Item
Description
Items are found in most Role Playing Games. An item is any object that can be placed inside of a player character inventory. An item can be a piece of equipment, a consumable item, a junk item, or a quest-tied item. An item has different uses depending on which of these it is. An item may be carried by the player. It can be held by an enemy or inside of a container, and can often be dropped on and picked up from the ground. NPCs often will give or take items.
Variables and Affordances
Location: where or how the item is found
Purpose: what the purpose of the item is (or if it has no purpose)
Weight: many RPGs have weight-limited inventories, so the weight of the item determines which party member can carry it or if it can be carrier at all without incurring encumbrance
Value: if the item can be sold to or bought from a
merchant, it has a base value that is modified by different properties in the game
Examples
Baldur's Gate II Shadows of Amn. In one
side quest, the player is ambushed by bandits (
location: Docks district). After the ambush the party discovers a character called Renfield, who has been poisoned. This body is very heavy (
weight). The player receives the body of Renfield as a
quest-tied item (
purpose), which must be carried and given to his friend, Rylock. The body cannot be bought or sold (
value).
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In Worked Examples
Quest-Level Relationships