Mundane magic items

[Treebore]

I have been having a desire to create mundane magic items of late. I vaguely remember others mentioning or posting such items long ago. Plus I know some have been done in past TSR products and pages of Dragon magazine. They even have some in the 3E PH, and may have done more elsewhere, but I don't know of it.

Anyways, my base line concept is the same as it is for machinery, to save time and increase quality.

So right now I am not going to write up items, but think up effects to add to items. For those of you who read this I would appreciate you adding any effects you think of.

Then, after I/we get a working list going I/we can create the spells which would be used in the enchanting of the items

Effect 1, time saving. This would be an enchantment that has the item drastically cut down on production time. IT would probably be best to represent the time saved in percentages. Like a level 1 spell would cut time by 10%, so something that would take a full 40 hour week would now take 36 hours instead.

A level 3 spell would cut production time by 25%, so 40 hours of work would be cut down to 30 hours.

I am thinking these spells do need to be of decent levels to keep "super craftsmen" to a minimum. I also think it would be best to cap time saving at 75%. After that you may as well just go to a spell that creates it out of nothing, instantly. Which is covered by the Fabricate spells in certain editions of D&D. At least I think they fabricated things out of nothing. I'll have to dig through my books.

The next obvious enchant would be to increase skill level, or the quality of what is produced, above that of the actual skill of the item user doing the crafting.

I think, to stay consistent with how I handle skills in my games, I will have each spell level give a +2 bonus.

Another aspect is painting. Not only high art, but painting of homes, etc... So a series of brushes giving endless supplies of paint of various colors. Plus various types of paint, IE oil and water color, even acrylic if you want, etc...

Then there will be the magical looms and sewing needles, that create cloth and sew clothing all on their own. Pulling even more on "Fantasia", have self propelled brooms that sweep, dusters that dust, oil polishing rags that polish furniture, Brushes that brush your hair, even sets for grooming your dog, cat, horse, etc... Plus lets not forget dish washing rags and towels! Onh! Plus fire starters, must have fire starters.

Drawing on spells I remember from the Greyhawk Adventures HB, have a line of "Unseen Servants" that specialize in certain skills, such as cooking, baby sitting (face it, there are certain diapers parents would pay a LOT to have someone else change!), feeding the live stock, folding clothes, etc....

OK, my imaginations tapped out for now. Feel free to add your own ideas!
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

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[Lord Stinger]

Cool idea. I look forward to working on this.
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Ruler of Castle Scorpion in the Kingdom of the Scorpion

Duke Stinger, Lord of the Battlemasters of Nighthammer Keep, Castles & Crusades Society

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[serleran]

There are hundreds of these things in the Encyclopedia Magica 4 volume set.

[Treebore]

serleran wrote:
There are hundreds of these things in the Encyclopedia Magica 4 volume set.

Its a shame I never bought it, then.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

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[clavis123]

Some ideas for "mundane" magic items:

Clothing that never smells bad, no matter how many times you wear it without washing.

A ring that keeps a person clean and fresh smelling without washing (VERY useful in settings that simulate the real-world Middle Ages)

Cups that chill or heat liquids.

Shoes that prevent your feet from getting sore, no matter how much you walk.

Clothing that never wears out, no matter how much you wear them.

Clothing that can change into any kind of garment desired.

Toy soldiers that actually move as ordered.

A fork that can tell when food is spoiled.

A talisman that repels vermin, like roaches, bed-bugs, or rats.

Contraceptive potions

Potion of universal flavoring, much like magical MSG. Put a drop on anything remotely edible, and it becomes palatable.

A potion that's essentially magical Viagra. That one would be VERY popular.

Along the same lines, potions of, um... appendage growth. For the ladies, a potion or ointment that alters the size of their breasts.

Potions of weight loss, or weight gain.

Potions of language. Drink it, and you know how to speak another language.

Items like the above would actually be the majority of magic items. Most real-world magical texts are concerned with sex, money, revenge, and making ordinary life easier. I've never seen an ancient text about fireballs, but there's lots of stuff in the Graeco-Egyptian papyri about making rivals impotent, or getting a better singing voice. We can say with certainty how people in a society with magic would behave, because we know how they behaved in societies that took for granted that magic was real.