Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 frostden Nov 18, 2008 22:26:24	World building experiment: Bwark, a world of unrestrained innovation. I am creating a world which is going through an uncontrollable magical revolution. A device has been invented which allows any of the other energies to be converted to magical energy. The physical to magical conversion is as follows: A magical spell requires an mechanical energy equivalent to the change in entropy before and after the spell has taken effect, plus the activation energy of the change. The designer of this device had been attempting to create a system for converting rotational energy into electrical, and saw the random bursts of magic that the device produced as an abject failure. As such, the device has not been patented, and is now prolific throughout the city. This device has lead to magical devices flooding the market with little planning or foresight. Everyone is in a rush to develop the next big thing and make a bucket load, but the citizens haven’t yet learnt to be discriminating buyers. Any ideas from these forums would be very helpful. In particular, I would like examples of magical/technological inventions, and examples of the ways people would use these to improve their lives. Also interesting would be inventions that might seem like a good idea, but are doomed to failure. Groups looking to exploit this new system, resist it, or simply survive in it would also be appreciated. One last thing: If I have accidently stolen someone else’s idea wholesale, clue me in. It would be a bit of a waste to develop something that had already been made! Knowledge has always been synonymous with power, and magic and science is the power of that knowledge made manifest. For millennia, the development and distribution of these technologies has been limited. Not entirely by greed, or selfishness, but rather due to the difficulties of the reproduction and dispersal of ideas. Ideas are lost, knowledge corrupted, and techniques forgotten with the death of their inventors. In the bustling city of Bwark, an two advancements have been made that will magnify all others. The moveable type printing press has been developed, enabling the quick and easy replication of magical and scientific knowledge. Ideas are being spread and combined, new conclusions being drawn, the pieces of research decades in the making falling into place from the advancements of others. New inventions and wondrous devices are being made at a fantastic rate. However, not all ideas are created equal, and there is only so much industry to sustain the burgeoning capabilities of the city. Some ideas are good, some terrible, some happily benign, others woefully malignant. The other invention is the arcane converter. This device can convert any energy form, be it thermal, kinetic or electric, into a joule equivalent magical form. With it, fantastical devices are being patented almost daily. Advancement runs rampant throughout Bwark, the ranks of fabricators scrambling to develop the next big thing for a growing consumer hunger. Thousands have been made redundant by the tireless endeavor of the semi intelligent articular constructs. Espionage is on the increase as the most skilled inventors steal each other prizes. Chunks of the city guard were made redundant for a while when the tireless guardians were built to replace them. Some found employment on the other side of the trenches, while others soon found a calling in hunting down the unacceptable proportion of guardians who go ballistic. For some, the wonders of modern living have made their lives safer and better. Others meet a gristly end as a new invention goes maniacal. Is the technological wild west of Bwark thrashing and writhing it’s way towards a new golden age, or will it be consumed be consumed by the uncontrolled energy of it’s own potential? Bwark: A city of promise. Fortunes are made here, but disasters of one kind or another are an almost weekly occurrence. Example inventions: Rotary leach – Designed by a power company called the moon men. Converts the kinetic energy of the moons orbit into mechanical or magical energy. Converter – Can convert all other energies into magical. The number of joules expended is the equivalent of the change in entropy for the magical effect plus the activation energy of the change. Computers of daisy chained monkeys. Portal technology: Hand cranked generators maintain portals to the elemental realms to “pump” water into houses. Portals are also used to dispose of waste, at the expense of those unfortunates who find their houses at the exit ends. Constructs who are absolutely literal in their function. Interest groups: Nobles – Look at the chaos in the city below, and try to censor the inventions allowed into their gated communities. This risk adverse attitude protects them from some of the dangers, but they are also slipping in status due to the lost rewards. Unions – Trying to undo things to get their jobs back. Think tanks – Cranking out ideas. Any idea is a good idea until proven otherwise. Normally through body count. Regulators – Tring to reign in the madness often the victims of an out of control invention. Liberators – Spurring on the creation. Disavowing responsibility for the disasters and raking in the profit from the successes. Moon men – Build giant universal converters to leech off the kinetic energy of the moon. When challenged on this, say that they plan on knocking the moon out of orbit into the ocean to create more real estate. Argue that the craters indicate that it’s clearly porous, and will thus suck up the wasted ocean water and free up huge amounts of beach side estate.
#2 Dreamstryder Nov 19, 2008 16:07:08	The Girl Genius series would be a wealth of inspiration here, I think. I'll also invoke the Simpsons' 2-storey outhouse (one hole in the ground; 2 holes lined up above).
#3 shibb Nov 19, 2008 17:28:39	I like it. Definitely an interesting time to do a campaign, at the birth of this revolution. I'm guessing you're going to reward the players for thinking up their own inventions. What's the tone of the campaign? From your description it seems you want things to be somewhat grounded in the realms of science, so maybe it's fairly serious as to what is being invented. Though I suppose that it doesn't exclude fun and silly inventions.