Sufficiently Advanced Technology 4
Weapons of Mass Delivery
Going to start with the item up front and then talk about the method behind it, as it’s a bit more complicated.
Orbital Desynchronizer
Base Cost 200,000gp: Single charge 9th level ritual effect. Apparent Value: 300gp.
Not every dot of light in the star is a sky. Some are smaller objects, illuminated only by reflection of greater sources. It is thought that for each of these illuminated objects there are thousands hidden in the dark, lacking light to reflect, a proper angle to reach our eyes, or proper coloration to be seen. These we only learn of when they trail closely across the sky to be seen or, on rare occasion, fall to strike the earth. Such events are sometimes the predicted outcome of a “wandering star” whose path brings it too close, or the sign of a god’s displeasure, but others still are the results of ancient tools and processes left unfinished by their creators, waiting for instructions to move from their set paths one last time.
This stippled metal box with beveled corners is painted with alternating diagonal stripes of red and yellow; it is 4” tall, 6” deep, and 12” wide, and weighs 1 stone. Releasing a catch allows the top inch of the box to open on a concealed hinge. Five dials are embedded in the device, only the top of each visible, engraved with a series of characters known to signify numbers. Rotating the dials to the correct positions will irreversibly activate the device, locking the dials. While such devices were created with distinct activation codes, a secret manufacturor’s failsafe code, able to activate any such device, is known- the symbols corresponding to 1-2-3-2-1. Once activated, the device emits a signal which will call down an asteroid or comet as a meteor, striking the device’s location after one week.
The device cannot be deactivated, but its signal will end if it is destroyed, or if it is entirely encased in even a thin layer of lead or gold. If the signal is cut by the end of the fourth day, the asteroid or comet will miss the world entirely, even if the signal is reestablished later. If the signal persists for four days the meteor cannot be stopped, only given a chance to strike elsewhere. At this point a circle of light with five inward spikes will appear in the sky, a mile above the device and two miles across, a visible warning to all in the area; this signal ends if the device is destroyed or blocked. If the signal is cut on the fifth day, the asteroid or comet will strike a random location within 5,000 miles of the device’s last broadcast location; if cut on the sixth day, a location within 1,000 miles of that location; if cut in the first half of the seventh day, a location within 100 miles. If the device is not destroyed or blocked by this point, the meteor cannot be diverted except by moving the device.
The meteor will break up, but its primary mass will impact the location of the device; if the device is in a structure, the structure is dealt 5,000 extraordinary bludgeoning structural damage, or 35,000 if the structure is wooden. Other fragments of the meteor devastate the surrounding area, covering a 24-mile hex. For every 1,000 families in a domain, each stronghold and each urban settlement will lose 1d6 × 1000gp in value, and 1d3 × 100 families will be slain. If the remaining stronghold value or urban investment value in the hex is too low to sustain the domain’s population, it will immediately lose any excess population as the population scatters. The domain afflicted must make an immediate domain morale roll with a -2 penalty.
The asteroids and comets long prepared for this task are more than simple rock and ice, each selected in a past age for a specific purpose. An orbital desynchronizer has a 25% chance of being found with details of its associated celestial body. For each, the Judge should roll 1d6 on the Meteor Contents table.
Meteor Contents (roll 1d6)
Life-Giver: The meteor has an abundance of simple organic nutrients, effectively fertilizing the area. The land value of all territory within the hex is increased by 2gp per peasant family for the next 12 months.
Earth-Salter: The meteor is replete with complex chemistries that are incompatible with terrestrial life, poisoning the land. The land value of all territory within the hex is decreased by 2gp per peasant family for the next 12 months.
Metal Men: At the meteor’s core is a large mass of metal, revealed on impact to be 1d4 near-humanoid forms. These iron golems (see ACKS II Monstrous Manual, p. 163) will follow their last orders, to destroy any standing structure and kill any living thing it encounters of man-size or larger. If the desynchronizer was found with information, this information will include command codes which, spoken aloud, compel the golems’ loyalty.
Secret Force: The meteor contained hidden alien technology, 144 infiltration soldiers stored in cryo-pods for long-term travel. The technology is reduced to scrap on impact, and most of the soldiers are killed, but 6d6 infiltrators survive. Use statistics for doppelgängers (see ACKS II Monstrous Manual, p. 104). Infiltrators were bred and indoctrinated for obedience to a cruel, hopefully distant, empire among the stars. If the desynchronizer was found with information, this information will include intercepted command codes which, spoken aloud, compel the infiltrator’s begrudging compliance. Absent such control, infiltrators will attempt to gain control of available resources and political structures, with the goal of contacting their superiors by use of technology or magic to facilitate further invasion.
Lost Arsenal: The remains of an otherworldly vessel, or small resupply base, are found within the wreckage. Most contents are destroyed in the crash, but technological items worth a total of about 50,000gp remain functional (Judge’s choice).
Alien Pathogen: A terrible alien disease was contained in the meteor, spreading rapidly. Over a week plague kills 1d10! families for every 100 families in the 6-mile hex at which the meteor impacted. It then spreads to each neighboring 6-mile hex, provided that hex is settled with at least 100 families. Unlike a plague ritual, a given hex is only affected by the pathogen once, with no lingering effects. This process repeats for a total of 1d8 weeks. Domains affected by the pathogen have their base morale score immediately reduced by two points, recovering at a rate of 1 point per month.
Behind the Scenes
The effects of the meteor strike are a combination of several sub-effects.
The structural damage is equivalent to 20 castings of sunder structure. Typical blast spell math doesn’t have modifiers for a spell taking a week to take effect, but if we hold that equivalent, on net, to the touch range of the spell we’re comparing it to, the damage is 800 points.
The general destruction of the domain is about a third of a cataclysm ritual. If we assume cataclysm is not a breakthrough, it’s worth 666 points.
Between those two we’ve spent 1,466 points. A 9th level ritual is 2,000 points, so we’ve got a bit over 500 to spare. This is what a 7th level ritual costs, so we will be choosing or designing effects that would themselves be 7th level rituals.
Results 1 and 2 are simply the harvest and ravage rituals.
Result 3, the iron golems, is built as a Summoning spell with Perpetual duration, at a cost of 555 points.
Result 4, the doppelgängers, is similarly build as a Summoning spell, with a cost of 490 points to summon 19 doppelgangers. For variety’s sake, this was changed to 6d6.
Result 5 is scaling down one possible result of Wish (wishing for a 200kgp magic item) by a factor of 4, and taking away the ability to know what you’re getting. Seems reasonable, if eyeballed more than the other results.
Result 6 is a scaled down plague ritual. Only affecting each hex once, rather than repeatedly, is a significant change. I don’t think a weekly vs monthly spread rate is a big difference, when there’s no caster to kill to end the plague, and a faster rate followed by the disease burning out feels much more The Andromeda Strain to me. If the time change is net-neutral, going from 11+ steps to 1d8 is a significant decrease, so this feels like a mere 7th level ritual.
I like it. I really really like it.