New Spell- Harvest Machine Potential
I was looking through d20 Apocalpyse and once again was reminded of the most annoying, yet sensible trade unit. TUs are meant to provide parts for machines without most of the paperwork involved in recording what actual items the characters obtain and use. It sparked an idea, this spell meant for modern and futuristic settings done in Labyrinth Lord format:
Harvest Machine Potential
Level: M6
Duration: Instantaneous
Range: Touch
This spell turns functional or broken inorganic technology into a liquid* that can be used to fix or create any sort of machine the GM allows. The resulting liquid has the same mass as the machine that was converted, though it can be combined into larger amounts. The actual crafting or repair is difficult** and requires enchanted gloves or tools of the proper type for the crafting/repair. If the GM is using an ability score check, then it is at -8***. Failure not only wastes the liquid, there is a negative effect as well for the crafter. This may be a blast of radiation or flames (5d6 points of damage), loss of the enchanted gloves or tools, loss of Constitution (1d3 points) as the liquid gets into their body and causes permanent damage, or something equally serious. If the check is sucessful, then the resulting machine is twice as effective than its normal counterpart. This means one of the following: battery life, range, durability, 2 point bonus to attack, 2 point bonus to armor class, 4 point bonus to skill checks, or half the mass and size. If more of the liquid is used, thus incuring additional checks that may result in disaster, additional benefits may be added to the resulting new or modified device.
* Some of the common names for the liquid are Structural Slurry, Structural Slime, Machinery Paste, Craftsman's Oil, Craftsman's Ooze, Vigorous Machine Oil, Smart Paste and Amalagam Paste. Thanks to my friends on Alternityrpg.net for inspiration on these as I suck at naming things.
** Though the visual can be compared with Rocket fixing the Milano in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, it requires more than a spray bottle.
*** For d20 and 5e settings, this should be double the difficulty class. For Alternity, it is a 4 step penalty.
