Antiphon Union clarifications - Armor, timing, and number of effects

Burning Wheel First Reading
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Hi all! Was reading through BWG and had a few questions about Antiphon Union

“An artisan who wishes to enchant an item, must first create it with a skill song like Jewelcraft, Riddle of Steel or Weaving Way.”

  1. Armor - The Elves>Protector>Armorer LP doesn’t seem to include “Armorcraft” or “Canticle of the Beetle” or any other analogue, just the “Armorer” skill. Should there be a corresponding Skill Song or does “Smithcraft” or “Riddle of Steel” work to make armor?

“Once the item is created, the spell song must be sung. The singer has one chance to transfer his power.”

  1. Timing - Must the Spell Song be sung immediately? Can a crafter add an effect later to a previously created item? Up to GM/group?

  2. Number of effects - Previous “recipes” (Here, for example) included multiple Spell Song applications. Is this still possible in BWG? If so, can multiple applications of the same Spell Song be attempted? (For example, Riddle of Steel to create, Song of the Sword Ob 1 for +1 weapon speed, Song of the Sword Ob 2 for open-ended sword dice.)

Thanks!

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  1. It must be crafted with a skill song. The absence of an armor skill song seems like an oversight, but I suspect it’s deliberate. Elves don’t make magic armor, apparently. I’d replace Armorer with a skill song equivalent if you want to make it possible. It seems odd that Elves have no gift for armor when in the resources section they do apparently make superior armor—you’d also want to assign Obs to the Elvish armors.

  2. This is up to the idiom of your game. I’d lean towards adding the effect very soon after the item is crafted. Perhaps not immediately, but certainly before it sees much use. It’s very much part of crafting the object in question. Must be sung before the next new moon, or even under the next full moon, if you want a somewhat witchy feel. Before the final touches are put in, so the songs are included in the fabric of the item, maybe. Or just sometime; it certainly fits the pace of Elvish life for the singer to wait a decade or two before actually finishing!

  3. I’m iffy on the legality of multiple spell songs. Again, it might be a question of how you want your game to work. I’d certainly frown mightily at multiple uses of the same song (Song of the Sword) and maybe chuck dice at the offending player!

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Thanks for the reply! It’s particularly amusing since Elven Armorer skills include “Antiphon Union Training,” but Bladesmith and Shaper do NOT. :smiley:

Or just sometime; it certainly fits the pace of Elvish life for the singer to wait a decade or two before actually finishing!

This is one of the main things I was thinking about. Perhaps the armor protects at -1D or +1Ob or something, until the crafter says, “It’s done.” and then after that cannot be altered.

  1. I’m iffy on the legality of multiple spell songs. Again, it might be a question of how you want your game to work. I’d certainly frown mightily at multiple uses of the same song (Song of the Sword) and maybe chuck dice at the offending player!

Ha! Indeed. I didn’t know if that had changed from the implied use in BWR or not.

As far as the multiple effects, I might adjudicate it that it’s a basic Ob 1 to infuse the spell, and successes over the Ob either 1) can be used for any ONE effect per encounter (so a 4D success allows you to pick any one of the Ob 1, Ob 2, or Ob 3 effects to be “on” for a given encounter) or 2) can be added to the wielder’s active use of Song of the Sword… I think luke had alluded to this earlier in BWR? (Edit: Found it.)

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  1. The song is sung as part of the creation process, therefore no delay is permitted.