Item Properties & Enchantments

I suggested that Mugly Wumple start a new thread on this subject but.. I'm already here and am going to be impatient.

So there have been several ideas put forth regarding properties and enchantments. There hasn't been a thread yet dedicated to the subject alone so here we are.

One of my favorite ideas so far is Mugly Wumple's idea that items (particularly weapons) be able to earn enchantments through use. If a particular weapon for example kills a lot of trolls it can become a weapon of troll slaying, earning a bonus against trolls.

@Mugly Wumple if you would care to explain your idea in detail that'd be great.

I would like to add to this idea further in suggesting perhaps that master craftsmen be able to name their items if they are of sufficient quality. Then a item can earn a secondary name (ie Troll Cleaver) as a title. So let's say some silly crafter names an axe Bob.. then the axe become Bob the Troll Cleaver.

Players will be appreciate the flexibility of being able to name their items (and I suggest a one word limit on names in this case) and it will help avoid having any number of identically named items floating around.

If an item isn't named perhaps once it reaches a certain amount of usage the owner might have that option?

As for my ideas I have two. The materials pass on 'lesser' properties to the crafted item such as lighter weight, greater durability etc. The other is that item enchantments be placed on gems which would then be mounted on the item in question. With possibilty the ability to remove those gems and remount them on a different item.

I was also thinking that it might be interesting if crafters could specialize in a particular property by selecting a crafting sub-skill that would allow them to make items with a semi-unique property. Say Jack the smith specializing in durability. All the weapons he makes and more durable and his repairs are slightly better.. but Jill specializes in in cleaving weapons.. all axes and swords like scimitars do extra damage. Bob is am armor specialist and Hariette's bows have increased range while Joe's bows are more accurate. They all have a small bonus from their specialties that sets them apart from other crafters.

This of course should be applicable to not just weapons but cooking and other crafts as well.

 

As long as it isn't too overpowering. Love of gear is the root of all evil.

 

Naturally.. but game balance is the dev's job. Our job is to test and help provide direction and feedback. I think most of us understand the dangers of unbalanced gear. I'm more of a fan of low-magic systems myself.

 

Another thing to consider is "Time to Penis" a term I've borrowed from EVE. It means how long before someone uses your idea to create something objectionable.

I've got to admit that I've not really fleshed out the details of my proposal, but I'll give it more thought. I especially like the idea that a weapon earns what I've called Legend, that it's power increases through use and that these enchantments, both "Glimmer", i.e., crafted enchantments and Legend become exponentially harder as more are applied. Conceivably some few weapons have taken years of use or hundreds of attempts to gain their enchantments.

 

This idea of enchantment can be applied to non-weapon items as well - a smith's hammer that gets better at making a particular item, a saw that returns more wood of a particular type, a lantern that give more, or longer light.

Consider that Glimmer gives the ability to advance and Legend, or use does the advancing. Our lantern may be made of an alloy called Sun Steel, but it's only after being used in dark, dangerous places that it becomes better at lighting.

 

Lets stay far away from this as possible. I don't want a Themepark gindfest. Nor do I want to see Blacksmiths only being in demand at the start, then become useless because weapons "grow" in power.

Lets leave the spreadsheets for the nonsandboxes.

 

With item decay, smiths will always be in need. Besides, it's a question of balance like everything else. It could takes weeks of troll slaying to get a +1 bonus vs trolls and maybe it caps off at +3.. perhaps that only represents a 3% increase in power against trolls.. then the weapon degrades.. who's going to fix it?

Let's have some faith in the dev's ability to balance the game properly and that we'll do our jobs in the alpha and beta to help them do that.

I confress though I'm still not very clear on the "glimmer" part. Makes it sound like everything going to start to sparkle. Though I'm pretty sure that's not the intent.

 

Glimmer. Call it what you will, it is any enchantment that is applied by a craftsman, distinguished from any enchantment that is acquired through use, namely Legend.

As I dreamed it up a craftsman would add an enchantment that boosts some attribute - a bit. But as the weapon is used to exercise that attribute it gets better. First attribute is difficult, second 10 time moreso, third is 10 again - or something. Whatever keeps the number of attributes below spreadsheet size.

 

Dude!

Q: Mugly Wumple posted an idea over on the SotA website the other day that I thought was very interesting.
The basic idea is that items (weapons) have a history and can become better over time. A sword that is used to kill a certain high level mob would become imbued with some of that creatures power/essence, or what have you and become stronger. Likewise, a weapon used kill a bunch of goblins would slowly become better against goblins or at least be feared among them eventually earning a name like ?Goblin Slayer? or something similar (not unlike in LotR).
I think it would add an incredible layer of interest in weapons and the most powerful weapons would be those developed over time by the players instead of some random drop.
Any chance of something like that showing up in SotA?

A: I like the idea, we will consider it!

Nice... (from the transcript of the recent reddit interview with RG)

 

Thanks for pointing me toward this thread Bowen Bloodgood. I read about this idea on the Reddit thread and thought about ways it might be implemented in a purpose-driven fashion.



RG is well known for taking ideas and making them something bigger, better. We?ve seen vendors before. We?ve seen crafting systems before. We?ve seen an item enchantment system before. We?ve seen a party system put into place before. But we haven?t seen a combination of these. Watching his interview and videos as well as reading his visions and ideas on here, I?ve compiled an idea I?d like considered.

A master craftsman would create an enchantable item, rather than also being an enchanter, burning some reagents, clicking a button and *poof* magic item! They would create an item, ready to be enchanted (as mentioned by Mugly Wumple), but instead of just killing something or doing something the item is ?prepared? to be enchanted and another person (or group for a complex enchantment) set out to fulfill the requirements for the enchantment via a quest. Obvious, and already cited example, would be the Slaying weapon would be sent out to slay monsters.

Basically, the ?enchantment? would be to trigger a short quest or quest line that must be fulfilled before the enchantment goes into effect. If you failed/died then the enchantment could either fully fail (item lost) or must be started over. This creates a host of options and interaction between players and really makes sense for an RP world that gives full time crafters an additional layer, creates potentially endless quests, gives crafters an option to almost function as quest giver NPCs and allows the market to dictate strength and popularity of the system. It need not be tedious for most, but perhaps some ?enchantments? could require the accomplishment of downing boss-level encounters.

Incorporating players (or their vendors) as potential quest givers also uniquely falls into RG's idea of non-arrow/non-exclamation point quest givers. The enchantments need not be huge (even the "boss-level" ones) bonuses to game play... In fact, for god's sake please keep stats and skills character based and not item based! But, even a few percentage points more stuff would yield participation. Even if the new "function" is the enchantment simply gives the item a name... "Why's it called Trollslayer?" "Cuz it kills trolls." Even with a +0% bonus to trolls, people would the mini-quest at least a little!

Thanks for entertaining my addition to this possibility!