How to Write Artifacts and Evocations

[Darkuwa]

I've just been stealing charms from homebrews. One of my players has black Jade fullplate and a black Jade Daiklave and between them he has all of the crumblepunches water dragon style except the form charm. One player had a an Orichalcum chain shirt and I stole a bunch of charms from one of the infernal homebrews.

[Silent Witness]

This is excellent advice @Unsung Hero!
Having a framework to follow will make my efforts to learn to create balanced Evocations go a lot smoother. I find I learn a games rules best by creating things that interact with them. For most games this means stacks of characters I may never find time to play, but once I've gotten a few good Artifacts under my belt maybe I'll post them here for communual use.

[SpoonR]

I'm late to the party, but I've been thinking about artifact rating & dots recently so here's my take on them

Artifacts come in 3, 4, and 5 dot flavors. What's the difference between them? First off, Evocations mostly don't affect the dots. Those are what a specific person can do with a specific artifact, not what is designed in for everybody.

Artifact 3: Some items have intrinsic limitations. This level gets rid of those, possibly with a mana cost, or some other easy condition.
Artifact 4: Take what the base item does, and extend it.
Artifact 5: Weird stuff, or effects not related to the primary purpose. Aaaand, here is where things get tricky. My design problem is deciding what is evocation, vs what is intrinsic.

Obviously that's a bit vague, so here are some examples in 3, 4, & 5 dot versions. (Spoiler tags added to make it less of 'wall O text')

Sailing ship.

Purpose: Ships let you travel over water and carry tons of cargo, or an army. Usually, a ship has shallow enough draft to go up a river, OR can handle ocean storms because of a deeper draft.
Limitations: Crew requirements, speed depends on wind, and can't leave the water.

Artifact 3: The solar canoe from Oaden. Crew of one, magically stable so can handle river or ocean, and light enough to carry. Or, a ship that is tough but not undamageable, but can repair itself without needing any materials.

Artifact 4: Elric of Melnibone's Ship that can sail land and sea. Goes through ground as though it was water, with trees automatically getting out of its way. Can now travel anywhere in Creation, although it might or might not be able to go up mountains.

Artifact 5: Ship that can summon a Roc to fly the ship somewhere (a la the spell that creates asorcerous 'thing' to carry the ship). KITT, the ship can sense when its' owner is in danger and sail itself to you. Maaaybe a ship with a hold of holding. A ship that makes Greek fire liquid for built-in flamethrowers.

Chariot

Purpose: Carry multiple people across land. Look cool. If you make the front & sides out of good material, they protect as much of you as is below the sides.
Drawback: Needs horses to pull it. Bulky. Can't handle tight spaces. Driver has her hands full with the controls. If it protects at all, only protects the lower half of your body.

Artifact 3: All of: Voice controlled. Keeps riders from falling off if it hits a bump, and extra balance for fighting on the chariot pole, or while standing on the horses backs. Can be sent Elsewhere when you aren't using it. Can create horse spirits to pull the chariot.

Artifact 4: Pump up the owner's anima enough to affect a small army, football field sized area, etc. Forcefield to protect your top half as good as the armor in the chariot pieces.

Artifact 5: Not sure if these would be powers, or evocations but. Concentrate the sun onto the chariot, so the reflection blinds your enemies. Create duplicates to give yourself a small army. Social effect to force duels with enemy generals.

Throwing spear.

3: Autoreturns when you throw it (effectively copy the retrieval charm), and it changes length enough that you can use it as throwing weapon and in melee without penalty.

4: Weapony things like one thrown spear turns into many, better armor pen, etc. 5 dots,

5: Turns into lightning or copies some of Gervaisins effects.

Also, I would think a 5 dot would let you break bigger rules. So, the Unnamed Solar's firewand, artifact 5, lets you learn Righteous Devil Style as evocations (so can't learn any other Martial Art, and can only use RD with this specific firewand)

[The Unsung Hero]

With the information posted in this thread from the interview with John Morke, I'll be VERY interested to see the new design of Evocations and how much it differs from my write-up here. Sounds like it might be considerably different, which I'm cool with. Homebrewing is definitely easier when it's smaller, but then again, it's also less needed once you have a book full of examples.

...although if the evocation trees are bigger, then maybe there'll be fewer examples. Hmm.

[The Unsung Hero]

Updated my rules (original post) to include Eric Minton's awesome charm naming blog posts. Very valuable resources!

[The Unsung Hero]

I actually meant adding more evocations on top of the ones already there. Like... taking Moonlit Huntress and giving it more than just one evocation, or taking Spring Razor and creating an evocation that allows the wielder to use more than just arrow frog venom when attacking with Howling Lotus Strike, for example. I understand you're not the creator, so it's more of an "unofficial"opinion, but I'd still like to hear what you think.

I hope that sounded like a compliment to you, because it didn't to me for some reason.

I know it didn't come out that way, but I knew what you meant and yes I think that's perfectly acceptable to unlock further evocations than are written for a weapon.

[The Free Man]

Every weapon has the potential for Evocations. Anyone who forgets a bond with it enough to unlock its power may see that power represented in different ways. So I see no problem with expanding on an evocation list, as that's just an exalt unlocking different powers than someone else got out of it. Hell, I would allow an Abyssal to pick up Volcano Cutter and find a completely different set of powers represented in it, as long as they are still aligned with Fire (for the Red Jade), Earth (for the White Jade), and immense power and projection of those elements (for the Orichalcum).

I actually meant adding more evocations on top of the ones already there. Like... taking Moonlit Huntress and giving it more than just one evocation, or taking Spring Razor and creating an evocation that allows the wielder to use more than just arrow frog venom when attacking with Howling Lotus Strike, for example. I understand you're not the creator, so it's more of an "unofficial"opinion, but I'd still like to hear what you think.

I hope that sounded like a compliment to you, because it didn't to me for some reason.

[The Unsung Hero]

I have a question though. Evocations are expensive with a fixed cost of 10xp. And they are designed so only specific Exalted can use them to their full potential. So what is the power level of your evocations like?
I'm not specificly talking about the number of added dice, though that can be a part of it, but more of conceptual strength. Also any ideas about the varying power level for artifacts that specialise in something and those that have a wider or more relevant area of expertise (killing all the stuff vs. something made for sealing one single kind of entity. Or something comparable). I'm struggling a bit with that...
Especially since there aren't any real guidelines for the power of artifacts.

I absolutely do not design evocations with the power-level of the exalt in mind. I design themes and pick the exalt based on that. That might not be the intent, but it's the way I approach it. I have no problem with a Dragonblooded exalt having access to powers that turn them into a Fire Avatar, or Command Spirits to obey them, or Unleash a Beam Power at their enemies, as long as the theme fits. In the end, it's strength should be represented in its artifact level. This is especially true for Dragonbloods because they are supposed to be the 2nd best at Evocations of the exalts. So I personally give them a lot of leeway in my artifacts.

As for how to pick your artifact level, I'm not sure how to give a great guideline except to say to give your evocations (particularly your pinnacle one, which should be the biggest and flashiest) a good critical look. Is it's effect expressed inwardly or outwardly? As a rule of thumb I look at the pinnacle evocation, and I've gone with this: if no outside observers can see the effect represented, I tend to rank the artifact at 3. If outside observers are likely to be caught in the blast, it goes to 5. Everything else falls in the 4 range to be raised or lowered based on the strength of the other evocations in the tree.

I admit I may be wrong on both of these points. It's merely my view, but I am completely prepared to adjust my perception based on new information in Arms of the Chosen (or from any passing writers... Vaaaaaance? ^_^). I hope it helped though!

[The Unsung Hero]

Since you seem to enjoy this so much, Unsung Hero, what is your policy on expanding evocations? Theoretically, any artifact could have an infinite number with the right charms (at least that's my understanding).

The root of my philosophy is that the story goes like this:
1. Crafter works hard and makes a miraculous one-of-a-kind artifact. It has potential based on its properties, but is otherwise just open potential
2. Wielder A (may or may not be the crafter) picks up the weapon and forges a bond with it. They belong to each other and through that bond they unlock power.
3. Artifact's power appears for Wielder A as Evocations A, with a list of powers that are amazing and in-theme with the properties of the weapon
4. Wielder A dies and the Artifact is locked in a tomb for time
5. Wielder B finds the artifact and forgets a bond with it. They belong to each other and through that bond they unlock power.
6. Artifact's power appears for Wielder B as Evocations B, with a list of DIFFERENT powers that are amazing and in-theme with the properties of the weapon.

Every weapon has the potential for Evocations. Anyone who forgets a bond with it enough to unlock its power may see that power represented in different ways. So I see no problem with expanding on an evocation list, as that's just an exalt unlocking different powers than someone else got out of it. Hell, I would allow an Abyssal to pick up Volcano Cutter and find a completely different set of powers represented in it, as long as they are still aligned with Fire (for the Red Jade), Earth (for the White Jade), and immense power and projection of those elements (for the Orichalcum).

[Ryoki]

Thank you for this post. The part about the mechanics will help me quite a bit since I'm more of a hobby writer myself and not the game designer. And it is interesting to see the design flow of others.

To use your steps mine would be something like:
1. The Base
2. The Concept
3. The Name
4. Background and story
5. Material
6. Evocations
7. Mechanics and balancing of the evocations
8. Attunement
9. Editing and formatting


Different things work for different people.
I have a question though. Evocations are expensive with a fixed cost of 10xp. And they are designed so only specific Exalted can use them to their full potential. So what is the power level of your evocations like?
I'm not specificly talking about the number of added dice, though that can be a part of it, but more of conceptual strength. Also any ideas about the varying power level for artifacts that specialise in something and those that have a wider or more relevant area of expertise (killing all the stuff vs. something made for sealing one single kind of entity. Or something comparable). I'm struggling a bit with that...
Especially since there aren't any real guidelines for the power of artifacts.

[The Free Man]

Since you seem to enjoy this so much, Unsung Hero, what is your policy on expanding evocations? Theoretically, any artifact could have an infinite number with the right charms (at least that's my understanding).

[Anasurimbor]

As far as costs go, I think that it is important to keep in mind that exalts regain 5m every round of combat and every hour outside of combat. Also, 5m is the point at which peripheral essence starts adding to your anima. So the difference between a 3m cost and a 4m cost is relatively tiny compared to the difference between a 4m and a 5m cost or a 5m and a 6m cost. A 5m charm can't be paid in peripheral without adding to your anima flare, but it can be used every round of combat indefinitely. A 6m charm cannot be used indefinitely every round of combat, as it costs you more essence than you regain.

For social evocations you also have to consider whether you want to factor in the 1m discount Solars get from Harmonious Presence Meditation. Or does that apply to Evocations?

[BrilliantRain]

This looks very useful. Thanks for the post.

As far as costs go, I think that it is important to keep in mind that exalts regain 5m every round of combat and every hour outside of combat. Also, 5m is the point at which peripheral essence starts adding to your anima. So the difference between a 3m cost and a 4m cost is relatively tiny compared to the difference between a 4m and a 5m cost or a 5m and a 6m cost. A 5m charm can't be paid in peripheral without adding to your anima flare, but it can be used every round of combat indefinitely. A 6m charm cannot be used indefinitely every round of combat, as it costs you more essence than you regain.

If your intent is that the user of the weapon will be using an evocation combo every round, that combo needs have a total cost of 5m or less. Same goes if you think they'll be using native charms with it too.

I'm sure there are other aspects of costing, but those are ones I've twigged to.

[The Free Man]

Yeah. This actually helping out a lot. I've already got quite a few pieces. It's a direlance that devours life force and powers occult rituals. It's made from Green Jade, Soulsteel, and Orichalcum, and is made for Liminals and Abyssals. It will be called Opprobrious, the... something. Hm... Names are always a problem for me.

[The Unsung Hero]

Thank you for making this. I might actually use this to make an artifact instead of my sorcery themed MA. I do have a question for you though. What, exactly, makes creating evocations so much fun for you? From my perspective, it doesn't seem much different from making a martial art. What difference do you see?

This question gave me a good think before I could answer it.

The primary reason is because I figured it out sooner that Martial arts or other charms. I had created my sorcerer character I wanted to play and I like to give my GMs a "wishlist" of things to reward players with. However, none of the listed artifacts in the book did any sorcery enhancers, but the flavor text said it could be done (under Orichalcum's magic material benefits). So I set about making my own. When I got to the end, I felt the urge to make a second thing, so something to interact with spirits. My second weapon turned out so much better than the first, I had to make a 3rd to see if I still had it in me. After that, it just kept flowing out. I have more ideas now than I have time to write!

Another reason, or more like appeal, is that evocation trees tend to be smaller than Martial Arts trees. I don't HAVE a laundry list of powers ideas for each artifact I make, so it's nice that it fits the existing paradigm that I can do a 3-5 power thing and be done. That's not to say that you couldn't MAKE an artifact with 8-12 powers. But I wouldn't want to personally. I'd rather make the individual powers bigger with more depth than granualize it, and evocations seem to encourage, or at least allow, for that.

And finally, it was something that... I want to say Vance... one of the writers said in a thread. I wish I had the quote on hand, but I'm not willing to dig through Nishkriya right now. Anyways, it said that a big aspect of Evocations' creative space is "anything an exalt can't do." So if you want to be a Solar but you want to transform into a fire dragon... well go get your staff that lets you do that and go to town! So I immediately had a space to go with it.

In the end, I don't think it is any different from writing a martial art. But as I said, I figured it out before anything else mechanically, and it ended up playing to my strengths and preferences. Thanks for the feedback, it made me think!