pattern item(s) bonuses

[galafrone]

Another question (a follow up of tyrlaan analysis but is also needed for my better understanding)

example: i have let my players find a skull of a human namegiver, that was "possessed" by an horror (a-la-rasper nor of terror from the sky)
i ruled that skull to have been transformed in a major pattern item.
but who can benefit from the bonuses ?
only the player that physically carry it ?
there is a maximum number of threads applied to a pattern item ?
(i found out the max rank of threading, but not the max number; for most magic items is 2, but for pattern items ?)

[Mataxes]

IIRC, pattern items can only have one thread woven to them, and the character that benefits from the thread needs to have the pattern item on him to benefit.

The more important thing is the bonuses only apply when interacting with the "parent" pattern.

So the question is, what is the skull a pattern item for? Doesn't do much good if it's a pattern item for the Nethermancer -- he's dead, and the character isn't very likely to be interacting with him. Now if it were a pattern item for the horror... that could be very useful.

[galafrone]

it was designed to be a pattern item for the horror, since in my mind the horror used the human namegiver body to "interact" with the world for a long time.
so the long and repeated "inhabiting" of the body tied that body (and its remains) to the horror very closely (not to be a core pattern item, but at least a major pattern item)..

[Mataxes]

Then that works just fine (and I think it's kind of cool).

A pattern item is generally best used as a plot/story maguffin, providing a situational bonus he GM doesn't want to make a permanent feature of his game.

Anybody who has been playing fantasy RPGs for a while has probably seen a situation where they give the opposition magic items so they can provide a challenge to the PCs. But then those items fall into the hands of player characters in the grand tradition of killing things and taking their stuff. This boosts their power, and you need to send the opposition out with even more powerful items to provide a challenge.... you get the idea.

A pattern item allows you to boost the power of an NPC without easily giving that power to the PCs. Tyrlaan's lair pattern items make him a lot tougher in his lair, but if the PCs defeat him, they can't easily take advantage of that power to pursue other goals -- since the items only work in a particular context (in this case, Tyrlaan's lair).

A pattern item for the horror allows you to boost the power of the character when taking on the horror, but doesn't instantly translate into power in every other aspect of their lives.

[arma]

[galafrone]

thanks arma (and sorry about the questions..)

@mataxes: it was that i thought of.
and more, since they have to "invest" in the items, the thing is even more challenging
because they can use the items (and loose even LP, since if they defeat the horror the items will never be useful again) or decide to NOT invest in them (saving the lp but being less effective against their enemy).
in my story (the one prompting the question) i devised 3 items (all skulls) that were the remaining of the horror legacy
a human female (the body used by the horror) and his elf lover (a beastmaster) with its tiger companion.
the elf and tiger were instrumental in the fall of that town, they betrayed unconsciously the lady of the town.
the horror after taking possession of the lady killed them both and used them as "bodyguard" resurrecting them as skeletons many and many times (basically all the times it needed some kind of bodyguarding)

this have left the 2 skulls "tied" to the pattern of the horror. both are minor item toh, and not a major item as the skull of the lady is.

i hope i havent forced stuff too much, but the story of the love and betrayal was too strong to be passed over