Enchantment requires:
Items have:
A spirit can be bribed or forcibly bound into an item. The bribed items usually require regular payoffs to the spirit in the item or clan of spirits time-sharing it; forcibly bound ones tend to be perverse and will attempt to rebel against their wielders at inopportune times. Some quest items contain a volunteering angel of a particular deity or demon from a particular realm whose payoff is in the fulfillment of the quest.
Potions apply a spell to the drinker, and also come as powder, lotions, and so on that have topical applications. Once used, the magic runs its course and is gone.
Scrolls allow a person to cast a spell by reading the scroll.
Other one-shot items are possible, such as javelins that turn into bolts of lightning when hurled. It is easier to make one that requires a command word or other magical intervention than one that goes off when broken, hurled, having the wearer injured, and so on.
All these can be created with the first sphere of Chi.
Charging items requires the ability to cast the spell and the first sphere of Chi. Creating them requires the second sphere. They can be triggered by a command word, by silent use of personal Fu energy, or by a spellcast.
Items that have a certain number of uses per minute, hour, day, week, month, or year.
Items that maintain a continuous effect require the second sphere of Chi. On minor items, the effect can be dispelled normally; it comes up again in three shots. These are used for fairly trivial things like making boots that keep your feet warm and dry. Passive items are effectively maintaining a continuous action to sustain a spell. Examples would include a ring of invisibility or flight: you put it on, the enchantment covers you and you can interact with it as needed. Active items are effectively casting a spell every three shots or so or maintaining exclusive concentration, such as a flaming sword.
Simpler versions can just mutate one special effect of Blast into another. More impressive ones cast a certain spell when a different spell is cast into it.
Items can be created that have a buffer that can hold given number of spells of a given AV; some are limited to the sphere and effect of the spell.
Most magical effects that require a Magic point can be powered by a power point storage item. (The Harvest Chi and Disrupt Chi powers are exceptions to this: they require a more personal involvement.) The bigger they are, the rarer and more expensive, and you can only make use of a certain amount of storage total. You can only put your own power points into the item for later retrieval. (These make it possible to save up a few points for critical times without suffering an AV penalty until you can meditate... and there’s always that crucial time when you have to be down at least one point after recharging the item!)
Items giving +1 to +6 bonuses (equivalent to damage) or +1 to +3 bonuses (equivalent to a stat or AV) are possible, though +6/+3 ones are almost mythical. +1–+3 are within the reach of the second sphere Chi; +4–+6 require the highest sphere. It is possible to get substantial savings on difficulty by cutting down on the application of a bonus (such as making a sword that only has its AV bonus on attacking or parrying rather than both). This the kind of item for rings of protection, bracers of defense, and such classic defensive items. Bonuses from various items stack in different ways on different islands.
Invariant items are inspired by Pattern Items in Earthdawn: they can only be destroyed through a quest. Break it, burn it, throw it in Chaos: it’ll turn up somewhere, and you’ll probably live to regret it. They can only be created through the highest sphere of Chi. All invariant items have names. They often wind up in well-guarded vaults in temples, waiting for adventurers to come along who can be trusted to accomplish the quest, and priests may consult the auspices every day to see if someone is coming through town who will be capable of the quest. Destroying one is usually equivalent to burning a feng shui site for experience.
Quest items are invariant items that have been hooked up to a strong source of transcendent power— sometimes a deity, but also possibly a strong concept. (A wizard can create one with the aid of a powerful demon.) Quest items function as continuous quest to fulfill the purpose of the item, such as “free slaves” or “promote Dwarven ideals”. They can only be created through the highest sphere of Chi. Legend has it that those creating too many quest items for self-aggrandizement are punished for their hubris.
Given the Feng Shui schtick of Signature Weapons, characters shouldn’t be punished with the choice between a new, nifty magic weapon and their non-magical signature weapon. Under particularly interesting magical circumstances, it should be possible for a nonmagical weapon to become magical, and for a magical weapon to change or increase in the scope of its powers. E.g.: Mithfin, devout servant of the Cat Goddess, slays a Rat-Demon with his trusty broadsword, which was under the Cat Goddess’ blessing at the time, in the climactic battle to destroy the Rat Summoners who would have overrun the city. As the black heartblood of the Rat-Demon spills down the blade, a holy tabby-striped light shines along its length and the noxious fluid vanishes. Mithfin finds that his blade now seems to be better at shearing through the tough hides of demons. Any weapon can undergo circumstantial enchantment, but for balance it’s good to make sure that signature weapons do so at the same rate that the party acquires other goodies. If a weapon isn’t destroyed by piercing a dragon’s heart, it certainly should have some interesting new virtues afterward.