Spell under consideration would allow the caster to create a 1D “cash” by Turning a rock into gold.
The spell facets would be personal origin, single target, earth element transmute impetus, and permanent duration. Distilled, you get an Ob4^, 134 action spell that gives you a +1D “cash”
resource, +1D per additional success with a maximum +3D total per casting. Each casting would impose a +1 obstacle on the casters next resource maintenance check due to components used in attempting this spell. (It takes money to make money)
I know the fiction is right, but is such a spell right for burning wheel?
Seems legit to me!
I’m sure a wizard who created such a spell would become the target of many “affections,” to put it mildly. Have fun!
No.
Because then your characters will just walk around pulling money out of their asses every time they need to buy anything. Which breaks resources. The only reason I would personally be ok with this is if it were a campaign concept that was integral, like Kublai’s “affections”.
Also the Ob pen. to lifestyle just doesn’t seem right given the context. If you can make ANYTHING into gold, then grab some random crap and get money from it.
Yes. Magic also lets you get bonuses to other dice rolls, why not resources? I would definitely start suggesting curses such as Midas’s for the Failure consequences though.
Yes.
Provided there are significant consequences. The unwanted attention from fortune seekers should be enough to severely limit the over-use of this spell. Attract the wrong attention and you might become someone’s golden goose. I would prefer to treat this as a combination alchemical + magical effect and require a proper workshop to cast the spell. This would go a long way towards preventing abuse and creating interesting complications.
The Magic Burner does list an item called the Dropping Ring (pg. 200) which creates a 2D Fund for the wearer that is permanent (may not be lost or taxed) until the Dropping Ring itself is lost.
Of course, that is a magic item, not a spell.
Regarding the cumulative lifestyle obstacle, that is meant to keep the spell from being abused as well as to simulate the need for some type of alchemical ingredients (not enchanting, although that could be interesting too)
Any other suggestions to bring a Midas touch like spell into burning wheel gold without breaking resources?
I think you’d need to apply the Earth facet twice, and I’d call for some majoris sigils.
edit: it’s not that you apply the facet twice, but that you’d add the Ob of the Earth facet to the Transmute one.
Also: don’t have it add dice directly. Just turning stone into gold would be enough of an effect. Then it’s up to the player to leverage that into dice.
Major sigil sounds right as this is a pretty big deal. The idea of not putting a die amount on it worries me in that wizards usually have fairly high Will stats, so letting them just create gold and then haggle for its value could get them into creating a replenishable fund rather than an occasional nugget or two. It should be harder to increase the die value though.
What about 1D for successfully casting (currently 4 successes), with an additional die per additional 4 successes. Maximum of 3D “cash dice” worth of gold?
I always thought that you only needed to add the extra obstacle to Transmute when changing from one element into an other (changing the caster and all he carries into smoke so he can squeeze through cracks and crevices would require the Air, Earth, and Anima elements where as changing a man into a bird would only the Anima element for the transformation as the Transmute is working within that element rather than changing it into another one.
I feel like gold creation is an Alchemy thing.
Imagine the effects and consequences of such a spell. Total economic upheaval (most economies are backed by gold, even some today are.) (US). If it can be created, whats it’s value? It would be very hunted after, and almost every government would want you dead for the upheaval as well as what basically amounts to counterfeit.
That’s why I think its more of a campaign focus than a side spell. The dropping ring is unique because its for dwarves, and has to be passed down very often, limiting it use.
Sorry for all the criticism of your spells, Larkin. I want you to know that its just to improve them, and that alone they are very good.
There is fiction that supports the alchemical transformation too (Sorcerers Stone, Hand of Midas, ect) so that is also something to consider (BWG it would probably be under Enchanting).
Regarding my spell concepts, if I put them up in here instead of Sparks it’s because I question them myself, and I really do appreciate the feedback on them.
The idea behind this was two-fold:
- A wizard, strapped for cash, casts this spell knowing that it will cost him later (magic always has a cost)
- As a magician, one of my favorite routines has always been the “Misers Dream” where you produce a seemingly endless supply of coins from some of the oddest places. (I always started out with an empty top hat and ended with it filled with coins and finally overstuffed with tens and twenties).
Regarding the economy: You’re right! One game I played in (a D&D variant decades ago) after a hard fought battle the party mage decided to just teleport the treasure trove back to town rather than cart it out over time. The utter chaos that insued by having a huge pile of gold appear in the middle of the town square (with no way to protect it) caused that economy to collapse in no time prices jumped from coppers to golds, gangs were suddenly better equipped with arms and armor. Then after word got out, this island nation whose main contact with the rest of the world had been by trade ships started seeing warships on the horizon as for the first time in history, they had something worth killing for.
Yeah, economy matters.