[Scott Hebert]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
It made me think though. What if only a water-mage could use it? Dont we have oher items like that? (the only thing that come to mind at the moment is the stupid crown that only Ermor can use but I keep getting from indies)

Errr... that just restricts who can use the Clam-hoarding strategy, right? Off the top of my head, this would restrict Clam-hoarding to:

Pythium
Atlantis
Caelum
Rlyeh (sort of)
Arco
Tien Chi

Rlyeh _really_ gets hit by this. They can't afford to use their 280g non-sacred mage to hold Clams.

OTOH, Pythium is the big winner. A 150g Sacred Theurge (which can be recruited in all castles) easily holds the Clams. They also have natural income in both Water _and_ Astral. Their problem is reliably having a Forger for them. If I wanted to Clam-hoard, I'd probably take a minimal Pretender, have her Forge Clams until I get to Construction 6, then bust out with the Bracelets.

Arco has a somewhat more random time of it. They're not helped nearly as much due to no innate water gem income, and no guarantee of being able to Forge them. Their Mystics also cost about the same in upkeep as a Arch theurg.

Tien Chi is also another clear winner here. The Celestial Masters can Forge them, and S&A also gets the Master of the Five Elements to hold them.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea, per se. It might limit it, but it would probably just shift it around.

If you wanted to add a drawback to the Pearls, as someone else suggested Horror Marking is probably the easiest way to do it.

Of course, if you want to deal with Clams _after_ they're established, you might go with something like:

Artificer's Bane (Evocation 6 or so)
Ritual
FFFFF
40 Fire gems

Target a Province. Each and every item in that province has a 10% chance of being destroyed. All items on the casting mage are automatically destroyed.

(That Last part is to 'up the cost' of the spell, since few people other than Pretenders will naturally have Fire-5.)

Hrm. I'm in a pensive mood...

Scott