#30: Bad Lands: Enlightened Alchemy

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/wushuskid...skidoo30.phtml

Summary:

Tagline: Transmutations, road scholars, & necrology!

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[Bayonder]

here are a few ideas I had for good "shorthand" equations,

A gun with symbols inscribed on it such that when the hammer fires it completes the equation and imbues the bullets with a special power. (the final symbol would have to be inscribed on each individual bullet of course)

a headband wrapped around a hat that finishes the equation when move into the proper position.

a glove whose equation is completed when one clenches there fist.

A secret decoder style amulet that activates when rotated into the proper position

a sword whose equation can be interpreted two different ways depending on how it is sheathed (with the hand guard facing toward or away from the wielder) essentially allowing it to "switch modes" from normal to imbued.

[indra]

Very nice I used a pocket watch style device with rotating, concentric rings in a bit of flash fiction, once. I also wrote a transmuting cane/sword thingy controlled by a rotating cylinder just below the handle/hilt, but I like the sheath idea better.

Oh, and on a slightly different note, I once ran a pirate alchemist who kept water-based equations on wooden planks tied to the side of her ship. When she wanted to use one, se just tossed it overboard. To turn it off, she just pulled it up out of the sea.

--Dan