I believe Badger3k posted this in a thread back a while but I don't think anyone really answered him so I wanted to start a fresh thread on the topic.
Other games like D&D simply allow the GM to award players with "treasure" at their leaisure. This has always been the thorn in my side with Fantasy Hero. Those points for magic items always have to have come from somewhere.
So I handle it the following way......
First I altered the Independant rule. If you take this limitation for whatever reason you don't actually ever lose those points. Instead, once the item is destroyed they go into a "pool" if you will, that slowly returns to you over time. So if a Mage creates a potion/scroll/sword/whatever, those points stay locked into the item UNTIL it is destroyed (or used up) then those points transfer into the pool and trickle back home to be used again. Why would I do this? Well, based on the way experience is awarded you are not going to get very far exp wise sitting is a dusty library transcribing scrolls. So anyone who puts points into mundane magic items that get used up is crazy. But if he gets those points back after being used, he can continue to crank them out if desired (or spend them to say raise his INT.) Now if the Mage wants to make more powerful items he will have to go adventuring to get more exp. You could even decrease the Independent limitation to say -1.5 to reflect this. This system of "trickle back" allows for the creation of lots of minor magics that get used up (although until the mage sells that stockpile with all his exp locked inside he might reach an impass.) without permanent exp loss.
Now I handle treasure aquired in a similar fashion. If you find a sword or dragon slaying, great! Keeping it is another matter entirely. If you use it in an adventure or two then sell it, no experience cost, it was merely transient booty. BUT, if you decide to keep it and make it your own you are required to pay a portion the experience you gain in every adventure until you have "paid it off". This number is up to you but, like a car payment, the quicker you pay it off the sooner you can move on to getting that new stero system! If the character wants he can hold experience just for such an occasion but it's not necessary. As in the previous paragraph though, when the character starts paying to own that item those points begin to slowly return to the maker, allowing them to make more swords of slaying. If a character loses an item or decides to sell it in leiu of something better he will get all those points back, but not immediately, making upgrading to a new keepsake more difficult or time consuming.
This system does have it's own set of minor issues but it preserves the most important thing. Your characters "special" equipment will be reflected in their point totals keeping everyone relatively balanced, and creating items is not a crippling event for said creators.
That's how I handle it and it's worked quite well for 12 years. I would like to hear other opinions on the subject though so post away!
