OSR: Pirates of the Merabaha, Session 7

Last session, the salt-crusted pirates of the sloop Magnificent sailed to Chult, fought some horrible flying people, met some pirates, tried to hunt giant lizards, died to giant lizards, died to tigers, and returned to their ship saddened and impoverished. The PCs are:

Captain Beatrix, a Tarraconese carpenter, engineer, and smooth talking hustler. Still captain despite having "port = left" embroidered on her sleeve.

John Wex the Bastard, a disgraced sailor with some book-learning and a head for adventure.

Margarita Duerte, Tarraconese blacksmith and (secretly) hermetic mage. 

The Crew. Yes, the Crew are a PC. Some are seasoned pirates, some are Chultan villagers convinced that a life at sea is better than a life in the giant-lizard-infested jungle. Owing to the law of conservation of competence, the Crew are only about as useful as a standard PC.

Having restocked their ship in Jahaka Bay, the Captain announced their next venture. They would sail north along the coast, anchor near the site of the "giant step-pyramid" they'd spotted on the last expedition, find a route up the cliffs, and avoid a long perilous trek through the jungle. The crew was unenthusiastic, but John Wex regaled them with tales of temples full of gold and gems the size of grapefruits.

The logbook, normally quite detailed, is blank for the entirety of the expedition. Fragmentary notes in later entries speak of "the trials of the pyramid" and the "great speaking serpent" who dwelled there. Most of the crew did not go ashore; those who did told of "terrible bewitchment". The Captain, Margarita, and John Wex returned unharmed but with no treasure and no wish to discuss their experience.

But after that day John Wex could always find true north without a compass and read the winds and tides like an open book. Captain Beatrix asked for charts to Yoon-Suin and pored over them for hours. And Margarita, always skeptical, was heard to mutter, "never cut a deal with something thou dost not understand".

Note: I adapted the Orolunga challenge from 5th Edition's Tomb of Annihilation module. The original challenge holds the players' hands in an insulting way, ensuring they can't possibly fail. The players solved the first step by chance (having gathered up some local flowers to act as bedding for Margarita's growing collection of poisonous spiders), solved stage 2 by inspecting some carvings, and solved stage 3 by more-or-less throwing everything they had at the snakes. Good proper OSR play. The Naga at the top granted wishes - the consequences were not explained. John Wex wished to be a good navigator, the Captain wished to "find a way to become the best pirate" and was given a vision of a treasure far away, and Margarita cut no deals and asked no favours.

Giving players an unexpected wish spell - even one with no monkey's-paw-type consequences, is always entertaining. The naga could only affect things in the room or provide information about the rest of the world.

The logbook could also be blank because the Captain's return to the Majestic was more perilous than expected. A Tarraconese frigate, weatherbeaten and low, had come alongside the Majestic and was conducting an impromptu trial of the crew. As Captain Beatrix, Margarita, John Wex, and a few hand-picked crew watched from shore, the Tarraconese began rigging nooses along the yardarms. Apparently the trial had not gone well for the pirates.

The Captain came up with a plan to retake their ship. The Tarraconese seemed distracted; most of their crew was on deck and at full attention. A few chosen crew could sneak aboard the Tarraconese ship through a gunport, find the powder store, and set it aflame. At the same time, John Wex, disguised as Satan himself, would leap onto the deck and terrify the superstitious sailors. In the confusion, the pirates could regain control of the Majestic and sail away. Margarita assured the Captain that John's disguise would be "almost supernaturally effective."

Unfortunately, but perhaps not unexpectedly, the plan went awry:

1. The pirates rowed out from shore and remained undetected. They moored alongside the Tarraconese ship.
2. The crew snuck aboard, found the powder magazine, overpowered the guards, and prepared to light a fuse.
3. The crew, in their enthusiasm, accidentally lit the entire room on fire. The gunpowder exploded immediately, killing several pirates but throwing the Tarraconese ship into total confusion.
4. Through the smoke rising from the hole in the hull, John Wex leapt aboard. His face had been painted red, he sported enormous horns, a pitchfork, hooves, and a long forked beard. He shouted, "The Prince of Devils is here to aid these pirates! Run! Run for your liiives!".
5. The Tarraconese sailors panicked. The pirates panicked. Everyone panicked. His disguise was surprisingly good.
6. Only the Tarraconese captain was able to act. He drew his sword, sprinted up to John, and slashes the capering devil in the leg. John fell, cursing and bleeding profusely.
7. Aboard the Majestic, Captain Beatrix took careful aim and blasted the enemy ship with cannonfire.
8. Margarita and a few crew rescued John Wex and killed the Tarraconese captain in a fusillade of pistol fire. 
9. Secretly, Margarita bound the fallen captain's soul to his large gold crucifix. She insisted on wearing the crucifix everywhere. The crew, thoroughly spooked by Margarita's behavior, didn't insist on dividing the spoils.
10. The Majestic fled as fast as it could.

Two days later, after taking on new crew and additional gunpowder Jahaka Bay, the Majestic sailed north again, this time to catch the stricken Tarraconese frigate. The crew had insisted on taking revenge, or at least looting something of value, and the Captain had agreed. They tracked the waterlogged frigate for a full day, fired off a few warning shots, then boarded her and stole everything that wasn't nailed down. The cannons were thrown over the side, with one tied to the ship's priest. "Bad luck to kill a priest," John Wex remarked, "but he was a bad sort of priest."

Enriched, well supplied, and properly satisfied, the crew were delighted when the Captain announced a new voyage. They were less satisfied by the destination. "We sail for the Isle of Dread", Beatrix said, pointing west."

Would the Majestic ever reach that ill-omened isle? Would they find riches or death? Would Margarita's crimes against God and nature go unpunished?

Find out next time.

OSR: The Indefinite Train - Community Project

I'd like to try running a collaborative community project.

The Indefinite Train

There's a giant train that passes through many worlds. Everyone writes a one-page dungeon carriage using a template. The carriages get stitched together to make a sort of randomly generated segmented megadungeon, suitable for drop-in games, travel between worlds, or extremely random encounters. A summary of the setting and some design notes can be found in this folder.
 
All you need to do to contribute is copy the template to your Google Drive (or download it, but don't blame me if the formatting goes all wonky), edit it, then post it to this folder. Anyone can contribute!

If you want to test ideas or ask for advice, stop by the #gygaxian-train-assembly channel in Chris McDowall (Bastionland)'s Discord.

Here are two example carriages I whipped up:
Goblin Cannonade
The Roving Library of the Carnelian Sphynx

Backstory

There's a train. Possibly the Train; all others are imitations. Carriages are 100' wide and 200' long. Two levels and a roof. Every carriage has a door at the front (upline) and back (downline) and a roof hatch. It travels at 66.6 miles per hour. Some people say the Engineer, the Train's driver, is God (or a god) fleeing the end of the world. People have visited. They say if you reach the Engine you can ask the Engineer to grant one wish.

At the front of the Train, complex machines lay down new track, throw up bridges, and cut tunnels. At the other end of the train is Hell, or something like it. Demons and strange monsters infest the carriages there.
 
The angels of the Engineer are the Conductors, masked floating giants clad in blue and white. Their functions are mysterious. They don’t seem to understand how people work.

Sometimes, usually during storms, the Train's carriages rearrange. The track branches and reforms. New carriages arrive, old ones vanish or switch places.
 
The Train has been traveling for a very long time. Many carriages have been completely converted to new forms: temples, dungeons, palaces, villages, farms, etc, etc, etc. Some raid, some protect, some just exist. The loot and detritus of ten thousand worlds. A vast city of self-contained feuding blocks, reshuffled every so often to let new feuds rise to the surface.

The Train passes through many worlds. It doesn’t travel through space or underwater, but it can turn up almost anywhere there’s a breathable atmosphere. The train typically tries to pass through flat areas at least 100’ wide, but it can bore through mountains, throw down bridges, or rearrange buildings as it roars through a city. Old timers say it once tunneled straight down for a week and everyone had to hang on to the walls.

Boarding The Train
Sometimes, inhabitants of worlds visited by the train are scooped up and tossed into a new or existing carriage, along with treasures, supplies, livestock, etc, etc. It seems a bit arbitrary. New sentient arrivals are given a Ticket. Anyone who falls off the train while holding a Ticket will be collected by a Conductor and placed back on... somewhere. Tickets are transferable and extremely valuable.

People also sneak aboard the train. It’s a great way to travel between worlds, provided you don’t have a particular destination in mind. Illicit arrivals don’t have start with a Ticket.

New arrivals are usually too disorientated to throw away their tickets and leap off the train before before they’ve reached a new world. Would you really risk leaping off a moving train into a new and dangerous landscape?

Altering Your Carriage
Messing with the carriage structures seems to be fine. Messing with the wheels and linkages, not so much. Conductors turn up if anyone interferes with the wheels or tries to derail the train.

Final Notes

This project was made possible (in a vague way) by backers of my new Patreon, and the inescapable feeling of dread and guilt it inspires. Hooray!

OSR: Spell Research and Magical Industry, Part 2

Alchemists and wizards have identified twelve kinds magical explosions. The uninitiated bystander can usually only identify one; “a bad ‘un”. Faulty equipment, ambitious experiments, and sabotage can easily level a warehouse or factory. There’s a reason magical warehouses are built with thick walls and thin roofs. 

For the table below, [charge] is the number of magic charges currently in the piece of Magical Equipment, wand, rod, sword, etc. If in doubt, use 1 [charge] for a minor item, 1d6 [charges] for a normal personal magic item, and 4d6 [charges] for a large or powerful item.

If proper failsafes and detectors are in place, Magical Equipment provides 1d6 rounds of warning before exploding. Cheap, badly maintained, or experimental equipment may provide only 1 round of warning.

1d12	Magical Explosions
1	Calcination. Runaway heating. The device smoulders, smokes, and then detonates, dealing [charge]d6 damage to everything in a [charge]x10’ radius.
2	Congelation. Thickening and slowing. A sphere of slow time emerges from the device as its core fails. Everything inside the [charge]x10’ radius sphere moves at 1/10th normal speed. The sphere collapses after for 4d6 hours.
3	Fixation. Locking into a solid form. The device shimmers and crunches. Everything in a [charge]x10’ radius is coated in a thin layer of stone. Requires a hammer to chip people out.
4	Dissolution. Suspended in liquid. Device liquefies, sizzles, runs like water. The liquid is mildly toxic but does not deal any immediate damage.
5	Digestion. Sealed and gently heated. The device becomes very warm and cannot be used for [charge] days.
6	Distillation. Separated by heat. The device shakes and rattles, then flies apart. Everything in a 100’ radius has a [Charge]% chance of being struck by debris and dealt 2d6 damage.
7	Sublimation. Transformed from a solid into a gas. The device smokes and froths, creating a [charge]x10’ radius cloud of toxic fog. Any living thing in the cloud takes 1d4 damage per round.
8	Separation. Split into two or more pieces. The device falls apart noisily. It can potentially be repaired. If it contains a spell, the spell is automatically cast. If not, it creates a Stray Spell.
9	Ceration. Addition of liquid during heating. The device softens, then rises 1,000’ in the air before messily exploding. Anything hit by the ascending device takes [charge]d6 damage. Reroll the Weather.
10	Putrefaction. Rotting and corruption. A powerful wave of nausea strikes anyone near the device. Moments later, it collapses into a flickering point of light, then explodes. Any living creature in a [dice]x10’ radius must Save or die. All spells and enchantments in the affected area must Save or end.
11	Multiplication. Creation of new forms. The device glows, cracks, and suddenly splits into hundreds of bouncing spheres of pure magic. Everything in a [charge]x10’ radius must Save or take 1d20 damage.
12	Projection. Conversion to a higher form. The device lifts into the air, produces a crackling octarine aura, then disappears with a thunderclap. The explosion produces a nodule of pure occultum worth [charge]x1d100gp. Anyone who looked at the explosion must Save or go mad for 1d6 hours. All magic items or devices within a [charge]x10’ radius have a [charge]% chance of also exploding.

Note: the 12 types of explosions are based on twelve alchemical processes. Alchemy was a subtle art, and many of the processes are more spiritual than physical. Interpreting them as explosions required a bit of simplification.

Designing New Magical Equipment

The paradigm discussed in the previous post should provide enough information for players and GMs to plausibly create new industrial magic equipment.

First, figure out what you want the device to do. Let's say you want it to capture ghosts and convert them into lightning. Is this possible? Who knows! But it's feasible.

• The base cost for a new piece of Magical Equipment is 1,000gp.
• The GM and players decide if the new machine resembles any existing piece of Magical Equipment. If it does, that cost is added. 
• The GM and players take a look at the generic price list. If anything on that list resembles a part of the new machine, its cost is also added.
• The GM and players decide if any gemstones or metals are particularly relevant to the machine's intended function. For each metal or gem, add 100gp to the final cost.

Assembling and testing the device takes an entire Season, so won't be ready to use until next Season. The players can throw money at the problem, multiplying all costs by 10, to get it ready this Season.

Example:
The players want to build a ghost capturing device and convert the ghosts to lightning for their other project (a giant reverse-lightning rod to blast enemy cities).

• The base costs is 1,000gp.
• The device resembles a Spell Breeding Reactor. Spells are like souls, the GM reasons, and this device is technically converting them into new forms. The players want to try a small-scale version first, so the GM suggests a low-level Spell Breeding Reactor (3,000gp).  
• The device doesn't really resemble or require anything from the price list.
• The GM decides the machine needs Lead (to trap the ghosts), Silver (to bind and damage them), Mercury (to transform ghosts into lightning), and Ruby (to focus the energy into one form). That's an extra 400gp.

So the final cost is 4,400gp.

Does it work?

Yes.

If the idea is feasible, the machine works. If the idea is not feasible, don't let the players pay for it. The consequence of failure shouldn't just be money; that's boring.

The really interesting aspect of this whole process is the consequences of using the new machine. How will it alter the world? What will the players need to do to protect their investment? Turning ghosts into lightning won't sit well with some people. Random arcs of lightning flying out of a warehouse may result in fines, fires, and complaints. Lightning can become intelligent and seek revenge. Etc, etc, etc.

Basically, creating new Magical Equipment creates a new pre-apocalyptic condition, even if the equipment was made to try and avert another type of apocalypse.

Also, exciting news!

I have a Patreon now. While most content will appear on this blog, patrons get access to behind-the-scenes content, sneak previews, and other cool goodies.

OSR: Spell Research and Magical Industry, Part 1

In order to provide a basis for player invention and extrapolation, you'll need a system that:

• Explains most magical phenomena in your setting. 
• Explains some real-world phenomena.

Once the paradigm - the core set of rules and assumptions used by the system - is understood, players can improvise within those rules without constantly needing GM adjudication. Players asking "Can we do do that but in reverse?" or "Oh, is that why plants have green leaves?" won't send the GM scrambling for a thick reference tome. If it makes sense within the paradigm, it's good enough for RPG purposes.

Here's the state of the art magical paradigm in Endon, expanded from the original Principia Arcana.

Spells are living creatures. Spells, enchantments, ghosts, and souls are all more or less the same. Souls inhabit a living shell most of the time. Weak souls require the living shell to be maintained with food, water, air, etc. Strong souls, like those of sufficiently magical creatures, can ignore biology and physics.

A wizard's spells range in intelligence from pond scum to ferrets. A spellbook is a menagerie-prison. A well-trained brain is a mind-gun loaded with spell-bullets. Minor spells, called cantrips, infest the wizard's soul and bind to it. You can imagine them as extra, mutated limbs, except stuck to the soul and not the body.

Spells can be bred and trained. Copying a spell is difficult and tedious. Enchanting an object means convincing a spell to activate more-or-less permanently and is exceptionally tricky. Runes and engravings can help form a combination prison, racetrack, and factory.

Magical energy is spell food and fuel. It’s gunpowder for the mind-bullets. Raw magic generates octarine light, the eighth colour, when it interacts with normal matter; a faint purplish-green sparkle or flare.

Wands are portable brains for storing spells and magical energy. Powerful wands can act like a magical battery, storing extra charges for a wizard. Concentrated magic has a tendency to explode.

Raw magical energy flows from the sun to the earth. This is why spells return at dawn and many magical effects only last for a single day.

It's possible this theory isn't true. It might even be wildly inaccurate. But it does explain most of the observable facts and that's good enough for the wizards. After all, Newton knew how gravity worked without having the faintest idea of why gravity worked. The theory of caloric fluids explains a cooling cup of tea and predicts the speed of sound in air. Radioactivity had a long and exciting life without an explanation; oil prospectors corrected for continental drift long before the geologists started paying attention to coastlines and fossils.

So maybe magic will turn out to be electromagnetic corpuscules or planes of negative and positive energy. Maybe it will be something else entirely. But right now, for the purposes of this article, the spells-as-living-creatures theory given here is true.

Figure from Occult Chemistry, which is a real book and also excellent.

Metals

There are eight metals. All metals are made from condensed magic. This is why gold and silver have an almost supernatural appeal.

• Occultum: purified condensed magic. Massless. Like dark glass. Core fuel for many magical items and devices.
• Gold: a powerful conductor and accumulator of magic strongly associated with the sun.
• Silver: capable of altering the nature of magic, just as the moon alters sunlight into moonlight. Ghosts and highly magical creatures are wounded by silver.
• Mercury: a "live" form of silver. Acts as a magical capacitor, storing charge and then suddenly releasing it. Also has strong associations with transformation and scrying magic.
• Iron: a strong association with blood and violence. Accepts enchantments easily.
• Tin: a "dead" form of silver. Tin has no known useful magical properties.
• Lead: absorbs magic and stores it. Used as the core of magic batteries or for heavy magical shielding. Ghosts cannot pass through lead.
• Copper: capable of negating spells or diffusing magical energy back into the environment. Magic shields and barriers are often made of copper.

Generating Occultum is very difficult and requires enormous specialized condensers. Very few wizards attempt it, and instead buy from local suppliers. A single occultum "coin" the size of a fingernail is worth 100gp.

It's fairly easy, using a small bit of magic and some basic tools, to transform a metal higher on the list to one lower on the list. The reverse requires a lot of magical energy and usually results in an explosion.

Gems

There are eight true gems. All other gems are corruptions, variants, or "mere stones."

• Diamond: believed to be fragments of the crystal spheres surrounding the earth. Diamonds can act as a lens backwards through time, allowing glimpses of the past. They also act as powerful magic resonators, increasing the power of spells and enchantments.
• Ruby: this red stone acts as a magical focus, gathering diffuse energy or spells into one point.
• Citrine: orange and sharp, citrine is known as a thinking stone, and is used for many intelligent or near-intelligent spells.
• Topaz: true yellow topaz can diffuse a spell or enchantment, blunting its power without destroying it.
• Emerald: emeralds are fragments of leaves from a primordial tree. They enhance spells that deal with life directly; either sustaining, measuring, or ending it.
• Sapphire: deep blue sapphires enhance patterns and ensure time flows at a constant rate.
• Tourmaline: indigo tourmaline can split light into all eight colours. Light, detection, and invisibility spells rely on tourmaline.
• Amethyst: least worthy is the violet amythest, a gem that merely protects other spells from minor interference. Used as a charm against drunkenness.

Gems are sold by jewelers. A cut gem (with a specially selected number of facets) worth using in magic is worth at least 10gp, with larger stones worth up to 1,000gp.

Combining the theory of metals and gems, we can see why crowns (gold, a magic accumulator, surrounding a variety of beneficial gems) are such powerful symbols.

Other Sets of Eight

• Eight colours of light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and octarine)
  Eight points on a compass rose.
  Eight intervals in the octave.
• Eight possible directions (up, down, left, right, forward, backwards, backward-through-time and the impossible forward-through-time). 
• Eight true celestial bodies (the Sun, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), all others being classified as "entrapped offspring".
• Eight elements (stone, water, ice, fire, lightning, acid, air, and the newly identified "void" or "vacuum")
• Eight perfect geometric forms (sphere, tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, cuboctahedron, and unahedron, the regular polygon with fewer than zero faces).

Some specious wizards maintain that the "eight deadly sins" and "eight blessed virtues" fall within this system. "If that were so," High Wizard Brumley once quipped, "then surely the eight table  settings of a formal dinner service and the eight pawns on each side of a chessboard would have supernatural significance."

Magical Industrial Equipment

Please compare prices to the price list here.

Magic Accumulators

A lead cylinder wrapped in thin bands of gold and glass. The cylinder slowly builds magical charge. Rotating the cylinder speeds up the process. mall Magic Accumulators are the size of a coffee machine. Large Magic Accumulators are the size of a carriage.Gargantuan Magical Accumulators take up half a warehouse.  

Magic Accumulators
Size	Tempo	Charges Per Day	Cost
Small	[   ]	1	1,000gp
	[   ][   ]	2
	[   ][   ][   ]	3
Large	[   ]	4	3,000gp
	[   ][   ]	8
	[   ][   ][   ]	12
Gargantuan	[   ]	8	6,000gp
	[   ][   ]	16
	[   ][   ][   ]	24

Charges can be used to refill a wand or magic weapon's charges. They are also used to bind enchantments, transmute metals, and power strange and dangerous magical devices.

Magic Accumulators only explode if they are at full charge and rotate for an entire day without discharging. Most have safeguards to vent raw magic to the atmosphere instead of detonating, but safeguards can always fail.

Magical Batteries

Large copper and iron tubs containing mercury and filaments of occultum, magic batteries store magic charges for later use. 

Magic Batteries
Size	Tempo	Charges Stored	Cost
Small	[   ]	2	2,000gp
	[   ][   ]	5
	[   ][   ][   ]	10
Large	[   ]	6	6,000gp
	[   ][   ]	15
	[   ][   ][   ]	30
Gargantuan	[   ]	20	12,00gp
	[   ][   ]	50
	[   ][   ][   ]	100

Each time a charge is added beyond a battery's listed capacity, there's a 10% chance they explode. Most sensible wizards refuse to fill batteries beyond 50% capacity... unless they're working on a really exciting project.

Spell Breeding Reactors

Two copies of a spell must be placed into the heart of a spell breeding reactor. Raw magic, carefully placed gems, spinning gears, and filaments of occultum gradually induce copies of the spells to form. Spells can be collected into scrolls or spellbooks, or directly bound to objects using an enchantment engraver.

Spell levels may need to be adjusted based on your campaign and magic system. Level 0 or 1 spells are trivial workings. Level 9+ spells are proper works of archmastery; very difficult to cast, let alone breed. A reactor to breed those spells must be custom built and requires at least 100,000gp in components.

Spell Breeding Reactor
Level of Spell	Tempo	Time to New Spell	Charges per Spell	Cost
Low (0-2)	[   ]	1 day	1	3,000gp
	[   ][   ]	12 hours
	[   ][   ][   ]	6 hours
Medium (3-5)	[   ]	5 days	3	10,000gp
	[   ][   ]	2 days
	[   ][   ][   ]	1 day
High (6-8)	[   ]	20 days	5	20,000gp
	[   ][   ]	10 days
	[   ][   ][   ]	5 days
Very High (9+)	[   ]	80 days	10	n/a
	[   ][   ]	40 days
	[   ][   ][   ]	10 days

Running a spell breeding reactor with two different spells is a good way to create new and lucrative hybrid spells. It's also a good way to destroy your equipment.

Enchantment Engraver

Every wizard has their own system for binding spells to object. Most involve a negligible amount of gold and occultum, though more powerful enchantments may require gems and specially prepared materials.

Enchantment Engraver
Level of Spell	Charges/Hours per Spell	Cost
Low (1-2)	1	300gp
Medium (3-5)	3	600gp
High (6-8)	5	1,000gp
Very High (9+)	10	n/a

To enchant an existing object, consult the price list.

Enchantment effects are based on the spell used. The GM will need to adjudicate the exact effects, but players probably have an idea in mind when they start down the path to magical industry.

Test Cases

A wizard discovers a new level 1 spell named extinguish flames. They want to mass produce and sell it. Endon's current Tempo is [  ].

The wizard spends all the money they have in the world and takes out some seriously painful loans to buy a small magic accumulator for 1,000gp, a low-level Spell Breeding Reactor for 3,000gp, and an Enchantment Engraver for 300gp, for a total of 4,300gp.

A Season in Endon has 180 days. Because the Magical Accumulator only produces 1 charge per day, half of those days are spent producing spells and half are spent enchanting objects. Assuming all goes well, that's 90 enchanted objects in a Season. Assuming they can be sold for 5gp each, that's 450gp per season... so it'll merely take 10 years (without interest) to turn a profit.

Oh dear.

What if the wizard went into business with a larger firm, and could afford a gargantuan Magical Accumulator, four low-level Spell Breeding Reactors, and a lone enchantment engraver for a total of 18,300gp.

The accumulator produces 8 charges per day. 4 are spent on making 4 new spells per day and 4 are spent enchanting objects with those spells. 4 spells x 180 days in a Season x 5gp per object is 3,600gp per season. That's merely 5 years to turn a profit.

Oh dear.

So how does a wizard make money in Endon?

First, by selling items for more than 5gp. Marketing helps. Legislation is better. Publicity is best. What if, instead of a shabby metal token, the wizard sold beautiful enameled orbs (a few penny's worth of paint and varnish)? What if, instead of hawking extinguish flames on street corners, Parliament were to pass a law requiring every theater, coachyard, and dockyard to own an extinguish flame device? What if they were motivated to pass such a bill by a few well-timed fires conveniently extinguished by our friend the wizard and their new invention?

Second, by accepting that most low-level magic items are churned out by vast factory firms, who keep prices low to drive out competition and use surplus equipment from early ventures to crank out low-level magic items as a side business.

Third, by sabotaging those bastards and replacing them.

Fourth, by buying lightly discounted magical equipment that's almost as good as the verified stuff. You can get up to 50% off the prices above if you're willing to buy damaged, experimental, or jury-rigged devices.

Fifth, by selling things that non-magical physics can't do. Extinguish flames? Water can do that. Continual light? Coal gas is cheap. But a tiny dancing statue that fits in the palm of your hand? Paint that lets you see through walls? A flying carriage?

Sixth, by waiting for the Tempo to increase and magical equipment to become more efficient. At Tempo [   ][   ][   ], a gargantuan Magical Accumulator (24 charges/day), three low-level Spell Breeding Reactors (12 spells/day), and a lone enchantment engraver costs just 15,000gp and produces 12 spells per day.

Seventh, by taking out loans under a false name, getting as rich as you can, and running away from the city in the dead of the night with a coach full of discount magic items, gold, and disguises.

And finally, eighth, by experimenting and pushing the boundaries of the possible.

In Part 2, I'll cover making new equipment and the joyful wonder of magical explosions.

OSR: Currency in Endon

Endon, the city at the heart of my upcoming Magical Industrial Revolution book, is Restoration-Georgian-Regency-Victorian fantasy, so I've created a Restoration-Georgian-Regency-Victorian price list. There are still items I'd like to add: magical reactors, potions, newspapers, printing presses, inns, funerals, etc., but I thought I'd put up the draft for review.

Dore's London

The Season

In Endon, the Season lasts from January to June: approximately half the year. It starts with the first balls of the season, properly wakes up with horse races and Parliament's return, roars through spring and early summer, then slowly winds down by June as the great families return to their country estates. For convenience, a Season contains 180 days.

Everything in Endon happens during the Season. During the rest of the year (the Off-Season), it's assumed life  just carries on. Poor, Lower, and Middle Class PCs are assumed to be working or nursing wounds, grudges, and/or infants. Some Middle and Upper Class PCs can roll on a giant carousing table to lose their fortunes at cards, gain insight into the future, etc, etc. In the Off-Season, nobody gains or loses money.

PCs go on adventures during the Season. Once a dungeon has been cleared, a crisis averted, a mansion burgled, a rival bankrupted, etc, the Season ends. The GM, probably between game sessions, then rolls to advance various Innovations and sets up the next Season.

Adventures in the Off-Season are possible (of course).

The prices below are based on notes from the Jane Austen Society, Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor, and T.A.J Burnett's The Rise and Fall of a Regency Dandy. The last source in particular was very useful for adventuring purposes. Scrope Davies lead a very interesting life.

1gp = 10sp = 100cp = (very approximately) £1 in 1800 = (extremely approximately) $100 modern American. The values should be within an order of magnitude of accurate. Given this information, it should be possible to adjust Endon's currency to suit your system.

Item	Cost
Clothing
Rags	3cp
Work Clothing (coat, underclothes, boots)	8sp
Proper Clothing (jacket or dress, shoes)	1gp
Extravagant Clothing	10gp
Wig	1gp
Fine Hat	1gp
Fine Umbrella	1gp
Food
Cheap Meal (bread, drippings)	1cp
Basic Meal (bread, cheese, beer)	3cp
Moderate Dinner (cold meat, bread, beer)	7cp
Steak Dinner (steak, dip, bread, beer)	1sp
Sumptuous Dinner (steak, fish, fruit, wine, beer)	1gp
Bread (1 loaf)	1cp
Local Cheese (1lb)	4cp
Fancy Cheese (1lb)	1sp
Oranges (1 dozen)	1sp
Rental Housing
Lodging House Room (disreputable, per night)	2cp
Lodging House Room (reputable, per night)	5cp
Apartment (small, per Season)	30gp
Apartment (large, per Season)	60gp
Apartment (luxurious, per Season)	100gp
Townhouse (on the outskirts, per Season)	50gp
Townhouse (central, per Season)	400gp
Owned Housing
Townhouse (on the outskirts)	1,200gp
Townhouse (central)	10,000gp
Country House	5,000gp
Country Estate (moderate)	20,000gp
Country Estate (vast)	100,000gp
Drink
Gin (5oz)	1cp
Beer (1 pint)	2cp
Local Wine (1 bottle)	3sp
Fancy Wine (1 bottle)	8sp
Brandy and Water	1sp
Entertainment
Penny Theater	1cp
Coffee House Evening	8cp
Prostitute (appalling)	3cp
Prostitute (cheap)	1sp
Prostitute (expensive)	1gp
Admission to the Long Mall	1sp
Box at the Theater	5sp
Piano	30gp
Education
Foreign Language Lessons (per Season)	2gp
Dancing Lessons (per Season)	4gp
Tuition and Board at Endon College (per Season)	15gp
Apprentice to a Wizard (per Season)	30gp
Transport and Mail
Local Postage	2cp
International Postage	1sp
Local Runner / Courier	1sp
Boat across the River Burl	4cp
Bicycle	2gp
Horse (Riding or Carriage)	20gp
Horse (Racing or Hunting)	100gp
Carriage (basic)	30gp
Carriage (luxurious)	80gp
Coach	100gp
Hirelings
Tip	1d6cp
Urchin (hourly rate for simple tasks)	2cp
Servant (per Season)	4gp
Fancy Servant (per Season)	12gp
Superlative Servant (per Season)	20gp
Misc. Supplies
Brass Barometer	2gp
Candles (1lb)	3sp
Cheap Book or Notebook	5sp
Coal (a day's worth)	1cp
Glass Bottle	1cp
Plates, Cups, Cutlery (6 sets)	1gp
Silver Watch	5gp
Teapot	2sp
Soap (1lb)	1sp
Healing
Bloodletting (unskilled)	3cp
A Course of Drugs	1gp
Pulling a Tooth	5cp
Amputation of a Limb	1gp
Difficult Surgery	30gp
Extremely Difficult Surgery	100gp
Advice of a Physician (per visit)	10gp
A Fleet of Physicians (per day)	50gp
Weapons
Dagger	1sp
Sword or Rapier	3sp
Dueling Pistol	5gp
State-of-the-Art Fowling Piece (shotgun)	70gp
Magic Items
Minor Magic Item (pg. ##)	 [   ] 5gp  [   ] [   ] 3gp  [   ] [   ] [   ] 2sp
Minor Magic Weapon (pg. ##)	 [   ] 15gp  [   ] [   ] 8gp  [   ] [   ] [   ] 4gp
Magic Sword (pg. ##)	 [   ] 100gp  [   ] [   ] 50gp  [   ] [   ] [   ] 30gp
The brackets [  ] indicate the Tempo of Endon.
Income	Revenue
Unskilled Manual Labour (per day)	1sp
Unskilled Manual Labour (per Season)	2gp
Skilled Manual Labour (per day)	2sp
Skilled Manual Labour (per Season)	4gp
Shop Clerk (per Season)	50gp
Merchant Banker (per Season)	200gp
Reputable Physician (per Season)	500gp
Sale of a Novel or Work of Poetry	10x1d20gp
Interest on Wealth (per Season)	2% of wealth deposited*

There are four social classes in Endon. The minimum costs for each are listed below. If you can't pay the costs,  you drop to the next class down (or, at the very end, starve to death).

• The Poor must support a Cheap Meal per day and a new set of Rags each Season.
• The Lower Class must support a a Lodging House Room and a Basic Meal per day and a new set of Work Clothes per Season.
• The Middle Class must support a Moderate Dinner per day, a Servant, an Apartment, and a new set of Proper Clothing per Season.
• The Upper Class must support a Steak Dinner per day, two Servants, a Luxurious Apartment, and a new set of Extravagant Clothing per Season. They must also own a Carriage, a Riding Horse, and a Country House.

The costs are the absolute bare minimum required to scrape by. Overspending is encouraged. Sharing housing costs with other PCs is also possible.

Cost to be Poor (per day)	1cp
Cost to be Poor (per Season)	2gp
Cost to be Lower Class (per day)	5cp
Cost to be Lower Class (per Season)	9gp
Cost to be Middle Class (per day)	3sp
Cost to be Middle Class (per Season)	45gp
Cost to be Upper Class (per day)	8sp
Cost to be Upper Class (per Season)	138gp

*Traditionally, this would be 5% of wealth deposited per year, but the Season is only half the year and I'm including taxes and fees wherever possible. Invest wealth at a bank. Assuming the world doesn't end (and what are the chances of that), the bank will provide a nice stable income at the start of each Season.

Loans

Need money quickly? No problem! Loans are available at 100% interest per Season, due at the end of the Season. Take out a loan for 1,000gp and you'll need to pay back 2,000gp. If you only pay back 500gp, you'll need to pay back another 3,000gp the next Season, etc. Debt can rapidly spiral out of control. If you can't pay, the lender will accuse you of Theft (pg. ##) and put you on trial.

You can take out new loans to pay off old ones but eventually the lenders will get together and come after you with a vengeance.

Loans from friends, relations, and patrons charge 5-10% interest per Season but typically come with strings attached.