As described below magic in Backspace is similar, yet quite different than other realms. Many things are easier to create here and often have less penalties to use them…it’s Friggn’ MAGIC!
There are no limits on items that can be worn, although the DM can have very strange things happen to the foolish wizard who walks up to a dragon wearing three rings on each finger expecting to be safe. Many properties may still not stack at DMs option.
Magic here is very much up to DMs whim. In some lands ALL magical items are legacy-like and require costly rituals to unlock their powers. In others there are shops where you can go in and buy what you want if you have the coin.
This is a very large world with many unknown lands where a DM can add his own little realm, ideas and house rules.
Magic Item creation depends on the area it is created. Sometimes an item can be more easily created with more abilities, and others it is nearly impossible to make the smallest of trinkets function properly.
The Feylanes (a version of leylines from Rifts) often affect this.
However, in most cases magic item creation failure is rarely a complete loss. Cursed items are common from mistakes, but ultimate explosive failure often creates very unusual items for those willing to dig through the ruined laboratory to find a Ring of Muppet (Monster) Summoning or +3 Longbow vs. Rocks (Rocs). Often strange things happen to magic items when being recharged. Humorous magi and evil cultists have left a great many strange items that use wordplay to create entirely new effects for common looking items.
These quirks often make using the new Ring Feather Fall you’ve just walked out of the shop with less fun when you are turned into an actual feather for the duration of your fall, able to be affected by the slightest breeze. Who knows where…and when you will land!
Like anything else, familiarity breeds contempt, and then laziness. Items are easier to come across but may not be as well made- Your new +5 Dragon slayer melts with the first breath weapon attack, your Cloak of the Bat attracts Bats to you, etc.
If you look around your home there are a great many items that would have been deemed “Magic” even a hundred years ago, much less in the dark ages. They are quite common now, and often have flaws in their making.
These make “Name Brands” more reliable and valuable. Sure you can get potions from Gorlock the half-orc peddler who pushes his cart around the great city selling healing aids, but you might end up with the runs for a week, or a third eye for who knows how long.
Also since magic is more common it can be addictive. You might always need bigger, better, and more powerful items, no matter what you have until your greed and hoarding rivals that of an elder red dragon. You could find that without your daily dose of a healing potion you start to lose health. Without your favorite Ring of Fireballs you are all but useless, and when it starts accepting fewer and fewer charges your character begins to panic, become much less useful when the Ring become nothing but a valuable piece of jewelry.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” Heroes have grand items and usually the ability to gather more, but how they use them could incite the Wrath of the DM, and the DM controls the very Gods of his world! There are a great many ways for characters to lose items, especially for characters who tend to carry around an shop’s worth in their pouches. Quidnunc, thieves, and the like could simply take things.
Just as things are often “found” in Backspace, things can just as easily be “lost”. How many times have you lost your own keys at home? How much easier to lose things when battling in a dungeon. It never hurts to ask to see a char sheet, make notes of items rarely used or annoying to you and then start plotting their removal from your game.
“You did through your bag of holding several times but simply cannot find your +3 Mace vs Zombies,” look meaningfully at the closest woman who has recently had to dump her purse to find something, “Better hurry, those Zombies look hungry and are getting closer.”
Or even, “You reach back for your Bag of Holding and find only cut strings. It looks like those Goblins hit you after all.” This might and should require some serious backtracking through dangerous areas only to discover fresh foot prints in the blood that quickly fade off down a side corridor now revealed by a secret door.
There are no limits on items that can be worn, although the DM can have very strange things happen to the foolish wizard who walks up to a dragon wearing three rings on each finger expecting to be safe. Many properties may still not stack at DMs option.
Magic here is very much up to DMs whim. In some lands ALL magical items are legacy-like and require costly rituals to unlock their powers. In others there are shops where you can go in and buy what you want if you have the coin.
This is a very large world with many unknown lands where a DM can add his own little realm, ideas and house rules.
Magic Item creation depends on the area it is created. Sometimes an item can be more easily created with more abilities, and others it is nearly impossible to make the smallest of trinkets function properly.
The Feylanes (a version of leylines from Rifts) often affect this.
However, in most cases magic item creation failure is rarely a complete loss. Cursed items are common from mistakes, but ultimate explosive failure often creates very unusual items for those willing to dig through the ruined laboratory to find a Ring of Muppet (Monster) Summoning or +3 Longbow vs. Rocks (Rocs). Often strange things happen to magic items when being recharged. Humorous magi and evil cultists have left a great many strange items that use wordplay to create entirely new effects for common looking items.
These quirks often make using the new Ring Feather Fall you’ve just walked out of the shop with less fun when you are turned into an actual feather for the duration of your fall, able to be affected by the slightest breeze. Who knows where…and when you will land!
Like anything else, familiarity breeds contempt, and then laziness. Items are easier to come across but may not be as well made- Your new +5 Dragon slayer melts with the first breath weapon attack, your Cloak of the Bat attracts Bats to you, etc.
If you look around your home there are a great many items that would have been deemed “Magic” even a hundred years ago, much less in the dark ages. They are quite common now, and often have flaws in their making.
These make “Name Brands” more reliable and valuable. Sure you can get potions from Gorlock the half-orc peddler who pushes his cart around the great city selling healing aids, but you might end up with the runs for a week, or a third eye for who knows how long.
Also since magic is more common it can be addictive. You might always need bigger, better, and more powerful items, no matter what you have until your greed and hoarding rivals that of an elder red dragon. You could find that without your daily dose of a healing potion you start to lose health. Without your favorite Ring of Fireballs you are all but useless, and when it starts accepting fewer and fewer charges your character begins to panic, become much less useful when the Ring become nothing but a valuable piece of jewelry.
“With great power comes great responsibility.” Heroes have grand items and usually the ability to gather more, but how they use them could incite the Wrath of the DM, and the DM controls the very Gods of his world! There are a great many ways for characters to lose items, especially for characters who tend to carry around an shop’s worth in their pouches. Quidnunc, thieves, and the like could simply take things.
Just as things are often “found” in Backspace, things can just as easily be “lost”. How many times have you lost your own keys at home? How much easier to lose things when battling in a dungeon. It never hurts to ask to see a char sheet, make notes of items rarely used or annoying to you and then start plotting their removal from your game.
“You did through your bag of holding several times but simply cannot find your +3 Mace vs Zombies,” look meaningfully at the closest woman who has recently had to dump her purse to find something, “Better hurry, those Zombies look hungry and are getting closer.”
Or even, “You reach back for your Bag of Holding and find only cut strings. It looks like those Goblins hit you after all.” This might and should require some serious backtracking through dangerous areas only to discover fresh foot prints in the blood that quickly fade off down a side corridor now revealed by a secret door.