"permanent" magic items

From: Graeme Willoughby <g.willoughby_at_ic.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 14:05:10 +0000


Richard Devlin asks about a "sword +1" equivalent in Glorantha. There are several ways you can duplicate the effect using spirit magic, divine magic sorcery and/or enchantments. A word of warning though - the Zistorites of the Machine city were destroyed for "mass prducing" swords with a permanent bladesharp 3 on them.

Given that here's some recipes for getting "permanent" magic weapons. Most of these aren't even abuses of the rules, though none of them would be as common as a simple bladesharp matrix on the sword. 1/ Use 20 pounts of Extension on your Truesword - gives you Truesword for 30 years +, or steal such a sword from someone (he may be anoyed at this). Also worrks quite well with Great Parry to give you a nice sheild. If you don't have 20 points of Extension, Mindlink with some friends and use theirs as well. Can be dispelled though, might be dispelled if the caster(s) die

2/ Bind a bladesharp spell spirit and a power spirit into your sword with conditions, so that speaking a command word will trigger the spell. This gives you the magic when you want it, you should be able to recast the spell three or four times in a single day. Effects can be dispelled but can recast. Shamen could bind such spirits to their fetch instead.

3/ Sorcery give us several ways depending which rules you use: a/ RQ3 rules: create a damage bonus matrix with duration +10 (or better, +20 if you can spare the POW). Get a sorceror with 18 free INT, cast an Intensity 8 duration 20 (or 30) on as many swords, spears, coins as you can until your GM gets bored. (duration 20 = 24 Gloranthan years, duration 30 = 24,000 Gl Y). Can be dispelled Note: Count Julan of the Coders has such an "impossibly long" duration damage resist on his cloak - unfortunately no-one knows how long the duration is - it might pop off at an embarrasingly unfortunate time for Julan.
b/ Sandy's sorcery Rules: Mulispell damage bonus and bless sword, use the permanency Art to reduce the presence required. Can be dispelled, caster can drop it, dispelled if caster dies. c/ As b/ but creative use of the Saints Blessings can increase the intensity, or make the spell an enchantment (so it can't be dispelled) and so on.

4/ Saints. Western Saints give Blessings to their followers. One can use them to enhance sorcery spells, but there are several that affect objects directly. Gerlaints Blessing makes the supplicant's sword a permanent flameblade when held in the supllicant's hand for example.

5/ Plunder (I beleive) had a "sword of sharpness" ritual known to Storm God cults, where one could perform a minor Heroquest to swap some POW to give a minor boost to a sword's damage and armour points (+1, +2 as I recall). I think it involved killing an enemy in one blow.

6/ There are any number of one off relics of past empires/gods war/weird western/northern/southern/eastern magic item that you can use - - you could even have a "sword +1" if you wanted to.

7/ HeroQuesting can give you virtually any reward that the GM can think of, including permanently enchanted weapons.

cheers

GRaeme
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Graeme Willoughby
Space & Atmospheric Physics
Imperial College


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