random user
First Post
One of my players would like to make a custom magic item, a scribe's quill, as described here:
Scribe's Quill: This ordinary, if well-made, writing quill looks to be nothing more than the sort of object found on the desks of clerks and scribes everywhere. If detected for, however, a faint aura of transmutation will be discovered, and if the command word is spoken, the quill's true usefulness is shown.
The quill is a copyist's boon. To use the quill, a book, document, map, drawing or other work of paper and ink must be present as well as a blank or empty book, sheet of parchment or other material of the same or larger dimensions as the source work. If the quill is touched first to an original source work and then to blank writing stock as the command word is spoken, the quill will spring into action and begin copying the original work at a furious pace. Any number of written works may be copied by successively touching the desired objects with the quill, though limitations exist.
Firstly, magical writings such as scrolls and spellbooks can not be copied with the quill. Secondly, the quill requires ink and while it can open and close nearby inkwells, copies it creates will have only the colors of ink available to the quill as it writes. Thus, colored illuminations on the borders of a tome would be rendered in black and white if no colored ink was available. The quill will chose the best ink available, but certain drawings such as maps might be quite difficult to read after copying if they relied on colored ink and none was available to the quill. Thirdly, the quill has only limited ability to move objects and so it needs a well-planned writing area. While it can open or close any book and turn pages with ease, it can only move up to five pounds, and so very heavy tomes must be arranged where the quill can access them.
The scribe's quill is a versatile copying tool given the right supplies and a reasonable work area. It needs no light to work. It can copy a typical page of a book in one minute. Even complicated maps usually take no more than five minutes. The quill can copy the same source many times given the required materials by simply touching each of the blanks after touching the original, and multiple originals can be copied in one session. Indeed, given a large enough work area, stock and ink, the quill will happily copy an entire library with astounding speed.
Moderate transmutation; CL 11th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, levitate, open/close, mage hand; Price 4,000 gp.
Any thoughts on abilities or price reasonableness?
Scribe's Quill: This ordinary, if well-made, writing quill looks to be nothing more than the sort of object found on the desks of clerks and scribes everywhere. If detected for, however, a faint aura of transmutation will be discovered, and if the command word is spoken, the quill's true usefulness is shown.
The quill is a copyist's boon. To use the quill, a book, document, map, drawing or other work of paper and ink must be present as well as a blank or empty book, sheet of parchment or other material of the same or larger dimensions as the source work. If the quill is touched first to an original source work and then to blank writing stock as the command word is spoken, the quill will spring into action and begin copying the original work at a furious pace. Any number of written works may be copied by successively touching the desired objects with the quill, though limitations exist.
Firstly, magical writings such as scrolls and spellbooks can not be copied with the quill. Secondly, the quill requires ink and while it can open and close nearby inkwells, copies it creates will have only the colors of ink available to the quill as it writes. Thus, colored illuminations on the borders of a tome would be rendered in black and white if no colored ink was available. The quill will chose the best ink available, but certain drawings such as maps might be quite difficult to read after copying if they relied on colored ink and none was available to the quill. Thirdly, the quill has only limited ability to move objects and so it needs a well-planned writing area. While it can open or close any book and turn pages with ease, it can only move up to five pounds, and so very heavy tomes must be arranged where the quill can access them.
The scribe's quill is a versatile copying tool given the right supplies and a reasonable work area. It needs no light to work. It can copy a typical page of a book in one minute. Even complicated maps usually take no more than five minutes. The quill can copy the same source many times given the required materials by simply touching each of the blanks after touching the original, and multiple originals can be copied in one session. Indeed, given a large enough work area, stock and ink, the quill will happily copy an entire library with astounding speed.
Moderate transmutation; CL 11th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, levitate, open/close, mage hand; Price 4,000 gp.
Any thoughts on abilities or price reasonableness?
