Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Host of Angels 03-02-05, 08:49 AM	OK how is this for an Eberron style magic item: A sheet of thin, translucent crystaline material about 6" by 8" in size. In the bottom right corner it is clearly marked with the House Civis sigil. If placed on a flat surface covered in markings and activated it produces an exact copy of said markings underneath. So, lay the sheet over a page in a book, activate and there you have instant photocopy of the page. Place it over ancient runic carvings in a ruined city on Xendrik - perfect copy - no need to try to draw then. I figure the item creates a permenant record, until you whisk it off to House Civis who wipe it clean for you (for a fee naturallY). Alternatively you just need to find a clever high level artificer. Activation could be keyed to individuals through use of signet rings (if they are from a marked house). But how would you go about making one of these? I am not familiar with the magic item creation rules so am a bit stumped on what stats this would have (prerequisite spells, cost, level etc). I figure something like mirror image might be the trick. Any one have any ideas? By the way I have a specific use for this item !!SPOILERS!! . . . . . . . . . . . I am about to start running Forgotten Forge and came across an problem. After the fight on the bridge, the PCs end up with the patron in the bar. She activates the rescued journal with her ring, has a flip through, reads something and produces a map from up her sleeve. Now, my problem is how the hell did she get the map, and more importantly, if she already had the map why did she need the journal? OK - I am sure we could come up with some spurious logic to explain this but surely it would be neater if she had to get the map from the journal... Hence the need for an instant photocopy device....
MarkB 03-02-05, 09:22 AM	The copier seems like a nice idea, though it sounds more like the sort of thing that only a dragonmarked House Sivis heir could use - similar to the Speaking Stone or Lightning Reins. !!SPOILERS!! . . . . . . . . . . . I am about to start running Forgotten Forge and came across an problem. After the fight on the bridge, the PCs end up with the patron in the bar. She activates the rescued journal with her ring, has a flip through, reads something and produces a map from up her sleeve. Now, my problem is how the hell did she get the map, and more importantly, if she already had the map why did she need the journal? A map does you no good unless there is a trail marked upon it. The journal tells her where on the map the destination is - probably by naming the valve cluster. It's also of key importance later.
Gurv 03-02-05, 11:14 AM	A map does you no good unless there is a trail marked upon it. The journal tells her where on the map the destination is - probably by naming the valve cluster. It's also of key importance later. Exactly. If I drew you a map to a treasure in my backyard and mailed it to you, it wouldn't work for you at all. You would need to know where I am before you could hope to use whatever landmarks I drew. That is what was in the journal.
Host of Angels 03-02-05, 11:40 AM	Fair enough - but why does he send her the map, but not the essential landmark information. And how come she knows what to look for in the journal? Unless the map is just a regular map of Sharn - the sort you get from every corner shop. And all the important info is in the journal. I can't remember what the scenario actually specifies.
Gurv 03-02-05, 12:45 PM	Fair enough - but why does he send her the map, but not the essential landmark information. And how come she knows what to look for in the journal? Unless the map is just a regular map of Sharn - the sort you get from every corner shop. And all the important info is in the journal. I can't remember what the scenario actually specifies. We don't know the exact details of their work together before the night of the encounter. It is possible that they have been collecting pieces of this puzzle for quite some time and that he just recently discovered the answer himself. Or perhaps he discovered the journal and the map at the same time and sent her the map to prove himself to her. She is no doubt his patron as well and proving that he is producing results is part of every researcher's life. He was, no doubt, also on his way to meet her with the last piece of the puzzle hoping to get paid for his work.
MarkB 03-02-05, 01:26 PM	Having re-read the appropriate page, the map Elaydren has is simply a map of Dorsharan Tower, giving directions to the sewer level. The journal describes the sealed hatch beyond valve cluster E-213. The map isn't quite what you'd find in any Sharn corner shop, but it only takes the party part of the way - once they reach the sewers, they need to know the name of the area to ask for directions to, and that's the information that was in the journal.
JohnSnow 03-02-05, 01:36 PM	However, there is (or actually, "used to be") a spell that will copy a page of text. A magical xerox spell... I believe it's called (appropriately) copy. It was in the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, and is in volume I of the Wizards Spell Compendium. I haven't seen a 3e equivalent. If it exists, it's not in the SRD.
m15a 03-02-05, 02:55 PM	However, there is (or actually, "used to be") a spell that will copy a page of text. A magical xerox spell... I believe it's called (appropriately) copy. It was in the 1st and 2nd Editions of the game, and is in volume I of the Wizards Spell Compendium. I haven't seen a 3e equivalent. If it exists, it's not in the SRD. any idea what level it was?
JohnSnow 03-02-05, 03:23 PM	Yup. 1st. Here's the spell description converted to 3e. Copy Transmutation Level: Brd 1, Sor/Wiz 1 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: 1 round Range: Touch Target: Up to 10 pages. 9 by 12 inches each. Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No See spell description in the Wizard's Spell Compendium, vol. 1, pages 182 - 183.
Edymnion 03-02-05, 03:38 PM	Getting back to the item in question, which I think has some good possibilities, it should be mentioned that it only creates visual copies, which are non-magical. For instance, a schema is visual, but just having a rubbing of it or whatever is not enough to actually be able to use it. The schema itself has to be used. So no making photocopies of schemas.
unobserved 03-02-05, 04:59 PM	In the bottom right corner it is clearly marked with the House Civis sigil. One would have to assume that the paper is clearly marked as being a house Sivis *Copy*. Otherwise being able to create a copy of any document and have a house Sivis sigil on it could make it far far to easy to forge documents.
Host of Angels 03-03-05, 04:33 AM	I invisaged the item as being quite fragile, maybe something like a sheet of 6mm glass, but a bit more opaque and maybe a bit less smooth. Then having a thin bronze rim and a handy hard-leather pouch to slip it into. It would have a Sivis mark in the corner that acts as the activation point, presumably with an Eberron shard embedded into it. Maybe the shard glows faintly to indicate that it is charged and ready to copy something. I really want it to be a one use thing - that can only be reset by the Sivis gnomes. It hooks the PCs into the whole dragonmarked house background a bit. Naturally the Sivis adept that reset the sheets for you assures you that any information on it remains confidential and once removed is forever deleted. But then again maybe the gnomes are quietly sucking the images off the sheets into a vast store of interesting bits of information. After all, if it costs say 100gp to reset, you would only use it for copying really important things. Hmmm - i feel a plot hook coming on....