What kind of weapons/armor/other would be nice?

I was running a new character the other day (halfling negotiator) when I realised something when I was down n the Toone's mine: How cool would it be to be able to use a pickaxe in the game (think about it, being able to dig for different kinds of ore and stuff in all caves and mines of Arcanum?) going further I saw more and more interesting ideas for items: steam-driven chainsaws for example, magic wands that can fire elemental projectiles, items for summoning creatures (e.g. a lamp to summon an air-elemental), or magical gauntlets that increase the wearer's strength.

So now I'm wondering, has anyone else had such inspirations, and if yes, what did you think of?

 

There is an item to increase carrying capacity in the World Ed, but you can't find it in Arcanum, unless you add it somewhere.

Existing Strength Bonus items:
Axe of Strength,
Amulet (name?),
Magnus's mysterious gauntlets (dwarfs only),
Iron Clan Armor (small),
Caladon Crusading Chain (regular),
Machined Plate (all sizes) is supposed to give a strength bonus, but you need a fix like mach_plate_mod.

One of the quests has you looking for a key to a "door that looks like a wall" in the Wheel Clan Dredge. I think they figured that was too tough, so made it an obvious jail cell door.

 

If my memory is right, the N'Tala amulet gives +1 to strenght and constitution.

I'm a little afraid that could make offensive magic less useful to learn, if not useless.

 

Yeah, but I was just being hypothetical. Besides, I didn't say how much damage the projectiles'd do.

But still, a steam-driven chainsaw...

 

Still problematic however. Harm is the best offensive spell not bacause it makes extreme damage but it's quick and costs little fatigue. Casting a spell from an item would however cost no fatigue at all, making it hard to be balanced. For a start, it should have the MA requirence the same as arcane stuff, so only those with 100 MA would have the greatest damage it can offer.