Gaining New Effects over time

[red_eagle123]

I'm just curious how all the other GM's out there would build this.

I've got an item, say Thor's Hammer, that when first picked up transfers a suite of powers to the weilder. However, the more the weilder holds the hammer, the more powers he gets.

Let's say that upon first receiving Thor's powers, the weilder only has Strength, Durability, Flight and some basic lightning blast abilities. However if the wielder continues to use the hammer, they gain the ability to sense weather patterns, and eventually control said weather patterns.

Since this hammer is a pure OAF, and ANYbody can use it, the sole limitation is that the hammer has to be used for a length of time to unlock the more powerful abilities.

The main reason I ask is because the hammer will wind up being a very important Plot Device for my story, with the main villian discovering the enhanced abilities that the minor villians (and hopefully the heroes) overlooked.

So what's the best way to simulate the gaining of new powers based on length of time using an item, that isn't linked to spending XP (Because not everyone using the hammer will gain XP)?

[BarryB]

If the item is written up as a multipower, you could just have a limitation on some of the slots, "Must wield the item for XX minutes/hours/days/weeks." The specific value of the limitation would depend on how long a period the owner must wield the item. The value of the limitation would be higher if the period were longer and lower if the item simply had to be near the owner rather than being held or attached.

You might consider the Dependence time scale under character disadvantages to get some sense of possible values for the limitation. Take into account that once the time period has passed, the slot in the multipower will be completely accessable to the character.

Also, consider what happens after the item is stolen or taken away. Does the character have to re-acquaint himself with the item to release those powers again? If so, that might raise the limitation.

[Lord Liaden]

I think I could use a bit more info before I could offer useful suggestions:

1) Are the abilities bestowed by the artifact fully Focussed in it, so that the artifact's possessor retains them even if separated from it? Or are all abilities lost as soon as the possessor loses the artifact?

2) Can anyone who picks up the artifact gain its powers, or can only one wielder use them at a time (i.e. Personal or Universal Focus)?

3) At what rate are the further abilities of the artifact gained? Does it have to be wielded for hours, days, months? And do those abilities fade if the wielder is separated from the artifact for an equal period?

[Blue]

I was wondering what time frame you're looking at. Sounds like you are talking over sessions rather than gaining over turns or minutes of game time.

I'm sure my suggestion won't help you out in this case, but here's how I handled this one time: I used the character's experience points to build the changes, with the player's permission, and gave thems a cost break. Something like this: I can give you your experience points, but if you let me spend them instead you'll get extra xp on top of it. And since the player in question trusted me, they wound up with a pretty good weapon being gained as a result of a sort of modern quest. They picked up the 30 xp weapon after earning only 22 xp.

[Enforcer84]

When you say not everyone who uses the hammer will get xp is does that mean other players will use it? If so then my advice doesn't work, however, if only NPC's and the one PC are using the weapon simply make the powers a byproduct of XP and let the NPC's find it with the unlimited pool that the GM has to offer.