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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hellcow" data-source="post: 3461391" data-attributes="member: 15800">It's certainly a valid concern, Crothian. Looking to the example you quoted, there isn't any existing way to do the thing described using standard rules. Of course, the ECS DOES actually provide one way to accomplish even this outlandish thing... the eldritch machine. Eberron seeks to capture some of the mood of the pulps. A key aspect of the pulps is villains coming up with bizarre schemes that generally aren't replicated again. When the cerebrozombificon is destroy, the villain turns up next week with an entirely different scheme; he doesn't just try to build another one somewhere else. The eldritch machine is the tool for those stories - for the DM who wants to introduce something that doesn't quite fit the rules, but makes a great story. Say I want Demise to target Sharn with a device that causes any living creature killed in the city to rise as a zombie. If it's destroyed, she can't rebuild it, because "it used a Qabalrin crystal pendant as its core, and that was the last one in existence." Bingo - eldritch machine.So in the example you call out, it's not supposed to be something anyone can do. It's not supposed to become a core concern of the setting. It's a bizarre and disturbing technique developed by that individual - and something he may or may not be able to do again in the future. If I HAD to explain how it was done in game, I'd say that the "crystal bath" was an eldritch machine - and hopefully, it's gone for good. So I agree - it's not clear to the reader what it is, and it is outside of the scope of what a PC could do. However, given the restrictions we see - it's bound to a specific location, requires unusual components, etc - If you wanted to use it in your campaign, I'd call it an eldritch machine.</blockquote>

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