I'm with Siren. This seems almost very good. Definitely amusing and fun read. The concept of these instruments makes one ponder on expanding them further. Some good ideas here! Go to Comment
Interesting idea, but it seems a bit too simple for me. Just having different types of kinetic forces depending on the instrument type just seems underwhelming and overlooks a lot of the amazing subtleties of the magic.
I'd revisit this and expand it past turning instruments into magical artillery. Go to Comment
I have been playing a 4th ed Bard, which is lacking in it's "Bardiness", if you will, and this seems to be EXACTLY the kind of thing it's missing. Well put together. This makes me want to put together a mariachi band hired to exact revenge for others. And it gives new meaning to having a military marching band. Go to Comment
This is a rather well written and nicely detailed description of a city with unusual origins. Adding a section on the three most powerful individuals within the city was also a nice touch that gave it some flavour. I can see this as a useful place for anyone setting out to learn more about dark elves in general or seeking a way into their lands from a relatively secure location. Would I be correct in assuming that the dragon ruling the city is a vassal of the dark elves? Go to Comment
Because it's not flight. He can hit your wallet, he can hire assassins to hit you in your sleep, he can put a truly ridiculous bounty on your head and many other things. It would be a large threat indeed that would actually cause him to pursue someone himself, when he can get everyone else to try and put you down for him. You would constantly be having to watch your back, from making sure that the jovial barkeep isn't poisoning your drink to having to actually watch for city guards, as they may have been told to arrest you. From what I've seen, for a taste of a dragon's hoard, many players would hunt someone to the ends of the earth. NPCs, generally not being as well off as a group with the resources to irk a dragon, would be quicker still to jump on such an opportunity.
Finally, if somehow the unlucky group managed to outwit, outlast and outmaneuver all his strikes, they would eventually have to deal with the dragon king himself. The most likely place of confrontation then, if the Dragon King has anything to say about it, would be in his citadel. There, they would not only have to deal with an ancient amethyst dragon, but also the entirety of his city guard, a fair number of Dark Elf honor guards and as many citizens as are able to raise a pitchfork in defense of their king.
Sapient clockworks, and without the usual evolution from organic to machine. They're like little mechanical brownies, in my mental image.
I like the included bit about how winding down is akin to death for them, to a degree that you can't find one in a tomb someplace, wind it up, and expect it to come to life. Do the 'dead' ones, reactivated, just kind of totter in place like toy soldiers? Or could you perhaps end up with a 'clockwork undead' that echoes the 'living' clockfolk in the way that zombies and skeletons imitate living people? Go to Comment
How would they react to someone animating an empty 'shell' of a deactivated clockfolk, in the fashion of a golem? Probably about as well as fleshy races tend to react to the 'desecration of the dead' done by necromancers, I expect? Go to Comment
That's awesome. I could see a couple of plot hooks from it; one being the clockfolk trying to hire or otherwise convince the party to help them retrieve a shell, the other being a 'grave robber' wanting to hire the party to make the clockfolk leave him alone (my, what a lovely toy soldier his son is playing with!) Go to Comment
I adore this one. It is a little short and only fairly complete.
In similar fiction, they tend to need to be wound every 24 to 72 hours or so.
1) Momma: She might still be here, the first one. She who was literally the Mother of Her Race. What position might she be held in? (Pappa is still the original watchmaker.)
2) I assume they can wind each other, otherwise they have to have a symbiotic relationship with Humans or other species with hands.
3) There might be "winding stations" made. Given some strong gear, or water wheel, or wind to recharge it, you would simply back up with your key in to the station, put your feet in place, and let it go whrrrrrrrrrrr and wind you up.
4) They are masters of Dollhouses as well and other non clockwork dolls. Their scale allows them to make some impressive things.
5) Extending on that, their clockwork devices can be much smaller than any humans. They could make some impressive things.
6) I could see a Clockfolks Arcology being a manufacturing factor where they make steam and clockwork things. Imagine hundreds of them working together. They need to sell things so they can afford to make more of themselves.
7) Can they make bigger ones? Can they make ones of an odd shape or size? Clockwork cats and dogs would be a smash!
8) Clockwork folk can bond with humans it seems. Imagine them deciding to become Children's and eventually adult companions, starting with the upper class and working their way down. These clockwork folks could be shaping humanity to fit their ideal of perfect people (strong, smart, caring, moral). (Much the way the Robots do in Asimov's Robot series, which is actually the foundation of the Foundation. ) Go to Comment
Items (Other) (Magical)