Re: Steampunk Jammer

At 04:13 AM 8/10/2005, you wrote:
>In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Tue 09 Aug, Scratch wrote:
> > At 04:09 AM 8/4/2005, you wrote:
> > >In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Wed 03 Aug, Scratch wrote:
>Having the homonculi fly around is one option, that could make
>for all sorts of interesting gaming possibilities. Homonculi
>really, really, don't like to get out of range of their Mind
>Link, so if you move them around in an inactive state (say done
>by the manikin 'special' Feign Death), they are going to work
>really hard to try and get back to their master. If they die
>while out of range the master doesn't feel the death shock, but,
>that also means the master doesn't know what's happened to them.

Hm, you know I didn't think of that. I totally forgot about the fact
that homonculi have a bit of will of their own.

>You can sort of connect homonculi together without involving an
>alchemist, as a non-alchemist can be master to them. The original
>rules were to allow alchemical creation of a sort of familiar for
>a magic-user, but in theory almost anyone willing can be used as
>a master. You can even use a free-willed manikin, once it has
>gone up a couple of it's (most expensive) levels, and so is
>independent enough to hang homonculi off it!

That makes the entire "telegraph" idea a whole lot easier. The main
station could have a free willed manikin and the other ones could
have normal ones. That way you don't really have to go through the
expense of paying someone to be a telephone of sorts.


>Even if you restrict homonculi so that only alchemists can be
>their masters, junor alchemists could have homonculi made for
>them by more senior alchemists.
>
>The other suggestion is an alchemist sub-class, which just deals
>with Manikin Creation, and having homonculi linked to them.

Good point.

Kind of like a specialist mage, hu? That would prolly reduce the cost
of making homonculi since its closer to mass production. Hm... wonder
if its possible to have an alchemical conveyor belt for the purpose
of making homonculi?

> > >Of course, there are hazards for the comms operator, including
> > >mental attacks on any of their homonculi, and the injury they
> > >receive if any of their homonculi die. Being a communicator would
> > >be an alternative to entering the priesthood for high Wisdom
> > >characters, though it is not really fleshed out as a class.
> >
> > And imagine losing one of your alchemists to the enemy? Kind of brings new
> > meaning to code breaking.
>
>Something like that happened in a recent game... The enemy turn
>out to have stolen a clone sample of the most senior alchemist,
>and used major magic to turn this into an independent, but
>insane, evil clone. We think the clone is about the same level as
>the original, 18th or so... Yes, we are worried!

Ouch. Is moving to another continent and changing your names an option? :P

> > >Having at least one homonculus which has (Comms) Telepathy, and
> > >hence acts as a universal translator, that the comms operator
> > >could tap and make use of, might be a good idea. Useful if
> > >dealing with peoples with different languages.
> >
> > The longer I talk to you the more I'm liking alchemists.
>
>It has been suggested, by some, that Alchemists, and the Manikin
>Creation rules, may have been developed so that they can do too
>wide a range of things. I am not sure about this, as I feel there
>is still a definite limit on what they can do, based on their
>style, but I can understand the argument.
>
>If they are useful to you, well, that's what this list is for, to
>pass on useful stuff! [grin]

Their definitely multipurpose. But I guess that depends on a lot of
things like you said. The imagination being one of them. Practical
costs probably being the other.

>Carrying people around in shrunken form could be fun! In
>particular if you are afraid the enemy have some way of detecting
>instant travel, or, maybe even grabbing people in mid transit!

Could replace jumbo jets! Just think about it you make a really big
bird type manikin and build a miniature cabin for the tiny
passengers. You could probably transport a fair amount of people that way.

>You can build some really nasty combat homonculi, but if you feel
>there is a significant risk of their dying, and you don't need to
>be able to communicate with them via Mind Link, independent
>manikins might be better. The various Immune to weapons specials
>can be useful, as can Regeneration (particularly if you add Fire
>Resistance [grin] ), and in a spelljamming setting Adaption
>usefully removes the need for air.

Reminds me of those Warmachine thingys in Eberon. Then you get into
the realm of civil rights for creations once the wars are over and
they start rebelling for the fight for civil rights. Could get pretty
nasty. Imagine a crew of manikins taking over a spelljammer and
holding a city under seige? Might create the need for a secret group
of manikin killers who go around hunting rogues.

Sorry, I'm kinda drifting off the point. I wonder how effective they
would be at manning a ship? I mean, do you really think they could be
as good as a normal crew?

>One alternative to steam-powered Helms would be to have a manikin
>which can act as a (Minor) Helm itself, though this needs a high
>Mark of special, and hence at least a 14th level Alchemist. The
>manikin gets tired pretty quickly, though, and wouldn't normally
>be good for more than 12hrs, then needing the same period of
>rest, so you might want three, in 8hr shifts. A specially
>designed manikin in an emergency might be good for 24hrs.

Isn't there a golem that can do something similar and needs to be
recharged using lightning spells or something?

Interesting idea though. A few of those and you could relieve
yourself of mages for manning the helm. Might be a good military
innovation, frees up your mages for combat rather then manning the
helm. These would be free willed manikins or would they be bound?
Maybe to the captain, if they are? That way theres no chance for the
crew to mutiny, because if you kill the captain you effectively drown the ship.

>Also note that making a manikin that can act as a Helm in theory
>needs blood from a creature that can naturally spelljam. Hunting
>space dragons for their blood? [grin]

I see the way for medieval endangered species acts. Lol

> > Or how much control the living have over the afterlife. Can you imagine a
> > Spirit Guild specifically dedicated to giving your recently departed a
> > raise in the afterlife? "Sure your grandpaw can get out of shoveling coal
> > for the rest of his afterlife. But its gonna cost ya!" Kinda reminds me of
> > the indulgences the catholic church had early in the medieval ages.
>
>Introduces some interesting relationships with the afterlife!
>[grin]

Doesn't it? I really have to write this up. Lol

>The other question might be, how accurate do you want these
>people's beliefs about the afterlife to be? Also, how much is
>still a mystery to them. Then, there is the question of how much
>those in the afterlife can affect the living, except indirectly
>through things like priests (or maybe mediums).

Well, I could operate on the principal that your beliefs affect your
after life. So a man who doesn't believe in one just stops existing.
Someone that thinks the afterlife is filled with pink elephants finds
himself in the middle of a grassy field surrounded by pink elephants.
Though that does make some problems for things like 'how the gods work'.

Maybe the nations religion could have been corrupted along the way
and the 'mediums' that keep the belief going are doing it just for
the money. I might be in a conspiratorial mood, but this makes for
great secret societies dedicated to the preservation of the belief.
Wandering priests from other countries suddenly end up dead all
killed through unusual circumstances. Wonder how the gods would react to that.

>Interesting! I will have to get back to my own campaign and
>crystal sphere design work! [grin]

Keep Spelljammer Alive! Viva la resistance! :P

>'Engineer' used in the RW to be someone who had some respect, and
>who made things like trains work, or repaired things so they go
>on working. If the cost of making and distributing things is high
>in your campaign compared to the cost or repair, say due to being
>based on cottage industry, rather than factory assembly line mass
>production, repair should be a very important side of things.
>
>Knowing how to repair and operate things is, I guess, probably at
>least a three year apprenticeship, unless it is highly
>specialised. Knowing how to do it so it works well, is efficient,
>and gives minimum trouble to people later, might be a bit harder!
>[grin]

I don't think I want to introduce much industrialisation yet. Maybe a
few factories in large cities. So I imagine in the countryside
repairwork could make a man rich!

Isn't that how long an electricians apprenticeship is these days?
Gotta keep the trains running on time after all. And once you start
piloting airships and the like it gets kinda dangerous when your too
slow at raising the ships altitude before you hit a mountain. Hehe,
why do I suddenly see bumbling gnome conductors.


>This is one of the 'specials' from the Manikin Creation rules:
>
>Machine Empathy: at will establishes a mental bond on the
>physical and emotional levels with a machine. This works with
>machines which are complex or have interacting moving parts. It
>will not work with beings which acquire a living spirit as part
>of their nature, eg: when conceived or born; but might work on
>machine parts added to such later. A 'feel' is gained for the
>works of the machine, and any problems it is having working; the
>machine in turn may also 'feel' this attention, and typically
>works better for it. INT, WIS and Normal Emotions function as per
>the Empathy special. Machine Empathy does not alter the workings
>of a machine, but with thought and care can give a lot of
>guidance to repairing (or wrecking) it. For a Technologist gives
>+15% Understand Machine, and +5% Repair/Modify Machine, but this
>is not typically additive with bonuses from things like a Field
>Probe, though Workshop bonuses still apply. DMs may give a
>further bonus of up to +10% UM for the careful study of a
>non-living machine while it is actually working. For a Thief
>gives +10% Open Locks, and +10% Find/Remove Traps, and up to a
>further +10% OL if the lock is studied while being operated. This
>is -1 Mark if restricted to only one type of machine, such as
>ships; this type must be specified in creation. Range: 3". Type:
>Mind.
>Mark: II.
>
>Maybe some sort of 'talent' like this might be what really good
>engineers have a touch of?

I scanned over that. I really have to read the rules in its entirety.
So many things to do. Man I need someone to colab with or something. Lol


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