>Magic items rust, decay, and fall apart like their non-magical

Old magic items are very dangerous. You do NOT want to be around when that much potential magical energy manifests in an uncontrolled manner. Imagine your wand of fireball is a slingshot with the hitting power of a 120mm smoothbore. Now imagine pulling it back and the rubber snaps, hitting you in the face.

Ouch.

>>53892884
far down the line when iron oxide is chemically reduced to pure iron for industrial purposes random machinery becomes magical even after the magical arts are long forgotten.

Ghost sword / Sword ghost>>53892884

>>53892884
A pile of iron rich compost now does plus 2 damage, all the worms in it are now /fit/ as fuck, the early bird is now extinct.

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>>53892963
This.

>get sword of +2 cleaving
>bit rusty but whatever magic doesn't rust yo
>hit goblin with it
>sword breaks
>the dungeon is now a crater

>>53892884

Such objects of venerable age inevitably form a soul and become living beings. When held by another living being they siphon on a portion of the wielder's soul and this envigorates the item back into it's true and perfect form. Otherwise the soul persists and can assume any form given to it. The iron of an old blade made into a gun will still hold the soul of the old blade, it's body may have changed but it's purpose remains the same.

>>53892884
I guess you'd get magic item dust like in 4e.

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>attempting to instate a magical item economy by making them rust

>>53892884
Conservation of energy still applies. The magic decays into background magic, to be harnessed again by magic wielders elsewhere.

>>53895009
Like it would matter in the scale of a campaign unless they're actually being played by immortals, much less immortals who don't take care of their sweet magical shit. Even if it's worn down, risk is just about always an interesting factor in a game, unless the player is a boring shit where if there's a chance of something going wrong there's no point in doing it in the first place.

>>53893116
What is a sword soul going to do in a gun? What effects will it manifest.

>>53893011
this. XD

>>53895066
this is exactly why no game bothers justifying an economy that functions out of reach of 99% of the world's population

it's like building an economy around superyachts

dumb

>>53895009
>>53895066
This does apply more broadly than just to the the PCs, though. Do characters in your games go get brand new magic weapons, or do they use stuff looted from tombs and artifacts given to them by temples? The latter seems much more common, and introducing decay of the physical without decay of the magical can add some wrinkles.

>>53892884
Rust mages

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>>53892884
You are actually living in a post apocalyptic world where technology has been forgotten and you treat those weapons and equipment that survived the apocalypse as ancient magical artifacts.
Without proper maintnance that no one knows how to give it to them those old (magical) items will blow in your face or give you cancer due to radiation.

>>53892884
>bag of rust and decaying brass that grants +2 enhancement bonus and the flaming property
>to what?
>why...
>whatever's holding it

>>53892884
is rust a good mechanic or just meme shit to keep track of for no reason like food?

I guess it would mean that all the best adventurers in the world who have lots of ancient magical items look like homeless people carrying trash around.

>>53892884
Seems like it could end up similar to a variation of Dust like in the Endless game setting.

So what happens if we combine mulch from a Shillelagh with rust flakes from an Amulet of Health? s it all going to turn into 4e's generic dust of magicness?

>>53892884
>If I can't kill you with the enchantment, the massive dose of tetanus will.

>>53892884

Angry magical ghost weapons.

>>53892884
Characters using rusted weapons are cool as fuck, and this just makes them more efficient.

>>53892884
If you break an enchanted quarterstaff in half, are both resulting sticks magic or just one?

>>53897887
Stuff like this is why most people just make magical items lose the enchantments when they break or wear down past the point of use, as well as maybe making them nigh-indestructible.

>>53897887
Both are magic. Stick win everytime.

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>>53895117
You know exactly what.

>>53897932
brb, gonna go shred a pair of seven league boots and put a thread into everyone's shoes. Gottagofast

>>53892884
As matter start to decay, the mana stored inside of it start to rearrange itself in order to preserve it's existence and not blend in the environment. It's a known effect that loosely correlates to inertia.
Thing is, as mana changes, so does the spell, and obviously it's effects. An old fire sword could become unstable, creating explosions with each swing, or, instead, turn to the opposite and start sucking the heat out of the environment around it, working as an ice spell.

>>53897887
Both very powerfully for a short while and then neither afterwards.

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>>53892884
Bronze, Brass and Aluminum become the metals of choice for weapons and armor.

>>53897924
I mean, turning a magic quarterstaff into two magic cudgels isn't that overpowered, is it? Anyway, it's a good idea for a dedicated enchantment.

>>53897953
MR TOURGE APPROVES THIS SHIT!!!!!!!!!!

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>>53895939

>>53897887
no. the magic is residual.

you broke the vessel. it is no longer a valid transporter of magical power.

you have two sticks. the essence of the magical staff remains. in no way associated with your two sticks.

but the "spirit" of the magical staff remembers you. it wants vengeance. you will wake (or not) to find your two new sticks inserted less-than-delicately about your personage.
pick a(two) hole(s)

oh yeah. and you essentially released a genie from the bottle. that staff was containing immeasurable magical energies. energies free to wander the lands.
it isn't just the broken staff that hates you now, the locals do too

good one.

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>>53898111

>>53898050
Do both halves of the staff keep the level of enchantment that the full staff had? What if you split it even further?

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>>53898111

>>53892981
I came in here to post "ghost sword".

>>53892884
>Take handful of powdered rust from legendary sword
>Mix with powdered aluminium
>Enjoy my +3 Keen Flaming Burst Thermite

>>53892884
>Swing rusty vorpal sword
>Stress fractures cause it to shatter
>Vorpal shards fly everywhere and give everything within 20 feet horrible lacerations

>>53892884
Weapons that lose enough integrity cease to be recognised by the enchantment as the object they are attached to. The enchantment disconnects from the weapon and corporates as a magical glyph that gently drifts through the air around the point that it appeared. Such glyphs can be fairly easily captured since they will now latch onto any object which roughly matches their original binding.

However, the glyph must warp itself slightly to fit the newly enchanted weapon. After several iterations of this, it becomes unstable and begins to mutate in unpredictable fashions. This can sometimes make it stronger, but often will just add unnecessary or outright harmful side effects.

Some enchantments have been re-tuned so many times that they now just cause whatever they bind onto to immediately explode.

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>>53898698
>Fighter carrying a bag of weapons spots a small glyph floating in the air.
>Starts throwing weapons at it one at at time to see what it binds to and makes sure it wont just explode on binding.
>Runs out of weapons. "What the hell does this thing bind to?"

>>53898948
>hoists halfling experimentally

>>53895249
You say that, but I'd be down for a game where the economy was based on super yachts. That'd be awesome.

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>>53898554

You rang?

>>53898948
Clearly he needs to throw his armor at it