Item Fortification

    • Items that require Upkeep last for 3 Events instead of 6 Months.

    • Many Items require Item Cards.

    • Every Event, Item Cards must be signed off by Game Staff. It is the Player’s responsibility to ensure that this is done.

      • If a PC is found using an Item without its Card or its Item Card being signed off, sanctions will be levied against them.

    • Ammo Packs, Warbanners, and Siege Casters no longer fall apart when they “expire” — they simply convert to their Basic versions.

    • Latent Crafting: Items created/upkept past 12:00 am of Period 3 or via an Interim action start their durations during the next attended Event of their holder.

    • The near future may have sub-tiers of Superior such as Imperial (3 augs) and Celestial (4 augs)

What:

Fortification is the process wherein an item becomes Fortified and its future upkeep has their CMP costs waived. This requires 5 upkeep cycles (creation->4th upkeep).

  • 1st Cycle: Event* 1 (creation) - Event 2 - Event 3

  • 2nd Cycle: Event 4 (1st Upkeep) - Event 5 - Event 6

  • 3rd Cycle: Event 7 (2nd upkeep) - Event 8 - Event 9

  • 4th Cycle: Event 10 (3rd Upkeep) - Event 11 - Event 12

  • 5h Cycle: Event 13 (4th upkeep, fortify) - Event 14 - Event 15

  • 6th Cycle: Event 16 (F-Upkeep no CMP) - Event 17 - Event 18

  • 7th Cycle: Event 19 (F-Upkeep, no CMP) - Event 20 - Event 21

*Note: Item Duration is now based on attended events instead of IRL months.

Who:

Anyone who can create or upkeep that kind of item with the desired augments can fortify items as part of their skillset.

When:

Fortification is a rules addition that starts on Jan 2024 onwards. It is retroactive, applying to the items of current and returning players. That is to say, the upkeep cycles of their items count toward Fortification (5th Cycle).

How:

— Option 1: Gradual Fortification — Upon the 4th time an Advanced item has been Upkept, the Crafter/Ritualist doing so can choose to Fortify the item. This grants the Fortify Benefit above for future Upkeep but not the current one. This can also be done after the 4th Upkeep.

  • One benefit of Gradual Fortification is that some Loyalty Boons, Service Point Awards, and other features can discount Upkeep CMP costs.

— Option 2: Instant Fortification — When an item is Crafted, its CMP creation cost x5 can be spent to start it out as Fortified. This has the benefit of requiring only 1 Craft-Ritual action, as opposed to 5 such actions.

    • Eisen the Builder has an Inferno battle ax (Advanced Medium weapon) that he wants to fortify.

    • The 13th Event of the item’s existence will be Eisen’s 4th upkeep of his weapon.

    • During that Event he expends 5 Basic CMP (metal/earth + fire affinity) and chooses to Fortify the weapon at no extra cost. The battle ax is now Fortified.

    • In the future, if Eisen or any Crafter needs to upkeep the ax, they simply need to have the right Skills and use a Craft-Ritual action. They don’t have to pay a CMP cost.

    • Eisen the Builder has an Basic Pistol (minor CMP x5, fire/metal) that he wants to turn into an Advanced item (basic CMP x5) and Fortify instantly.

    • He chooses the Vorpal augment and Crafts the item.

    • As part of Crafting, he expends the CMP cost x5 ([basic CMP x5]x5 = basic CMP x25)

      • Specifically, he expends 3 Rare metal CMPs and 2 Rare fire CMPs

      • If he wanted an Apex-tech Augment, he would also need 5 Superior CMPs!

    • The 13th Event of the item’s existence will be Eisen’s 4th upkeep of his weapon.

    • After ensuring that Game Staff has the right Craft-Ritual sheet, he receives a new item card from them — one that marks his item as Fortified.

    • After three Events, when he Upkeeps the weapon, he waives the CMP cost for doing so.

Superior Items

Gradual or Instant Fortification can be used to Fortify Superior Items. But Instant Fortification has a way of discounting its cost.

— Paving the Road (Instant Fortification only):

  • Expend an item to “build over it”

  • It must be Fortified, of the same type, and with one of the desired augments.

    • Temporarily Obfuscated or Transmuted items may not be used.

  • Doing so discounts the Fortification cost by 5x the creation cost of the Fortified Advanced Item. (E.G. an Advanced Pistol applies a 25 basic CMP or 5 Rare CMP discount)

Changing Augments

Changing one augment requires Upkeep with a CMP cost equal to an Advanced Item of its type with the Augment in question for each Augment that is being changed, whether the item is Advanced or Superior.

Superior CMP: If Hyper-refined Etherite or Flesh of the Empress is required of this augment’s creation, then 5 of that Superior CMP must be expended to change an augment to Apex-tech or Xeno-tech.

The cost to change an Augment is added to any Upkeep cost that needs to be paid. Furthermore, if more than one Augment is to be changed, the CMP cost is additive.

    • Eisen wants to pass down his Fortified Inferno battle ax to his son, Stark, but Stark wants a chainsaw ax instead.

    • Eisen spends his Craft Ritual action modifying the ax, expending its creation cost with the Chainsaw augment in mind (5 Basic CMP; earth/metal + lightning affinity).

    • He successfully changes out the Fiery augment for the Chainsaw augment and needs to go to Staff to get a new Item Card for a Fortified Chainsaw Ax.

    • If Stark came to him with this request after the ax had reverted to Basic, Eisen could do a expend his Craft-Ritual action to change the augment and upkeep the item.

      • [5 basic CMP] x2 = 10 basic CMP; earth/metal + lightning

    • Take note that even if Eisen’s ax was Superior (or higher quality), the cost to change to a Chainsaw augment is still 5 Basic CMP (earth/metal + lightning affinity).

    • If Stark wanted his father to change the ax into a Brutalisk ax (Xenotech), he would also need 5 Flesh of the Empress CMP.

Losing a Fortified Item:

Losing a fortified item is a major loss. Players are highly advised to get their items Fate Bound or Magna Traced to them. This has a minor cost in CMP and in ATN, but it may well be worth it.

If said item is lost or destroyed, the Restore Tether spell may be able to return it to your hands, though it can be expensive to do so and few folk are believed to have it.