When a magic item is sold in Felltower, it's gone. Lost. Gone for good. It disappears from the game - you can't sell something now and get it back later. It's one of a few reasons you don't see Raggi anymore - he died in two delves, and the PCs sold his Weapon Bond-linked axe to pay for bringing him back. That was the final straw for his fun and value as a character, and he'd need a replacement he wasn't likely to ever encounter.
There is an exception - Arbiter.
Arbiter was given to the church, which paid out its full value - $60,000 - for its return.
But Arbiter is a potentially useful tool for the church in the hands of a Holy Warrior. It's a Fine, Meteoric Holy Sword. That's potentially +3 to hit, +4 damage in the hands of a Holy Warrior with Holiness 6. Few weapons like it exist - there are perhaps a handful of Holy Swords in the world, and likely this is one of only one or two that are meteoric.
Therefore, the church would be willing to put it back in the hands of a PC . . . for $60,000. Naturally, PCs are totally able to use clever explanations, carefully-worded speeches to the church, appeals for charity, good deeds, and reaction rolls to attempt to get it. That's fine. Any and all of those, plus $60,000, no less, will get them the sword. Heh. Just heading the usual "but we'd really benefit from it and the church would benefit from giving us $60K and then the sword just because" stuff I expect to come along.
So this rare weapon is still available, for now, at a high price. Is it worth the price? It will be when you're chopping at a lich unable to stop your sword with its Shield or Iron Arm and hitting for swing+5/cutting. I don't expect anyone to see it that way, not until $60K is something people have laying around.
Maybe the Church might offer it as a reward for some difficult quest? While money is good to have, the Church likely has quite stable income from tithes paid by commoners and lords in more civilized areas. Asking famous adventurers for money instead of service seems somewhat inefficient. Asking them to destroy an evil cult, or to bring back some relics lost in the deeps of Felltower, or to convert a barbarian chief looks like a more reasonable approach to me.
ReplyDeleteFelltower is a No Quests Zone.
DeleteJust one Quest: Enter megadungeon, find/steal/loot valuables, return to Stericksburg.
DeleteI like magic items like this that are linked to a particular trait (in this case Holiness). I feel like it presents opportunities to give out a magic item at an early stage and have it be relatively weak. Over time, as the PC ranks up the linked trait, the magic item grows more powerful and useful in it's focused purpose.
ReplyDeleteI've always disliked the trope of "you found another +1 sword, guess you'll just give it away or sell it if you can get anything for it".
As I remember it, I asked Sean about template-restricted magic items and how to do that. He suggested tying this to template-specific traits like leveled talents. That's where they come from - and I like them a lot.
DeleteThey are awesome. I recall there was a belt that Mild Bruce had that was tied to Outdoorsman, I believe. And a Helmet that Heyden the Mighty has that is tied to Born War Leader--right? Those are some of the best magic items. Magescale tied to Magery, etc. Was the Staff that Quenton Mudborne got tied to Power Investiture (Druidic)? I feel like it might be.
DeleteI still think we need Priestplate tied to Power Investiture. :D
There presumably are magic items tied to Chi Talent levels, which would also be cool. Swashbucklers and Thieves are kind of out of luck, for the most part--they don't have such obvious Talents to base magic items on.
There are ones tied to those, yes. Clerics really don't need an armor boost at all - making "Priestplate" is possible, but it's just a freebie DR boost to two templates that rarely lack DR - Holy Warriors and Clerics.
DeleteIn general, I like the tie-in to the talent to make sense for the talent, the template, and the campaign. Magescale isn't there because it's cool, it's there because it suits the foes you've taken it from in Felltower.