Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kobold_DM 11-22-06, 03:36 PM	First off, if you are a Kobold Artificer named Gromm or a Elven Warrior named Laststar.. stay out! Esp you Gromm :ahem: Anyway, I just ran my first Eberron game and it went rather well. My players and I are looking foward to game 2. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like some plot advice. :) The Artificer in my group is looking for his old master or, if he can't, he wants to continue his masters life work. All the player game me was that the master was working on "The Great Modern Wonder - a device that promises to revolutionize magic and gadgetry for generations to come". Of course, the master could have been overexaggerating to impress his student but whats the fun in that ;) I just need some help thinking of what this Great Modern Device is. What does it do? I have some ideas for it but Im sure all you in DnD land have some better ones. So far, they are on the trail of part of the device: a dragonshard with increased levels of negative energy. The device doesn't have to be Negative Energy-based. Maybe only part of it is? Or it doesn't have to have anything to do with Negative Energy and this shard could just be a red herring. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance
Pallin Rahl 11-22-06, 03:51 PM	Automatic Bread-Slicer! ...can even add an attachment that lightly toasts the bread to a yummy golden-brown. ;)
Bluebrush 11-22-06, 04:22 PM	Perhaps a mathematical construct. Nothing so directly cheesy as a self-moving abacus or as high tech as Babbage's clockwork computers, but rather a magical intelligence capable of amazingly useful calculations. Maybe make it a homonculus if you fancy letting your player have one.
Just another user 11-22-06, 07:26 PM	A eldritch machine that give to everyone in a certain area the use of certain spell-like abilities of the constructor choice at will, like fly or tongues or whatever you want. Or an item that works like a magical generator, powering some special magic items that works only inside the magic generator area of effect but that can be build at a fraction of the cost in gold and no cost in XP.
goblin_pride 11-22-06, 07:42 PM	Perhaps a gyrocopter that uses the positive and negative dragonshards to drive the rotorshaft. That would indeed revolutionize the world, but I think those Lyrander fellows might want to have a word with you.......
Shady314 11-23-06, 03:42 AM	An item that grants all 3 artisan feats. Maybe even let's it stack with a character's feats. An eldritch device that allows others to pay XP costs for magic items.
ressurrector 11-23-06, 03:57 AM	Some type of eldritch machine that does one of the following in an area: Improves all spells cast (empower, enlarge, extend, etc...) Negates extra costs Limits what types of spells can be used in an area (no undead, no inflict spells, etc...) Gives all casters in the area access to higher level'd spell slots and/or extra spells known (set by the maker) Give everyone in the area access to spell slots and/or spells known (set by the maker, props to the above) Allows casters in the area to re-prepare spells every hour instead of every rest period. The possibilities are endless, but it sounds like the machine should be doing something to make magic: More Powerfull, More Common, More Dependable, or Less Dangerous.
Kensan_Oni 11-24-06, 11:07 PM	An Automatic Bread Slicer? I know I would kill for one of those...
Pallin Rahl 11-27-06, 12:10 PM	An Automatic Bread Slicer? I know I would kill for one of those... hehe remember: Sliced Bread is the revolutionary ideal against which all future discoveries can be compared! ("This new widget is the best thing since sliced bread...!") :D
Kobold_DM 11-27-06, 02:47 PM	I love the Bread Slicer / Toaster idea :D Thanks for the ideas
Thevail 11-27-06, 08:14 PM	How about a magical device that just powers things at a certain rate...Sure that wand only has 4 charges left, but if you hook it to this thing it gains back x charges per day/hour/turn etc. Make sure it can't actually revive something that is completely magically spent but it would certainly be a useful and revolutionizing device. I think you'd have to make dang sure it couldn't be replicated very easily though...hmm. if the Master he's looking for were, say, an essential component..ugh! Happy Hunting Thevail
Moody Loner 11-27-06, 08:17 PM	An assembly line.
Korhal_IV 11-28-06, 08:34 PM	Perhaps a gyrocopter that uses the positive and negative dragonshards to drive the rotorshaft. That would indeed revolutionize the world, but I think those Lyrander fellows might want to have a word with you....... The idea of positive and negative shards repelling each other is interesting. Generalize it. A way of creating new, pure arcane energy out of nothing! The crude form of the device might simply zap Magic Missiles at people (a useful, low-powered magic item to give the PCs) simply because it is leaking mana, but the more sophisticated version might grant any sort of benefit! Continuous Prestidigitation + Purify Food and Water + Unseen Servant (x4) + Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound + Sanctuary...
ryanroyce 11-29-06, 09:41 PM	Heh, perhaps the Artificer is the Eberron equivalent of Albert Einstein and his Great Modern Device is the arcane equivalent of atomic energy and everything that comes with it. :devil:
McFrankPatrick 11-30-06, 01:58 AM	In keeping with the idea of generating/utilizing magical energy: The character's master could have been working on a way to conduct magical energy. I.E. instead of just making a whole bunch of individual items, all of which have their own individual magical power and enchantment and are self-contained items, his invention will allow the creation of a single magical power station or battery that can be connected to other items to grant the otherwise mundane contraptions magical ability. For example, cities use individual everburning lanterns individually crafted hundreds of times (at great cumulative expense and effort) to light their streets. Using this revolutionary magical advancement, a central item would be crafted and imprinted with the illuminating magic to supply power to all the lights in the city. Individually, it would be much, much more expensive than a single everburning lantern. But you could connect specially crafted but mundane lanterns to the system and they would all be powered by the reactor (or whatever you want to call it). This way, the actual lanterns would have to be specially crafted but wouldn't themselves be magical, so they could be produced cheaply by mundane craftsmen, leading to an overall reduction in cost for the whole system (and the ability to cheaply maintain and expand it). This sort of device would have application for powering House Orien's lightning rail, Sharn's magical towers, floating fortresses, and any number of other things at less cost and greater efficiency. It might even lead to conveniences like everburning lanterns and magically cooled cupboards (a la Orien refrigerated carriages) in every house, a true magical revolution! Of course, House Cannith for one might not like to see this kind of magical production undercutting their lucrative manufacturing contracts . . .