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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5634126" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 241: November 1997part 4/8Modron Magic: Time for another burst of themed crunch, this time mixing magic items and spells. Modrons have always been fairly entertaining creatures to put in adventures, with their moral neutrality making them usable as allies and enemies easily, and their quirkiness giving DM's good hooks for roleplaying them that keeps their orderliness from getting tedious. They may be very much a love or hate creature, but that's because they're distinctive. So there's plenty of information for you to build appropriate devices with, expand the info on them further. Which is just what Monte Cook is doing here. Clockwork Slings take advantage of modron physiology to sit on their heads and fire automatically. This means they effectively get an extra action per turn. Since pentadrones can already get 5, fitting the infantry with these will make them rather scary to PC's with only 1. Clockwork Spinswords aren't exactly magical chainsaws, but they're close enough for government work. Well, we've seen a those in the magazine before (issue 132) You've got to put your own spin on things, and this definitely does. Crystals of Clear Focus help you do things in a logical and successful manner. Unlike certain other supernatural groups, there is no catch, but it will tend to push you towards their way of approaching tasks. Hey, it's better than losing your soul because you didn't read the small print. And yet you still hear about people trying to deal with devils more than you do modrons. Maybe it's because they understand the principle of combining carrots and sticks better. Or maybe it's just sexiness. Oh dear, bad images. Delay Fire Cossbows are a great retreat coverer. Put them down, and they target and shoot anyone nearby later a bit. The kind of technomagic that rewards intelligent use, will players take advantage of it?Flying Harnesses are another mostly mechanical one. They may be rather awkward for a non-modron to put on, and take some learning to operate, but hey, flying! Everybody wants that. Probably why we've had so many methods of doing so over the years. Lenses of Protection save modrons from being maddened by the strange and incomprehensible chaos of the rest of the multiverse. What they consider maddening may not be the same as what is bad for human sanity, of course. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Still, better than nothing. Limb Extensions are another technological one. We don't need magic for that. We can buy those from a toy store. You can even get pretty good at using them. Magnetic Clamps are another pretty mundane trick that would seem supernatural to the superstitious mind. Mind you, it's a bit broader than real magnetism, but I guess that's where the magic comes in. Mirrorballs show that Monte is playing this for laughs to a degree. A floating mirrorball that hovers around you to give you rear and sides vision. Again, it works in reality. (I've used the reflections from my glasses to surreptitiously watch things behind me in the past.) And modrons would take the practical route without concern for how silly it makes them look to everyone else. I can see the logic in this.  Truebridges violate conservation of mass and turn from a single plate to a whole avenue of them. This isn't just useful for bridges, but also temporary cover, ramps, patching up the floor, or anything else you can think of. A Winch of Giant Strength also adds a little magic to a basic physics principle. This has the air of filer. Mixed bag, really. That's all the items. Now for the spells. Set the Path is another variant of making everything go according to plan. Assuming it's a good plan in the first place. Otherwise, you'll be forced to mime the actions that make no sense in light of reality. More intentional comedy in the name of unbending logic I see.  True arrow of Law works on the same kind of principle as Holy Word, only not as powerful. Chaotic creatures hit by one are hurt, lawful ones are buffed, and neutral ones are charmed in your favor. Also notable because it's a wizard spell that can heal, so it bears watching carefully in the hands of PC's. Correlate Data lets you do the Sherlock Holmes thing without the DM giving you tons of data and you working it out manually. Useful for breaking plot dead ends and general avoiding deus ex machina. Harmony promotes the Arcadian version of law rather than the Mechanus one. Go for the peaceful solution, and calm man, beast and nature. Not very adventurer-like I know, but who wants to be orthodox all the time anyway. Overall, I think this collection has more finely tuned machines in it than rattly old bangers.</blockquote>

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