City of Guts and Lead Items (I)
This was originally planned to be a small part of a post for Hexcrawloween, however an extension on my PhD thesis, a couple of panic attacks, and the eventual submission of the thesis meant that this plan very quickly fell apart.
But that being said, now that I am free, I plan to put together a 1920s-ish adventure/setting titled "The City of Guts and Lead" for use in at least a couple of one-shots in the coming months. When those materialize, expect a few play reports and likely more little setting drops like this.
ZIP GUN
Against the frantic objections of the city's seneschal, the Prince ordered crates of these weapons distributed to the desperate masses as Coalition forces advanced. A crude device, just slightly larger than a revolver but twice as unwieldy, it can fire common rifle rounds puncturing armour and helmets once close enough to smell the victim's sweat. Each round must be slowly and consciously locked back into place using the 'zip' bolt that runs down the length of the barrel should it survive the previous ignition.
These limitations did not prevent their use in decorating that dark basement with the seneschal's consciousness. The pistol continues to haunt the underworld, damning many more to the same fate.
BLADED SHOVEL
When planning their war, the engineers innovated the shovel to make it compact and durable. Strong enough to dig through frozen soil and sharp enough to cut through deep roots, what chance would flesh, muscle or bone stand? These engineers knew not how valuable their contribution would be once the Coalition army rolled through the smoke-choked alleys of the capital.
These tools now find use in the excavation of ruined streets. The spirits of the dead beneath ash and rubble, bound to what remains of them, struck by a silent terror. The shovel returns to tear, break and destroy.
LOGIC MACHINE
Cryptographers, mathematicians, and artists came together under the generous donations of the Coalition administration to create these devices. Diesel-powered music boxes singing forth the hymns of progress, science and reality in the shape of complex equations. These devices are coveted by the Coalition's elite, hidden in the shrines of the highest holy men and under the beds of the most powerful governors to stave off the doubts and the nightmares.
What formulae do they cling to, that keep the world from going mad?