‘The
fires have all gone out
The
furnace has gone unfed
What
once glowed red and hateful
Is
now cold, cold, ash and dead
Wither
the power?
Where has it gone?
Once
it was screams of sacrifice
Now
it’s naught, but wind-song.’
Arena Tempus (Sand of Time)
‘Some scholars proclaim that Time is there to
shepherd events to occur in sequence: from past to present to future. While
others honour that time is not a solid
object, nor an occasion, but a fluid substance, and thus is perfectly malleable,
and not as linear as first thought.’ Tempus
Edax Rerum
It was with this in mind that Artimes,
the Great Architect of the Samonic Brotherhood, gave us his last perfect
creation, the Sand Timer. Fashioned with the help of the, ‘men-who-will-not-be-blamed-for-nothing’, the timer is said
manipulate the great river itself. Forwards, backwards, even to stay
temporarily in place, the Timer does it all. But, as anyone knows, those who
parley with powers beyond their ken have a price to pay. Tampering with the time stream comes at a
cost: old age and ruin will befall those that use this item too frequently, no
matter whether they go forward or
backward in time.
Made from bone, and fired
glass, it contains the dark sands of Night’s Plutonium Shore, mixed with the
ashes of the Serpent Queen, Boudicca. Turn it upside down, let the sands flow, and
watch as all is altered, albeit for a few fleeting seconds.
(The device works in a
completely random fashion for X
amount of seconds and can only be used once per week. It will only affect the
person holding it and no one else. You would not be able to make a daisy-chain
of people holding onto the wielder for example.
It’s possible to freeze time, to go forward,
or back, or nothing can happen at all. The player has no control over this and
it is left completely up to the whims of the dice. However, with each successful use of this item, the player
will start to lose ability points as if they were aging. Again, this will be random,
as will the amount to be penalised with. There is also a possibility that the
players may be lost to the sands of time, caught
somewhere in time as it were, thus they would be unable to move or interact
with the world, paralysed in the time stream while those that they love carry
on without them.
While moving either back or forward in time, it would be as if
you had disappeared from those around you but you would be able to see all that goes on around you.)
1)
Nothing happens
2)
Move forward in time by 1d20 seconds
3)
Move backward in time by 1d20 seconds
4)
Stay precisely where you are, while all
around you is frozen for 1d20 seconds. You can step out the time stream and
alter what you find e.g. move a potentially fatal sword blow out of the way?
5)
Nothing happens
6)
Move backward in time by 1d10 seconds
7)
Move forward in time by 1d10 seconds
8)
Stay precisely where you are, while all
around you is frozen for 1d10 seconds. You can step out the time stream and
alter what you find e.g. move a potentially fatal sword blow out of the way?
9)
Nothing happens
10)
Caught!
Make a Save vs. Spells or be caught in time.
Successful Use
Save Vs. Spells. If passed nothing happens. If
failed, roll 1d6, with 1 being your first stat and 6 your last (or however many stats you have, just change
the dice) then roll a d6. A result of one,
two or three then deduct one point, four,
five or six then deduct two.
For the DM
Right, there you have it.
Blueprints and ideas only. How it plays in your game is up to you. I see it as
almost a, Get-out-of-Jail-Free Card for a player, granted it comes at a cost, and, there’s also a chance they could
be snared forever in time, but sometimes the risk is worth the reward…it’s up
to you.
It was discovered amidst the ruins
of Zambambia (on the continent of Ki’Afra),
by the famed explorer, Felonious the Feigned. The Machine of the Gods is
reminiscent of a sarcophagus in its
shape, splendour and size. However, there is one key difference between the
two, whereas the sarcophagus is an elegantly clad coffin for housing a dead god,
it’s rumoured that the Machine of the Gods, is a chamber for giving birth to
one. Alongside this magnificent ancient item, is a wooden case containing six
silver vials of effluvia from the loins of the gods themselves.
Made from a marble that has withstood the ravages of time, the Machine is carved in the shape of a
vivacious female figure, large of girth, and abundant of breast,she is reclining on her side. A small incision above the belly button is
where the vial is to be placed. Once this is done, all the owner of the Machine
can do is wait approximately 90 days, before it will birth a fully formed adult
being.
All of this was carefully documented in the wizard’s notes that were
found in the smoking rubble of his tower. It seems as if his first ‘creation’
had gone terribly wrong, and instead of birthing someone as magnificent as
Herculat or even Orpheum, the ancient Machine spawned a monster that quickly
destroyed everything, and everyone around it. It disappeared into the bustling
harbour town of Utrecht before vanishing for ever. It seems as if the Machine
has also gone; maybe to the Princes of Galantri? Or even further afield, over
the Teeth, to the court of the D’Ambervilles? It is well known that Felonious courted
royalty for their patronage, perhaps they came to collect? In the right hands,
the Machine could be an instrument of wonder, in the wrong hands however, it
could be an instrument of slaughter…
(Obviously,
having characters gain access to a machine that pops out gods, and supposedly
lets you control them, would be milieu destroying for all referees out there,
not to mention the inflation it might do to their players ego… because,’ Dude…I
control a GOD! A Golden GOD! He polishes my armour and everything!’ would just
be insufferable….so, bearing this in mind, I propose that all the contents of
the vials are corrupted, and that the machine was actually built to birth an
army of slavish Giants called Nephilim, not Gods, and the Nephilim were then used
to fight for whomever controlled the Machine. (You could possibly have the
Nephilim come and look for it the moment it’s used?)
 |
| Nephilim |
However,
it’s also rumoured that placing one’s own
blood into the Machine, will not only create another you, physically, but also
mentally. It would be as if there were two of you running around, sort of like
a permanent Mirror Image. You don’t have to stop at one either. You would share
a Hive-Mind as it were, working as one. If one takes damage, you all do, but they can
operate independently of you. This however, should come with a caveat before
the player becomes too powerful… For every one created, there is a 85% chance,
rolled by the DM, that the carbon copy develops homicidal tendencies and will
stop at nothing to kill the ‘original’ so that it may be free of its/your
control. At no point should the Machine
be the ultimate Healing potion. It should go wrong for the players at every
conceivable turn. You could ramp up the paranoia levels to the extreme and get
the party thinking they are all out to get one another when it is in fact their
creation/s plotting their downfall.
No
magic item is ever fool proof or player proof, so what would happen if one of
them climbed inside? I’m glad you asked, because believe me, one of them WILL try. When it happens (not if) they
will be teleported to the inside of another one that’s located in the area of
your choice, and, controlled by the people of your choice. Maybe they become
beholden/controlled to another group of adventures?
If
the players decide on using the vials, roll on the following chart. Whatever is
birthed/created, becomes not just a
Lizardman (for example) but THE
Lizardman. Strong, clever, functionally better at everything than his normal
species type would be. She/he could possibly be under the group’s control, or
maybe not, or maybe, it gives the illusion that it is working for the group.
That’s up to you. In my games, the creation gives the illusion that all is
well, but actually, it’s just waiting to kill them.
1) Nothing
emerges from the smoke and noise…
2) Lizardman
3) Giant
Spider
4) Goblin
5) Owl
Bear
6) Giant
Snake
7) Carrion
Crawler
8) Hill
Giant
9) Orc
10) Berserker
11) Halfling
12) Kitsune
13) Ogre
14) Elf
15) Nephilim
(Frost Giant stats)
16) Mothman
17) Giant
Fly or Fly-man perhaps?
18) Naga
19) Minotaur
20) Flesh
Golem
Despite
these being mostly creatures, because of their high intelligence, they should
be able to communicate with the party by some means.
Occam’s Lenses
Just as Occam’s
razor allows one to sort the wheat from the theoretical chaff, Occam’s Lenses,
allows one to see in various ways. Occam
was a theorist, physician, watch maker, and keen modeller, who built his now
famous set of lenses to assist his ailing eyes.
However, due to his countless years of gainful employ at Hamlet’s Mill,
old Meneer Occam, was imbued with more than just a smattering of dweomering.
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Not only does Occam’s lenses allow you to spy
those who would remain invisible, but one can sharpen ones focus and magnify
what is before you nearly one thousand times over. Grains of sand now become
the size of pebbles, and the humble (yet irritating) flea, as large as a house
cat. All it takes to do this is use the adjustments located on the side of the
lenses. The wearer can also see in complete darkness, as if they were blessed
with dwarf sight.
When a mage uses the lenses to transcribe a
scroll to his spellbook, because of the sharpness of focus, it takes but a
single day to do so, instead of the weeks that it usually takes. No matter the
level of spell, it takes but a single day to copy it across into their
spellbook only, no one else’s.
When a thief uses these lenses to disarm
traps/detect for traps, count them as operating as a 15th level
thief, instead of what they actually are. Once they are of the same level as
what the lenses allow, they get a re-roll on any failed throws for these
skills. They must use the second roll, regardless of the result.
If in the hands of a gem-cutter, add an
extra 40% value to what they would normally be able to get for their cut gems.
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