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Aural Kinetic Scribe 159

—

by

Dale
in

From: Lineage 813 of the Tide Forged Scholarchs

As a historian, Lyra-Vael must often make perfect copies of fragile texts and large-scale architectural layouts. This is the tool for that task. The scribe is a portable apparatus that unfolds from a leather satchel into a delicate brass tripod. Atop the tripod sits an orb with multiple lenses and an articulated, needle-like stylus. When activated, the device emits a series of low, inaudible sound pulses and faint beams of light, scanning a targeted area like a wall of text or the dimensions of a chamber. It then uses a tiny, precise steam-piston to drive the stylus, which perfectly etches a scaled-down, flawless replica of the scanned area onto a prepared wax tablet or a sheet of specially treated vellum. The process is slow and meticulous, requiring several minutes of calibration, but the result is a perfect record for later study.

Lore

The Aural Kinetic Scribe is the signature invention and most prized tool of the Tide-Forged Scholarchs lineage. The first prototype was developed centuries ago by the lineage’s founder, Matriarch Lyra the First, a legendary cartographer tasked with mapping Aboriginal’s shifting, magically-active coastlines. Frustrated by the inaccuracies of hand-drawing and the distortions caused by magical weather, she combined principles of Dwarven clockwork, Anuran acoustic sensitivity, and Nga-Tara steamcraft to create a “perfect memory”—a machine that could record a location with infallible precision.

Over generations, the design was refined. The model Lyra-Vael carries, number 159, is a modern, portable version issued to her by the Grand Confluence University upon her acceptance into their advanced historical studies program. Learning to operate and maintain the Scribe is a core part of a Scholarch’s education. The device’s “Aural” function uses inaudible sound pulses to measure not just distance but material density, allowing it to “see” through plaster to the stone beneath or detect a hollow space behind a solid wall. The “Kinetic” function is the tiny, precise steam-piston that drives the etching needle, flawlessly translating the complex sonic data into a physical record. The slow, meticulous process of a scan is considered a form of meditation by the Scholarchs, a way of communing with the absolute truth of a location.

Item Values

  • Tier One Stats:
    • Operational Time: A standard, detailed scan requires 10 minutes of uninterrupted setup, calibration, and operation.
    • Area of Effect: Can scan and record an area up to a 60-foot cube, or a single flat surface up to 30 feet by 30 feet.
    • Required Check: Requires a successful DC 14 Intelligence (Tinker’s Tools) check to properly calibrate for a detailed scan.
  • Skills Gained:
    • Master Cartographer: The device is a masterwork tool for its purpose. The user gains proficiency with both Cartographer’s Tools and Tinker’s Tools. If already proficient, the user gains advantage on ability checks made to create maps or analyze architectural structures.
  • Passive Abilities:
    • Acoustic Resonance Imaging: The Scribe’s sonic pulses analyze material density. The maps it creates do not just show surfaces; they reveal structural information. Areas of weak or crumbling stone, hidden hollows, or different materials (like a metal safe behind a stone wall) are represented by distinct, readable patterns on the final etching.
    • Flawless Replica: The etched or inked copy produced by the Scribe is a perfect, to-scale replica of the scanned area or text. This record is considered incontrovertible proof in academic circles and can be used as primary evidence.
    • Economical Boiler: The miniature steam-piston is highly efficient. The device carries enough alchemical fuel pellets and water for 5 full, detailed scans before needing to be refilled.
  • Activatable Abilities:
    • Detailed Scan: By taking 10 minutes to set up and operate the device and succeeding on a DC 14 Intelligence (Tinker’s Tools) check, the user produces a perfect replica of the target area or text. This map includes the detailed structural information from the Acoustic Resonance Imaging passive. On a failed check, the scan is blurry and incomplete, and the vellum or wax slate is wasted.
    • Rapid Survey: As an action that takes 1 minute, the user can perform a quick, low-detail scan. This does not require a skill check and does not consume fuel. The resulting map shows only the basic layout of a room (walls, doors, large obstacles) and provides none of the detailed analysis of a full scan.
  • Specific Slot:
    • Held (This apparatus is carried in a satchel and must be unpacked and deployed on its tripod to be used. It requires two hands to operate).
  • Tags:
    • Scholarch, Held, Utility, Diagnostic, Steamcraft, Clockwork, Cartography, Tinker’s-Tool, Artisan-Crafted, Lineage-Bound, Mapping, Replication, Surveillance, Archaeological-Tool, Non-Combat, Mechanical, Brass, Crystal-Lens, Deployable, University-Issue, Rare

As a piece of proprietary technology and a trade secret of the Tide-Forged Scholarchs, the Aural Kinetic Scribe 159 is not sold on any legitimate market. Its appearance outside the lineage is a matter of institutional loss, industrial espionage, or high-stakes trade among spies.

The Scholarchs’ Guild of Surveyors

  • Type of Venue: This is the only official channel for the device. It is a secure, guild-controlled facility, like the “Office of Cartographic Veracity,” located within a major university or the central archives in Vara-Sul.
  • How it’s Acquired/Sold: The Scribe is never sold. It is issued on loan to licensed surveyors, accredited historians, and field researchers affiliated with the Scholarchs. Each device is registered, and its loss is considered a major breach of the lineage’s security. If a lost Scribe were to be found and returned, the guild would pay a handsome reward but would also employ magical and mundane means to determine how the finder came to possess it.
  • Estimated Cost/Value:
    • Not for Sale.
    • Fine for Loss: A researcher who loses a Scribe faces a fine of at least 2,000 Gold Pieces (GP) and severe professional sanctions.
    • Reward for Return: A finder could expect a reward of approximately 250 GP.

The Black Market of Industrial Espionage

  • Type of Venue: This is where a stolen Scribe would be sold for its technological secrets. The transaction would be handled by a broker who specializes in industrial espionage, operating through contacts in the artificer communities of cities like Ironheart Reach.
  • How it’s Bought/Sold: This is a high-stakes sale of intellectual property, with the physical device serving as the proof. A thief would sell the Scribe to a broker, who would then arrange a discreet viewing for a potential buyer (such as a master artificer from a rival guild or a foreign power). The buyer’s primary interest is not in using the device, but in taking it apart to study and replicate its design. The value is in the secrets of its construction.
  • Estimated Cost:
    • To Sell (from a thief): A broker would recognize the immense value of the schematics and offer a high price for a clean theft, potentially up to 700 GP.
    • To Buy: A rival guild or noble house would pay a fortune to acquire the Scholarchs’ signature technology. The price for the prototype and the opportunity to reverse-engineer it would start at 4,000 GP.

The Guild of Spies & Information Brokers

  • Type of Venue: The hidden headquarters of a spy ring or intelligence agency, such as “The Silent Cartographers.” To this group, the Scribe is not a piece of technology to be studied, but a priceless tool for their trade.
  • How it’s Bought/Sold: An organization like this would rarely sell such an asset for mere coin. They would acquire one through theft or leverage and keep it for their own agents. If they were to offer it as payment, it would be in exchange for a service of immense value. To acquire it from them, a client would have to undertake a dangerous mission, such as stealing a different piece of unique technology, providing critical, high-level intelligence, or eliminating a key rival.
  • Estimated Cost: Not for sale for coin. The Scribe would be traded for secrets and services. Its Appraised Barter Value in the world of espionage would be exceptionally high, easily 3,000 GP or more, because its ability to perfectly map a location is a key that can unlock any fortress.

The Aural Kinetic Scribe 159 is a tool of preparation and analysis, not direct conflict. It has no functions that can be used for offense or defense in the middle of a fight. Its roleplay in conflict is always strategic, taking place before or after the action. Its “offense” is the creation of a flawless battle plan, and its “defense” is the preparation of a perfect fortification.

Environment 1: Scouting an Enemy Fortress

In this context, the Scribe is a purely offensive tool, used to gather intelligence for a planned infiltration or assault.

Offensive Roleplay (Strategic Planning)

Your party needs to infiltrate a heavily guarded fortress to rescue a prisoner. A frontal assault is suicide. You find a hidden, secure vantage point overlooking the fortress’s outer wall and courtyard, but you are too far away to see fine details.

  • Roleplaying the Use: You would narrate the careful, quiet setup of the Scribe. “This will take ten minutes,” you’d whisper to your allies. “Keep a lookout. The slightest disturbance could ruin the scan.” The roleplay is one of patience and vulnerability. For ten minutes, you are completely occupied, cranking the bellows, adjusting the lenses, and guarding the delicate machine as it hums softly, its faint lights and sound pulses mapping the enemy’s stronghold.
  • Roleplaying with the Result: Later, back at your hidden camp, you lay the resulting wax slate on the table. It is a perfect, miniature replica of the fortress’s layout. You now take the lead, using the map as your weapon. You narrate what the Acoustic Resonance Imaging revealed: “The main wall looks solid,” you say, tracing a line with your finger, “but the Scribe’s acoustic scan shows the stone here is newer. It’s a patch, and the mortar is weak.” You then point to another area. “And here. The ground beneath this watchtower is hollow. A sewer line or a forgotten cellar. That is our way in.” The Scribe’s map is your battle plan, allowing your party to bypass patrols, avoid strong points, and breach the fortress at its weakest, most unexpected location.

Environment 2: Preparing a Defensive Stand

Here, the Scribe is a defensive multiplier, used to turn a simple location into a deathtrap for an approaching enemy.

Defensive Roleplay (Fortification Planning)

Your party knows a large enemy force is pursuing you. You have an hour to prepare a defense in an old, crumbling ruin you’ve chosen for your last stand.

  • Roleplaying the Use: While your allies haul rocks to create barricades, you immediately deploy the Scribe in the center of the main hall. “Don’t just build walls!” you command. “We need to know what we’re standing on!” You initiate a Detailed Scan of the ruin. For the next ten minutes, you are the architect of the defense, completely focused on the machine as it gathers the structural data of the crumbling ruin.
  • Roleplaying with the Result: The scan finishes, and you grab the slate. You don’t need to guess; you now know. “Here!” you shout, pointing at a section of the map showing the ceiling. “The Scribe indicates this main archway is barely holding. We can rig it to collapse on them as they enter!” You point to another area. “And the floor in the west hall is unsupported; it won’t hold the weight of their armored leader.” The Scribe’s flawless intelligence allows you to direct your party’s defensive preparations with surgical precision. Your defense becomes proactive and intelligent, turning the ruin itself into a series of deadly environmental traps.

Environment 3: Unraveling a Large-Scale Mystery

In an informational conflict, the Scribe is a tool to defend against error and attack a complex puzzle.

Defensive Roleplay (Preserving the Truth)

You discover a massive, ancient mural covered in thousands of tiny, overlapping glyphs in multiple dead languages. This is the key to your quest, but it is too large and complex to copy by hand without making errors, and you don’t have weeks to spend here.

  • Roleplaying the Use: You would look at the wall with a sense of awe and frustration. “Hand-copying this would be impossible. We would make mistakes, miss the connections.” You set up the Scribe. “The machine does not make mistakes.” You initiate the scan. Your defense here is against human error, the pressure of time, and the loss of information. By using the Scribe, you are defending the integrity of the clue itself, ensuring that the puzzle you solve later is the correct one, not a flawed version based on a faulty transcription.

Offensive Roleplay (Solving the Puzzle)

Back in a safe location, you lay out the perfectly replicated slate of the entire mural.

  • Roleplaying the Use: You can now see the entire puzzle at once, not in sections. You describe how you can trace patterns that were invisible on the massive wall, cross-referencing a symbol at the top with a similar one at the bottom. “It’s not three different languages,” you realize, your finger tracing a connecting line that only becomes obvious on the scaled-down replica. “It’s a single cipher that uses three different scripts!” The Scribe’s perfect, complete record is the “weapon” that allows you to attack the mystery, breaking the code and revealing the truth that was hidden in plain sight.

Perception of Activation:

This describes the sensory experience during the 10-minute process of using the Aural Kinetic Scribe 159‘s primary ability. The perception is one of quiet mechanical operation, not a sudden burst of magic.

User’s Perspective (The Operator)

  • Sight: Your world narrows to the device and its target. You see faint, sweeping beams of soft blue light “painting” the surfaces of the room. The most captivating sight is the articulated needle at the base, which comes to life and begins to dance across the wax slate, etching a perfect, miniature world with impossible speed and precision.
  • Sound: The process is incredibly quiet. You hear a low, steady hum from the central orb, punctuated by the almost inaudible ping of the sonic pulses it emits. The most distinct sound is the soft, rhythmic scratch-scratch-scratch of the steam-powered stylus doing its work.
  • Touch: You feel the cool brass of the device’s frame and the slight, high-frequency vibration that runs through the tripod into the floor. A faint warmth emanates from the tiny boiler, a sign that the kinetic engine is running smoothly.
  • Extra-Sensory (Mind’s Eye): Your Mind’s Eye perceives the device’s status as if reading a program’s output: [Scanning: 42% Complete], [Data Transfer: Active], [Etching Process: Active]. It’s a flow of pure information, not magic.
  • Extra-Sensory (Vibrational): You feel the inaudible sonic pulses as a subtle, rhythmic thrumming in your bones, a constant reminder that the device is “seeing” the space with a sense you don’t possess.

Observer’s Perspective

  • Sight: An observer witnesses a scene of intense concentration. The device itself is the main spectacle. Faint, barely-visible beams of light sweep across the room from the orb’s lenses. The most fascinating part is watching the articulated needle at the base move entirely on its own, rapidly and silently etching a complex image onto a slate.
  • Sound: From a distance, the device is almost silent. Standing close, an observer can hear a soft, mechanical whirring and the rhythmic scratching of the needle on the recording medium.
  • Extra-Sensory (Magical): A magically-attuned observer would be struck by the complete absence of a magical aura. They witness a powerful effect—perfect replication of reality—happening with no discernible magical energy. This would clearly mark the device as a masterpiece of pure steamcraft and technology, something rare and wondrous in a world of magic.
  • Extra-Sensory (Mind’s Eye): An observer using their Mind’s Eye would identify the object with a tag like [Apparatus: Mechanical Scribe, Non-Magical]. They would see no flow of mana or spiritual energy, only the intricate motion of complex machinery.

Positives

  • Flawless Accuracy: The primary benefit is its ability to create a perfect, incontrovertible record. This is invaluable for accurate mapping, copying fragile texts without error, and gathering evidence.
  • Stealthy Operation: The process is quiet and produces no bright flashes or loud bangs. When given enough time, it’s an excellent tool for discreetly mapping a location without alerting its inhabitants.
  • Reveals Hidden Details: Its acoustic scanning can detect structural differences, revealing features like hidden hollows behind a wall or the outline of a secret door, providing intelligence that simple visual inspection would miss.

Negatives

  • Extremely Time-Consuming: The 10-minute activation time is an eternity in any potentially hostile or unstable environment. The user is completely stationary, occupied, and vulnerable throughout the process.
  • Delicate and Cumbersome: The device must be unpacked and carefully set up on its tripod, making it impossible to use in a hurry, while on the move, or in tight spaces.
  • Requires Consumables: Each detailed scan consumes one prepared wax slate or vellum sheet, a resource that must be restocked.

Master Artificer’s Blueprint: The Echo-Location Scribe

This blueprint details the construction of an Aural Kinetic Scribe, a masterwork device that fuses several distinct technological principles. Its creation is a monumental undertaking, requiring not only the proprietary schematics of the Scholarch lineage but also a master’s skill in several different crafting disciplines.

Materials Needed

  • Structural Components:
    • 20 lbs. of High-Purity Brass Ingots (for the tripod, orb housing, and fittings).
    • A small block of Hardened Steel (for the stylus needle and piston).
  • Core Mechanisms:
    • A set of Clockwork Gears and Actuators (Dwarven-make).
    • A matched pair of Acoustic Resonator Discs (Anuran-make).
    • One Artificer’s Miniature Steam Piston Assembly.
  • Optical Components:
    • A set of five, finely ground Crystal Lenses.
  • Miscellaneous: A case of prepared Wax Slates, a spool of fine copper tubing, high-grade machine oil, assorted miniature screws and gaskets (estimated cost of 120 GP).

Tools Required

  • Masterwork Tinker’s Tools: For the overall assembly and steam-fitting.
  • Masterwork Jeweler’s Tools: Essential for the placement of the clockwork gears and lenses.
  • Precision Lathe: Required for machining certain custom components.
  • Acoustic Calibrators: A specialized set of tuning forks and resonators for attuning the sensor array.
  • Lens Grinder’s Kit: For the final polishing and fitting of the optical components.

Skill Requirements

  • Craftsmanship: The crafter must have proficiency (and ideally, expertise) with both Tinker’s Tools and Jeweler’s Tools.
  • Specialized Knowledge: The crafter must either possess the proprietary Scholarch Schematics for the Scribe or be skilled enough to attempt to reverse-engineer an existing model. A professional understanding of Acoustics and Micro-Steamcraft is essential.
  • Experience: This is a pinnacle of non-magical craftsmanship, requiring an artisan of at least Character Tier 4 or higher.

Crafting Steps

The construction of a functional Echo-Location Scribe is an exacting process that requires a minimum of three weeks in a state-of-the-art workshop.

  1. Step 1: Fabricating the Frame and Optics (5 days): The artisan forges the brass tripod and the intricate, hollow orb that will house the mechanism. In parallel, the crystal lenses are ground and polished to perfect specifications.
  2. Step 2: Machining the Drivetrain (7 days): This is the most complex mechanical phase. Using a precision lathe, the artisan machines the Dwarven-made clockwork gears and integrates them with the miniature steam piston. This forms the kinetic engine that will drive the stylus. This requires a Very Difficult Tinker’s Tools check (DC 22).
  3. Step 3: Assembling the Sensor Array (3 days): The artisan installs the Anuran-made Acoustic Resonator Discs within the orb, aligning them perfectly with the crystal lenses. This requires a Difficult Jeweler’s Tools check (DC 20) using the Acoustic Calibrators to ensure the device can properly interpret sonic pulses.
  4. Step 4: Integrating the Scribe Mechanism (4 days): The completed drivetrain from Step 2 is carefully installed into the orb and connected to the articulated stylus needle. The copper tubing is routed from the steam piston to the vents. This is assembly work of the highest delicacy.
  5. Step 5: The Final Calibration (2 days): The artisan powers the device for the first time. They must spend two full days calibrating the acoustic sensors with the kinetic output of the stylus, ensuring the translation of data to the etching is flawless. This requires a series of Very Difficult checks using Tinker’s Tools or the specialized Acoustic Calibrators (DC 23).
    • On a success, the Scribe is created and functions perfectly.
    • On a failure, the calibration is flawed. The device produces inaccurate or distorted maps and must be disassembled (requiring 4 days of work) to attempt the calibration again.

Architect Vorn and Palace That Knew Itself

This is the telling of Vorn the Builder, him who made houses for the Great King whose name is now forgotten. The King’s mind was full of proud-thoughts and he commanded a palace be built that would scrape the underbelly of the moon-orb. He wanted halls that would echo with the sound of sunlight and spires so thin they were made of arrogance and air.

Many builders before Vorn had tried. Their works did fall down, and the King had their heads removed from their body-houses. Vorn was the last and most clever builder. He looked at the King’s paper-plans, and his heart-organ grew cold. “The stones will not hold this much pride,” he did say in the quiet of his own mind-box. “The King’s dream is too heavy for the bones of the earth.” But to speak this truth to the King was a death-invitation.

So Vorn, who knew the secrets of sound and steam, made a machine. It was a truth-seer. Not for seeing the past-time that was already dust, but for seeing the next-time that was not yet born. It was a thing of brass with three legs, and a seeing-orb with eyes of crystal. A needle-hand, pushed by steam-breath, was its tool. Vorn called it the Knower-of-Forms, for it could listen to a building’s bones and know the song of its breaking.

The palace was almost built. Only the last, highest sky-needle remained. The King said, “Build it now, Vorn, and you will be a great man. Fail, and you will be a short man.”

Vorn knew the sky-needle was the breaking-point. That night, he took his Knower-of-Forms to the great hall of the half-finished palace. The air was cold and the moon-orb watched through the open roof. He gave the machine a great slate of black wax. “Show me the breaking,” he did whisper to it, and he woke it up.

The machine did hum its quiet thinking-song. Its sound-voice went out and touched the great stone pillars and the high arches. Its needle-hand did begin to draw the great hall on the black wax. Then, it began to draw the sky-needle, the thing that was not yet built, reaching up into the wax sky.

As the needle-hand drew the impossible weight of the King’s pride, the needle-hand did begin to shake, not with error, but with truth. It drew new lines on the picture of the palace. Crack-lines. Lines of stress. Lines of falling stone. It was drawing the palace’s death, the ghost of its own collapse.

But the King, his mind full of suspicion-thoughts, did come to the great hall with his guards. He saw Vorn and his strange machine. He looked at the wax-slate. He was a proud king, but not a stupid one. He saw the picture of his perfect palace, covered in the lines of its own breaking.

A great anger was upon him. He was not angry that the house was weak. He was angry that the machine made a perfect, quiet memory of his weakness. “No one can see this shame!” the King did shout, his voice a whip. “Break the machine! Break the slate! Break the man!”

The guards came forward with their great hammers. Vorn stood before his truth-seer, to protect it. Some tellings of the story, the loud ones, say the guards did their work, and Vorn and his machine were broken into dust and forgotten.

But other tellings, the quiet ones that are whispered, say something else. They say that Vorn, in that last moment, did turn his machine one last time. He did not tell it to draw. He told it to sing. The machine’s sound-voice did sing one last, true note, a note that it had learned from listening to the bones of the great hall. It was the note that told the great arch-stone, the heart of the roof, how to un-make itself.

The hall did fall. The King and his pride and his guards were buried with the truth.

The moral of the story is: It is a dangerous thing to show a king a perfect picture of his own mistakes.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition

Scribe of 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 Cthulth 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.