Snargles a écrit :Book 1 describes "Objects of power" which sometimes have effects that seem to be magical but cannot be attributed specifically to magic. It is explained at the end of the Handicrafts section of the Book (around page 110).
If i am correct in my interpretation they come from when someone puts a great deal of themselves into the creation of the item that it seems to have a mystical affect. Whether the source of these attributes is simply because they believe it has them or it actually does possess magical qualities has not been proven.
You're partially right ! In fact, the power of the item does not come
directly from the passion that one transfer in crafting the item. It depends of the goal.
If you're a blacksmith, and you want a sword of your own, and you dedicate months of time to craft it, you sacrifice your personal life into making it, you almost worship in crafting this sword it
can become an object of power.
Furthermore, if someone steals your sword, or if you sell it, or if it was originally purchased by a highborn of any kind, it may behave differently. For example, the new wielder of the sword can accomplish many murders in the name of justice or anything (like Brother Daernic, for example), and its passion in bringing justice by killing will make the sword another type of object of power. It can be holding all the murdered souls, which will give more wrath in fight, therefore making the wielder much stronger and lethal
The "powerness" of an Object of Power doesn't rely only on the crafting process, it depends of the passion the user or crafter will give to the posession or the use of this item.
To give you another example, let's take a LotR one : Imagine the Unique Ring was a simple ring, a classic one, gold made. Imagine, Gollum found it, and ONLY cares about keeping it, as it's his precious.
After years and years, Gollum has sacrificed everything around him, just to keep this little piece of golden metal with him, making the item an object of power, which transforms its posessor into a fanatic, obsessed only by the idea of keeping it and acting violently against anyone who intends to approach him. This could be a poisoned gift, or either something to serve interests. For example, steal the ring, give it as a gift to someone you don't like, and see this person becoming more and more paranoid about this ring, leaving villages and cities to lock himself in a cave, in "security". Of course, you also take the risk to become "cursed" by the ring while having it in your backpacks
Hope it's clear enough for you, and sorry if I made english mistakes
) , you can let the players in constant doubt, with no knowledge about the reality of magic or not, and whenever you know if it's really magic or not... Don't tell it to the players, as it's better and more vicious 