Re: [ItV] Spelljamming and Technology - article

In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Tue 11 Jan, David Shepheard wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dreamer" <dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk>
>
>
> > In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Sun 09 Jan, David Shepheard wrote:
> > > From: "Dreamer" <dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk>
> > >
> > > > If DMs consider that the history of spelljamming goes back
> > > > thousands or tens of thousands of years, and even further if you
> > > > talk to the elves or dragons, they may wish to ask why it has
> > > > been reasonably stable.  They may care to say that, just as in
> > > > the 'real world', all sorts of discoveries have been made over
> > > > the ages.  These would include the inventions of ancient Greece,
> > > > or China, or Arabia.  However, the right combination of
> > > > circumstances never quite arose so these gave rise to a
> > > > technological civilisation.  And, that the situation is the same
> > > > in the Spelljamming setting.  Or, they may want there to be some
> > > > sort of stabilising force, which works secretly, behind the
> > > > scenes, gradually smoothing out any disruptions, that would cause
> > > > radical changes to the Spelljamming meta-culture.  If so, then
> > > > any contact with a high tech civilisation might be the trigger
> > > > for this stabilising force to go into action.  Possibly foiling,
> > > > if not completely resisting, any attempts by PCs or others to
> > > > 'upgrade' the Spelljamming meta-culture with high tech.
> > >
> > > I would have thought that the stabilising force, of which you
> > > speak, is the Imperial Elven Navy.
> >
> <snip>
> >
> > This is interesting!
> >
> > This is the sort of speculation, I was hoping to encourage, which
> > might allow DMs to consider different slants on what is going on.
> >
> > As for destroying the souls, I would have thought bottling them,
> > and leaving the bottles in the possession of an elven god of
> > secrets, would be a reasonable substitute, and deals with the
> > issue that in some campaigns you cannot destroy souls. (Injure,
> > yes, imprison, yes, totally destroy, no.)
>
> Wouldn't this involve taking a lot of evil souls into Arvandor?
> Would the other gods Elven and Olympic gods allow this?

If you are dealing with a god of secrets, you might reasonably
suspect they have got all sorts of secret ways of dealing with
things, and maybe even secret caches in other Outer Planes.


> If you can't destroy souls, then perhaps someone would have to
> make some sort of soul catching weapon to stop the souls making
> their way over to the afterlife. Perhaps someone could invent
> soul stealing swords. The sword could be a magical device
> containing some sort of gem used as the focus for soul trapping
> magic. Maybe after each sword is used to kill someone it could
> take on the personallity of its victim and be able to talk to the
> user. I like the idea of a Scro sword swearing and cursing at any
> Elf that wielded it! And if these swords could only contain one
> soul, then maybe they have a lot of them sitting around at their
> secret base. All of them desparate to get found and taken away!
> LOL

That sounds workable!

The important thing is to stop anyone finding out, and if the
scro ask their gods (assuming they think it important enough)
making sure you have a god to hide things for you is a good idea.

I think there are some nasty soul catching tricks in Runequest,
including binding the spirit into the severed head so you can use
its magic and powers. But, probably not the sort of things the
elves would wish to use.


> If you want to go down the technology route then perhaps this
> could be partially technological and could be similar in purpose
> to those ghost catching gadgets in the film Ghostbusters.

The "Technologist" spec has a number of devices, starting at
about 7th Level devices, which could likely be used for this.


> Another alternative is to freeze creatures in time instead of
> killing them. Perhaps a spell like flesh to stone could be used
> for this. As long as the resulting statues were preserved they
> might be able to contain the souls for ever.

Don't forget reincarnation, as that also takes souls out of
circulation. Also, it may be possible to arrange that the
reincarnatee doesn't remember their previous life. Reincarnating
the scro as trees somewhere might suit an elvan sense of humour!

I like the statue idea... Another nasty trick is to slow
someone's time rate down a thousand to one, or even a million to
one. To get a feel for what this means, there are about ten
thousand hours in a year... And, about thirty million seconds in
a year...

Suspended animation of some sort might do, rather like an
improved, indefinate duration, Feign Death spell, that stops aging
and removes any need for sustinance. The new 4th level SJ spell
Softwood seems ideal for this sort of work. But, similarity magic
might be able to locate them under these circumstances.


> David "Big Mac" Shepheard
> Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
> http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_001071937434/Spelljammer_001071430476
> http://virtualeclipse.aboho.com/

--
Dreamer
dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/