Magic Item Repairs

[JuliusCreed]

Been thinking a bit about this one and kind of wondering how many out there actually pay attention to this kind of thing.

Besides magic armor, how often, if ever, has anyone ever had to get a magic item repaired? I mean, unless you spend an extra 50K in gold to get your shiny new mystic trinket the Indestructible enchantment, there's going to be a bit of wear and tear on it, right? Necklace chains have a tendency to break, cloaks, clothing and other fabrics get torn or have holes worn through them, swords get chipped, bent or worse. And don't even get me started on the beating a shield is going to take. So, in light of all of this, what kind of a bill are you looking at to get your not so shiny magical bits and bobs back to 100%? Personally, I figure anywhere from 10% to 25% of the item's original cost seems pretty fair dependent on the severity of the wear and tear the items in question have suffered.

Thoughts, opinions and estimates are welcome.

[Library Ogre]

Generally, I go with magic items being relatively immune to mundane wear and tear. They can be broken... grab the amulet chain and yank and it can break... but they won't usually fall apart during normal use.

[Stone Gargoyle]

I think it depends on how the item is enchanted. Magical jewels can be transfered to a new item relatively easily. If the entire item is enchanted, I imagine fixing it would be more complicated. Sharpening an enchanted blade might affect the magical bonuses, for instance.

[kiralon]

Cost depends on location but
5% to start working on the device
then 0.5% of cost for 1% repair, so an almost fully destroyed device will cost about half the price of the device.

I do have oils of armour repair (and other magic devices) that will restore a certain amount of armour sdc (magical or otherwise) over a period of time, but it won't fully repair it (Usually to 90% but lower and higher quality version exist). To fix it to 100% you will need a properly equipped blacksmith or alchemist.

If an item gets destroyed or sdc reduced to 0 it isnt repairable.

[JuliusCreed]

Generally, I go with magic items being relatively immune to mundane wear and tear. They can be broken... grab the amulet chain and yank and it can break... but they won't usually fall apart during normal use.

I'm figuring you do this because of the inherent hassle in determining such things and you really don't feel like bogging your world down with such nonsense?

[Library Ogre]

Generally, I go with magic items being relatively immune to mundane wear and tear. They can be broken... grab the amulet chain and yank and it can break... but they won't usually fall apart during normal use.

I'm figuring you do this because of the inherent hassle in determining such things and you really don't feel like bogging your world down with such nonsense?

Pretty much.

If magic items break, I generally want it to be intentional OR a story reason. The wand will break if you hit it with your sword, or "this wand was always broken and that might add some interesting aspects to its use."

[Veknironth]

Well I did find one book example in the Western Empire page 161 Gauntlets of Quick hands run 500g per SDC.

-Vek
"How very Prysus of me."

[Prysus]

Well I did find one book example in the Western Empire page 161 Gauntlets of Quick hands run 500g per SDC.

-Vek
"How very Prysus of me."

Huh? Wha--? I felt a disturbance calling out to me.

Greetings and Salutations. First, I'll say that's a nice find, Veknironth.

With that said, I'll say I tend to follow the same rule as Library Ogre. In part because it's just easier and I don't want to bog things down, but also in part because that's how Palladium generally does things.

Weapons and other items, in Palladium, generally do not have S.D.C. values. And these items can usually only take damage if directly targeted.

We also gets lines like PF2 main book, page 18, under Supernatural Damage and Hand Weapons (Optional Rule): "Magical weapons and artifacts are basically indestructible and are at no risk of breaking."

If I had to come up with a figure (because someone did something stupid like use a bow as a lever to move something extremely heavy, or an enemy really did target their items), then I'd probably went with about 100 gold if the item is a heavy, sturdy item designed to take damage, and 200 gold if the item is a more mundane item.

These figures are based on values for adding S.D.C. to armor (PF2 main book, page 249). Magic Armor like Cloak of Armor and Leather of Iron effectively cost 200 gold per S.D.C. point added on. Magic S.D.C. (as an Armor Feature) costs 100 gold per S.D.C. Then, if I really felt like it (and probably would depend on why they needed the repairs in the first place) that they have to buy the S.D.C. in bulk of 10 S.D.C. So if a magic cloak was missing 11 S.D.C., they could either pay 2,000 gold to repair 10 S.D.C., or 4,000 gold to repair all 11 S.D.C. (they'd still have to pay for 20 S.D.C. worth, but it can't heal above the items starting S.D.C.).

Though, again, I generally wouldn't do this as a G.M. (and Veknironth's find is as good as any for a baseline price). In general, in my games, I don't have players worry about basic food, lodging, or repairs. This means players don't have to worry about gold for most things, which gives them less to worry about (as well as less for me to keep track of) and also decreases tendencies towards things like Murder Hobos. Seriously, I don't need players looting every last item, weapon, and scrap armor they can find on every corpse they encounter (or the ones they kill).

If they want special items, my usual rule is they need to tell me, they may not get exactly what they want, and they probably have to undergo some type of quest/mission for it (and they often won't know which one until after they complete it, because it's some random loot they find on the way or some added reward thrown in not previously discussed), but in the end they trust me enough that it's a non-issue. Since I've implemented this method I've found it helps me focus more on the story and characters rather than individual loot lust.

Anyways, each game is different. While I stated how I'd do things, I also tried to provide alternatives and the mentality behind those rulings. Hope some of that helps. Farewell and safe journeys.

[GoliathReturns]

"How very Prysus of me."

With that said, I'll say I tend to follow the same rule as Library Ogre. In part because it's just easier and I don't want to bog things down, but also in part because that's how Palladium generally does things.

Weapons and other items, in Palladium, generally do not have S.D.C. values. And these items can usually only take damage if directly targeted.

We also gets lines like PF2 main book, page 18, under Supernatural Damage and Hand Weapons (Optional Rule): "Magical weapons and artifacts are basically indestructible and are at no risk of breaking."

Vek pulled a Prysus. That's funny.

So, I'm on board with Ogre and Prysus. Mainly, I'm not worrying about SDC on anything besides armor, shields, or buildings.

Unless someone is targeting it, or does something it's not intended for, general items aren't going to suffer wear and tear.

While I'm not as generous as Prysus, as I do make players worry about food, water, inn costs, animal feed, etc, I'm not obsessive about it, and am pretty lenient.

But as for equipment and damage... most items aren't going to break. I'm not going to break the axles on the wagons, unless you're overloading it in horrible terrain. I'm not going to have your tent randomly start leaking. Now, if you go through a sandstorm, with a normal tent... it might develop problems. But, normal use? No.

It's just too much to keep track of. It bogs everything down, and is annoying for players because they have to replace it, and it's annoying for me as a GM, because that means I need to make sure they have a means of replacing it (money and availability, or even alternate items).

Of course, sometimes it's in the characters best interest for items to break. If a minotaur is yanking the fancy amulet you're wearing, your options are the chain breaking, or the chain ripping through your neck. Which would you prefer?

--GS
And yes, I've dealt with a minotaur ripping an amulet off someone. And yes, I was playing the minotaur.