Difference between revisions of "TheThirdAge/Technology"

Revision as of 18:03, 21 October 2006

Power Sources

• Confluence synthesisers form the hub of a vast network of arcane machinery. Essence from Manses is channeled down pipelines to the synthesiser, where it is condensed into a high-energy field around a specially engineered orichalchum catlayst. The Essence buildup discharges as lightning bolts, which are then converted to a steady stream of electrity for distribution.
• Convincer reactors are a refined version of their Locust Crusade counterparts. Fed a continuous stream of dead (and occasionally live) organic matter, superheated jade elements cause them to combust at very high degrees of efficiency. The resultant heat is harnessed by internal steam flows to power the motion of the intake feeds, as well as distributed further via arrays of cogs, shafts and levers.
• Hydraulic turbines can be installed either in windcatching equipment or rigged to waterflows. Harnessing the difference in pressure via a complex set of mechanisms, hydraulic turbines progressively pressurise a collective oil supply to power whatever hydraulic equipment is linked to them.
• Harvester cultures are an unlikely but welcome product of teratogenic research. When their origin is treated with the correct reagents, harvester crystals grow across almost any surface, cannibalising it into the crystal's own dimly glowing blue mass. When necessary, the crystals are cropped using specialised equipment, and used as a portable (but quickly depleting) fuel source for essence-driven mechanisms.
• Vapour engines use a very simple mechanism, combining a steady supply of water and a stable heat source to provide a constant supply of pressurised steam. Pipe networks then distribute it to power pneumatic equipment linked up to them, or charge the pneumatic reserviors fitted to most portable industrial equipment.

Machinery

• Nutrient Instillers pump in water, waste oil, textile scraps, soil, and whatever other matter is available to hand. Here, they are homogenised, purified to remove any pollutants, and infused with a solution of essence-cultivated algae. The resultant soup (referred to as 'nutrient broth' by the Autocthonians, and a large number of variously derogatory names by Creationborn, most common of which is 'slurry') is just about fit for human consumption, and caters to the vast majority of dietary needs. Given that its creation requires only machinery and essence to fuel the purification and cultivation systems, nutrient broth has become the staple food for distribution to Creationborn.
• Deigenic Chambers are a complex array of Essence vents, rareified elemental stores and components scavenged from the fragments of the Celestial Incarna, hardwired into the processing facilities of a patropolis. Under Alchemical guidance and the application of God-Machine weaving protocols, a deigenic chamber is capable of creating elementals from scratch, although the amount of Essence and time required is immense. The resultant entities are typically fused together in a nearby teratogenic lab, for creation of drones, although some are used for occult research instead.

Mundane Weaponry

• Switchsword: Initially appearing as an easily concealed hilt, switchswords contain an internal spring mechanism that, upon triggering by a small catch by the handguard, releases the collapsed blade to full and deadly function. Only a reflexive action is necessary to ready a switchsword; if this is done at the beginning of combat, it adds two dice to the user's Join Battle action. Retracting a switchsword is a Speed 5, DV -1 miscellaneous action if done manually. Switchswords of exceptional quality can include an essence fed mechanism (1 mote required per activation, space for a small crystal battery) or pneumatic spring (with 5 charges) in order to retract the weapon reflexively.
• Piston glove: These steel-capped gauntlets bear a complex sliding mechanism that lies across the forearm, culminating in two wickedly sharp prongs. In additon to their use in landing particularly hard blows, their pneumatic reservoir can be triggered with a turn of the wrist; this causes the prongs to be released, springing forward with sufficient force to puncture steel sheeting. Use their second damage value for the attack when this mode is activated. Readying the prongs for another strike is a speed 5, DV -1 miscellaneous action if done manually. Piston gloves of exceptional quality can include an essence fed mechanism (1 mote required per activation, space for a small crystal battery) or pneumatic spring (with 5 charges) in order to ready the prongs reflexively.
• Razor gear: Mundane variants on the gyro chakram, razor gears possess none of their more developed cousins' guidance systems but almost all of their lethality. After winding the clockwork mechanism within (a a speed 5, DV -1 miscellaneous action), the series of bladed teeth at the perimeter of the razor gear spin to life for the remainder of the scene (use the second damage value). Whilst they can be thrown, razor gears have no innate returning mechanism, and must be retrieved after each attack; consequently, they are often used in combat instead. Razor gears of exceptional quality can include an essence fed mechanism (1 mote required per activation, space for a small crystal battery) or pneumatic spring (with 5 charges) in order to ready the prongs reflexively.

||Weapon||Speed||Accuracy||Damage||Defence||Rate||Range||Minimums||Cost||Tags|| ||Switchsword||4||+2 ||+3L||+1||3||-||Str ••, Dex ••||•••||-|| ||Piston Glove||5||+0||+2L(+4L/2)||+3||3||-||Str •, Dex ••||•••||M (O)|| ||Razor Gear||5||+0||+3L (+6L)||+0||2||10||Str ••, Dex ••||•••||-||

Artifact Weaponry

• Pulsefist: Thin, skintight gloves woven of (often brightly-hued) synthetic fibres, pulsefists fit snugly over their user's hands. Imbedded into the fabric in each palm is a circular array of Essence actuators, forged of the appropriate magical material. When their bearer strikes, these actuators can gather a tremendous point of glowing force that ripples outward to convey their open-palm blows with tremendous momentum. This costs two motes of essence per attack, and allows the bearer to use the damage value given in brackets. Furthermore, the raw damage of the attack is doubled for the purposes of determining knockback and knockdown. When their bearer moves to parry, they instead form a small but impenetrable field of energy to supplement their attempt. This costs a further two motes of essence per attack defended against, and allows the bearer to use the defence value given in brackets. Pulsefists are not disarmable.

||Weapon||Speed||Accuracy||Damage||Defence||Rate||Range||Minimums||Cost||Tags||Attune|| ||Pulsefist||5||+3||+5B(+10B)||+3(+6)||4||-||Str •||••||2, M, C||5||

Crystalline Essence Batteries

Essence batteries have traditionally been cumbersome and expensive to produce; with developments in the culture of harvester crystals, however, a compact and effective alternative has been found. Crystalline batteries consist of a culture of harvester crystals held in stasis, bound in steel and dotted with interface plugs and ports for conductor arrays. The only disadvantage of these is the difficulty in evincing energy rapidly from them; each of the different sizes has a stated limit on how much can be pulled from them in a turn (until DV refreshes, in 2nd edition).

Small batteries are relatively commonplace. About the size of a pear or essence grenade, these are often fitted into torches and other equipment with small energy needs. Medium batteries are the size of a large satchel, and are typically worn on the back or strapped to the thigh. These provide just about enough power to run a compact imploder without being a big encumbrance. Large batteries are about the same size as a man; they can be carried by anyone of Strength •••• or higher, but add 2 to the fatigue value and mobility penalty of any armour being worn. Huge batteries are only suitable for fitting into vehicles and large drones, whilst the largest are designed exclusively for powering siege weaponry. Rumours persist of a project underway in Estasia to build one the size of a small city - what such a colossal amount of Essence is necessary for is unknown, but speculation is rife amongst the Lumpen.

||Type||Capacity||Withdrawal||Cost|| ||Small||5 motes||1 mote/turn||Resources ••|| ||Medium||10 motes||2 motes/turn||Resources •••|| ||Large||25 motes||5 motes/turn||Artifact •|| ||Huge||50 motes||10 motes/turn||Artifact ••|| ||Epic||100 motes||20 motes/turn||Artifact •••||

Machine-Blooded

To the delight of Sodalite scientists, it was discovered that developments in teratogenesis allowed for fusion with mortals almost as readily as spirits. Whilst the resultant creature is considerably less powerful, it negates the lengthly and resource-intensive process of generating the elementals necessary; only the (much more readily available) machine spirit and a suitable human vessel are necessary. Machine-blooded possess only the most striking aspects of their human natures, the remainder of which is subsumed by the cold drive of mechanical logic and instinct. Their innate compliance and mortal ingenuity together make them ideal for use as shock troops - a fact that is not overlooked by the Autocthonians. More and more are being produced from the ranks of Autocthon's finest soldiers and spies for use in armies, cleansing teams and hit squads.

Machine-blooded are created using similar rules to other godbloods; their superior bodies and minds of interwoven flesh and steel allow them to use the Attribute spreads of Half-Castes. They may purchase and install Alchemical Charms during character creation with bonus points, as normal; with extensive refitting in modified Vats, further ones can be acquired with experience.

Inheritance for Machine-blooded is calculated in a similar manner to other godbloods; as they are manufactured rather than made, however, use their own Essence and that of the machine spirit they fuse with instead. Attempts to use higher-Essence specimens were initially disasterous, and as a consequence most prototype Machine-Blooded are of Inheritance 1 or 2. As techniques improve, however an increasing number of higher Inheritance Machinebloods will become available.

Drones

Drones are the finalised product of teratogenesis, the perfect fusing of machine spirits and Creation-born elementals made possible by the Auspices of Reality. The flesh of these creatures is a cornucopia of steel, sinew, jade and bone, their elemental essence coursing down pipelines woven throughout. With careful engineering, they are as quiescent and heartless, their great and powerful natures broken across Autocthonian protocols into a constant babble of jumbled language and thoughts. Like the spirits used in their forging, drones are naturally material. They have lost the ability to turn immaterial, but given the nature of Reality this is seldom an issue. They may possess any combination of Charms available to machine spirits and elementals, the exact number being dependant on which they were formed from.

Comments

I've plenty more ideas to come, but I really wanted to know what people would like to see and use in a steampunk/cyberpunk/science-fantasy/whatever Exalted setting. Guns? Dirtbikes? I'd appreciate whatever feedback you can give, whether simple ideas or full writeups. Don't be kidded by the amount of my own work up there; the more contributors we can get to the Third Age, the better...DeathBySurfeit

Integrate this. I expect war-carriages, descriptions of the vast open and closed lines that link the Arc, and possibly a minor comment on train-pirates.
-- Darloth has been looking for somewhere to put this idea for quite some time.

You know, that's exactly how I'd imagined the traffic on the Perimeter, with the addition of Raksha raiding parties flying up on the back of mantas from the ocean, and massively armed supply depots and artillery platforms running sporadically along its length. Writeup soon! ...DeathBySurfeit