Dream Water Chronometer 681

From: Lineage 813 of the Tide Forged Scholarchs

This apparatus is an indispensable tool for Lyra-Vael’s research into the past. It is a handheld device about the size of a thick tome, crafted from polished ironwood and brass. Its face is a complex array of rotating dials, pressure gauges, and a large, central crystal lens. To use it, a small sample of a material (a fleck of stone, a thread from a tapestry, a drop of mysterious liquid) is placed into a sealed crystal receptacle. A single drop of purified water from a Dreampool is added, and a hand-cranked bellows powers a miniature steam boiler. The resulting vapor interacts with the sample, and the chronometer analyzes the subtle changes in the Dreampool water’s magical luminescence and resonance. Interpreting the readings requires an Arcana check, but can provide vital clues about an object’s approximate age, magical signature, and place of origin.

Lore

The Dream-Water Chronometer is not a singular invention but the culmination of centuries of research by the Tide-Forged Scholarchs. The concept originated with a matriarch who theorized that the waters of a Dreampool, believed by the faithful to contain all of Yirra’s memories, could serve as a universal temporal and magical reference. Early prototypes were massive, temple-sized contraptions requiring a team of Waterdreamers and steam-fitters to operate, comparing an artifact’s magical resonance against a literal pool of sacred water.

Over generations, Scholarch artisans miniaturized the technology. The 681 model is a handheld, sixth-generation device, the 81st unit produced in its series. It is a piece of proprietary, masterwork technology issued by the Grand Confluence University to its most promising postgraduate researchers. The device functions by vaporizing a minuscule portion of a sample with steam, passing this “aetheric vapor” through a suspended droplet of Dreampool water. The chronometer’s complex dials and gauges then measure the resulting shifts in the water’s magical luminescence and resonant frequency, comparing the sample’s “memory signature” to the “universal memory” of the Dreampool water. The readings are not a simple display but a complex array of shifting light patterns that require extensive training to interpret. This specific device was issued to Lyra-Vael upon her graduation, a tool meant for a lifetime of sanctioned, theoretical research within the university’s walls.

Item Values

Tier One Stats:
- Primary Function: Requires a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to operate correctly and interpret the complex results.
- Operational Time: A single analysis takes 1 minute of uninterrupted operation.
Skills Gained:
- Analytical Acumen: The complex diagnostic processes of the device grant the user an intuitive grasp of deduction. The user gains proficiency in the Intelligence (Investigation) skill. If the user is already proficient, they gain a +2 bonus to any Investigation check made to determine an object’s origin, age, or authenticity.
Passive Abilities:
- Resonant Chamber: The crystal receptacle is magically shielded. The device can safely contain and analyze small samples of volatile, alchemical, or cursed substances without risk to the operator.
- Memory Anchor: The device requires one drop of purified Dreampool water for each use. The water is consumed during the analysis. Without this catalyst, the device’s analytical functions do not work.
- Historical Echo: The dials and gauges on the device twitch and hum faintly when in the presence of strong, localized historical or psychic resonance (such as a recent murder scene or an ancient, ghost-haunted battlefield), alerting the user that a detailed analysis may reveal significant information.
Activatable Abilities:
- Chronometric Analysis: By taking 1 minute to place a sample, add the Dreampool water, and operate the hand-cranked bellows, the user may perform a detailed analysis. On a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check, the user learns up to three of the following pieces of information about the sample’s source: its approximate age, its general place of origin (region or sometimes city), its primary material composition, and the school of any magic currently affecting it. On a failed check, the reading is inconclusive, and the drop of Dreampool water is wasted.
- Aetheric Tracker: The user can place a sample of a known substance (e.g., a specific type of poison, soil from a particular location) into the receptacle. For the next hour, the central lens will pulse with a soft, warm light when the device is pointed in the general direction of a larger concentration or source of that same substance within 500 feet. This ability does not provide an exact location, only a “hotter/colder” directional sense. This ability can be used once and regains its use after a long rest.
Specific Slot:
- Held (Requires one hand to hold and the other to operate the bellows, making it a two-handed device in practice).
Tags:
- Scholarch, Held, Utility, Diagnostic, Steamcraft, Hydromancy, Divination, Investigation, Artisan-Crafted, Lore-Bound, Analytical, Dating, Tracking, Non-Combat, Mechanical, Brass, Ironwood, Crystal-Lens, University-Issue, Consumable-Catalyst, Rare

As a piece of proprietary, restricted technology belonging to the Tide-Forged Scholarchs, the Dream-Water Chronometer 681 is not an item that can be bought or sold in any conventional shop. Its circulation is tightly controlled, and any appearance of one outside the Scholarch lineage would be the result of institutional action, theft, or espionage.

The University Quartermaster

Type of Venue: This is the only legitimate channel through which a chronometer can be obtained. It is not a shop, but a secure, guarded facility within a major academic institution like “The Grand Confluence University’s Office of Arcane Materiel.”
How it’s Acquired/Sold: This item is never sold. It is issued to accredited, high-ranking Scholarch researchers upon the formal approval of a research proposal. The device is logged, registered to the user, and is expected to be returned upon the completion of their work. A non-Scholarch could not acquire one here under any circumstances. If a lost device were returned to the university, the finder would be offered a substantial “finder’s fee” but would also face intense questioning regarding how they came to possess it.
Estimated Cost/Value:
- Not for Sale.
- Replacement Fine (if lost): 3,000 Gold Pieces (GP) or more, plus severe academic sanctions.
- Finder’s Fee (for return): Approximately 300 GP.

The Black Market Technologist

Type of Venue: This is where a stolen chronometer would surface. It wouldn’t be a shop but a clandestine broker who specializes in unique technology and magic, a character known in the underworld as “The Calibrator” or a similar title. They operate through intermediaries in the industrial or academic shadows of cities like Dreamtide.
How it’s Bought/Sold: The transaction would be extremely risky for all involved. The broker, knowing the device is stolen Scholarch property, would offer the thief a very low price. To sell it, the broker would have to find a very specific type of buyer: a wealthy, aspiring rival who thinks they can reverse-engineer the technology, or a collector of rare, esoteric devices. The broker could not provide instructions for use or, crucially, a supply of the required Dreampool water, making the purchase a huge gamble.
Estimated Cost: The price is skewed by the item’s high risk and extreme niche.
- To Sell (from a thief): A broker would offer no more than 400 GP, citing the danger and difficulty of finding a buyer.
- To Buy: A broker might ask for 1,800 GP, marketing it as a one-of-a-kind “analytical engine” while conveniently omitting the operational difficulties.

The Information Broker’s Network

Type of Venue: The secret headquarters of a spymaster, a political faction, or an intelligence-gathering organization. Here, the chronometer is not a tool to be used, but an asset to be leveraged.
How it’s Bought/Sold: The device would not be bought or sold for simple coin. Its value is in the secrets it represents—the proprietary technology of the powerful Scholarchs. A spymaster would acquire it as payment for a significant debt or offer it as a reward for a high-stakes mission. To acquire it from such a network, a client would have to perform a service of equivalent value, such as stealing a different piece of technology, providing critical intelligence, or eliminating a rival.
Estimated Cost: Not for sale for coin. The item is traded exclusively for secrets, favors, or dangerous services. Its Appraised Barter Value in such a transaction would be considered 2,500 GP or higher.

The Dream-Water Chronometer 681 has no direct defensive or offensive capabilities. It cannot block a sword or fire a projectile. Its role in any conflict is purely one of information and strategy. To roleplay its use is to roleplay a character who overcomes threats not with force, but with knowledge—turning a battle of swords into a battle of wits.

Environment 1: A Trapped Sarcophagus in a Tomb

In an ancient ruin, where danger is often hidden and historical, the chronometer is a tool for proactive defense and offense by identifying and understanding threats before they can act.

Defensive Roleplay (Identifying the Threat)

Your party discovers a sealed, magnificent sarcophagus. Your rogue is about to attempt to pick the lock, but you notice the dials on your chronometer twitching erratically.

Roleplay: You would hold up a hand and say, “Wait. There’s a strong historical echo here… and something else is resonating.” You would then take a minute to perform a Chronometric Analysis on a fleck of dust scraped from the sarcophagus lid. You describe the process: cranking the bellows, adding a drop of precious Dreampool water, and watching the intricate patterns of light in the central lens. On a successful Arcana check, you lower the device and translate the results: “It’s not just a lock. The entire sarcophagus is imbued with a dormant curse of the Fourth Dynasty—a life-draining Necromantic ward. A simple touch would have been fatal.” Your defense was not a shield, but a crucial piece of information that averted a catastrophe.

Offensive Roleplay (Bypassing the Threat)

Knowing the nature of the curse is the first step; now you must overcome it.

Roleplay: The chronometer’s analysis provided more than just a warning. You would explain to the party, “The analysis showed the curse’s origin is hydromantic and its binding agent is arid. It’s anchored to the dryness of this tomb.” You now have a plan. Following your instructions, the party uses waterskins to dampen the lid of the sarcophagus. The curse, its magical structure destabilized by the sudden moisture, temporarily becomes inert. Your “offense” against the trap was the detailed knowledge provided by the chronometer, allowing the party to neutralize it with cleverness instead of a risky Dispel Magic check.

Environment 2: Investigating a Political Assassination

In a conflict of intrigue and mystery, the chronometer is a forensic tool that defends the innocent and exposes the guilty.

Defensive Roleplay (Avoiding Misdirection)

A noble has been poisoned, and the City Guard has arrested a likely suspect, having found a vial of common poison in their room. You suspect a frame-up.

Roleplay: You gain access to the crime scene and use the Chronometric Analysis on a single drop of wine spilled near the victim. You describe the whirring of the device as it processes the sample. “Just as I thought,” you murmur, studying the complex readings. “The poison isn’t local stock. The trace elements have a geological signature from the southern jungles, and the magical residue is Transmutation, not Necromancy. This is a sophisticated, custom-made alchemical agent, not common nightshade.” Your defense is against misinformation. The chronometer provides the irrefutable data that proves the official theory is wrong, defending an innocent person from false conviction.

Offensive Roleplay (Tracking the Culprit)

You now have the unique signature of the rare poison, but the trail is cold.

Roleplay: Back in your study, you place the last of the poison sample into the chronometer and activate the Aetheric Tracker function. You describe the central lens beginning to pulse with a slow, warm light. You then narrate a montage of you walking through the city’s districts, holding the device like a compass. For hours, nothing. Then, as you pass the exclusive apothecary known to supply a rival noble house, the lens pulses brightly and the dials hum. Your “offense” is purely investigative. The chronometer has become a tracking device, pointing you directly at the source of the poison and, by extension, the true assassins.

Environment 3: Confronting a Golem with a Hidden Weakness

Against a foe that is immune to conventional attacks, the chronometer’s only function is to find a new way to fight.

Defensive Roleplay (Strategic Delay)

Your party is facing a massive, ancient golem that is shrugging off your warrior’s best attacks and your mage’s most powerful spells. You realize this is a puzzle, not a brawl.

Roleplay: You would shout to your allies, “I need a sample! Just a piece of it! Buy me one minute!” Your role in this defense is to trust your allies. You describe the terror of having your head down, frantically working the chronometer’s bellows and reading its dials, while the sounds of battle and the shaking of the floor tell you the golem is getting closer. Your defense is the protection your party provides, giving you the time you need to think.

Offensive Roleplay (Revealing the Weakness)

Your companion manages to chip off a tiny shard of the golem’s stone plating and tosses it to you. You complete your analysis.

Roleplay: Your eyes widen as you read the results. You shout over the din of combat, “It’s not the stone! The stone is mundane! The chronometer’s reading shows the binding agent is alchemical, not magical—it’s vulnerable to a specific resonant frequency!” You then use your Aural Lenses to analyze the sound of your warrior’s sword striking the golem. “Strike its left knee! I can hear a harmonic flaw! A sustained, high-pitched sound should shatter it!” Your “offense” is providing the critical piece of intelligence that completely changes the party’s strategy, turning an invincible foe into a vulnerable one by revealing its secret “off switch.”

Perception of Activation:

This describes the sensory experience during the one-minute process of using the Dream-Water Chronometer 681‘s primary ability, Chronometric Analysis.

User’s Perspective (Lyra-Vael)

Sight: Your world narrows to the face of the device. You watch the sample vaporize into a wisp of colored “aetheric vapor.” The true spectacle is the levitating droplet of Dreampool water in the central lens. You see it flare with an internal light, then violently absorb the vapor, transforming into a chaotic but meaningful storm of flashing colors, symbols, and light patterns. The minute-long process culminates in the whirring dials and needles clicking into a final, precise configuration that you must then interpret.
Sound: The experience is defined by a series of intimate, mechanical sounds: the soft click of the receptacle sealing shut, the rhythmic whump-whump-whump of the bellows you are cranking, the low hiss of the miniature boiler reaching temperature, and finally, the soft, satisfying whirring and clicking of the internal dials as they find their position.
Touch & Feeling: You feel the physical resistance of the hand-cranked bellows under your palm. A faint, pleasant warmth spreads through the polished ironwood and brass case as the boiler operates. You can feel a subtle, high-frequency vibration from the internal mechanisms, a sign that the analysis is in progress.
Extra-Sensory (Magical): You perceive a unique, hybrid sensation. First, you feel the purely physical, kinetic energy of the steam building. Then, as the analysis begins, you feel a powerful but tightly controlled pulse of Divination magic as the Dreampool water is activated. It feels like opening a direct, but very narrow, line of communication to the object’s past.
Extra-Sensory (Psychometric): As the chronometer works, you experience a “sensory bleed.” You get fleeting, disconnected sensations related to the sample’s origin: the phantom scent of ozone from the forge where a sword was made, an echo of a person’s intense fear from a blood sample, or the feeling of centuries of cold stone from a fleck of a tomb wall. It is disorienting but provides qualitative context to the final reading.
Extra-Sensory (Mind’s Eye): Your Mind’s Eye visualizes the flow of information as a logical sequence: [Sample Signature: Identified] -> [Catalyst: Dreampool Water Memory Matrix] -> [Cross-Referencing…] -> [Output: Dial Configuration]. It feels like watching a magical computer run a complex diagnostic program.

Observer’s Perspective

Sight: An observer witnesses a display of intense concentration and meticulous craftsmanship. They see the user’s focused expression, the rhythmic pumping of the bellows, and the needles on the various gauges slowly climbing. The main spectacle is the device’s central lens, where a single drop of water suddenly begins to glow brightly, trapping a swirling vortex of colored vapor within it. The droplet flashes with internal, multi-colored light for nearly a minute, like a captured storm, before the light dies and the dials on the device’s face all click into a final, cryptic position.
Sound: From a distance, the only sound is the soft, rhythmic pumping of the bellows. An observer standing closer can hear the quiet hiss of the boiler and the delicate, clockwork whirring of the spinning dials.
Touch & Feeling: No physical sensation is felt by an observer.
Extra-Sensory (Magical): A magically-attuned observer would perceive a complex and unusual sequence. They would first feel a build-up of non-magical, kinetic energy from the steam mechanism. This is followed by a sudden, intense, but highly focused and contained burst of Divination magic that emanates from the device itself, not the user. The signature feels analytical, clean, and is gone as quickly as it appears.
Extra-Sensory (Social): Watching someone operate the chronometer is like watching a master artisan at work. The process is complex and requires obvious skill. It clearly marks the user as a highly trained specialist, an academic, or an investigator of considerable talent and resources.

Positives

Unrivaled Information: Its primary benefit is providing detailed, accurate, and otherwise unobtainable historical and magical data. It can solve mysteries, identify the origin of unknown objects, and discover ancient weaknesses.
Safe Analysis: The shielded resonant chamber allows for the safe analysis of dangerous, volatile, or cursed substances, providing vital information about a threat without requiring direct, prolonged interaction.
Discreet Magical Signature: While the process takes time, it’s relatively quiet and contained. The burst of magic is brief and focused, unlikely to attract distant attention in the way a powerful, flashy spell would.

Negatives

Extremely Time Consuming: The one-minute activation time is an eternity in a dangerous or time-sensitive situation. The user is completely occupied, their hands and attention focused on the device, making them utterly vulnerable during the process.
Requires Consumables: The need for a drop of purified Dreampool water for every single use is a significant logistical constraint. If the user runs out of this rare catalyst, the device’s most powerful function becomes useless.
Skill-Dependent: The device is not automatic. A failed Arcana check means no information is gained, but the time and the drop of Dreampool water are still wasted. An untrained user would find it to be a frustrating and useless box of gears.
Sensory Disorientation: For the user, the psychometric “sensory bleed” can be disorienting or even disturbing, especially when analyzing an object with a violent or tragic history.

Scholarch’s Arcane Schema: The Model 6 Chronometer

This document outlines the proprietary process for constructing a Model 6 Dream-Water Chronometer. The process is a guarded secret of the Tide-Forged Scholarchs and represents a pinnacle of hybrid steamcraft and divination magic. Unauthorized replication is strictly forbidden by university charter.

Materials Needed

Structural Components:
- A solid, aged block of Heart-of-the-Ironwood.
- 10 lbs. of High-Purity Brass Ingots.
Mechanical Components:
- One Artificer’s Micro-Boiler Kit.
- A set of Miniature Bellows and Pistons.
- A spool of fine Copper Tubing.
Focal & Magical Components:
- One Optically Perfect Focusing Lens, masterwork quality.
- One Sealed Quartz Sample Receptacle.
- A single, flawless Divination Crystal.
- A jar of Enchanting Resin.
- A pouch of finely Powdered Lapis Lazuli.
Miscellaneous: Assorted brass screws, pressure gaskets, and calibration oils (estimated cost of 100 GP).

Tools Required

Masterwork Tinker’s Tools: For the assembly of the steam mechanism.
Masterwork Jeweler’s Tools: Essential for fabricating the delicate dials and gauges.
Glassblower’s Tools: For shaping and setting the lens and receptacle.
Steam Pressure Calibrators: For the final tuning of the boiler and steam jets.
Enchanter’s Focus or Altar: A dedicated and stable environment for the magical binding rituals.

Skill Requirements

Craftsmanship: The crafter must have proficiency with Tinker’s Tools and Jeweler’s Tools.
Magical Aptitude: The crafter must have proficiency in the Arcana skill.
Specialized Knowledge: The crafter must possess the Scholarch Schematics for the Model 6 device. Without these precise blueprints, the project is impossible.
Experience: The synthesis of master-level craft and complex enchantment requires an artisan of at least Character Tier 4 or higher.

Crafting Steps

The construction of a functional chronometer is a painstaking process that requires a minimum of eighteen days of expert labor.

Step 1: Constructing the Case and Steam System (7 days): The artisan carves the ironwood block into the device’s tome-shaped housing. The micro-boiler, bellows, and a complex network of copper tubing are then meticulously installed. This phase is purely mechanical.
Step 2: Fabricating the Dial Array (5 days): Using jeweler’s tools, the artisan fabricates the dozens of tiny, perfectly balanced brass dials, needles, and pressure gauges that will serve as the device’s readout. This requires extreme precision.
Step 3: Creating the Analysis Chamber (3 days): The focusing lens and quartz receptacle are shaped and fitted into the housing. The flawless Divination Crystal is then carefully integrated into the core of the lens assembly, forming the heart of the device.
Step 4: The Binding Enchantment (1 day): This is the first critical magical step. The artisan must perform a ritual to link the Divination Crystal to the mechanical dial array. The enchanting resin and powdered lapis lazuli are used to create magical circuits between the crystal and the needles, “teaching” the mechanical parts how to respond to the crystal’s magical perceptions. This requires a Difficult Arcana check (DC 23). Failure shatters the Divination Crystal.
Step 5: Final Assembly and Calibration (2 days): All components are sealed within the ironwood case. The artisan must then spend a full day testing and calibrating the finished device, using known samples to tune the dials and ensure the readings are accurate. This final phase requires a Very Difficult Tinker’s Tools check (DC 22).
- On a success, the Chronometer is created and functions perfectly.
- On a failure, the calibration is flawed. The device powers on, but its readings are inaccurate and misleading. It must be disassembled (requiring 3 days of work) to attempt the calibration again.

Scribe of Ashes and Library That Remembered

This is the telling of the Scribe of Ashes. In the before-time, his name was Lenas, and he lived in a city of white stone. But a great fire, born from the belly of a angry mountain, did come and eat the city. The libraries, the halls of songs, the painted walls with the faces of their kings, all became black dust on the wind. Lenas was the only one to escape. His mind-box held the memories of his home, but his hand did shake with sadness and his drawings were crooked ghosts. The memory of his people now lived only in a leaky cup.

A great obsession was upon him. He said, “A man’s memory is a weak thing. It forgets. It changes the truth. I will build a memory of brass and steam, a memory that does not forget.”

For many years he did work in a small, loud workshop. He made a strange thing with three long legs of brass, like an insect. On top, he put a seeing-orb of brass with many eyes of crystal. At the bottom, under the orb, he put a hand that was a single, sharp needle. This was the Aural-Kinetic Scribe. It was a machine that could see with soft light, and also with its own sound-voice that it would send out to touch the shape of things. The needle-hand was moved by the quiet breath of a tiny steam-engine. It was a machine to make a perfect picture.

In his travels, he did hear a tale of the Library of Whispering Vellum, a great and secret library hidden in the belly of another fire-mountain. This library held the last books and scrolls of a hundred peoples who were already dust. But the fire-mountain was waking up. Its sleep was ending.

Lenas, who was now called the Scribe of Ashes for the city he lost, did make haste. He took his new memory-machine to the mountain. He found the library. The room was round and tall, and the shelves went up into the darkness, full of the words of a hundred dead peoples. The air was dry and hot. The ground did shake. The mountain did speak with a deep, groaning song.

His friends who came with him did shout, “We must take what we can and flee! There is no time!”

But the Scribe of Ashes looked at the endless shelves. “To take one book is to leave a thousand,” he said. “We will not take. We will remember.”

He put his machine in the center of the great room. He gave it a sheet of prepared wax, as big as a great shield. He did wake the machine. The seeing-orb of brass did begin to hum a quiet, thinking song. Soft blue lights did come from its crystal eyes, touching every scroll on every shelf, every carving on the high walls. Then its sound-voice went out, a soft ping that was too high for a man’s ear. The echo of the sound-voice came back to the orb, telling it the shape of the whole room.

The needle-hand did begin to dance on the wax shield. It moved with a speed that was not of a man’s hand. It was drawing the whole room. Every book. Every shelf. Every word on every open page. It was making a perfect memory.

The mountain did shout now. Rocks did fall from the high roof. His friends did pull at his arm. “We must flee! The fire is coming!”

But the Scribe of Ashes did not move. His eyes were wide, watching the needle-hand. On the wax, he saw the lost books of his own people being drawn, books he had forgotten he had forgotten. “It is a good memory,” he did whisper, his hand on the machine. “It does not forget.”

Then the great fire did come. It ate the Library of Whispering Vellum. It ate the Scribe of Ashes.

Long time passed. New men, brave explorers, did find the cold fire-mountain. In the belly of it, in a cave of black, cooled stone, they found the Scribe, now a man made of ash himself, a statue of his own sadness. Under his hand, protected by his body and a fallen stone pillar, was the wax shield. It was not hurt. On it was the perfect, tiny picture of the whole library. The memory was saved. The Scribe was at peace.

The moral of the story is: A man’s life is a short story, but a memory, perfectly kept, can be a library that lives forever.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition

Scribe of the Perfect Memory

Wondrous item, rare

This device consists of a complex brass orb on a collapsible tripod, packed in a hardened leather case alongside a set of three specially prepared wax slates. To operate it, a creature must be proficient with either Cartographer’s Tools or Tinker’s Tools.

Perfect Record: You can set up the scribe and begin a detailed scan of your surroundings. The process takes 10 minutes of uninterrupted operation, during which you must remain within 5 feet of the device. At the end of this time, the scribe’s needle produces a perfectly scaled and detailed etching on one of the wax slates of one of the following subjects within a 60-foot radius:
- A complete topographical map of the area, including the placement of all significant non-moving objects and architectural features.
- A perfect, word-for-word copy of all visible text on a single surface up to 30 feet square (such as a wall of glyphs or a giant’s tome).
Component: This action consumes one wax slate. Additional slates must be crafted by an artisan.

Blades in the Dark

The Echo-Grapher

A heavy, brass orb on a sturdy tripod, with a case of prepared wax slates. A masterwork piece of spark-craft that can create a perfect, miniature replica of a scene using sonic pulses and light-prints. It is a tool for the patient and meticulous. (3 Load)

This is a piece of special equipment.

Ability: When you have a secure location and time to work (it takes about 15-20 minutes to set up and scan), you can create a perfect, detailed schematic of a location or a flawless copy of a complex document. This action automatically provides you with all the information you would get from a Study roll with a critical success regarding that subject.
Special Use: The resulting schematic is a tangible asset. You can use it once in the future to automatically succeed on one action roll where presenting this detailed information would be the key to success (such as a Wreck roll to sabotage the location’s structural weakness, or a Sway roll to prove a claim to an authority).

Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition

The Miskatonic Kinetograph

An experimental device from Miskatonic University’s engineering department, designed for archaeological field recording. It uses a combination of sonic pulses and light spectrometry to create a perfect etching on a prepared silver-iodide plate. It is known for its alarming precision.

Function: The device takes 15 minutes to scan and record a scene and requires a successful Electrical Repair or Mechanical Repair roll to set up and calibrate correctly. On a success, it produces a flawless, miniature replica of the target scene or text.
The Unseen Captured: The Kinetograph is frighteningly precise. It records everything, including phenomena not normally visible to the human eye. If the scanned area contains any supernatural residue, dimensional instability, active magical glyphs, or invisible entities, they will appear on the etched plate.
Sanity Cost: Viewing a plate that has recorded such a supernatural phenomenon for the first time requires a Sanity roll (1/1d6), as the investigator is confronted with a perfect, undeniable, and often terrifying image of the truth. The plate may grant +1d4 Cthulhu Mythos at the Keeper’s discretion.

Knave, 2nd Edition

Cartographer’s Orb

A brass orb on a collapsible tripod that can perfectly record a scene onto a wax slate using a complex system of steam-pistons and sound-pulses.

Slots: Takes up 3 inventory slots (orb, tripod, a case of slates).
Ability (Perfect Record): If you spend 1 hour setting up and operating the orb without being interrupted, you can create a perfect, to-scale map of a single dungeon level (up to a 200ft x 200ft area) or a perfect copy of a large, continuous surface of text (like a great wall of runes).
Resource Cost: This action consumes the Wax Slates in one of your inventory slots. You must have a free hand to operate the device for the full hour.
Drawback (Delicate): The device is a complex instrument. If you take damage from a fall or from a critical hit while carrying it, there is a 2-in-6 chance that its internal lenses crack, rendering it useless until repaired by a master artisan for a high price.

Fate Core

The Scribe of Ashes

This item is an Extra that represents a complex, masterwork recording device.

Aspect: A Perfect, Incontrovertible Record. This can be invoked for a bonus when using the scribe’s etchings to prove a point, sway a neutral party, or perfectly recall a detail. It can be compelled when the perfect, literal nature of the record reveals an inconvenient or dangerous truth you would have rather left ambiguous.
Permission: The scribe requires a significant amount of time (at least one scene) and a stable, safe environment to operate. It is not a tool for use in a crisis.
Stunt (Schematic Memory): Once per session, you can declare that you previously used the Scribe of Ashes to create a perfect schematic of your current location. Because you have this perfect record, you can spend a Fate Point to create a powerful situational Aspect on the scene, such as Hidden Structural Flaw or Secret Maintenance Tunnels, with one free invocation for yourself.

Numenera & Cypher System

The Kineto-Etching Servitor

Level: 7
Form: A metallic orb on a collapsible tripod, housed in a reinforced satchel with several thin, metallic plates.
Effect: This complex device can create a perfect, miniature, three-dimensional etching of a scene. The process takes 10 minutes. The servitor scans an area up to a long distance away, using a combination of sonic pulses and light emitters. It then etches the result onto one of the metallic plates. The resulting plate is a flawless, to-scale replica of the area’s physical layout. If used to scan a text, it produces a perfect copy.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (check each time it is used).

Pathfinder, 2nd Edition

Aural-Kinetic Scribe – Item 6

RARE | CLOCKWORK | INVESTED Price 250 GP Usage held in 2 hands; Bulk 2

This device is a complex brass orb on a tripod, packed in a sturdy leather case. It uses a combination of sonic pulses and a steam-driven needle to create perfect etchings on prepared wax slates.

Activate [Ten-Minutes] (manipulate)
- Requirements You must be proficient in the Crafting skill.
- Effect You set up and operate the scribe, which scans an area with a 60-foot radius centered on it. At the end of the 10 minutes, it produces a flawless, to-scale map on a wax slate, noting all architectural features, large objects, and areas of difficult terrain. Alternatively, you can target a single continuous surface of writing (up to 1,000 square feet), creating a perfect copy of the text. This action consumes one wax slate, which costs 1 GP.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)

The Master Scribe’s Orb

This heavy brass orb, tripod, and case of prepared slates is a masterwork tool for any serious cartographer or researcher.

Weight: 20
Notes:
- Perfect Record: After spending 30 minutes of uninterrupted work, the user can make a Repair or Academics roll to operate the scribe. On a success, it produces a perfect, to-scale map of the immediate area (roughly a 10″ x 10″ area on a battle map) or a perfect copy of any text they are scanning. On a raise, they notice a specific, important detail in the recording that would not be obvious at first glance (a hidden door’s outline, a faded passage of text).
- Cumbersome: The device is heavy and takes a long time to set up and pack away. The user cannot be performing any other actions while it is operating.
- Consumable: Each use consumes one Prepared Slate. A new case of 5 slates costs 50 silver and has a weight of 5.

Shadowrun, 6th Edition

Ares “Cartographer” 3D Scanner

A piece of professional-grade survey equipment used by Ares Macrotechnology’s corporate surveyors and security consultants. The briefcase-sized device unfolds into a tripod-mounted scanner that uses a combination of lidar and ultrasonic pulses to create a perfect wireframe of any environment. It is rugged, reliable, and expensive.

Type: Sensor / Tool Kit
Rating: 4
Availability: 10R
Cost: 18,000 nuyen
Abilities:
- The device functions as a Hardware Tool Kit (Rating 4) for tasks related to cartography, demolitions, or architectural analysis.
- 3D Scan: It takes 5 minutes to perform a full scan of a 50-cubic-meter area. After a successful scan, it produces a perfect 3D-mappable wireframe of the area, including all non-moving objects and structural details. This data grants a +2 dice pool bonus on any subsequent tests related to navigating, searching, or finding structural weaknesses in the scanned area.
- Text Recognition: It can perform a high-resolution scan of a flat surface (like a wall or book), creating a perfect, searchable digital copy.

Starfinder

3D Environmental Scanner

LEVEL 8; PRICE 9,500 credits CATEGORY Technological Item HANDS 2; BULK 2 CAPACITY 40; USAGE 4 per scan

This advanced scanner must be deployed on its integrated tripod. When activated, a sophisticated sensor array within the central orb uses a combination of sonic pulses and laser imaging to map its surroundings with perfect accuracy.

Abilities:
- The scanner takes 1 minute to perform a detailed scan of an area with a 60-foot radius. It records a perfect, to-scale 3D holographic map of the area, which can be reviewed on any computer or datapad. If you have access to this map while you are physically within the scanned area, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus on Perception checks to search and on Survival checks to navigate.
- High-Resolution Mode: Alternatively, the scanner can be set to record a single surface up to 50 feet square (such as a wall of alien glyphs), creating a perfect, high-resolution digital copy.

Traveller, Mongoose 2nd Edition

TL-10 Survey Scanner

A standard, if expensive, piece of equipment for professional planetary surveyors, archaeologists, and scout teams. The ruggedized case contains a tripod-mounted scanner that uses a combination of laser and sonic pulses to create a detailed topographical map of the surrounding area.

Tech Level: 10
Cost: Cr 25,000
Mass: 10 kg
Power: Internal battery (12 hours)
Function:
- The device takes 10 minutes to perform a full, detailed scan. The scan covers a 100-meter radius, creating a 3D map accurate to within 1cm.
- The resulting data can be downloaded to any standard datapad. The map is detailed enough to provide DM+2 on any subsequent Navigation (Surface) or Investigate checks made by anyone with access to the map while they are within the scanned area.
- The device can also be set to perform a high-resolution scan of a single object or text, creating a perfect 3D model or document copy.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 4th Edition

Leonardo da Miragliano’s Perspectograph

A bizarre and wondrous contraption of brass, lenses, clockwork, and a tiny, hissing boiler. This device, rumored to be one of the few working prototypes from the legendary Tilean genius, purports to create a perfect, scaled image of any scene using ‘the principles of acoustic perspective’ and ‘automated draftsmanship’.

Encumbrance: 4
Qualities: Masterwork, Ingenious, Experimental, Unreliable
Function:
- Setting up and operating the device takes 30 minutes of careful work. The user must then make a Challenging (+0) Trade (Engineer) Test. On a success, the device’s steam-driven needle etches a flawless, to-scale map or image onto a prepared wax plate. This plate is considered a masterpiece of cartography.
- Benefit: The plate can later be used to grant a +20 bonus to any one Lore (Geology) or Navigation Test directly related to the location it depicts.
- Experimental & Unreliable: The device is a temperamental prototype. If the initial Trade (Engineer) Test is Fumbled, the boiler ruptures. The wielder and anyone within 2 yards suffers a hit with Damage 6 that has the Fiery Quality, and the device is rendered useless until it can be repaired by a Master Engineer with access to a full workshop.

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