Question about discovering magical items. Applicable to any fantasy game, but since I’m running DW…

Question about discovering magical items. Applicable to any fantasy game, but since I’m running DW…

Question about discovering magical items. Applicable to any fantasy game, but since I’m running DW…

I’m totally new to the fantasy genre, so forgive me: how do you describe significant magical artifacts when the players discover them? Do you trigger Spout Lore to see if they know what it does, or just let them read it outright? Spilling an item’s secrets at the outset (especially those with campaign-level significance) seems like it’d take us out of the fiction.

8 thoughts on “Question about discovering magical items. Applicable to any fantasy game, but since I’m running DW…”

  1. I tell them what they see. When they trigger one of the items abilities i tell them. When they study the item i tell them a bit more about it. When they want to spout lore about it i ask them why they know about such items and then they roll.

  2. I let them read it outright. I’ve played in games with secret magic items, and it’s a pain for all concerned.

    Significant items might need more effort, if it’s meaningful and has reason to be more secretive. Mine have been open in offering up their corrupting powers.

  3. I’ve always hated the “guess the GM’s intention” game with magic items. Give them info off a Spout Lore, with a bonus if they cast Detect Magic. It’s DW, if there is something interesting, explore it already.

    That being said, make magic items interesting too.

  4. Spout Lore isn’t a GM move, so you can’t trigger it.

    Just give them a description of the item, as it appears to them. Let them decide what to do with it and how to find out what it does.

  5. Tell them what they would know. Let’s say it’s a magic staff, discovered by one of the players;

    “Fighter, it looks to be a sturdy, if unusual, staff. Covered in unusual runes.”

    “Thief, it’s a staff, marked with runes. It’s probably worth a lot to the right buyer!”

    “Cleric, this thing drips with foul sorcery. It is dangerous, but perhaps someone could cleanse it.”

    “Wizard, this is the lost Staff of Thal-zuun, whose magic tore the Sunderlands apart! The runes mark it as a weapon of great and unstable power.”

  6. I would hesitate to tell especially if I had a wizard in the party seeing as the wizard can gain the enchanter move: “When you have time and safety with a magic item you may ask the GM what it does, the GM will answer you truthfully”.

  7. Remember, everything the GM does, including giving the players information, is making moves.

    In this case, applicable moves:

    – Reveal an unwelcome truth

    – Show signs of an approaching threat

    – Give an opportunity that fits a class’ abilities

    – Show a downside to their class, race, or equipment

    – Offer an opportunity, with or without cost

    – Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask

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