This week we begin an exploration of several topics that have undergone some significant changes as a result of the ongoing rules playtesting. Since we introduced the Alchemist Exemplar last week, the first area we'll examine is items and item levels. When Realm of Runes was first being developed, item levels existed on a scale from 0-20, much like character levels. One of the unintentional consequences of such a broad spectrum of level possibilities was that many items that have multiple level variants had rather odd, and arbitrary, improvement schemes.
Take the elixir of life, for example. This healing item had a base item level of 1st, and as a base item it provided fast healing 5 for 2 rounds. If a crafter wanted to make a higher-level elixir of life, the amount of fast healing improved every 2 item levels and the duration increased every 3. This put the range of healing the item could provide at a reasonable amount if the item level was similar to the user's character level, but left weird dead zones (like level 2) where the higher level item cost more to buy or make, but provided no additional effect for doing so.
Another aspect of the item level scheme that introduced unintentional weirdness was level 0 items. Most general gear, like weapons and armor, simply had no item level. This was intended to make these "default" items extra easy to Craft and Repair, but since level 0 is not used anywhere else in the player-facing rules it ended up causing a lot of confusion, especially to playtesters that did not already have a great deal of experience with other tabletop RPGs.
The solution to both of these issues is to reorganize the item levels to scale from 1-10, much like spells. In fact, not only did this change alleviate dead levels and many sources of player confusion, but it also had several surprising and helpful knock-on effects that made many other aspects of the game rules less complicated and more intuitive. A true win-win.
By removing half of the item levels from existence, the selection of items available at each level became much more broad. Items that were once separate at level 5 and level 6 are now both available at item level 3. More options are always better than fewer, of course, but perhaps even more important than simply increasing the depth of each pool is the psychological effect that this change ended up having. When item levels scaled at the same rate as character levels, one common point of confusion among veteran and new players alike was the assumption that the item level served as a character level prerequisite. It seemed that a level 8 item required a character to be that level, or higher, in order to buy or use that item, which was never actually the case. With a level scale entirely dissimilar to character levels, however, it becomes much more obvious that the item level is an overall indicator of its expected power level compared to other items, as is the case with spells.
Speaking of spells, another helpful side effect of restructuring the item levels relates to the interactions between items and spells. Some spells, like creation below, directly create items. In reverse, some items cast spells. With both items and spells using the same scale of power, these relationships become so much simpler. A spell that creates items is naturally, and intuitively, limited to creating items with a level up to its own level. A scroll that contains a spell must have an item level at least equal to the spell's base level. If that scroll's item level is greater than it needs to be, the resulting spell is heightened to the same spell level as its item level. Simple!
CREATION SPELL 5
[Conjuration]
Casting: 10 minutes (Somatic, Verbal)
Range: hex 1
Duration: Instantaneous
Create a common or uncommon standard item with an item level up to the level at which creation manifests. You can create alchemical items with this spell, but not magic items. The item can be any common or uncommon material, so long as its item level is low enough to be created by this spell. You can create a rare item if you have its formula, or an item of a rare material if you have the same bulk of that material on hand.
Master: You can create a fine item instead.
Legendary: You can create a superior item instead. You do not need materials to create an item from a rare material.
Similarly, many magic items only existed at specific levels. Scrolls and Ritual Instructions could only be found at even levels, as their item level was required to be double that of the spell level. Magic Runes for weapons and armor could only be found at odd levels. Unlike scrolls, the distinction there was simply arbitrary. Changing the item level scheme smoothed out all of these weird interactions, greatly reducing confusion. There are still some categories of item where there are not items of a specific base level, but since most items are able to be created at higher level there can still exist items of those levels, and there is no reason to skip entries in the pricing charts.
Another aspect of spell structure that was imported to items is the improvement scheme formatting. Most spells provide additional power or utility if cast at a higher level than the spell's base level. Similarly, most magical or alchemical items provide additional power or utility if made at a higher item level than the base level. These improvements used to be included in the text of the item and written in long form, but now they are more clearly called out using notation similar to spell heightening. Let's look at some examples:
ALCHEMIST'S FIRE ITEM 1
[Alchemical, Bomb, Consumable, Fire, Splash]
Splash Radius: hex 1
An unstable combination of several volatile chemicals, alchemist's fire explodes in a blast of burning liquid a few seconds after being shaken. Alchemist's fire deals 2d4 fire damage and 1d4 fire splash damage. A creature that takes fire damage must attempt a Reflex save. If the attack is a critical success, the target's save is one step worse.
Success: No effect.
Failure: The target takes 1d4 persistent fire damage.
Failure (-10): As failure, plus 1d4 more persistent fire damage.
Level (+1): Increase the bomb damage and splash damage by 1d4, each.
POTION OF MERCY ITEM 2
[Consumable, Enchantment, Mental, Potion]
Requirements: soothe
A creature that drinks this potion becomes resilient in the face of deadly onslaughts. For 1 hour, each time the drinker takes lethal damage it can attempt a DC 13 flat check.
Success: The damage is subdual damage.
Failure: No effect.
Level (+1): Increase the duration by 1 hour.
Resonance: The drinker can spend a Resonance Point to reduce the flat check DC to 7 for the duration of the potion.
FLYING BROOM ITEM 5
[Air, Transmutation]
Requirements: animate object or fly
Bulk: 2
This otherwise unassuming broom can be ridden as a mount. It has a 5-hex fly speed.
Level (+1): Increase the fly speed by 1 hex.
Item level and organization is an example of an area of the rules that worked as it was, but greatly improved thanks to the lessons learned during playtesting. Rather than a frequent source of confusion, items in Realm of Runes have become a clearly intuitive aspect of the rules, whether you're playing an alchemist or not. Next week we'll introduce the Barbarian Exemplar, and its art, so stay tuned!
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