Kelvernian ray guns (and the like)

A first take at a few tech artifacts.

A much more simplified list than GW/MF, but I figure these will be like magic items, and relatively rare ones at that. The power cell will be a standard "battery." But larger, belt-pack power sources may be their own special item.

A new angle

I'm thinking about taking the whole "Mutants & Mazes" thing with Kelvernia in a different direction. The difficulty I keep running into is the few, but significant differences between the Labyrinth Lord (B/X) and Mutant Future systems. I would say they are 75-80% compatible, but the parts that aren't keep giving me fits.

First off the characters progression system is different enough to make is kludgy to blend characters from each game. Things like saves, to hits, etc. are more random in MF, so it "feels" unbalancing next to the more uniform D&D style progression in LL. 

Next are the hit points. While this is one of the most obvious changes, it is actually the easiest to fix. You just give the MF character types LL-style HP (likewise the monsters that vary between systems). 

The other problem, related to hit points, is weapon damage. Specifically, the "artifact" weapons (e.g. lasers, etc.). These weapons do a crazy amount of damage compared to things like LL PCs and monsters. Consider a vibro sword. It does 1d8 (longsword damage) +16(!!!) per hit. It can maintain this ability for up to 240 rounds before its battery dies. This thing could kill an average dragon in two (non critical)hits. That's too powerful for the game I want to play, but I don't want to make such items unheard of, either.

So what to do?

Well, in my case, I'm taking inspiration from a slightly different source, but one with a pedigree that most can appreciate.

Kind of a no-brainer, once I thought about it.

Instead of blending the systems, I'm going to port over and convert and scale the tech I want into D&D/LL terms/stats. This means I might not include certain items and monsters, but even using the MF book, it's doubtful any campaign would cover them all. Also, the Mutant Future book will be there as an awesome reference for any future needs.

This will also require updating/converting some of the mutations' descriptions, but I'm hoping that will be relatively minor.

In a future post, I'll give some stats for the "fantasized" versions of the MF weapons and gear. 

Technology and Kelvernia

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

-Arthur C. Clarke

Unlike a typical post-apocalyptic setting, the idea behind Kelvernia is that long-lost technology resurfaces into a fantasy world (somewhat like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks). As a result, there aren't "modern-era" ruins littering the landscape to search for things like grenades and submachine guns. The tech that appears in Kelvernia is "sci fi" tech. Ray guns, force swords, etc. There are two basic reasons for this:

1) It fits the setting: with a highly advanced civilization having left behind technology. Some of it is in disrepair due to the aeons that have passed.

2) The technology is orders of magnitude beyond the current levels of learning in Kelvernia. No one is going to disassemble a ray gun and figure out how to make more. 

I plan on treating such artifacts pretty much as magic items. Unlike a ring or a flying carpet, it will require more than just discerning a command word. Player characters will need to make technology rolls to learn how to use it. Failing that, they may need to employ the services of a Technomancer.

Technomancers are sages who study such devices and their origins. Because technological artifacts are so rare, much of their "studies" are simply theories, and frequently wrong. Nevertheless, many do have a knack for figuring out how the gizmos work. Further, sometimes successful technomancers may hire PCs to look for such objects.