The Royal Artificery Society - OOC

[WindStruck]

Finally got a post up, though I guess Shandara may be a bit early. Still, considering the time it would take to put standard enchantments on the blade after it is finished, the little drink contest could still wind up happening before the sword is actually delivered.

Anyway. I just wanted to get events moving along.

[DeTess]

No sense in accidentally damaging the product during the final... leg of the trip.

That pun is horrible!

[Prehysterical]

That pun is horrible!

That's what makes it so great.

[WindStruck]

I'm actually pretty excited for Bolten's invention.

Let's see how it works out!

[Prehysterical]

I wish Shandara the best of luck with the brewing contest. The Curator sounds like a real critic!

I'm also interested in seeing if Zeal manages to get into the vault, as well as Z's attempts to recover the memory that he himself erased... Just the very thought gives me a headache.

[Sønderjye]

I'm noticing that I'm losing motivation to keep up with the various plotthreads when I'm just sitting around and waiting. Would someone mind shooting me a msg when we get to the following day if I'm not around?

[DeTess]

I'm noticing that I'm losing motivation to keep up with the various plotthreads when I'm just sitting around and waiting. Would someone mind shooting me a msg when we get to the following day if I'm not around?

Sorry, yeah, you're definitely good to go ahead a day or more. Generally, you can move ahead to the next day unless I specifically ask people to hold on for a bit so I can get everyone synchronized again.

edit: which reminds me, @widnstruck, @ prehysterical, I'd like to get everyone sycnhronized time-wise again when the harvest festivals tarts, so that'll come up for you in a couple in-game days. Just a heads-up there.

[Prehysterical]

That's fine. To get us there, however, I need a breakdown for Bolten's expenses from the project to give the baron an actual figure.

[Sønderjye]

I was reading through the IC and I don't understand this

"Ah, and another contestant arrives, just in time!" he greets her jovially. "Or rather, about two days early, but if you all had arrived the first day of the festival as asked, I doubt even I would have survived the amount of alcohol being presented to me. Well then, what have you brought?

The original post about the harvest festival said that it was in 3 weeks. These people are arriving way early, why is he saying 2 days early?

[WindStruck]

We've time skipped a lot with the sheer amount of crafting that has been done. And now that is probably why our characters are going to be on hold while everyone else continues their thing.

[Sønderjye]

I've been saying for posts that I was waiting for people to finish their tasks for the day so we could move to the next day and noone bothered to tell me that you guys had skipped two weeks ahead? That feels bad.

[DeTess]

I've been saying for posts that I was waiting for people to finish their tasks for the day so we could move to the next day and noone bothered to tell me that you guys had skipped two weeks ahead? That feels bad.

I'm sorry, I must have missed that. In fact I thought you where several days ahead as well, given you spend a day studying, another working on your invention, some time visiting both the department of psionics and the cartographer's guild, etc?

However, unless I specifically indicate I need everyone to synchronize timewise, you're free to move to the next day if you filled a previous day with work, just as in the previous 'episode'.

[Sønderjye]

I see. I guess I just misunderstood how it worked. I'm glad it's settled now.

I was imagining that those things were done during the same day. My first post after the timeskip did say that he was researching until noon and I was imagining that to be followed by 8 hours of crafting and the chat happening in the evening. I'm fine with that having taken 2 days instead.

In that case 5 days to make two extra two devices might be a little optimistic. Mind fuzzing the time as appropriate?

[DeTess]

That's fine. To get us there, however, I need a breakdown for Bolten's expenses from the project to give the baron an actual figure.

Material-wise (before any reductions your feats or other abilities might give you) you're down 3500 gp for the legs (you could have gotten an advance for that form the Baron's son if you needed it).

Renting the workshop and hiring the help would have set you back another 945 GP (renting out a workshop for three weeks, hiring 6 skilled craftsman for 15 days fo work) int toal for both projects.

I was imagining that those things were done during the same day. My first post after the timeskip did say that he was researching until noon and I was imagining that to be followed by 8 hours of crafting and the chat happening in the evening. I'm fine with that having taken 2 days instead.

In that case 5 days to make two extra two devices might be a little optimistic. Mind fuzzing the time as appropriate?

You could have your original design finalized and made decently portable in that time, as well as finished a single array of your storage/copy device as you proposed it, though it still has some quirks, most notably that attempting to remove a memory isn't one hundred percent successful, with little bits of the memories staying behind in the crystal, or even randomly appearing in the other crystals. This mostly seems to be an isolation issue, which you reckon you'll be able to resolve, given some more time.

[Prehysterical]

Yeah, Bolten would have needed an advance to afford the materials, or else he wouldn't have had the funds to rent the shop and hire the workers.

For cost reduction, Bolten only has 5%, so that would shave off 175 gp for a total of 3325 gp. Combined with labor and work space, that comes up to 4270 gp in costs.

Does the Society have a standard rate or percentage for their services? Bolten will surely have valued his work before the presentation; taking 10 on Appraise would have given him a result of 24. He's trying to give a fair price for his work.

[DeTess]

Yeah, Bolten would have needed an advance to afford the materials, or else he wouldn't have had the funds to rent the shop and hire the workers.

For cost reduction, Bolten only has 5%, so that would shave off 175 gp for a total of 3325 gp. Combined with labor and work space, that comes up to 4270 gp in costs.

Does the Society have a standard rate or percentage for their services? Bolten will surely have valued his work before the presentation; taking 10 on Appraise would have given him a result of 24. He's trying to give a fair price for his work.

A rate isn't mandated, but for something like this (one-off mostly new design delivered in a pretty short time) you know you could generally charge an additional 50-100% of the material and labor costs. Less would be considered charitable (or with suspicion that it isn't as good as it appears), more might be considered greedy or arrogant. Since you asked for an advance you'd be expected to skew a bit closer to the lower end, but you know your work is good enough to ignore that expectation if you so wished without risk to your reputation.

[Sønderjye]

You could have your original design finalized and made decently portable in that time, as well as finished a single array of your storage/copy device as you proposed it, though it still has some quirks, most notably that attempting to remove a memory isn't one hundred percent successful, with little bits of the memories staying behind in the crystal, or even randomly appearing in the other crystals. This mostly seems to be an isolation issue, which you reckon you'll be able to resolve, given some more time.

I'll just throw in a reminder that Valet familiar allows me to craft in double the usual speed. With that, would it be possible to have worked a few more kinks out as well as having made a lense that when held automatically adjusted the experienced speed of a memory and adjust the sensational details such to the highest available that doesn't give people headaches? Hopefully the lense can be changed to allow the user to manually adjust those things later but for now that'll do as a prototype. If so, what's the cost for those two items?

[DeTess]

I'll just throw in a reminder that Valet familiar allows me to craft in double the usual speed. With that, would it be possible to have worked a few more kinks out as well as having made a lense that when held automatically adjusted the experienced speed of a memory and adjust the sensational details such to the highest available that doesn't give people headaches? Hopefully the lense can be changed to allow the user to manually adjust those things later but for now that'll do as a prototype. If so, what's the cost for those two items?

Could you roll me a spellcraft for the limiter lens? You'll definitely be able to work out the kinks in that case.

[Sønderjye]

Taking 10 for 30

[DeTess]

Allright, limiting the senses itself is quite doable, and though your current design just dampens them all together to manageable levels you've already got some good ideas for how to go about prioritizing individual senses. The function for stabilizing the flow of time to real-time does work, but it's fairly noticeable when it kicks in. 'Slowing down' the boring parts results in an overall reduction in the sensation, and even colors lose a bit of luster. Meanwhile you notice that the dampening function draws a lot more power when the time function stabilizes a moment where the memory would have gone slower than real-time, likely because it has to deal with what would otherwise be a sensory overload (I'll leave it up to you whether you discovered that part because of the extra power draw, or because you first tested that function without the limiter and ended up with another massive headache). These moments in the memory also tend to be a bit disorienting (and if your character is prone to motion sickness, slightly nauseating). Imagine watching a scene in a movie shot in slow-motion sped up to real-time. The motion looks correct but the camera work, in this case the mind processing impressions at an accelerated rate, isn't exactly pleasant.

Price-wise, you're looking at another 1500 gp in supplies for the copying array (this si before any reduction you might have from feats and the like). Enchanting the lens is a fairly complicated process, but it only requires 600 gp worth of materials (most of which is in the fact that to work best you actually need to cut the lens out of a psionic crystal).

[Sønderjye]

Hmm. Given the confusion about the time could we retcon to say that they met 8 days instead of 5 and that he worked out the kinks of the lense in the extra 3 days?

[DeTess]

Hmm. Given the confusion about the time could we retcon to say that they met 8 days instead of 5 and that he worked out the kinks of the lense in the extra 3 days?

Working out the kinks in the lens won't be quite that quick I'm afraid. The issue you're running into has to do with essentially compressing and stretching out bits of memory so they fit objective timekeeping. To fix that, you'd need to be able to actually edit the memory itself. It's not impossible, but it won't be done in three days.

[WindStruck]

I'm actually pretty happy to continue some little RP conversations as we are waiting for the others to catch up. Speaking of which.... I don't think we've heard from Zeal for a while, have we?

[Prehysterical]

Elbeyon hasn't been online in a week. Don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but that's why. Hope everything's going okay.

[WindStruck]

Hm, still waiting... and still present!

I'm wondering if there's anything else we could possibly do that wouldn't push time forward too much.

Maybe even something in the past? Shandara would have needed to meet Duncan, and probably some other arcanists from the ranger's guild, I think.

[DeTess]

Yeah, I'm planning on using the start of the harvest festival as the synching point, so you've still got two days.

I also think the sword is done, but I don't think you've delivered it yet.

[Sønderjye]

Just a headsup that I will be really busy for about a weeks time and might not have a lot of time to post.

[DeTess]

Just a headsup that I will be really busy for about a weeks time and might not have a lot of time to post.

Thanks for the headsup, and good luck with your busy week!

[WindStruck]

Yeah, I'm planning on using the start of the harvest festival as the synching point, so you've still got two days.

I also think the sword is done, but I don't think you've delivered it yet.

The sword still needs the standard enchantments (+1 and undead bane), and I think that alone would take 8 days even after the sword is physically completed.

I'm also wondering if there is anything else known (would definitely need to be a flat-cost enchantment) that just increases the hardness of the weapon?

[DeTess]

I'm also wondering if there is anything else known (would definitely need to be a flat-cost enchantment) that just increases the hardness of the weapon?

Yeah, enchanting an object to be stronger than it normally is is actually a fairly common enchantment and is used with some regularity in the more ambitious construction projects. I'll just put the cost for the sword at (0.5*hardness)^2*200 (so adding a single point of hardness is only 50 gp, 2 points is 200 gp, 4 points is 800 gp, etc.).

This might be undercosted when compared to a similar official effects, but I'd expect 'how do we use magic to make things sturdier' to be one of the first things the artificers of the Society figured out, as it makes so many other things possible.