Do you believe in magic?
Magic items in games tend to follow a pretty typical methodology thus:- Take a real world item.
- Put 'magical' in front of it.
- Describe it using a few words.
- Add a game bonus.
Magical Sword, +2 damage, forged in the flames of mount Sliceanddice.Which, in the mind of the reductivist turns into:
Sword +2 damage.All the majesty and cool is bled away in the heat of the moment when you just have to consider the scale of damage you are inflicting on the Ork, Globin or hapless bystander. Further restrictions or rules do help the magical item to retain some of its intrigue but that is often sadly lost. It is, after all, just another +Something Magical Doohicky.
Although most obvious in magic items, I think this problem exists throughout the fantasy genre. A village on a stream becomes just another village. A fireball spell just another lobbed ball of burning death.
Enter Rustfoot
Jens has a talent for writing, crafting fresh never-seen-before ideas as well as turning existing tropes on their heads. Even the hardened roleplayer who has games printed on papyrus and who has been roleplaying since before Gygax's place of birth had geologically disconnected from mainland Europe, would be hard pushed to say they've seen this all before.The presentation of each item is not a cold stat-block but a delicious description through the eyes of Rustfoot. You can't help but be drawn in. The sketches included are reminiscent of the naturalists who explored the expanse of the Pacific - they do not need to be beautifully rendered by a professional, it wouldn't look like Rustfoot had created them.
Blogging drawback
Update: has added a contents page now. Superb! Thanks, Jens.. Being a blog,Conclusions
Unique, novel and bound in charm with every post. I wanted to outline a favourite but I really couldn't. The magic items and spells are the most delightful and perhaps most useful to the fantasy GM. They say familiarity breeds contempt. Wrong-foot your complacent players by breathing some of Rustfoots splendid discoveries into your game.Jens, thank you for sharing and let me be the first to demand a PDF book if it!