Returning lost or stolen property

[eepjr24]

I have a Fantasy Hero cleric. He worships a god of Lost and Broken things. One of the many things his priests do is mend broken items and return lost items to their rightful owners. I would like a relatively low power spell (30 AP or less) that will attempt to return lost or stolen items to their owner. I am fine with it doing nothing if the owner is dead. 

 

Something like this maybe?

 

Detect: Location of the owner of the object being held (3 AP)

5" Teleport, Megascale: 1m = 10,000 km (+2) (15 AP)

 

Potential problems: Not sure that detect is completely legal. And I'd probably need to have PSL to offset the non-perception penalty.

If a Teleporter cannot perceive his target location at all and is simply guessing where it is, he must make an Attack Roll (against DCV 3) at -5 to move to his target Area successfully.

 

Another option would be to summon a creature to return them. I could even make these creatures minor servants of the diety. I could probably build something on 100-120 points that would do the trick. 

 

Opinions? Other options?

 

- E

[Steve]

I think the Summon method might be a good way to go. It sounds like calling for a postal carrier.

 

The church could actually make money acting as a trusted carrier for delivering parcels.

[eepjr24]

I think the Summon method might be a good way to go. It sounds like calling for a postal carrier.

 

The church could actually make money acting as a trusted carrier for delivering parcels.

I may have another church that does that, but this one only returns lost or stolen things it finds.

[Outsider]

It might be more interesting to simply give him a spell that points to the owner (or heir) and he has to go on an adventure to get to them and return the item.

 

If the spell points to the rightful heir, things could even get sticky when it doesn't point to the person people recognized as the heir...

[Netzilla]

I have a Fantasy Hero cleric. He worships a god of Lost and Broken things. One of the many things his priests do is mend broken items and return lost items to their rightful owners. I would like a relatively low power spell (30 AP or less) that will attempt to return lost or stolen items to their owner. I am fine with it doing nothing if the owner is dead. 

 

Something like this maybe?

 

Detect: Location of the owner of the object being held (3 AP)

5" Teleport, Megascale: 1m = 10,000 km (+2) (15 AP)

 

Potential problems: Not sure that detect is completely legal. And I'd probably need to have PSL to offset the non-perception penalty.

 

- E

That detect would need the Range modifier (and probably Megascale as well) to be useful with that teleport. The Teleport would also need to be Usable On Others unless you're personally carrying the item via the t-port. After those mods, it should work, though.

[Beast]

Retrocognition on Clairsentience
this should tell you who it belongs to, how long it has been missing and the last place they had it

telescopic is for through time mods
20 levels =10,000 yrs

 

Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Hearing Group And Normal Sight), Analyze, Discriminatory, Rapid:  x10,000, Telescopic:  +20, Tracking (82 Active Points); Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -1 1/2), Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (Requires both hands; Complex; -1 1/2), Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 1/2), Incantations (Requires Incantations throughout; Complex; -1), No Range (-1/2)

 

the power becomes a quest generator

 

I have a Fantasy Hero cleric. He worships a god of Lost and Broken things. One of the many things his priests do is mend broken items and return lost items to their rightful owners. I would like a relatively low power spell (30 AP or less) that will attempt to return lost or stolen items to their owner. I am fine with it doing nothing if the owner is dead. 

 

Something like this maybe?

 

Detect: Location of the owner of the object being held (3 AP)

5" Teleport, Megascale: 1m = 10,000 km (+2) (15 AP)

 

Potential problems: Not sure that detect is completely legal. And I'd probably need to have PSL to offset the non-perception penalty.

 

Another option would be to summon a creature to return them. I could even make these creatures minor servants of the diety. I could probably build something on 100-120 points that would do the trick. 

 

Opinions? Other options?

 

- E

[eepjr24]

Hrm. I can see now that I probably need a few more limits on the power for what I was thinking. This is more for common items that would matter to someone of low to modest means. I will add a limitation that it does not work on magic items. Then I'll do the math with some of the tweaks suggested above and see how it works out. The other ideas for making quests work as well, I may design a different spell for that specifically as quest material.

 

- E

[Hugh Neilson]

How do you define "owner"? The fellow who purchased an item at auction probably thinks he owns it. The Mummy from whose tomb it was looted, and the adventurer who sold it to the auctioneer and was riped off on the price, may have different opinions.

[Netzilla]

How do you define "owner"? The fellow who purchased an item at auction probably thinks he owns it. The Mummy from whose tomb it was looted, and the adventurer who sold it to the auctioneer and was riped off on the price, may have different opinions.

 

Also, if you create or buy something intended as a gift, is the recipient considered the owner on purchase/creation or only after they receive it?  Do they have to actively accept the gift in order to be considered the owner?

[eepjr24]

Both of the above comments make me want to lean more toward the summon. Then it is the "will of the gods" who gets the item. =)

 

- E

[Beast]

I'd go w/ who it meant the most to as in personal attachment

 

How do you define "owner"? The fellow who purchased an item at auction probably thinks he owns it. The Mummy from whose tomb it was looted, and the adventurer who sold it to the auctioneer and was riped off on the price, may have different opinions.

[Hugh Neilson]

Both of the above comments make me want to lean more toward the summon. Then it is the "will of the gods" who gets the item. =)

The Detect can work the same way - you detect the person the Gods decide is the owner.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Add targeting to the detect, to let you "see" the location for the teleport.

[Lucius]

I'd go w/ who it meant the most to as in personal attachment

So, the mummy then.

 

Wouldn't it be more interesting to have a spell that tells you where a given lost object IS? I mean, we're talking about an institution that's the equivalent of the Lost and Found booth, people are always going to be coming up to the clergy and asking "where is the brooch I got from my grandmother?" or "where did my cow wander off to?" Being able to provide a location or at least a direction would be helpful.

 

Does "stolen" count as "lost?" If the sect's mission includes retrieving things that were deliberately taken, then the Thieve's Guild (or local band of brigands) are automatically powerful enemies.

 

Does the sect's definition of "owner" ever conflict with the legal or social definitions? If you go with Beast's proposal and the person most emotionally invested in an item turns out not to be the moneylender or local noble who has taken it for an unpaid debt or back taxes, well here comes conflict.

 

Both of the above comments make me want to lean more toward the summon. Then it is the "will of the gods" who gets the item. =)

 

- E

Well, that could get interesting. If all clergy regularly summon up Divine servitors to run errands, then we could have clashes between the Servants of the God of Lost Things and the Servants of the God of Thieves and the Servants of the God of Contracts (who wants that moderately valuable gewgaw delivered to the moneylender) and the Servants of the Goddess of Beauty (on the same side as the God of Contracts because the moneylender might sell that brooch to someone who will wear it proudly as part of a stunning ensemble, not lock it away and take it out only to weep over their grandma) and the Servants of the Goddess of the Dead (allied to the God of Lost Things because grandma really DOES want that poor woman to have the brooch.....)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And the Servants of the God of Palindromedaries want to carry things back and forth

[Beast]

It could be the artist who made it(more my liking)
it depends on the object (King Tut's stuffed croc or the artist who made his coffin)

 

So, the mummy then.

Wouldn't it be more interesting to have a spell that tells you where a given lost object IS? I mean, we're talking about an institution that's the equivalent of the Lost and Found booth, people are always going to be coming up to the clergy and asking "where is the brooch I got from my grandmother?" or "where did my cow wander off to?" Being able to provide a location or at least a direction would be helpful.

Does "stolen" count as "lost?" If the sect's mission includes retrieving things that were deliberately taken, then the Thieve's Guild (or local band of brigands) are automatically powerful enemies.

Does the sect's definition of "owner" ever conflict with the legal or social definitions? If you go with Beast's proposal and the person most emotionally invested in an item turns out not to be the moneylender or local noble who has taken it for an unpaid debt or back taxes, well here comes conflict.


Well, that could get interesting. If all clergy regularly summon up Divine servitors to run errands, then we could have clashes between the Servants of the God of Lost Things and the Servants of the God of Thieves and the Servants of the God of Contracts (who wants that moderately valuable gewgaw delivered to the moneylender) and the Servants of the Goddess of Beauty (on the same side as the God of Contracts because the moneylender might sell that brooch to someone who will wear it proudly as part of a stunning ensemble, not lock it away and take it out only to weep over their grandma) and the Servants of the Goddess of the Dead (allied to the God of Lost Things because grandma really DOES want that poor woman to have the brooch.....)

Lucius Alexander

And the Servants of the God of Palindromedaries want to carry things back and forth

[eepjr24]

So, the mummy then.

 

Wouldn't it be more interesting to have a spell that tells you where a given lost object IS? I mean, we're talking about an institution that's the equivalent of the Lost and Found booth, people are always going to be coming up to the clergy and asking "where is the brooch I got from my grandmother?" or "where did my cow wander off to?" Being able to provide a location or at least a direction would be helpful.

That may be a service that this god offers. They may even have a "recovery" board, where you can post rewards for lost items, with a percentage of the reward going to the church if recovered.

 

Does "stolen" count as "lost?" If the sect's mission includes retrieving things that were deliberately taken, then the Thieve's Guild (or local band of brigands) are automatically powerful enemies.

 

Does the sect's definition of "owner" ever conflict with the legal or social definitions? If you go with Beast's proposal and the person most emotionally invested in an item turns out not to be the moneylender or local noble who has taken it for an unpaid debt or back taxes, well here comes conflict.

Stolen would count as lost for the person it was stolen from, I would think. But I think conflict might be more rare than you think, for several reasons.

1. The thieves guild generally does not hold on to items, it converts them to wealth. People might be more wary of buying stolen items, though.

2. There are spells that can make detects difficult or impractical (darkness vs detect, etc)

3. The clergy is not interested in forcibly taking things to return to their owner. If they come upon it (say as their part of the loot from a brigand camp) they will attempt to return it. See above for the "recovery" board, that might make for some decent plot lines.

4. Some conflict will likely occur, but if it does I will just use it to further the plot or create a red herring, as needed. =)

[Christopher R Taylor]

Its up to the GM what "ownership" means.  If the GM is a sadist or jerk, they'll rule it goes back to the original now long-deceased owner.  If they have common sense and go along with the spirit and intent of the magic, it goes to the person who should have it at this point.

[massey]

Teleport, megascale, fixed location (wherever the owner is).  It's just a little throwaway power for you to give an object to some NPC somewhere.  It doesn't have to be too complicated.

[Ninja-Bear]

Well I imagine that the church would follow its god (GM) dictation onto what us considered yours. And the spell would follow that course. Now if you tried the spell in an area with a different outlook, well it may not work out as intended. Say in another land propeety brlongs to the eldest daughter instead of son.

[Christopher R Taylor]

 It's just a little throwaway power for you to give an object to some NPC somewhere.  It doesn't have to be too complicated.

 

Yeah, exactly.  Way too much analysis and digging deeper here.  It works the way the player intended for it to work, as long as he and the GM get together on it and make it so.

[bigdamnhero]

I like the Retrocognition idea myself. Of course Retrocognition would only tell you who the owner is, not where to find them. So you'd need Clairvoyance with Retrocognition, but not limited to Retrocognition Only. You'd cast the spell twice, once to identify the owner, and a second time to locate them, but I think a single Power should be able to do both.

 

Who is the "rightful" owner? Religions being religions, I would expect your church would have reams of doctrine, theological debates, and even the occasional purging-of-the-heretics around that exact topic.* In practice of course, it works out to "whoever the GM thinks would make for the best story."

 

As for the return to sender part, if you envision it as instantaneously beaming the object to whoever, then a heavily limited Teleport UOO is probably the simplest. If you envision it as sending it via courier - ie it takes time, can be blocked/intercepted, etc - then I'd probably go with a small Summon just to keep game mechanics and sfx closer in line. Summon might actually work out to be cheaper if the couriers aren't built to be fighters. If you're not generally going to see what happens on the other end, then I agree it's probably not worth sweating the details too much.

 

* Was that too cynical? Am I being too cynical again? Sorry.