d10 Treasures of great potential for science fantasy settings

These are powerful, perhaps potentially setting-changing artifacts which cannot be used – yet!

1. Stash of discharged but functional energy weapons, enough to arm a squad
2. Giant metal bird with broken wings, large enough to carry 20 men
3. Weapon of mass destruction, lacking its trigger mechanism
4. Recipes and formulae of miracle cures, written in undeciphered language
5. A portal of instantaneous travel to other realms, but the coordinates are unknown
6. Two dozen giant eggs, unhatched, but full of life
7. Treasure map engraved on basalt slab, vital fragment missing
8. Great sage or warrior in suspended animation on the verge of death from incurable disease
9. Air-generator or Water-purifier, sealed by mad curse
10. Satellite array and radar complex that, due to a malfunction, kills anybody who interfaces with it

Bonus: The local community’s relationship with the artifact:

1. Secretly researched by a small group
2. Actively and openly researched by all
3. Worshipped by all as a divine effigy
4. Feared, shunned and quarantined
5. Buried and hidden, unbeknownst to all (but rumors exists…)
6. Buried and hidden, guarded by a small group (but rumors exists…)

[Secret Santicorn!!] Equipment List for Miyazaki-style Science Fantasy Games

It's Secret Santicorn Season again over at the OSR discord server. Vilecultofshapes requested a "basic equipment list for a Miyazaki style science fantasy game"... Great prompt! I love Miyazaki and science fantasy, so I put on the Nausicaä soundtrack and set to work.

Read it here or download as PDF over at my itch.io page!

BASIC AND ADVANCED INDUSTRIES

Basic variants of equipment are produced locally, from all kinds of available resources. Such items are cheaper, more common, easier to maintain and replace.

Advanced variants are either products of skilled craftsmen, or looted from the ruins of former, technologically superior civilizations. They are generally more durable. However, once broken, they are much harder to repair.

The listed trade value is for the basic variant. This value doesn’t fluctuate significantly. Advanced items are worth 5-10 times as much, or even more (make a ruling or roll 1d6+4).

Garments, basic

Basic garments are usually layered and loose, patchwork or handspun, with drab colors. This doesn’t mean that basic garments lack personality. There is usually a detail or item that makes the character recognizable.

Garments, advanced

Advanced outfits are often of synthetic materials, with vibrant or unusual, yet impeccably coordinated colors. Most of them provide additional protection against the elements or even against damage.

	Garments, basic (1d20)	Garments, advanced (1d20)
1	Wide-brimmed hat	Techno-paladin full-plate
2	Tie-dyed poncho	Military uniform with golden braids and epaulettes
3	Utility belt	Slick bodysuit
4	Brightly colored scarf	Moonlit glamour
5	Spiked leather armbands	Exoskeleton with servo-arms
6	Thigh-high boots with spurs	Special agent three-piece suit
7	Oversized bandolier	Mirrorshade visor, body armor
8	Horned headgear	Pulsating tubes and glowing lights
9	Dysfunctional tubes and wires	Decadent courtly dress
10	Pauldrons	Adaptive camouflage
11	Trinkets and beads	Haughty noble
12	Patterned leggings	Returning space explorer
13	Leather aviator cap	Deep-sea diving suit
14	Flowing robes	Segmented chitinous nightmare
15	Fancy belt buckle	Luxurious furs
16	Dangerously dangling scarf	Burnished muscle cuirass and greaves
17	Miner’s helmet	Magnificently starched collar, pristinely ironed outfit
18	Animal mask	Glowing and shimmering aura around naked body
19	Knit winter hat with tassel	Well-tailored suit, heavenly perfume scent
20	Fur-trimmed	Holographic disguise layer

COMMON EQUIPMENT

Item	Value	Basic	Advanced
Bedroll	2	Patchwork blanket or sleeping furs	Insulated sleeping bag
Container, small	0.5	Small woven basket or wooden box, ceramic or glass vials, pouches	Same sizes, but of synthetic materials, with adjustable straps, safety or locking mechanisms, alarms, traps
Container, medium	1	Medium woven basket or wooden box, flasks, bottles, jars, backpacks, medium-sized sacks
Container, large	3	Crates, barrels, large storage vessels
Filter-mask	2	Hand-made from textile, provides protection against smoke and some toxins	Includes microscopic and chemical filtering
Food, 1 day	0.5	Roots, tubers, berries, eggs, bugs, worms, honey, milk, small game (birds, lizards, burrowers) *double value if preserved (dried, salted)	Synthetic foods from the uncanny valley (“chicken”) or completely unlike anything you’ve ever tasted… *double value if preserved (canned, permafrozen…)
Garments	1-3	*see above	*see above
Goggles	3	Murky glass or plastic lenses, low protection against flashes or glare	Protective lenses, possibly with advanced features (nightvision, zoom)
Light source, 1 hour	0.5	Wax or tallow candle, pitch torch, oil lantern, fireflies in a jar	Torch
Medicine	10-50	Herbs, teas, poultices, simple bandaging	Pills, syringes, advanced bandaging materials, anesthetics, antidotes,
Musical instrument	5-10	Flute, horn, whistle, bell, percussion, non-fretted string instruments; made out of wood, bones, animal parts, sometimes bits of metal	Most “advanced musical instruments” are actually tech. devices of unknown purpose that give off nice beeps and boops when handled; but see also thermenvoxes, touchpad-controlled oscillators…
Rope, 100’	1	Natural fibers	Nylon, fleximetal
Tools, agricultural	10-30	Plough, hayfork, hedge cutters	Motorized equipment, but also artificial fertilizers, pesticides
Tools, crafting	20-50	Hammer, chisel, hand drill, etc., also the pottery wheel and the like	Fine cutting and drilling tools, soldering equipment
Tools, mining	30-50	…or digging… shovels, picks, pickaxes…	Tunneling shield, sounding equipment, seismic devices
Tools, surgical	100	Blades, forceps	Nano-blade, medical lasers

  

WEAPONRY

Item	Value	Basic	Advanced
Bargaining and diplomacy	N/A	Gift offerings, looking for common ground, asking questions, listening
Deescalating the conflict	N/A	Calm voice, true innocence, sincerity *see also Bargaining and diplomacy
Running away	N/A	Good timing, fleetness of foot, instinct of self-preservation
Weapon, stun	3-10	Blackjack, club, holding traps, poison needles, stunning arrows	Shock batons, nerve toxins, sleeping gas, sonic wave
Weapon, lethal	5-50	Pointy sticks, blades, bullets, fire	High-precision rifles, lasers, explosives
Weapon, mass destruction	1000-10000	Conscription, mercenaries, siege engines	Nuclear warheads, chemical weapons, war machines

 

MOUNTS & GROUND VEHICLES

Item	Value	Basic	Advanced
Beast, riding	100	Flightless bird, bipedal lizard, giant cockroach or stag beetle *double value if combat-trained	N/A, or possibly a genetically engineered or robotic equivalent
Beast, of burden	50	Large lizard, woolly beast-thing with two or more pairs of legs, giant centipede
Beast, flying	500	Flying lizard, giant dragonfly
Cart	75-200	Two- or four-wheeler, dune buggy, covered wagon; animal-drawn	Broken-down advanced vehicles are often repurposed as animal-drawn carts
Ground vehicle, small	1000	N/A	On wheels, tracks, antigrav pads… Fits up to 4 people.
Ground vehicle, medium	3000	N/A	Fits up to 10 people.
Ground vehicle, large	5000	N/A	Fits up to 30 people.

 

WATERBOURNE VEHICLES

Item	Value	Basic	Advanced
Boat	300	Wooden rowing or sailing boat, fits 4-12 people	Engine-propelled, with a metal or metalloplastic shell
Raft	50	Something simple, carries 4-8 people	N/A
Ship, small	1500	Wooden rowing or sailing ship, fits up to 20 people	Engine-propelled, with a metal or metalloplastic shell. Might include submersibles or hovercrafts. Capacity same as the Basic variants
Ship, medium	4000	Fits up to 50 people
Ship, large	8500	Fits up to 100 people

FLIERS

Item	Value	Basic	Advanced
Flier, one-person	1000	Only if created by a mad inventor, possibly hand-driven or drawn by flying beasts…	Motorized glider, antigrav skiff
Glider	150	Tarp or skin suspended on a light frame. Used by one person, maximum two	Same, but of advanced & durable materials
Hot air balloon	750	Woven basket suspended under a textile balloon, roping and nets everywhere, dangerous open fire to heat the air, ballast to control ascent…	Same, but of advanced & durable materials; with finer control of flight direction, ascent and descent
Aircraft, small	5000	N/A	Engine- or jet-propelled small aircraft (scouts, hunters) or blimps. Fits up to 6 people
Aircraft, medium	10000	N/A	Same, fits up to 20 people.
Aircraft, large	20000	N/A	Giants in the air… Zeppelins and “The Flying Fortress”… Fit up to 100 people.

 

SAMPLE SPECIAL ITEMS

Cleanwater Lichen

Beat-up tin box, once colorfully painted, now only the rigging of a sailing ship visible. Inside, there are six small balls of dry lichen. This special lichen absorbs all toxins and appeases miniscule water spirits. Each ball can purify a gallon of water.

Memory Disk

Palm-sized stone disk with labyrinthine engravings. Can eternally store and holographically project any kind of message, up to a minute in length.

Multiprism

A pristinely cut rock crystal prism, capable of transforming light rays in many ways: breaking down monochromatic light into its spectral colors, or changing the color of a ray into a different one. Useful when interacting with arcane technology.

True Compass

The thin, trembling needle always points towards the owner’s home.

Universal Translator

This silver helmet taps into the wearer’s brainwaves and translates all languages to pure thought. It is rumored that more advanced versions can help understand animals, plants, and even stones.

[Monster] Cloud of Chaos

Created for James Holloway's MONSTER MAN contest II!!! Based on a neural-network-generated monster. A weird science fantasy riff on clouds and neural networks... A bit meta-gamey, but fun, in my opinion.

CLOUD OF CHAOS

(download PDF)

The inhabitants of a distant pocket of the infinite multiverse are creating a massive repository of knowledge. This ephemeral, invisible system is called “The Cloud”. However, the eldritch spells (“cloud technology”) used to contain the ever-growing mass of raw information have damaged the time-space continuum. The Cloud is leaking through the rifts, the wormholes, the folds of non-Euclidean space, infecting the whole multiverse.

In your campaign world, this influence manifests as... the Cloud of Chaos!

• The Cloud of Chaos has a chance of appearing as a random encounter whenever there is a thunderstorm or strong electrical- and lightning-based activity. 
• It is also possible to summon the Cloud of Chaos intentionally, by concentrating high-power electric charges in one location.

Description: a shimmering, billowing, whirling mass floating above ground.

Size: variable. It manifests as a 40’ cloud. Roll 1d6 each round and consult the chart. On 1-2, the Cloud shrinks. On 3-6, the Cloud grows.

Size chart
1’ – the Cloud disappears
5’
20’
30’	ñ 1-2 shrink roll 1d6/round ò 3-6 grow
40’ – starting size
50’
65’
85’
110’
140’
175’ – the Cloud disappears

Movement: the Cloud of Chaos doesn’t move, just fluctuates in size

Interaction:

• The Cloud of Chaos is not a physical manifestation. It’s information.
• It doesn’t have hit points, cannot be damaged by any physical means.
• The Cloud of Chaos is not a magical effect and cannot be dispelled.
• It is not a real cloud. It is not dispersed by wind; it is not subject to weather magic.
• Lightning strikes and other strong electrical discharges make the Cloud change size (according to the size chart).

However:

• The Cloud of Chaos is affected by spells and psychic powers connected with mental faculties, cognitive capabilities and willpower (Command, Confusion, ESP, Message, Suggestion, etc.). The result of this interaction is resolved on a case-by-case basis. However, as the Cloud of Chaos is still a program at its core, it responds beneficially to attempts at organizing information, information queries, commands.
• Spells directed at the comprehension and manipulation of information (Comprehend Languages, Read Magic, etc.) increase the chance of beneficial interaction with the Cloud of Chaos.
• Mind Switch… oh boy! The Cloud of Chaos enters the caster’s body. The caster’s mind is instantly dispersed. The character becomes an NPC, and will try to take over the world using the Cloud’s random knowledge from another dimension.

Being inside the Cloud of Chaos:

• Each round when a sentient living being is engulfed by the Cloud of Chaos, it must Save vs. Paralyze (Wisdom save).

• If the save fails, roll 1d100 on the effects chart.

• If the save is successful, roll 4d20+20 on the effects chart.

• Prior interaction with the Cloud through the spells described above can grant a bonus on the saving throw (Referee’s discretion). If the characters do something very smart to exploit the Cloud as a source of information, the Referee can grant something cool to them.
• Spells like Mind Blank protect against all effects of the Cloud.

	Effect
5-11	As the effect of a Mind Switch spell. See above.
12-16	The information overload instantly kills the character. The cloud grows one size category.
17-21	The character becomes part of the hivemind. They start acting in accordance with the Cloud’s masterplan. Whatever that may be.
22-26	Spellcaster characters lose their magic abilities. Non-spellcasters lose their ability to speak.
27-32	The surge of otherworldly information corrupts the character’s mind forever. The character develops delusions based on a random piece of alien pop culture (“Random Media” over at TV Tropes).
33-37	The character’s personality and memories are overwritten by the contents of a random Facebook user profile.
38-41	The character’s memory is pumped full of junk information. Whenever they need to remember anything, they must pass an Intelligence check.
41-47	The character is convinced that their name is now something else, generate it randomly.
48-53	Whenever the character closes their eyes, they see an endless scroll with depictions of felines in funny situations.
54-58	The character develops a tic: they insert random words into their speech.
59-64	Useless trivia floods the character’s mind. They now know all the information contained in a single “Random article” from Wikipedia.
65-69	The character learns a language, alien to the campaign world.
70-73	Gain 2d6 x 100 experience points.
74-76	The character notices a pattern in the Cloud of Chaos. Next time they roll on the effects chart, they may roll twice and chose from the two options.
77-80	The character’s mental faculties improve significantly. They gain +1 Intelligence, and read, study, do research two times faster.
81-83	The character is able to commune with an interdimensional alien hivemind. Due to bandwidth limitations, only one question is answered per day.
84-86	The floorplans of a high-security military installation are revealed to the character. Coincidentally, they are almost identical to the map of the home base of a warlord / king / rich merchant of your campaign world.
87-91	A randomly determined spell is embedded in the character’s mind. It is always memorized (above the usual limits). It can be cast once per day, without any restrictions.
92-94	The character now knows an exotic martial art. A natural 19 becomes like a natural 20 on attack rolls with one chosen weapon or attack type.
95-97	The character’s mind connects to a neural network for machine learning (yeah, that’s right! it is now modeling a computer which is modeling a human brain! sort of…). The character always gains +20% experience points, but makes up strange new words when talking. They sort of sound like real expressions, but really aren’t?
98-99	The character gains knowledge that can lead to a major technological breakthrough, previously impossible in the campaign world. May not be able to create it alone, but the theory is in their brains.
100	The character becomes omniscient – but all their knowledge is about another dimension!! So perhaps they should find a way to travel there?

...accessing the Cloud...