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Occularic Visor of True-Metal 885

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by

Dale
in

From: Lineage 1083 of the Iron-Sheath Gestalt

Slot: Eye

Description: A complex monocle-like apparatus that swings down over the helmet’s visor slit. The lens is ground from a single Tier 2 magic crystal and allows the wearer to see the internal stress fractures and purity levels of any metal object. It pulses with a faint ultraviolet glow when the Mind’s Eye active activation is used to identify mineral compositions.

Lore: Occularic Visor of True-Metal 885

The creation of the 885-series visor was a direct response to the “Ghost-Alloy Crisis” of the 91st cycle, where counterfeit Tier 1 ores led to the catastrophic failure of several naval airship hulls mid-flight. To combat this, the Hammer-and-Crank Guild utilized high-clarity Tier 2 crystals—harvested from the deep-pressure veins of the tectonic shelves—to create a lens capable of “Piercing the Veil of the Alloy.”

Unlike standard optical lenses, the Occularic Visor does not view the surface of an object; it resonates with the crystalline lattice of the metal itself. For an Iron-Sheath Gestalt, this visor serves as a diagnostic bridge between its sentient mind and the physical world it manipulates. The faint ultraviolet glow is a byproduct of the lens “bleeding” mana while it forces the user’s Mind’s Eye to perceive reality at a molecular level. It is said that a master smith wearing the 885 can look at a rusted blade and see the exact moment the original smith’s hammer stroke faltered, or identify the single microscopic impurity that will eventually cause an entire fortress gate to crumble under pressure.

Item Specifications

  • Tier 1 Stats
    • Perception Bonus: +4
    • Resilience: 8
    • Health Points: (Avatar Max HP + 8)
    • Weight: 1.5 lbs
  • Skills Gained (While Openly Worn)
    • Metallurgical Appraisal (Temporary): 3
    • Structural Diagnosis (Temporary): 2
  • Passive Magic
    • Lattice Resonance: The wearer can see through 1 inch of non-magical metal as if it were glass, allowing for the inspection of internal mechanisms or hidden compartments.
    • Ultraviolet Clarity: The visor grants the wearer True Sight (Ultraviolet), allowing them to see invisible heat signatures or magic circuits within metallic objects.
  • Activatable Magics
    • Fracture Point Detection: (Action) The user focuses on a metallic object or construct to highlight its weakest physical point. The next successful strike against that target ignores 50% of its physical Damage Reduction.
    • Purity Scan: (Free Action) The wearer activates the crystal’s core to instantly identify the exact mineral composition and Tier level of any ore or alloy within 30 feet.
  • Specific Slot: Eye
  • Tags: Crystal-Lens, Diagnostic, Ultraviolet, Metal-Appraisal, Structural-Sight, Precision-Gear, Tier-1, Artisan-Optic, Tier-2-Component, Monocle, Resonance-Based, Flaw-Detection, Stress-Analysis, Deep-Scan, X-Ray-Vision, Ore-Identification, Crystalline-Optic, High-Clarity, Mana-Spectrum, Industrial-Sensing, Forensic-Smithing, Weak-Point-Analysis

Procurement and Commerce of the Occularic Visor 885

Methods of Acquisition

The Occularic Visor of True-Metal 885 is a high-precision instrument that requires delicate handling, making it a rare find in the wild. It is typically acquired through specialized professional channels:

  • Guild Accreditation: Highly skilled members of the Hammer-and-Crank Guild may receive this visor upon reaching the rank of “Master Appraiser.” It serves as both a tool of the trade and a badge of office.
  • Scientific Salvage: The visor is sometimes recovered from the wreckage of downed “Cloud-Surveyor” airships. Because the lens is a Tier 2 crystal, it often survives impacts that shatter the surrounding brass housing, though it may require “Refocusing” by an expert.
  • Archaeological Extraction: In the deep ruins of the Renaissance-era “Clockwork Cities,” these visors can be found in the personal laboratories of ancient Chief Artificers. These versions often feature antique brass scrollwork but maintain the same crystalline functionality.

Commercial Environments and Market Dynamics

Trading an item that utilizes a Tier 2 component requires a merchant with a deep understanding of magic-crystalline optics.

  • The Optic-Cabal (University Districts): These shops are quiet, dust-free environments filled with velvet-lined cases and magnifying arrays. They cater to scholars, master smiths, and high-tier architects.
    • Buying: A pristine Visor 885 is priced as a luxury laboratory instrument. It typically costs between 1,400 and 2,000 Gold. The price is highly dependent on the “Clarity Rating” of the Tier 2 crystal lens.
    • Selling: These vendors will only purchase a visor after a 24-hour “Light-Bath” test to ensure the crystal hasn’t been cracked. They offer approximately 800 Gold, or a higher trade-in value toward other Tier 2 optical components.
  • The Ore-Broker’s Exchange: Found in the heavy mining hubs of the volcanic islands. These are loud, busy offices where massive quantities of metal change hands based on the readings of these very visors.
    • Buying: Brokers often sell “Field-Used” visors that are functionally perfect but aesthetically scratched. These can be had for roughly 1,100 Gold.
    • Selling: Because these visors are essential for their business, brokers are often eager buyers. They will offer a flat rate of 600 to 700 Gold in liquid currency or a significantly larger value in raw Tier 1 ore.
  • The Black-Market “Glass-Blower”: Found in the shadowed alleys of metropolitan metropolises, these illicit shops specialize in gear used for bypassing metallic security.
    • Buying: The price here is inflated due to the “Lattice Resonance” ability to see through metal doors. Expect to pay 2,500 Gold in untraceable silver or credits.
    • Selling: A “fencer” of stolen goods will buy the visor for its Tier 2 crystal alone, offering roughly 400 Gold and asking no questions about the previous owner’s fate.

Transactional Costs

All legitimate purchases of the Occularic Visor are monitored by the World Bank via a 1% digital tithe deducted at the moment of sale. For a standard purchase of 1,500 Gold, the bank claims 15 Gold. Furthermore, because the 885 contains a Tier 2 component, the transaction is logged in the “High-Tier Material Registry,” making the item traceable by Guild authorities if it is ever used for criminal activities, such as identifying the weaknesses in a bank vault door.

Strategic Utility and Roleplay of the Occularic Visor 885

The Occularic Visor 885 is a bridge between the physical and the metaphysical, turning the act of observation into a tactical advantage. Roleplaying its use involves describing a shift in visual reality—from seeing a world of solid objects to seeing a world of vibrating energy, microscopic flaws, and glowing magical lattices.

Combat Roleplay: Offensive Maneuvers

In an offensive capacity, the Visor 885 is used to bypass an enemy’s perceived invulnerability by targeting the hidden “death-points” in their gear or physical form.

  • Fracture Point Detection: During an encounter with a heavily armored foe or a metallic construct, the player can roleplay the activation of the Tier 2 lens. Describe how the Mind’s Eye filters out the distracting colors of the world, leaving a monochrome landscape where the enemy’s armor is crisscrossed by glowing violet veins of “Structural Stress.” The player might describe the avatar’s next strike as being precision-aimed not at the enemy’s shield, but at a specific microscopic crack near the rivet, causing the entire piece of plate to shatter like glass upon impact.
  • Purity Scan Tactics: When facing opponents using specialized alloys or magical metals, the player can roleplay the Purity Scan. The avatar identifies that a foe’s “legendary” blade is actually made of impure, brittle slag-iron. This allows the player to roleplay a “Weapon Break” maneuver, confidently parrying with overwhelming force because they know the enemy’s steel will snap before their own volcanic iron does.

Combat Roleplay: Defensive Maneuvers

Defensively, the Visor 885 allows the avatar to anticipate the path of destruction and ensure their own structural integrity remains uncompromised.

  • Lattice Resonance Awareness: When taking cover behind metallic barricades or within an armored bunker, the player roleplays the Lattice Resonance to “see through” the wall. Describe the sensation of the solid metal turning into a ghostly, translucent veil. This allows the avatar to see an enemy preparing a breach or aiming a weapon on the other side, providing a +2 bonus to Initiative or Reflex saves as they react to a threat that is technically still invisible to others.
  • Ultraviolet Clarity: Against “Stealth” foes who use thermal-cloaking or mechanical camouflage, the player can roleplay the visor’s True Sight. By looking for the “Mana-Bleed” of the enemy’s cloaking device or the friction-heat of their moving joints within the ultraviolet spectrum, the avatar can pinpoint their location. The roleplay involves the visor emitting a sharp, high-pitched whine as the crystal lens overclocks to track the “invisible” shimmer.

Roleplay in Extreme Environments

  • Deathly Areas: In these high-fatality zones, the roleplay of the Visor 885 becomes one of frantic diagnostic survival. The player describes the visor constantly scanning the avatar’s own chassis, highlighting “Red Zones” where the armor is about to fail. Roleplay shifts to “Structural Diagnosis” on the fly, using the visor to find the one safe spot to stand where the ceiling’s metallic supports are still holding, even as the rest of the room collapses.
  • Metropolitan Metropolises: In the gleaming skyscrapers, the visor is used for social and forensic roleplay. The avatar can look at a high-ranking official’s “Golden Key” and realize it is a lead-filled fake, or scan the structural beams of a boardroom to find a hidden listening device. The roleplay focuses on the subtle ultraviolet glow reflecting in the avatar’s eye as they “see” the secrets hidden within the city’s steel bones.
  • Volcanic Forge-Islands: In the intense heat of the smithing islands, the visor is roleplayed as a cooling filter. The player describes how the crystal lens dampens the blinding glare of the molten slag, allowing the avatar to see the “Internal Purity” of a blade while it is still white-hot, ensuring a perfect forge that others would find impossible to judge.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

Upon sliding the Occularic Visor 885 into position, the avatar’s visual feed undergoes a “Spectral Shift.” The familiar colors of the world drain away, replaced by a high-contrast palette of violets and greys. Through the Mind’s Eye, the user perceives “Lattice Feedback”—a secondary layer of information where the molecular vibrations of nearby metals manifest as a steady, humming sensation in the optic nerves. When Fracture Point Detection is engaged, a sharp, piercing light highlights a specific coordinate in the user’s field of vision, accompanied by a faint scent of ozone and the feeling of a cold, static charge building within the avatar’s helmet.

Observer’s Perspective

To an outside witness, the activation is marked by a sudden, rhythmic pulsing of the Tier 2 crystal lens. The lens does not merely glow; it seems to “inhale” ambient light, turning the iris of the visor into a deep, swirling vortex of ultraviolet energy. As the Purity Scan occurs, a faint beam of invisible light (perceived only as a slight distortion in the air, like heat-haze) sweeps over the target area. The avatar’s head movements become robotic and precise, as the visor’s internal stabilization gyros lock onto the crystalline structures of the surrounding environment.

Positives

  • Predictive Diagnostics: The avatar can sense a weapon’s failure before it occurs, allowing for preemptive parries against weak steel.
  • Hidden Discovery: The “Lattice Resonance” makes hidden wall safes, internal wiring, and concealed trap triggers glow like beacons in the dark.
  • Precision Targeting: The ultraviolet clarity removes the visual “noise” of fog, smoke, or magical darkness, provided there is metal present to anchor the sight.

Negatives

  • Sensory Overload: Scanning high-purity Tier 3 or Tier 4 metals can cause “Crystal Flare,” a blinding feedback loop that temporarily scrambles the avatar’s visual sensors.
  • Chassis Strain: The constant ultraviolet emission generates significant heat against the helmet’s visor slit, which can lead to thermal warping of the head-piece if used for more than an hour.
  • Optical Tunneling: While focused on the “True-Metal” spectrum, the avatar becomes partially blind to non-metallic threats, such as wooden projectiles, organic poisons, or plastic-based explosives.

Schematic for the True-Metal Optic: Series 885

Materials Needed

  • 1 Flawless Tier 2 Magic Crystal: Must be sourced from high-pressure tectonic veins; requires “Deep-Clarification” treatment.
  • 5 oz Refined Brass: Used for the swing-arm housing and the delicate monocle frame.
  • 1 Micro-Aperture Iris: A series of twelve interlocking silver leaves to control light intake.
  • 2 Units Liquid Mana-Coolant: To stabilize the crystal during high-intensity ultraviolet emission.
  • 3 ft Gold-Filament Wiring: For the internal resonance circuit that connects the lens to the avatar’s Mind’s Eye.
  • 1 Rhodium-Plated Hinge: To ensure the swinging mechanism remains resistant to forge-vibration.

Tools Required

  • Precision Jeweler’s Lathe: For grinding the Tier 2 crystal into a parabolic diagnostic lens.
  • Arcane Soldering Stylus: To bond the gold-filament circuits without shattering the crystal’s mana-lattice.
  • Alchemical Vacuum Chamber: Required for the coolant infusion process to prevent air bubbles in the lens housing.
  • Calibration Prism: To align the resonance frequency of the visor with the universal “True-Metal” spectrum.
  • High-Magnification Bench-Glass: For the assembly of the micro-aperture iris.

Skill Requirements

  • Artificing (Trained): Level 3 to integrate the Tier 2 crystal with the avatar’s sensory feed.
  • Lapidary (Trained): Level 2 to grind the magic crystal without causing internal fractures.
  • Metallurgy (Trained): Level 1 to craft the brass housing and rhodium hinge.
  • Arcane Engineering (Trained): Level 2 to calibrate the lattice-resonance and fracture-point algorithms.

Crafting Steps

  • Step 1: Crystal Preparation: Place the Tier 2 magic crystal on the jeweler’s lathe. Using a diamond-dust slurry, grind the stone into a precise parabolic shape. The lens must be polished until it achieves “Lattice Transparency,” where it begins to vibrate in the presence of nearby iron.
  • Step 2: Housing Construction: Cast the brass into a monocle-style frame and integrate the rhodium hinge. The interior of the housing must be etched with cooling grooves to accommodate the liquid mana-coolant.
  • Step 3: Iris Assembly: Carefully install the twelve silver leaves of the micro-aperture iris into the front of the brass frame. Ensure the mechanical movement is fluid; any hitch will cause the ultraviolet light to “stutter.”
  • Step 4: Circuit Integration: Thread the gold-filament wiring from the crystal’s mounting points to the hinge. Use the Arcane Soldering Stylus to create a bridge that will eventually connect to the avatar’s helmet interface.
  • Step 5: Coolant Infusion: Place the assembled optic into the Alchemical Vacuum Chamber. Submerge the lens in the Liquid Mana-Coolant and seal it, ensuring the crystal is fully bathed in the stabilizing fluid to prevent overheating during use.
  • Step 6: Frequency Calibration: Activate the calibration prism and look through the visor at a sample of Tier 1 volcanic iron. Adjust the gold-filament tension until the internal stress fractures of the iron glow with a sharp, ultraviolet violet light.
  • Step 7: Final Attunement: Mount the visor to a test helmet. The crafter must use their Mind’s Eye to “ping” the crystal. If the visor returns a high-resolution map of the surrounding metal without causing a feedback headache, the Series 885 is complete.

Circle-Glass for Naked Bones of Metal 885

It is scratched upon the rotting brass-leaves of the before-time, dragged across the languages of the forgotten dirt-scratchers. In the days of the Ninety-and-One Turning of the Big Wheel, there came the Great Crying of the False Irons. This was the time when the men of the heavy hands made the big boats of the clouds. These sky-vessels were meant to float upon the white air, holding the fires of the steam. But the shadow-merchants, who have the tongues of snakes and the hearts of mud, sold the lying-dirt disguised as the strong iron of the first tier.

The makers of the sky-vessels hit the lying-dirt with their hammers. They thought it was the good iron. The sky-vessels went up into the white air, but the false iron became tired in the sky. It did a great shattering. The bellies of the sky-vessels broke open, and the fires spilled out. The boats fell down like the dead birds of the winter. Many of the brothers of the walking-irons fell into the hard ground and became the pieces of sadness. There was much weeping of the face-water in the halls of the Guild of the Heavy Hammer and the Turning Crank.

The Chief Striker of the Guild became filled with the hotness of anger. He broke his anvil with his fists. He spoke with a loudly voice to the empty sky, “Our seeing-balls are the fools! We look at the skin of the metal, and the skin is wearing the mask of shining lies. We must have a seeing-ball that strips the skin and looks at the naked bones of the iron!”

So, the Chief Striker commanded the deep-delvers to go into the throat of the earth-mother. He sent them down to the place where the heavy dark crushes the life, where the pressure is like the weight of a thousand fat elephants stepping upon the chest. The deep-delvers fought the blind worms of the hot stone. They stole the Clear-Rock of the Second Tier. This was not a rock for looking at the outside of things. It was a hungry rock that wants to see the inside of things.

The makers brought the Clear-Rock to the wheel of the spinning diamond dust. They did a great grinding for many sun-turnings. They rubbed the rock until it became the curved Circle-Glass. But the magic of the Circle-Glass was too angry. It burned the air. So, the makers trapped the angry glass inside the yellow metal of brass. They made the hinges of the rhodium, which is the metal that ignores the screaming of the heavy hits. They poured the cold-water-of-magic into the cracks so the Circle-Glass would not eat itself with its own invisible fire. They made the twelve silver leaves to open and close the eye, so the angry light could be commanded.

Then, the Chief Striker put the Circle-Glass upon the slit of his face-plate. When he opened the silver leaves, the world of normal colors died. The red and the blue became the grey ghosts. Instead, his mind was filled with the violet shining of the invisible heavy-magic. The Circle-Glass vibrated with a humming sound like the angry bees inside the skull.

The Chief Striker looked at the iron of the shadow-merchants. The Circle-Glass screamed with the violet light. The Chief Striker did not see the shiny skin of the metal. He saw the sickness sleeping in the meat of the iron. He saw the weak dirt. He saw the invisible cracks waiting to do a great breaking. He pointed his finger, and the makers saw the truth.

The Chief Striker walked through the city of the smoke. He looked at all things. With the Circle-Glass, he saw the lazy hitting of the apprentices who hid their mistakes. He saw the rot hiding inside the swords of the kings. He saw the true-metal singing its strong song, and he saw the false-metal crying its weak tears. The shadow-merchants who sold the lying-dirt were taken to the places of the heavy hitting and were punished with the great justice.

But the Circle-Glass demanded the feeding of the pain. It made the face of the Chief Striker very hot, like standing inside the oven. It gave his soul-stone the tiredness of a long running. He could only wear it for the short times, or his eyes would become the white ash. Even so, the sky-vessels did not fall down from the clouds anymore. They flew with the strong bones, because the eight-hundred and eighty-five refused to look at the mask of the lies.

The moral of the story: The truth is a violet fire that burns the face and puts the angry bees into the head, but it is better to walk with the burning eyes of the painful truth than to ride into the sky upon a boat made of the shiny lies.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Item Name: The Resonating Monocle of St. Erastus

  • Classification: Weird Science / Artifact
  • Sanity Loss: 1/1d4 (Witnessing the “molecular truth” of the world can be profoundly unsettling).
  • Skills: +20% to Appraise (Metal/Machinery) and Repair (Mechanical/Electrical).
  • Game Mechanics:
    • Structural Weakness: By spending 1d4 Magic Points and 1 round observing a metallic structure or creature, the user identifies a “Fracture Point.” The next successful physical attack against that target gains a Bonus Die to damage.
    • X-Ray Lattice: The user can see through up to 1 inch of lead or 3 inches of steel. This grants a Bonus Die to Spot Hidden rolls involving concealed metallic objects.
  • Syntax: “The lens hums at a frequency that vibrates the user’s teeth, shifting the world into a stark, violet-hued landscape of stress and decay.”

Blades in the Dark

Item Name: The Spark-Wright’s Diagnostic Lens

  • Type: Utility Gear (1 Load)
  • Tier: II (Fine Quality, due to Tier 2 crystal)
  • Mechanics:
    • Fracture Detection: When you perform a Wreck or Skirmish action against a metallic target (a vault, an iron gate, or a hull-clad enemy), you may expend a Special Armor use to gain Increased Effect. You strike exactly where the metal is weakest.
    • Metal-Sight: You can see the “ghost-lattice” of machinery. This gives you Potency when using Study or Tinker to understand how a complex mechanical device works or to find hidden compartments.
  • Tags: Precision, Fragile, Ethereal-Sight, Industrial.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Item Name: Occularic Visor of True-Metal

  • Wondrous Item (Eye), Rare (Requires Attunement)
  • Mechanics:
    • Diagnostic Appraisal: You have advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) and ability checks using Smith’s Tools to identify the properties, purity, or history of metallic objects.
    • Identify Weakness: As a bonus action, you can scan a creature wearing metal armor or a construct made of metal. Your next attack roll against that target before the end of your next turn has Advantage. If it hits, it deals an extra 1d8 force damage.
    • Resonant Sight: As an action, you can see through solid metal up to 1 foot thick for 1 minute. This effect works like a limited Ring of X-Ray Vision but only functions on metallic surfaces. Once used, this feature cannot be used again until you finish a short or long rest.
  • Syntax: “While active, the visor emits a faint ultraviolet pulse, and the wearer’s iris appears as a swirling crystalline vortex behind the lens.”

Knave (2nd Edition)

Item Name: Flaw-Finder’s Glass

  • Item Slots: 1
  • Mechanics:
    • See Purity: The wearer can instantly tell if any metal is a “Lying Alloy” (counterfeit) or its specific Tier.
    • Sunder Strength: When attacking a target made of metal or wearing metal armor, a “Dud” (natural 1 or 2 on damage) may be rerolled once.
    • Metal-Phasing Sight: The wearer can see through metal doors or chests. This reveals the contents but not their color or fine detail (everything appears as violet silhouettes).
    • Overheat: If the wearer uses the “Metal-Phasing Sight” for more than 3 consecutive turns, they must make a CON Save or take 1d6 heat damage and become Dazzled for 1 turn.
  • Tags: Vision, Diagnostic, Magic-Crystal, Fragile.

Fate (Core/Condensed)

Item Name: The Lattice-Sight Monocle

  • Type: Extra / Vision Gear
  • Aspect: “Piercing Ultraviolet Gaze of the Artificer”
  • Mechanics:
    • Structural Intuition: You gain a +2 bonus to Investigate or Crafts when searching for secret compartments in metal, identifying alloy purity, or diagnosing mechanical failure.
    • Highlight Fracture: Once per scene, you may use the Visor to place a Glaring Structural Flaw Aspect on a metallic opponent or obstacle with one free invoke.
    • Metal-X-Ray: You can see through metallic barriers as if they were translucent. This allows you to ignore the Heavily Obscured or Cover Aspects if they are provided by non-magical metal.
  • Cost: 1 Stunt or 1 Refresh.

Numenera & Cypher System

Item Name: Molecular Resonance Optic

  • Level: 1d6 + 2 (Tier 2)
  • Form: A complex, clicking brass monocle with a swirling violet crystal lens.
  • Effect: The user gains an asset to any task involving identifying minerals, metals, or mechanical vulnerabilities.
    • Depletion: 1 in 1d20.
  • Specific Mechanics:
    • Find the Flaw: By spending 2 points from the Intellect Pool, the user can locate a microscopic fracture in a metallic object (up to level 5). The difficulty of the next task to break or dismantle that object is reduced by two steps.
    • True-Metal Sight: The user can see through 1 inch (2.5 cm) of metal. This is an active effect that requires concentration.
  • Syntax: “The crystal lens hums at a pitch that makes the wearer’s teeth ache as it forces the mind to perceive molecular bonds.”

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Item Name: Occularic Visor of True-Metal

  • Item 5 | Rare | Divination | Invested | Magical
  • Price: 150 gp
  • Usage: worn, eyepiece; Bulk: —
  • Mechanics:
    • Appraiser’s Eye: You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks to notice hidden doors made of metal and to Crafting checks to identify metallic substances or items.
    • Reveal Weakness [Action]: (Visual) You focus your gaze on a creature or object made primarily of metal within 30 feet. That target becomes Observed by you even if it is behind metal cover. Your next Strike against that target before the end of your next turn deals an additional 1d6 precision damage.
    • Resonant Vision [Action]: (Frequency: 1/day) You activate the Tier 2 crystal. For 1 minute, you gain Darkvision and can see through up to 1 inch of non-magical metal.
  • Syntax: “The visor’s pulse shifts from a dull violet to a brilliant white as it locks onto a structural failure.”

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Item Name: 885-Series Forensic Optic

  • Type: Armor Accessory (Eye)
  • Mechanics:
    • Structural Awareness: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Notice rolls involving metallic objects and to Repair rolls when diagnosing machinery.
    • Fracture Point: As a Limited Action, the wearer can scan a metallic target. On a success, the wearer’s next successful attack against that target increases its Armor Piercing (AP) value by 4.
    • Lattice Vision: The wearer ignores all Illumination penalties when looking at metallic objects or creatures wearing metal. They can also “see” metallic signatures through thin walls (Notice -2).
  • Syntax: “The world dissolves into a violet-tinted schematic, highlighting stress points and mineral veins in stark relief.”

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Item Name: Horizon “Crystal-Eye” Structural Scanner

  • Type: Optical Enhancement (Visor or Cyber-eye Mount)
  • Rating: 3
  • Capacity: 2
  • Mechanics:
    • Lattice Resonance (X-Ray): The visor provides the equivalent of Ultrasound Sensor functionality, but it only functions through metallic surfaces. It can “see” through 5cm of non-hardened metal or 2cm of reinforced plasteel.
    • Fracture Point Analysis: As a Minor Action, the user can scan a metallic vehicle, drone, or armored opponent. This grants a +2 Attack Rating bonus to the user’s next attack against that target as they aim for structural stress points.
    • Metallurgical Database: The user gains a +2 dice pool bonus to Engineering tests involving the repair or sabotage of metallic machinery.
  • Syntax: “The lens cycles through the ultraviolet spectrum, rendering the target’s internal framework in high-contrast violet schematics.”

Starfinder (2nd Edition / Playtest)

Item Name: True-Metal Diagnostic Monocle

  • Item 5 | Rare | Divination | Tech | Magical
  • Price: 1,600 credits
  • Usage: worn, eye; Bulk: —
  • Mechanics:
    • Mineralogic Identification: You gain a +2 item bonus to Perception and Physical Science checks to identify the composition, tier, and value of ores and alloys.
    • Vulnerability Scan (Action): You target a creature with the Technological trait or one wearing heavy metal armor within 60 feet. Your next attack against that creature before the end of your next turn gains the Deadly d6 trait (or increases the die size by one step if it already has it).
    • Resonant Sight: As an action, you gain Sense Through (Metal) for 1 round, allowing you to see through 1 inch of metal.
  • Syntax: “The Tier 2 crystal core hums, projecting a spectral overlay that highlights microscopic stress fractures in the enemy’s hull.”

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Item Name: TL13 Crystalline Stress-Analyzer

  • Tech Level: 13
  • Weight: 0.5 kg
  • Cost: Cr 4,500
  • Mechanics:
    • Structural Integrity Check: When performing repairs on a spacecraft or vehicle hull, the analyzer grants a +2 DM to the Engineer or Mechanic check. It can identify “Ghost-Alloy” (counterfeit) materials with an Average (8+) Science (Physical) check.
    • Weak Point Targeting: In personal combat, if the user takes a “Minor Action” to Aim while using the visor against a metallic or robotic foe, their next attack increases its Armor Piercing (AP) value by 4.
    • Limited Penetration: The visor can see through 20mm of standard steel, allowing the user to inspect internal wiring or hidden compartments without dismantling the casing.
  • Syntax: “The monocle’s internal iris clicks as it focuses, stripping away the surface paint to reveal the shimmering lattice of the alloy beneath.”

Warhammer (Age of Sigmar: Soulbound)

Item Name: Eye of the Aether-Smith

  • Rarity: Rare
  • Mechanics:
    • See the Flaw: When you take the Help action to assist an ally in attacking a construct or a creature in heavy armor, that ally gains an additional +1d6 to their Damage in addition to the normal benefits of the Help action.
    • Diagnostic Gaze: You have Advantage on all Tests made to identify the properties of magical metals or to find secret doors made of iron or silver.
    • Unveil the Lattice: Once per session, you can use an Action to see through any metallic object up to 1 foot thick for 1 minute. This allows you to see creatures or objects on the other side as glowing ultraviolet silhouettes.
  • Syntax: “The monocle’s lens is a shard of pure aether-quartz, pulsing with a light that reveals the true, unvarnished state of all metal.”