Items · Wand/Staff/ Arcane · Magical
Imperial Nomar Bracers
Bracers that a serve as a battery for magical energy.
Nomar Bracers (from the era of the Empire)
Physical Description: Unworn the braces are silvery metal plates 11 inches in length, 4.5 inches wide and .25 inches thick. The plates are curved slightly along the plane of the short axis such that they will wrap slightly around a human forearm. There is a narrow slit at the corners of the plates which leather or fabric straps can be looped. Along the border of the convex side of the bracers, there are runes raised which when read aloud cause the bracer to absorb the power of the wear’s spell. When the bracers are infused with a spell the runes disappear, the bracer turns from a silver hue to gold, and writing appears in the middle of the bracer which when read by the caster releases the stored magic. Once the stored spell is released the bracer/s return to there silver appearance.
History: The Nomar empire ruled all of the known human lands. Its leadership consisted of magic using aristocracy, and its power was derived from its legions of warrior-mages. The empire eventually fell due to civil war, and the rise of powerful religious orders which opposed and eventually slaughtered the Mage aristocracy. And though the conquerors attempted to destroy all elements of the Nomar reign, remnants of the empire can still be found through out the lands. One relatively common magical item employed by the empire are the apprentice bracers. These magic plates allowed a novice caster to employ a much wider variety of magic each day, and thus be of greater use and versatility to the empire. Whole legions were equipped with these items, and in the days before a battle the captains would see that his Mage Cohorts would imbue their bracers with the proper spells.
Magical Properties: The bracers can each hold a enough magical energy to invoke a novice level spell (1st level or 1st sphere spell or they retain a small amount of spell or mana points) which can be cast quickly by speaking the runes inscripted on the bracer. There is no limit to how long a spell can be retained on the bracer. Once the spell is cast the bracer has released the magic and can not be used again until it is imbued with another spell. If the caster removes the bracers, than the spell on the bracer/s are also lost. The bracers are "charged" by reading the runes on the silver incarnation of the bracer and then casting spell the mage wish to store upon the bracer. Thus obviously if a mage wishes to use these bracers effectively, he/she must prepare them several days in advance.
A mage can only wear two bracers, an attempt to wear more than two will result in a inability of the bracers to retain spells. The power of the magic retained by the bracers is limited by design, and the spells placed are always the (1st level) lowest sphere incarnation of the spell. It does not matter how powerful the mage that imbues the bracers with magic is, the spell retained have the qualities of a spell cast by a novice mage. Trying to cast a more complex or powerful spell on the item will cause both bracers to turn a dark brown and no new writing will appear. They must be removed from the caster before they can be cleared of the spell.
Roleplaying: We used these in a campaign to make our first level mage more versatile. As the mage got to be higher levels the bracers became less and less important and were eventually sold. But to a first and second level mage this is an extremely helpful item that does not unbalance the game too much.
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- Generic Magical Items by manfred Bound
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A nice item that adds some general versatility and usefulness. The back history as the origin of the piece is good.
I am not sure why these are called Imperial Nomar Bracers any more, as the Empire seems long gone and the items should still be enchantable, but it is okay. The title should be Nomar Bracers.
The process of charging and using is a little awkward to read and follow. A little editing would be a blessing.
I would change the summary to something more descriptive, rather than a game mechanic that is not used by over 50% of the people here.
Physical Description should go first, so we can anchor the items in our mind before we try to apply the power elements.
So while the post needs some editing, it has good bones and is useful.
Oh, and I linked it to the generic magic items codex
Not bad for an item that serves game mechanics first and foremost (giving low level mages a boost to keep them up with other starting character classes)
A good solid idea that could do with a better backstory.
I like it. For every uber-saga we need 1-2 of these intresting, ready-to-use, gaming items!
my only personal issue here is the name Nomar..reminds me of baseball player, Nomar Garciappara. Just a quirky problem for me...doesnt affect my vote. :D
I knew somebody once posted this quip about the desire ratio of ready to use items and uber-sagas. I should have remembered it was you. I think of this comment always when I read magical items.
I thought about the title a bit more than I should have, and I decided 'Nomar Bracers' wouldn't be specific enough, any bracer worn by a Nomar citizen would be a Nomar Bracer. But if it something someone is inspired to correct, I am open to another title.
As to putting game mechanics first, this is entirely true.
By the same thinking, any Imperial era bracelers would be called the same, magical or not. Think on this, has anyone ever worn 'Roman Empire Bracelets' or 'Imperial Cathay' Bracelet.
So, perhaps a different name, either based on their function or a proper noun, would work better for them.
Useful item. There appears to be relaxation on game-specific content lately.
thats your cue valadaar :D go to work!