Cost: These tools have costs and weights given for them. When I created them, I had a TL3 to TL4 world in mind, and assumed that wizards were wealthy. If you port these tools to a TL8 world, you can increase the cost if you wish, or simply keep them the same. You can set the costs at whatever you want -- though I suggest you use multipliers than doing completely new costs.
Creation: These tools were created for a world where an entire arcane economy is in place. I suggest that the creation of these tools be a separate skill from any of the path skills. Specializing by the type of tool is probably appropriate. Use normal creation rules. The craftsman creating the tools should probably have magery as a requirement. It is recommended that grimoire copying use these same rules.
Use: These tools are made to encourage wizards to specialize via gear, and to provide loot in a fantasy setting. If they are in a setting most wizards should have a collection of these tools to applify their magic. The storage focus is particularly vital. A specialty focus is reccomended unless the mage has a good library of grimoires, and a focus to increase range, area, or duration probably won't go wrong.
The Tools
'Additive Focus'
An additive focus reduces the amount of energy required to power a spell, but is limited to boosting a single parameter, such as duration, range, area, damage*, or weight. Foci work best in a range: they have a minimum amount of energy to work, and a maximum amount of energy they can contribute. These numbers are determined by the focus's rating. The rating of the focus is the minimum amount of energy that must be used on that parameter BEFORE the focus takes effect. After that point, the costs for increasing the parameter are halved-- for an amount of energy once again equal to the focus rating. So If you had a rating 3 range focus, and cast a ritual with a range of 5 yards (2 energy), you wouldn't get any savings. But if you cast a ritual with a range of 15 yards (7 energy), you would pay 3 energy (the rating) plus 2 energy (half of what you would pay past that), for a total of 5 energy. Mathematically, this means that costs of over three times the focus rating simply subtract the focus rating, while those between three and one times the rating subtract (parameter - rating)/2 (round down) from the ritual's energy cost.*damage Foci must specialize by type: healing, internal, external, or explosive.
You can only use one focus of a given type for a spell, but you can use multiple foci of different types. Because different sized foci and useful for different sized spells, mages often have multiple of a given type. Some types are much more common: rating one weight foci (paying 3 for subject weight is extremely common), rating 10 area or range stones, and so forth.
Foci cost $100*rating and weigh 1 lb * rating. Very common stones may cost up to 20% less, and very rare or large stones may cost up to 50% more.
'Storage Focus'
Unlike other types of Foci, storage foci store energy from the user. The idea is to put energy into the focus and then withdraw it later as part of a ritual, both reducing the time that needs to be spent, and increasing the total amount of energy available. When energy is put into the focus, what path is being used should be specified. Multiple Paths can be specified, but gathering rolls use the lowest skill. The path of magic is always required. Energy placed in a storage focus must be gathered from ambient energy, and once gathering attempts have stopped putting more energy in the focus releases previously gathered energy. energy is stored at a 2 to 1 ratio: when the energy is accessed, half of the energy from the gathering attempt will be available. An active storage focus uses up two of the wizard's conditional ritual slots.The energy in the storage focus is accessed with a single roll against the skill used to cast the ritual. This takes a single concentrate maneuver. If any of the paths specified in the ritual were not specified when the energy for the focus was gathered, the energy from focus cannot be used. only a single storage focus may be used in a ritual.
This is a VERY powerful option. It effectively increases the 'quick and dirty' threshold by 50%, and allows larger spells to be cast. It also gives substantial amounts of energy for quick casting -- a non-adept can cast a spell at half normal strength in two seconds! Consider carefully before including.
A storage focus weighs 1 lb and costs $2,000
'Specialty focus'
Specialty foci act somewhat like general purpose grimoires, adding a bonus to a type of ritual, rather than just a single kind. The category size is generally that of a Path specialty or small magical tradition. Common examples include illusion, fire, matter transmutation, healing, animation of the dead, mind reading, mind control, and gate magic. Specialty foci are usually called just after the name of their specialty: an 'illusion focus'. Only one specialty focus can be used in a ritual, and they cannot be used in connection with grimoires.
a specialty focus weighs 5 lbs and costs $2,000.
'Power Stone'
Power stones accumulate and store energy for a mage to use later. Removing energy from a power stone requires a single skill roll. to remove as much energy from the stone as needed. Only a single stone may be used in a given ritual. Forcing energy into a powerstone is risky and discouraged but possible -- quirks are permanent, and critical failures destroy the stone. It should be noticed that due to the shape of the price curve, powerstones are much more useful for low level powered casters than high powered casters.The basic stone regenerates 1% of its energy each hour and weights 1 lb. To find a power stone base costs, look up the capacity on the size/range table, reading the capacity as the modifier and yards as 'hundreds of dollars'. The basic stone can be used for casting to any path. stones are often quirked to be aspected to a path or effect (eg. transform, sense). Quirks include only being usable for rituals that have one effect of the specified type, and only being used for rituals whose type is included in the quirk. Energy regeneration quirks are also common -- conditions must be met for the stone to gather energy.
Of course, combining all these can lead to interesting effects, like the 5 ton omlec head that takes half a year to refill, only does so on top of a pyramid in warm wet weather, and can only be used for sense mind rituals. It costs a mere 80th(!) of a normal stone -- it can store 20 energy and only cost $6,250. Its also pretty much guaranteed to have a specific purpose, like scanning a crowd for potential rebels at the harvest festival.
energy cost
1 $300
2 $500
3 $700
4 $1,000
5 $1,500
6 $2,000
7 $3,000
8 $5,000
9 $7,000
10 $10,000
15 $70,000
20 $500K
30 $20M
weight price Multiplier
.1 lb *8
.25 lb *4
.5 lb *2
1 lb *1
10 lb *.8
100 lb *.6
1000lb *.4
5 tons *.2
regeneration rate price Multiplier Time to refill completely (roughly)
5%/hour *10 1 day
1%/hour *1 4 days
1%/8 hours *.75 1 month
1%/day *.5 3 months
quirk Price
ritual must include path or effect -10%
ritual must include path or effect(2) -20%
ritual must include path or effect(3+) -30%
ritual only usable for path or effect(1) -30%
ritual only usable for path and effect -50%
simple recharge condition -10%
difficult or expensive recharge condition -25%
expensive and difficult recharge condition -50%
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