DMH said:
I went from cool to ug to hmm while reading this thread. I didn't like the idea of spells as technology in Pulp Heros and I am still not sure.
I'm not entirely sure what you refer to here. Just to be clear, "spells as technology" (i.e., magic as mass-produceable items useable by anyone) is not my book, it's
Mechamancy, to which I made a comparison in an earlier post.
My book defines technology as something like a new spellcasting tradition - powerful effects available only to a select few, barring the fairly difficult production of more user-friendly devices (a process for which rules are provided). Thus, the sweeping societal changes of an Industrial Revolution-type scenario are not required, and you can introduce technology as an element in your game with changing the whole game world to account for its presence.
DMH said:
OTOH I just bought the Spelljammer boxset and this might be a very cool way of dropping spells while retaining magic. The same applies to Morningstar.
That would certainly work. You'd have somewhat weakened healing and no really powerful death effects, but that's probably not going to cause any huge problems. Plus, it would be a good excuse to get your players to do some research and make their own devices, as inventors are wont to do - the book includes extensive guidelines for adapting existing spells into devices, designing new devices, and researching these items in game.
DMH said:
Is the book built around the idea of a template or series of templates that turns magic into technology?
Something like
Arcana Evolved's spell templates being used to make spells psionic? No, although that's really a pretty cool idea. Think of it more as an
XPH where technology happens to be the power source rather than mind powers - technologists have their own strengths and weaknesses and independant effect set from other sorts of spellcasters.
That said, it's really easy to make a spell into a device, and vice-versa. And we're including a full Word document of the book in with the pdf download, so it's a simple matter to tailor a device list to give out to your players that includes all and only the devices whose effects you want in the game. I'm not familiar with Morningstar, but in Spelljammer that implies making a few new devices (better, converting the old 2e spells) to represent the unique elements of the setting - extremely long ranges, gravity issues, and the overall environment - and probably holding back the most powerful devices as surprises for your players. And surprised they will be, because very few of the devices are exactly like the well-known spells we're all familiar with.
In fact, the book happens to include a device that calls down a solar flare and a device that temporarily blots out the sun in a large area, so you already have two technological/plot devices that would go over well in Spelljammer (particularly in the Astromundi Cluster) ready to spring on unsuspecting players.
DMH said:
Edit- also how much does alchemy tie into this?
Technologists have the ability to craft alchemical items quickly and efficiently without magic by virtue of the Expert class ability (in the teaser) and their class craft points. A number of the expensive optional components used to temporarily boost a device's power are alchemical in nature. Several devices also require or aid the Craft (alchemy) skill. And, of course, Alchemy is one of the best Craft skills and a class that's encouraged to spend lots of ranks on Craft and Knowledge skills means that I expect most technologists will also be alchemists. However, skill at Alchemy is not required for the class in the way that, say, Perform is required for the Bard class.
), I wouldn't recommend this last option, although I could give some advice on this approach too if you're interested to see how I would play it.
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