TW Items

[Starmage21]

Search has failed me =\

Does anyone have a collection of TW items that they've either made or used? I want to get an idea of what I can do with a techno-wizard both starting out and as we gain money. I've never played a TW before, but have been plenty happy to use some of the TW items that appeared in books before.


Off the top of my head I could make a TW Power Armor on the cheap using a suit of heavy full environmental armor, and add Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Speed, Superhuman Endurance to it, right?

[Nekira Sudacne]

Search has failed me =\

Does anyone have a collection of TW items that they've either made or used? I want to get an idea of what I can do with a techno-wizard both starting out and as we gain money. I've never played a TW before, but have been plenty happy to use some of the TW items that appeared in books before.


Off the top of my head I could make a TW Power Armor on the cheap using a suit of heavy full environmental armor, and add Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Speed, Superhuman Endurance to it, right?

The book of Magic has a collection of all offical TW items published up to the date of the book of magic--though some ones came out in books after that are not included.

Or are you asking for ideas for people's home grown ones?

My TW recently made chains of Force Bonds and Superhuman Strength to make restraining supernatural beings easier. the Forcebonds effective PS score is increased by the Superhuman Strength to increase the range of beings it's effective on.

[Starmage21]

Homebrew stuff.

Tricks and cheese I should watch out for.

[drewkitty ~..~]

According to the metal and full environmental stuff don't mix with magic rules, nope you can't just make a cheap'o TW PA out of a MDC fully EBA.
The example of a a a typical TW power armor (RMB) is made out of crystal armor.


There is at least one TW magic item in the Fan magic topic in the magic and psi forum, 'The White Rabbits Watch'

[eliakon]

There are a lot of homebrew items running around. The problem with all of them is that they only have the guide lines to work with. And that is a problem because there is a huge amount of GM oversight needed. With out the GM involved there is no way to come up with the stuff like 'melding spells' (so you couldn't get a TW Flame blade with out a GM because there isn't a flame blade spell for instance). There is no way to figure out side effects. There is nothing to put a limit on the number of spells or spell chains, the acceptable spells, or to limit gems. Thus while it is perfectly 'legal' under the rules to make a hold out pistol that fires Annihilate spells, for 1ppe, and has a 100 round magazine....it is probably not going to be acceptable to most GMs, which means it is not really legal since it did not pass the 'get approval' portion of the design.

As for things to watch out for....well I would look out for abuse of the usual suspects (easily abused spells) you know, House of Glass, Dominate, Annihilate, Life Drain, Death Word, Death, Mend the Broken, Magic Pigeon.....
Strike that, I would look carefully at any proposed TW item, and ask lots of questions about it before allowing it into play.

[Nox Equites]

You could more easily justify boosting a suit of Fury Beetle plate which is decently cheap and not metal. With the right spells you could make it full environmental. Mend the broken and Armor of Ithan for repair/buffing. Your budget will be exponential pretty quick.

[Galroth]

You can try searching for "Magical Mack's". Mack occasionally posts his TW creations under titles starting with that (assuming I'm remembering correctly).

[Shark_Force]

According to the metal and full environmental stuff don't mix with magic rules, nope you can't just make a cheap'o TW PA out of a MDC fully EBA.
The example of a a a typical TW power armor (RMB) is made out of crystal armor.


There is at least one TW magic item in the Fan magic topic in the magic and psi forum, 'The White Rabbits Watch'

it doesn't mix with spellcasting while inside it at full effectiveness most of the time (but some of the time it works with absolutely no reduction in effectiveness whatsoever), or casting specific spells through it (though other spells go through with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever). that isn't the same thing at all.

for a techno-wizard in particular, it's actually quite likely that they're better at casting certain spells when they *are* wearing metal environmental body armour than when they aren't as of RUE.

[eliakon]

According to the metal and full environmental stuff don't mix with magic rules, nope you can't just make a cheap'o TW PA out of a MDC fully EBA.
The example of a a a typical TW power armor (RMB) is made out of crystal armor.


There is at least one TW magic item in the Fan magic topic in the magic and psi forum, 'The White Rabbits Watch'

it doesn't mix with spellcasting while inside it at full effectiveness most of the time (but some of the time it works with absolutely no reduction in effectiveness whatsoever), or casting specific spells through it (though other spells go through with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever). that isn't the same thing at all.

for a techno-wizard in particular, it's actually quite likely that they're better at casting certain spells when they *are* wearing metal environmental body armour than when they aren't as of RUE.

Heck according to the BoM you can wear POWER ARMOR and still cast spells. (they will be reduced in effect usually but still power armored wizard )

[Starmage21]

Yeah, I assumed DrewKitty was coming from the pespective of the RMB with HIS comment. RUE changed things a bit, and there is TW power armor everywhere that is made using various base armors. Techno-Wizards actually suffer the 50% penalty if they DONT use something technological to channel their magic.

Has anyone used "Magic Circuitry" as a reason for wearing full EBA and still casting spells as a TW? That seems like a good explaination to me how to get away with it (at least for TWs).

[ShadowLogan]

Yeah, I assumed DrewKitty was coming from the pespective of the RMB with her comment. RUE changed things a bit, and there is TW power armor everywhere that is made using various base armors. Techno-Wizards actually suffer the 50% penalty if they DONT use something technological to channel their magic.

Has anyone used "Magic Circuitry" as a reason for wearing full EBA and still casting spells as a TW? That seems like a good explaination to me how to get away with it (at least for TWs).

Well TW casting spells requires an appropriate focus, so I would ignore the EBA modifiers if the focus was appropriate.

That said there is that TW suit in SoT series (#6) that supposedly negates penalties for mages in armor IIRC.

[kronos]

Taalismn has made a lot of TW stuff for Paladin Steel Storefront, his company from an alternate Earth that came to Rifts Earth.
I believe he's got a few TW armours, weapons, other items. Mind you some of these are mass produced, so prices are slightly lowered from what a lone TW can make themselves.
But you can get lots of inspiration from his stuff!

[drewkitty ~..~]

Yeah, I assumed DrewKitty was coming from the pespective of the RMB with her comment. RUE changed things a bit, and there is TW power armor everywhere that is made using various base armors. Techno-Wizards actually suffer the 50% penalty if they DONT use something technological to channel their magic.

Has anyone used "Magic Circuitry" as a reason for wearing full EBA and still casting spells as a TW? That seems like a good explaination to me how to get away with it (at least for TWs).

One: thank you.

Two: I was saying what the RUE rules say about magic not working through FEBA and being degraded by metal.
To reflect on what the RMB said...."magic does not work through metal based armor." That is a bit different from "not working through any MDC FEBA."

If you note that in the RBM that magic users still can't case spells through the TW PAs in it.

[eliakon]

Yeah, I assumed DrewKitty was coming from the pespective of the RMB with her comment. RUE changed things a bit, and there is TW power armor everywhere that is made using various base armors. Techno-Wizards actually suffer the 50% penalty if they DONT use something technological to channel their magic.

Has anyone used "Magic Circuitry" as a reason for wearing full EBA and still casting spells as a TW? That seems like a good explaination to me how to get away with it (at least for TWs).

One: male. Edit your post to reflect this knowledge.

Two: I was saying what the RUE rules say about magic not working through FEBA and being degraded by metal.
To reflect on what the RMB said...."magic does not work through metal based armor." That is a bit different from "not working through any MDC FEBA."

If you note that in the RBM that magic users still can't case spells through the TW PAs in it.

Two Questions.
First question. Where do you find the text that says magic through FEBA (or PA) because all I can find is the degradation rules for mages who are wearing them while they cast....which means that it has to work through them, just not well. But 'not well' is not the same as 'not at all'
Second question: where does it say in the RMB that magic users can't cast spells while wearing the TW PA?

[drewkitty ~..~]

Where it says that mages can cast magic on people in FEBA. I believe it is somewhere near were it says mages can't cast magic through/into PA, Bots, and vehicles.

Didn't say the RMB said that.
What I was noting was that there were no permissions in the RBM to cast through the TW PAs there.

[Galroth]

Where it says that mages can cast magic on people in FEBA. I believe it is somewhere near were it says mages can't cast magic through/into PA, Bots, and vehicles.

Didn't say the RMB said that.
What I was noting was that there were no permissions in the RBM to cast through the TW PAs there.

I don't think Techno-wizards have the metal limitation when making magical devices or when channeling spells through tech devices. Seeing as they already have penalties for not using tech in their spell casting.

[wyrmraker]

According to what we know of the rules as written, Techno-Wizards still have the restriction of hindered casting from within FEBA and metal armor; it's actually part of the magic system. However, in our game it makes no sense for Techno-Wizards to be inhibited by this restriction. Their training should make the matter a moot point; that's our view.

[Galroth]

According to what we know of the rules as written, Techno-Wizards still have the restriction of hindered casting from within FEBA and metal armor; it's actually part of the magic system. However, in our game it makes no sense for Techno-Wizards to be inhibited by this restriction. Their training should make the matter a moot point; that's our view.

Sure when straight casting. But does it apply when they are channeling spells through tech devices? It's too bad that it isn't spelled out.

[cl7277]

The great thing for a GM think about, is how the tw is going to get the gems that they will need. What spells they are going to have to use. The amount of ppe, that they will need in making there new item. If any skills,they have that might be needed in making there new item. Have fun with this. You could head to dyval to get the needed gems, But getting to and out of dyval with the gems your going to need could be alot of fun. Also, you might have to try to get spells that you don't have. There are also parts that your going to need. You just can't go down to the local store and get them. I like using skills that my characters have. Let them see if they can make there skill rolls. If they do then great the item works like it should. If not as a GM you could come up with all kinds of things that could be wrong.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

The book of magic Q&A says that magic dosn't pass through vehicles and robots but does through Armor and Power Armor. Spellcasting restrictions while wearing them still apply to weaken the mage wearing EBA, but it dosn't prevent casting.

[Shark_Force]

The great thing for a GM think about, is how the tw is going to get the gems that they will need. What spells they are going to have to use. The amount of ppe, that they will need in making there new item. If any skills,they have that might be needed in making there new item. Have fun with this. You could head to dyval to get the needed gems, But getting to and out of dyval with the gems your going to need could be alot of fun. Also, you might have to try to get spells that you don't have. There are also parts that your going to need. You just can't go down to the local store and get them. I like using skills that my characters have. Let them see if they can make there skill rolls. If they do then great the item works like it should. If not as a GM you could come up with all kinds of things that could be wrong.

*or* you could just go to a store.

the world isn't that apocalyptic any more, and people have been scavenging ruins for all sorts of valuable goods, including gems, for hundreds of years within the setting. many of the OCCs in the core book start off with the option to have gems if they so desire.

trade exists. there is a demand. there will be someone willing to fill it, for a price, and the prices are generally speaking listed in RUE (or also in atlantis I think) for gems.

I mean, sure, if you're looking for hundreds of high-quality diamonds to build a small army of TW golems or something, you might need to set up a trade route. but if you're just looking for a few carats of decent quality gemstones? there's probably a trader in most major cities that can get it to you... not necessarily immediately (though it might be, if someone recently paid for something with a gem of some kind for example), and you'll have to pay for it of course, but you can very likely get it from a trader if you're willing to wait a bit.

[eliakon]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

You realize this is a house rule you are posting right?
Since the canon rule explicitly says that you can cast magic in FEBA, cast magic in PA, has no statement at ALL that either will block the use of magic items, and in fact has canon examples of people using magic items while wearing both?

I refer you to page 21 of the BoM the second and third questions on that page.

[Blue_Lion]

I been thinking about maybe listing some of the TW I have made for a NPC on line here. I think I also once posted part of skyhooks TW items I made with a TW that I played who managed to make a TW factory.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

The book of magic Q&A says that magic doesn't pass through vehicles and robots but does through Armor and Power Armor. Spell casting restrictions while wearing them still apply to weaken the mage wearing EBA, but it doesn't prevent casting.

I stand corrected about the casting magic from inside of armor. Approximately the same text is in RUE, having just looked it up.

So this also means that magic can be cast through/into EBA and PA too? Or is there a Double Standard at play in the rules?

[eliakon]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

The book of magic Q&A says that magic doesn't pass through vehicles and robots but does through Armor and Power Armor. Spell casting restrictions while wearing them still apply to weaken the mage wearing EBA, but it doesn't prevent casting.

I stand corrected about the casting magic from inside of armor. Approximately the same text is in RUE, having just looked it up.

So this also means that magic can be cast through/into EBA and PA too[color=#0000FF]?[/color] Or is there a Double Standard at play in the rules?

It explicitly says that you can cast into armor as well.
Unless the spell in question says that it is blocked by armor (so yes you can charm a person in power armor)

[drewkitty ~..~]

It explicitly says that you can cast into armor as well. Unless the spell in question says that it is blocked by armor (so yes you can charm a person in power armor)

Where does it specificly talk about whether or not a magic user can cast spells into FEBA? In RUE? Page number?

[eliakon]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

The book of magic Q&A says that magic doesn't pass through vehicles and robots but does through Armor and Power Armor. Spell casting restrictions while wearing them still apply to weaken the mage wearing EBA, but it doesn't prevent casting.

I stand corrected about the casting magic from inside of armor. Approximately the same text is in RUE, having just looked it up.

So this also means that magic can be cast through/into EBA and PA too? Or is there a Double Standard at play in the rules?

It explicitly says that you can cast into armor as well. Unless the spell in question says that it is blocked by armor (so yes you can charm a person in power armor)

Where does it specificly talk about whether or not a magic user can cast spells into FEBA? In RUE? Page number?

BoM pg. 21 "Magic can not penetrate the skin of giant robots, or vehicles...."
RUE pg. 188 "Can not penetrate the walls of the vehicle"
There is a written statement that magic can NOT penetrate the skin/wall of a giant robot, or a vehicle. This statement says that it is stopped by these. By saying that it is stopped by this it implies that anything less than this will NOT stop it. Just as it does not have to say "clothing will not protect against spells" the presumption is that spells affect anything that they are not excluded from. They are excluded from robots but not armor, therefore they affect armor. This is further enhanced by the multiple spells that have special rules on what happens when they are cast on a person in armor. If armor protected from spells then the effect should be "none". This is especially apparent when looking at the Paralysis: Lesser spell. If magic did not work on people in EBA then there would be no need to explicitly say that this spell will not work on people wearing it. Thus again showing that not penetrating EBA is the exception not the rule.

[drewkitty ~..~]

I wonder if the no magic through EBA originated in the FAQ.

I never did like it.....Don't like how there was a change from only metal armor interfering with magic to all EBA.

[eliakon]

I wonder if the no magic through EBA originated in the FAQ.

I never did like it.....Don't like how there was a change from only metal armor interfering with magic to all EBA.

I can't say. I do not recall ever having heard of anyone claiming that there was no magic through EBA until this thread.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Since FEBA and PAs cover ALL of a person...Even TWs can not use a hand held TW magic item while in these MDC armors as per the canon rules. The "magic item" has to be built into the armor for it to be used while in the armor.

The book of magic Q&A says that magic doesn't pass through vehicles and robots but does through Armor and Power Armor. Spell casting restrictions while wearing them still apply to weaken the mage wearing EBA, but it doesn't prevent casting.

I stand corrected about the casting magic from inside of armor. Approximately the same text is in RUE, having just looked it up.

So this also means that magic can be cast through/into EBA and PA too? Or is there a Double Standard at play in the rules?

Yes, you can cast magic aginst targets wearing EBA or power armor--only a few spells specifically say they cannot effect people wearing EBA or power armor, and some say they effect EBA wearers but not power armor, but those are rules exceptions for those specific spells. if it dosn't have a note "Dosn't work on someone in EBA", it does

[Raze_7]

Search has failed me =\

Does anyone have a collection of TW items that they've either made or used? I want to get an idea of what I can do with a techno-wizard both starting out and as we gain money. I've never played a TW before, but have been plenty happy to use some of the TW items that appeared in books before.


Off the top of my head I could make a TW Power Armor on the cheap using a suit of heavy full environmental armor, and add Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Speed, Superhuman Endurance to it, right?

There are plenty in Psyscape. There are magical-ammunition laser pistols, flamethrowers, ...

Also, you could take a Glitterboy and allow him to pick up a small car and throw it at Mach 5. (a friend of mine did the math)

Hmm, weird... Picking up the Mach 5, and throwing it at... Mach 5.... I feel bad for Speed Racer.

[Starmage21]

Thank you for the help! TW construction is definitely an exercise in making stuff up, so I just wanted as much inspiration as I could get!

[drewkitty ~..~]

Thank you for the help! TW construction is definitely an exercise in making stuff up, so I just wanted as much inspiration as I could get!

Most of the hard part of making a TW magic item is coming up with a unique/interesting idea of something to make.

The only TW char I had made a "modern weapon" TW magic item....combining both fire and lighting magic to make the bolt it fired.

[Nox Equites]

The great thing for a GM think about, is how the tw is going to get the gems that they will need. What spells they are going to have to use. The amount of ppe, that they will need in making there new item. If any skills,they have that might be needed in making there new item. Have fun with this. You could head to dyval to get the needed gems, But getting to and out of dyval with the gems your going to need could be alot of fun. Also, you might have to try to get spells that you don't have. There are also parts that your going to need. You just can't go down to the local store and get them. I like using skills that my characters have. Let them see if they can make there skill rolls. If they do then great the item works like it should. If not as a GM you could come up with all kinds of things that could be wrong.

*or* you could just go to a store.

the world isn't that apocalyptic any more, and people have been scavenging ruins for all sorts of valuable goods, including gems, for hundreds of years within the setting. many of the OCCs in the core book start off with the option to have gems if they so desire.

trade exists. there is a demand. there will be someone willing to fill it, for a price, and the prices are generally speaking listed in RUE (or also in atlantis I think) for gems.

I mean, sure, if you're looking for hundreds of high-quality diamonds to build a small army of TW golems or something, you might need to set up a trade route. but if you're just looking for a few carats of decent quality gemstones? there's probably a trader in most major cities that can get it to you... not necessarily immediately (though it might be, if someone recently paid for something with a gem of some kind for example), and you'll have to pay for it of course, but you can very likely get it from a trader if you're willing to wait a bit.

Yes, but given that the economy makes no sense whatsoever, how are you getting over a hundred thousand credits in gems at once? At a few hundred credits a week as a merc mage you are years from saving up to make a mystic generator. PA will take forever to gather the components for. Even selling other devices to fund your needs is limited to relatively few cities and you'll be dealing with competition that is well established. Some gems are easy to get, go mining in most states and you'll find some quartz, but is it clear quartz, rose quartz or smoky quartz? The distinction is important. Then you have the difficulties mention in Stone Master OCC for getting certain gems in the corundum group. Do you have a line on emeralds from SE Asia? Did the person selling you a gem actually sell you a legit natural gem as is required for enchantment? Maybe they lied or maybe they didn't know it was manufactured.

[Shark_Force]

well, being as how you're probably a fully capable mechanic in addition to being a fully capable spellcaster (provided you have appropriate props), making money is not likely to be all that difficult actually. an operator's services are worth something like 50,000 credits in materials per day to the black market, as I recall (I'm afb). if we assume that a person possessing the appropriate skills but not being a member of the OCC is worth only 1/10th that, things speed up quite a bit.

mercenary mages are in general severely underpaid. honestly, I'm pretty sure mercenaries in general are severely underpaid, unless you assume that their pay includes free maintenance (ie armour repair, e-clip recharges, food, sleeping quarters, etc), and even then certain types of mercenaries are still severely underpaid (in particular, the ones who aren't costing you tens of thousands of credits in armour repairs and e-clip recharge fees every time they fight, which will be mostly mages and psychics since they're the ones who can attack without using a rifle and who can create MDC forcefields, generally speaking). the economy is borked if you follow official guidelines, but that merely means that you find another way to make money instead of taking a job with a mercenary company. for example, if you are fortunate enough to know the "mend the broken" spell, you can repair armour and robots - a service which normally costs thousands or tens of credits, but which you can do with nothing more than PPE. and if not that, then you find something else to do to make money instead of taking a job that pays an absurdly small amount.

and really, you don't need a source of emeralds from asia. there are probably tens of thousands of emeralds already transported to north America from asia today, and most likely in the next hundred years we can expect that number to increase, not decrease. all you have to do is find someone who's dug them up from the wreckage of a gem shop (or track down a gem shop and dig it up yourself), or someone who bought them from someone who did (or from someone who bought them from someone who did, and so forth), and you're good to go.

(also, while techno-wizards are not *forced* to take skills that will let them identify gems, it is absolutely possible to do so, and highly recommended as well).