Powerful Projects and How to Build Them

Games Fabula Ultima
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Since Dave as been trying to figure out things to do with Projects, I figured I’d take a swing at some of the Quick and Slow Projects found in the latest playtest packet for the upcoming Strategy Guide book for Fabula Ultima.

Quick Projects

Since these all need to be consumables, I put together some basic things that folks would probably want in a pinch. Since the new requirement is that any Quick Projects must consume a special ingredient or material, I included some sample ones here, but they could easily be changed out with anything of similar descriptor.

Lightning Rod

Consumable, Cost: 200z + Copper Wiring (minor potency, small area)
When you spend an action to plant this rod into the ground, you and your allies gain Resistance to bolt damage for the rest of the scene.

A very simple template for a defensive item for when you know ahead of time you’ll be facing an enemy who uses a lot of a particular type of damage.

Siegebreaker Charge

Consumable, Cost: 300z + Grenado Shard (major potency, individual area, flaw)
Blows a hole in almost any wall, large enough for a human-sized creature to move through comfortably. It is terribly loud however and will draw the attention of anyone nearby.

Similar to one of the rituals in Bill’s Ritual thread, just showing the overlay between the two disciplines and how they can be used.

Slow Projects

So unlike the Quick Projects, these are now something you can do at any rest with no real time investment beyond the time the rest takes in the first place. We can also get a little more out there with some of these effects.

Aether Disruptor

Permanent, Cost: 750z + Paradox Particle (medium potency, individual area, flaw)
A person wearing this cannot be tracked through magical or technological means, but doing so also disrupts their ability to use form aether, disrupting their ability to use many Skills and Spells.

Basically the technological version of Mizzle’s hiding rituals that he’s been using to protect Melody. This one comes with the downside of preventing that person from using magical themed Skills and almost all Spells.

Sunscreen Powder

Consumable, Cost: 800z + Verdant Petals (major potency, small area)
Spending an action to throw this powder into the air, you and your allies gain Resistance to fire and light damage for the rest of the scene.

Bigger consumables, unlike the Lightning Rod, need to be Slow Projects instead of Quick ones, but but getting to Major Potency lets us grants two Resistances instead of just one.

Personal Space Heater

Permanent, Cost: 1500z + Copper Wiring (major potency, individual area, flaw)
By modifying the heatsink within the clank, the Trimaldis can make themselves immune to the effects of environmental hazards having to do with cold or ice. After preventing such effects four times, this modification is disabled until the Trimaldis replace the burnt out fuel coil for a new one (a 2 IP item).

Something that might be useful for the Trimadlis in their upcoming efforts in the far north. :smiley:

What other creations do you folks think might be useful?

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As pointed out in the Rituals thread, Mizzle has big gaps in fire & ice elements generally. The Trimaldis could use some of these projects, or others, to cover the party’s fire/ice needs their way. A few suggestions along these lines:

In FF7, the Northern Continent includes chilly destinations like Bone Village, Icicle Inn, Great Glacier, and the Whirlwind Maze. Similarly, the northern part of our map might have strong winds - too strong to permit flight, forcing us to travel on the ground. And even then, the weather might be bad enough that just Magic Tents aren’t enough to enable us to rest. We might need Thermal-Insulated Magic Tents, Durable Climbing Gear, an Ultrasensitive Compass, and other tools to safely navigate.

What if there’s an Eerie Arctic Research Station? It needs specific parts to complete repairs. Can we find raw materials, or harvest them from nearby enemies? Can we produce them in time? Time to get to work.

There’s a megaboss we can’t fight directly, only distract while some kind of big gun or containment system does the real work. Can we repair damaged systems like those? Do they not exist to begin with and we have to build them? An example might be a huge underground ice monster that can be partially melted with a controllable mirror reflecting sunlight from the surface.

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We might have buried the lede here - the cinematic projects rules also provide a Visionary (SL 5) skill that could make projects easier. If Dave finds projects interesting, this is also a way to push Tinkerer closer to 10 (and get Quantum Magicannon) without taking skills he’s not interested in using

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The existing version of the Visionary skill also does that, just instead of providing additional progress, it now just raises the max size of the Project that can be undertaken.

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Yeah, it’s just rewriting it to meet the new project rules. But it sounded like Dave had kinda written off Tinkerer progression entirely, and I was saying that if the newer project rules sound appealing, maybe revisiting Visionary and more Tinkerer levels would be valuable.

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Hey, look, kids! Dave read this stuff before the game. By a whole few hours!

So, first off, thanks to both of you putting thought into this. It is indeed intriguing.

I’ve not leaned into the Project / Visionary stuff because (a) it didn’t particularly interest me (ask Margie how much I enjoy crafting mechanics in games we play) and (b) I had so many other directions to pursue with the TBs as ranged combat character. And maybe add (c), I’ve got what I can only consider a mental block in figuring out what can or can’t be done with projects and inventions and why and how and what I’d want to do with them (which is why I liked the suggestions). Which may be just that I still don’t understand the mechanics of the world and rules intuitively enough to understand how to legitimately shortcut them with projects.

That said … the stuff listed here all sounds both useful and, as suggested, highly useful for some of the stuff we might run into in the Northern Wastes.

Apropos of nothing, thanks for the Eerie Arctic Research Station tvtrope mention, Bill. My thoughts on glancing at that didn’t immediately go to The Thing or even Lovecraft, but to the also-referenced fave of mine, Ice Station Zebra (which movie demonstrates the large Venn overlap of action / thriller / horror films).

On the other hand, the playtest rules now state: “If you play with magitech armament, you cannot acquire the Heroic Skill Quantum Magicannon.” So there’s (not) that as an incentive to focus on Tinkerer. Even so …

Leaning more into the Tinkerer and projects thing fits in with the TBs as characters (the whole handwaving clank thing and rifle), and it has a recognizable utility for the party, and the new rules are certainly more streamlined (the opposite direction of how such things more often evolve), so I’m willing to nab at least a couple of levels in Tinkerer:Visionary and see how we can make this work and expand the TBs repertoire (and the DM’s fiendish scenario possibilities).

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“There’s a challenge, can I imagine gimmicking up a device to overcome it?” This is how Mizzle does rituals, and it sounds like quick projects can serve a similar purpose.

If you want to figure out what’s possible, I’d suggest two things.

First, pull out old issues of Analog or similar mid-century scifi where the heroes whip up a Turbo-encephalator or other such nonsense because explanations are for wimps.

Second, just think in terms of the elements: air, bolt (lightning), earth, poison, fire, ice, light, dark. Can you imagine these like fluids moving through a chemistry set, or like forces you channel and combine? We need a heating system, so you build a device that turns earth to fire - plant it in the ground, and we stay warm. Look at problems as combinations of elements and build a machine to mess with the combination, add some crystals and brass, and you should be fine.

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Mizzle is finally cookin’! Let’s see if we can find practical applications for all the Minor-Medium-Major-Extreme examples. I’m either ignoring Area, or including an example Area. All of these are cooking-themed but could be turned into a more magitech type thing with a little work.

Minor (100 z times Area)

  • Provide light: Glowing Mushroom Soup. Some mushrooms glow in the dark, and once you eat some of this soup, you will too.
  • Transport people or cargo on land or water: Daiquiri To Go. So frosty that the water under your feet will freeze up, letting you walk across lakes and rivers. Overuse can lead to a minor hangover.
  • Obtain some limited form of protection: Stuffed Bell Peppers. Protects the diner from extreme cold weather (but not enough for Ice Resistance).

Medium (200 z times Area)

  • Travel underwater: Seaweed Miso Soup. Permits underwater breathing and makes you swim faster. Often served in dive bars.
  • Contain a spell: Pickle Jar. Anything can be pickled, including spells or ritual effects being cast in the area. Consume the pickle to release the effect later.
  • Relay sound or speech: Cell Scone. Broken in half and given to two people. When one person eats it, the other develops a hunger for their half. If both eat, they can communicate live.
  • Perform a specific operation in place of the inventor: Ladyfingers. Consume a few, act out a repetitive action, and the uneaten ones will mimic the action. Jam can be used to delay the execution until later - such as flipping a switch or pulling a lever whose activation you don’t want to be around for.
  • Provide short-term energy: Chocolate Bar. This pick-me-up snack can let you push through exhaustion and fatigue, perhaps interacting with status effects like Slow.

Major (400 z times Area)

  • Fly: Fizzy Lifting Drink. Come on, you’ve seen the movie.
  • Alter the nature of an area for a short time: Magic Mushrooms. You aren’t hallucinating, things really are this way! Honest!
  • Cancel the effects of a spell: Sour Lemonade. The lemon taste causes so much puckering that it’ll suck in the effects of a spell the drinker is suffering from.
  • Possess minor intelligence: Stone Soup. Add unusual ingredients to a soup, let it bubble for a bit, and sample it. The voices of the ingredients will speak through you.
  • Fight alongside the inventor: Acorn Coffee. Perks up any Acorn Pixie, making it a more fearsome foe in a fight.
  • Provide long-term energy: Trail Mix. A healthy melange of nuts and berries, this mixture could extend the distance covered in a single travel day by giving you more energy.
  • Capture or immobilize the target: Bubblegum. Chew, blow, and when the bubble pops, it’ll entangle someone in an annoyingly gooey mess.

Extreme (800 z times Area)

  • Alter the nature of an area for a long time: Seed-Rich Watermelon. Eat and spit out the seeds, which will take root, grow, and change the environment.
  • Contain the power of a demon: Holy Wafers. Blessed by mysterious powers of light, these can drive back or isolate entities of darkness.
  • Prevent a catastrophe: Eastern Dumplings. An auspicious food with a deep cultural significance in its land of origin. Brings good fortune when consumed.
  • Possess a full intelligence and personality: Marinated Tofu. Make a marinade out of something significant to or connected to someone long past or a spirit or something. Once eaten, you briefly become spiritual tofu - gaining the qualities of whoever or whatever you wanted to invoke.
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