immediate controls on what could become a fairly uncontrolled use of such items.
rathhial		#5	[-]
Posts: 56 (12/26/07 22:22:32) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Actually, Wyrdson, I've gotta correct myself here. One of the items I didn't mention is a "supernatural presence" that follows the particular character around, and once he invokes it, it does its special thing (some visually bizarre, sonic attack with low DCs, with strange results for those within 3 ranges), then goes away for a period before returning to hang around the character again. THAT item is non-transferable ... I just didn't apply the same standard to all the items.
Confused Jackal Mage		#6	[-]
Posts: 5739 (12/27/07 06:40:26) Iron Liege Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It looks like all you're basically doing is saying, "These are magical, but they weren't created by a mage. They sort of just... happened." That doesn't require any special rules about supernatural items, or really anything special at all. You can just price them up as magic items and have fun! "Observer-dependent physics undermines the gods' decision 3000 years ago to ban cats from straddling the borders of the netherworld. We won't have it!" "I have reservations about reconciling a quantum mechanics thought experiment with egyptian mythology." "Djinn and Juice", Dresden Codak
BehinEnemyDeadlines		#7	[-]
Posts: 132 (01/23/08 15:23:36) What's going on? Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I love the cte ball thing. I think it would provide some great roleplaying opportunities if someone killed it! If it were mine and someone killed it I'd be majorly pissed! I don't quite see the mechanical benefits of making the items supernatural rather than magical? Would they still work in an antimagic field?

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