RPG Blog Carnival: Fantastic Creations

The agent looked around the Mages’ Faire, taking in the displays and the spectacles.  The illusions, the charmed monsters, the gouts of flame and bursts of lightning.

Of no use to him.  As impressive as they were, he needed something less obvious, and more importantly, that did not require gifts and training he would never have.

His attention drawn to the more subtle wonders.  The talking sword.  The book that showed moving pictures.  The kettle that could fill, heat, and pour itself.

Even more then the ephemeral magics, the spells and rituals, things like these he would be able to put to good use.

The RPG Blog Carnival returns!

Last time the Carnival was here the theme was Fantastic Locations.  This time the theme is Fantastic Creations.

Too often it seems special items are seen as simple tools.  Magic weapons give an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls, magic wands are basically spell batteries, and so on.  Technological oddities tend to be much the same, if not more so.

I’d like to see this change.  Magic items, technological marvels, mechanical servants, magical constructs, mental structures, they all can be fantastic.  In fact, I think they should be.

So, let’s talk about how to make that happen.  Examples of fantastic items are certainly welcome, as are rules for creating or classifying them, or discussion on how to cause otherwise mundane items to be considered special and fantastic — those were, I think, some of the most valuable posts from the last Carnival hosted here.

To have a post included in this Carnival, just link to it in a comment below.  As the last time, I’ll be doing a weekly roundup with some brief commentary on each.

Let’s explore the topic together, I hope everyone enjoys it.

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14 Comments

  1. Pingback: Fantastic Creation: Beobachten, the Dragon Watching | Keith Davies — In My Campaign - Keith's thoughts on RPG design and play.

  2. Pingback: Fantastic Creation: Palavirea, the Burning Green | Keith Davies — In My Campaign - Keith's thoughts on RPG design and play.

  3. Pingback: Fantastic Creation: Kaiho-sha, the Liberator | Keith Davies — In My Campaign - Keith's thoughts on RPG design and play.

  4. Pingback: Why Create It Fantastic? | Exchange of Realities

  5. Pingback: Fantastic Creations: May 18, 2012 Roundup | Keith Davies — In My Campaign - Keith's thoughts on RPG design and play.

  6. Pingback: A Truly Magic Item « The Journeyman GM

    • Thanks Journeyman. I agree, having the effects not be as simple as providing numbers helps. I’ve found that more and more I favor qualitative differences over quantitative ones.

      +4 instead of +2… big deal. Does it let me do something I could not have before? Then you have my attention. Until then, it’s only useful, rarely is it fantastic.

  7. Pingback: Fantastic Creations: Devising Fantastic Creations | Keith Davies — In My Campaign - Keith's thoughts on RPG design and play.

  8. Pingback: Wild Hunt Studios » Blog Archive » RPG Blog Carnival — Fantastic Creations

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