Thomar_of_Uointer
2012-08-23, 04:09 PM
I'm working on a setting that leans more towards science fiction in themes, and that includes a change in the way magic items work. I was thinking something along the lines of Roadside Picnic (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/RoadsidePicnic), Darker Than Black (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/DarkerThanBlack), The Lost Room (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLostRoom), or the SCP Foundation (http://www.scp-wiki.net/). The basic premise is that there are many kinds of objects of alien or otherworldly (or unknown) origin, they don't really behave like anything a human would have designed, and have properties which seem random and vary in usefulness.
Since this category of science fiction focuses on how new discoveries change technology, I'm probably going to decide on some kind of commonly found object which is useful to society. One example could be small objects which radiate intense amounts of heat, leading to a steam-powered industrial revolution with these heating elements used as an infinite supply of power.
This means there would be two kinds of magic items (or "artifacts" or whatever they end up being called). One is an unmodified magic item in whatever alien or natural shape it was found in. The other kind would be a magic item that was created by modifying, harnessing, or repurposing another magic item (such as the above mentioned steam engines.)
I'd love anybody's ideas of specific magic items would work in this kind of setting (both modern and medieval). Can anyone share some ideas or point me to a good source for various objects players could encounter in this kind of setting?
Note: This was originally posted in World-Building but I didn't get any response there.
Since this category of science fiction focuses on how new discoveries change technology, I'm probably going to decide on some kind of commonly found object which is useful to society. One example could be small objects which radiate intense amounts of heat, leading to a steam-powered industrial revolution with these heating elements used as an infinite supply of power.
This means there would be two kinds of magic items (or "artifacts" or whatever they end up being called). One is an unmodified magic item in whatever alien or natural shape it was found in. The other kind would be a magic item that was created by modifying, harnessing, or repurposing another magic item (such as the above mentioned steam engines.)
I'd love anybody's ideas of specific magic items would work in this kind of setting (both modern and medieval). Can anyone share some ideas or point me to a good source for various objects players could encounter in this kind of setting?
Note: This was originally posted in World-Building but I didn't get any response there.