Musing on Magic & Technological Items

Traditionally in D&D & derived rpgs magic items and technological items are interchangeable. In a fantasy game what may be called a wand of fireballs, whereas in a sci-fi game an item with the same effect could be called an incendiary micro-grenade launcher (aside from the class requirements for many magic items in standard D&D).

In Empire of the Petal Throne the line is further blurred, with magical and technological items being treated interchangeably.

While working on the treasure & item material for the Planet Algol material, what really struck me is that many classic D&D magic items such as healing potions, flying carpets, wands of lightning and the like not only can easily be presented a technological items, but when their functionality and "reliability" are concerned they come across as virtual technological items. A magic-users suite of magic items could easily be some sort of advanced technician's supply of advanced equipment.

When one considers how magic items are treated in much of the "source fiction," they are generally more mysterious than D&D magic items. Enigmatic, possibly dangerous artifacts of lost-lost eldritch forces. Generally not the "utility items" that most D&D magic items are, but instead "Artifacts" similar to those of the Artifacts of classic D&D.

The conclusion I've come to while considering such matters is that in the Planet Algol setting as I present it, technological items generally should be the "generic, utility" items such as contragravity harnesses and medical nano-injectors whereas magical items generally should be "Artifact-ish." Powerful, mysterious items of legend such a the orichalcum encrusted skull of an ancient sorcerer infused with his knowledge or the ritual implements of an extradimensional sage.

My goal is to present an array of standard technological items as well as both a selection of example "weird, classic sword & sorcery" magic items and the tables for generating such items.

Now I would like to include some allowances for minor charms and amulets created by contemporary sorcerers, but I would like to avoid magic items being something that are created by nowadays sources, instead being the remnants of lost civilizations or from distant spheres and dimensions.

One motif in many science fantasy settings, such as China Mievilles Bas-Lag milieu (which is a big influence on Planet Algol), is techno-magical items. Although I enjoy the way such items are presented in the Bas-Lag novels, in my interpretation of the Planet Algol setting I would like to avoid such magitechnology, as I would like to keep magic items weird and mysterious, and also with access to technological items such magitech is somewhat redundant.

Technological Levels of Planet Algol

The Savage Level

Common to hunter-gatherers, troglodytes, primitives, savages and degenerates, The Savage Level is the equivalent to Earth's Stone Age with flint blades, hide armor, wicker shields, simple bows, piled stone architecture and the like at it's highest levels.

The Common Level

The level of technological sophistication common to humanity of Planet Algol, this covers the range from dark ages Europe to early Renaissance. Although capable of producing blackpowder weapons, for various reasons including the superiority of energy weapons, such primitive firearms have never caught on and are a rarity. Sophisticated abaci, printing presses, plate mail, clockwork mechanisms and the like represent the upper tiers of The Common Level of Technology

The Upper Level

Usually held by Technocrats, Oligarchs, Guilds or Aristocrats, The Upper Level of technology represents the scraps of surviving knowledge of the Ancients as well as trade or technological secrets held by assorted organizations. The more sophisticated of the Upper Level technicians are capable of limited repairs of Ancient and Earth Man technology and also can repurpose artifacts for modified use (transforming plasma welders into energy blades and the like). Upper Level technologies are used for medical purposes, to produced advanced materials, transform organic wastes into usable substances, to maintain surviving ancient technology and the like. The Vat Guild is one example of Upper Level technologies, the Ancient armor and modified energy weapons that define the Armiger class of warrior-aristocrats is another. Upper Level technology is uncommon, expensive and is usually tightly held by it's possessor. The Vat Guild are especially important as they transform sundry organic wastes into foodstuffs thereby freeing much of the populace from agricultural production (agriculture is especially difficult due to the hostile, alien landscape of Algol).

The Ancient Level

Lances of nuclear fire, flying cities and automations of the Ancients. Poorly understood and highly treasured by the men of Algol, many settlements are dependent upon surviving ancient technology such as water purifiers, advanced fortifications and the like. There are no known sources of new Ancient technology, although there are legends of surviving Ancient enclaves.

Dream Park, Digital Technology and the "Future" of RPGs

Over on Lamentations of the Flame Princess is a great post about feeling alienated by the current climate of digital initiatives, subscriptions, required accessories and so forth in "the cutting edge of the gaming hobby." Granted, squeezing money out of games goes all the way back to the days of official character sheets and so forth, but with the current climate of hyper-marketing and so forth, it's sad seeing the hobby being so .....manipulated.

I've also seen discussions regarding the future of RPGS and things like digital tabletop displays and holographic projectors. Perhaps one day we'll be fortunate enough to not have to use our pesky imaginations to visualize our adventures, a computer will render the game right down to the interactions with the rope merchant at the bazaar.

It brings to mind the novel Dream Park, by Larry Niven and Steve Barnes. The novel deals with a murder mystery set in a game at Dream Park, a near-future high technology Disneyland that features a live action role playing game, much like Dungeons & Dragons but set in various time periods, played in what amounts to a gigantic doomed soundstage with all sorts of technological gimcracks and doo-dads.

I loved the novel, and the D&D adventurers in cargo cult Polynesia "adventure plotline" is awesome! However, when I think of the elements of the novel and how they relate to gaming, it almost seems like sinister forshadowing.

Hot shot celebrity Gamemasters with planned out set-piece railroad adventures

An "Official" gamer umbrella organization

Flashy, showy visuals

On one hand, when reading Dream Park it seems like the ultimate version of D&D, on the other hand it seems like the worst version of D&D. You fly to california to fight holograms in a dome under the official sanction of the gaming organization? How expensive would it cost to adventure in Dream Park? Whenever I imagined the economics, my Dream Park fantasies fell flat. Something like that could only be experienced by the well-off upper class, aside from ordinary folks those who would save and scrimp and fuck themselves over with credit in order to have the "full gaming experience."

The business graduates who are taking over the "professional end" of the hobby want to sell us Dream Park. They want us to pay to have someone else do the imagining for us. They want us to operate under an "official body." They want to get us addicted into paying for an experience and keep on paying for it.

The old-school role playing that we love will only continue as an "underground phenomenon." I've been involved in the undergound metal/punk scene for decades, and I see the same bullshit in both scenes. The plastic/souless "marketed product" versus the genuine, "poor-yet-virtuous" underound troopers.

The future of Dungeons & Dragons, as I know and love it, is not Dragonforce but with the D.I.Y. hardcore punk band playing a basement show. Ten years from now nobody will be listening to Dragonforce OR playing 4E, as something newer and flashier and cooler will have replaced the obsolete, disposable product.

Perhaps I'm deluded by my own socialist philosopy, but I believe nothing genuine, nothing of truly lasting worth, will come out of the fevered imaginations of business graduates using capitalist machinery to drain every drop of money out of "the gaming consumers."

Technological Artifacts - Ceramic Knife, Neural Disruptor and Radiation Crystal

CERAMIC KNIFE

A long knife with a slightly curved blade composed of super-hard ceramic with an edge one molecule thick; usually white, gray or black in colour. It has the same statistics as a dagger, but has +2 on to-hit rolls against armored opponents and +1 to damage armored and unarmed foes.
Encumbrance: 10

NEURAL DISRUPTOR

A bulky raygun with several bronze coloured prongs instead of a barrel, this artifact's area of effect is a cone 3" long and 1.5" wide at it's terminus. Those within the cone of effect must roll above their intelligence on a d20 or suffer a violent seizure, rendering them prone and helpless for 1-3 rounds and inflicting 1-4 points of damage. At the end of the seizure's duration, roll percentile dice; if the result is equal to the victim's intelligence or less, their brain explodes. Note that this artifact does not effect undead or targets without an organic brain.
Neural disruptors are powered by radium crystals, getting one use per crystal. It takes one round to reload a neural disruptor.
Encumbrance: 30

RADIATION CRYSTAL

The unique geological conditions of Algol produce many anomalies unknown on Earth. In some high radiation areas of the underworld, miles below the surface, elegant tree-like structures of golden crystals grow out of veins of radioactive ore. These crystals contain potent stores of radiation energy, safely locked within the super-dense crystalline structure. The scientists of the Ancients discovered a method of synthesizing this substance, and used it to power many of their devices. Although radium crystals give off a faint yellow glow it is insufficient to see by.
Encumbrance: 5