The first is to actually decide what the item will be; this is typically the easiest of all of the steps. Typically when you choose an item, it should reflect the intended user. A Paladin would receive a long sword; a Magi would make use of a staff. Also, the item cannot be any run of the mill type of item, it must be the highest caliber of that natural item; Perhaps even, depending of The power of the item, it needs to be something beyond the highest caliber, but that will be addressed later on. For purpose now, assume that you need the best steel, or the best gem, so on and so forth.

The next is to decide what the item actually does, and then how it does it. This is the point where you get to put the most of your Role-playing Flair. Any item can make you immune to cold-based attacks, but what about one that does it by changing your blood to ice water. Or perhaps some off the wall effect, like changing your eyelids to that of an asp to allow hypnosis, really do whatever you want here.

Now that you’ve done whatever the hell you want, you have to figure out how the item works on a technical level, there are quite a few ways this can work. Maybe the item can only work so many times, and then it needs to be re-ensorcelled. Maybe it needs to be charged with energy every time before it is used, and then only works for a length of time proportional to it’s charging. Mayhap it only works for a period of time, then needs to be given time to recharge on its own. There is a –myriad- of things you could do here, so get as creative as you feel. It is also important to note that this is the major balancing point of how powerful the effects are, typically the more powerful the magic in used, the harder it is to use, or the more infrequently it can be used.

And here is the other major balancing point, the creation of the item. The more powerful an item is, and the less it is restricted by usage, the harder it should be to make. Indeed sometimes the making of a magical item could be a plot in and of itself. The steel for the sword must be from the dwarves of Thenorth, or the wood for the staff must be a limb from an ironwood, which was burnt. Typically the items needed should reflect the effects of the magical item, a lightning staff would need to be taken from a tree struck by lightning.

Finally there’s the actual ensorcellment of the items, typically this should be a long involved process, that takes anywhere from a few hours to a few days In character. As always there are something that I may have missed, and this guide is by no means a bible, merely a guide to get your own creative thoughts pumping.

Article By: Joey