From: Lineage 317 of the Dream Tusked Nga Tara
Tool Type: Hydromantic Survey Apparatus
A massive, foldable frame of brass and dark teak, designed to strap across a Nga-Tara’s broad back or mount to a floating platform. Crystal lenses embedded in the frame refract magical currents, while tiny steam pistons trace real-time movement of ley waters onto vellum charts. Dream-ink reservoirs let the user “print” shifting river paths, hidden aquifers, and unstable magical zones. Originally built for Dreampool engineers to repair disrupted waterways after Dreamrift tremors.
Advantages: maps safe passage for steamcraft, detects dangerous magical eddies before travel or combat, creates valuable navigational charts.
Drawbacks: heavy and awkward to deploy; ink reservoirs must be refilled with enchanted riverwater; prolonged use can overload the Mind’s Eye with conflicting current visions.
Lore (Expanded)
The River-Sense Cartograph-611 traces its design to the Dreamrift Calamity, when vast tracts of Aboriginal’s riverways warped overnight, drowning villages and twisting ley currents into deadly maelstroms. Dreampool engineers—tasked with restoring the lifeblood of trade and safe steam navigation—crafted the first prototypes using dream-crystals dredged from flooded vaults and brass frames from shattered airship hulls. Each cartograph is a living echo of those early survivors’ ingenuity: its lenses not only refract light but pierce the veils of Yirra’s waters to chart hidden channels of magic. Its vellum charts shift and shimmer like liquid silver while drawing maps from memory and the user’s Mind’s Eye, allowing one to “see” the rivers beyond mere sight. But every map costs clarity: too long behind its lenses and the world itself seems to flow, dragging thoughts with it.
Tier One Values & Mechanics
• Stat Modifiers: +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom
• Skills Gained: Cartography (Hydromantic), River Navigation, Arcane Surveying
• Weight: 28 lbs fully loaded
• Speed Impact: –5 ft if worn while traveling (bulk and frame drag on movement)
Passive Magics
• Current Sight: Grants constant low-level awareness of nearby fresh or salt water up to 300 ft; the user can sense depth, direction, and general magical turbulence.
• Ley Draft Mapping: Automatically records ley-water flows and weak points on its vellum charts when carried; charts remain faintly animated for 24 hours.
• Safe Channel Instinct: Subtle warnings (pressure on ears, cool drafts) when crossing unstable magical waters or thin ley crusts, granting advantage to avoid hazards.
Activatable Magics
• Tremor Pulse (2/day): Release a low steam and light wave through water or wet ground out to 200 ft; instantly shows fractures, submerged threats, or unstable currents on the map and in the user’s Mind’s Eye.
• Dream-Route Projection (1/day): Cast a glowing, semi-solid water-path ahead for 300 ft, safe for steamcraft or foot passage for 10 minutes; allies gain advantage on checks to avoid aquatic hazards while on the path.
• Veil Drench (1/day): Saturate the area in a thin mist that suppresses hostile magical eddies for 1 minute, granting +2 AC/defense versus environmental water or magic effects.
Slot
Tool — specialized frame/back harness or deployable platform; occupies “tool rigging” slot but can be detached and set up in camp or on deck.
Tags
Hydromantic, Cartography, River-Guide, Dream-ink, Surveyor’s Gear, Ley-Mapping, Navigation, Protective Utility, Heavy Apparatus, Mind’s Eye Aligned, Dreamrift-Repair, Current-Seer, Waterway-Engineer, Mist-Plotter, Flow-Ward, Channel-Reader, Stream-Navigator, Depth-Scribe, Aquifer-Revealer
Shops and Trade for the River-Sense Cartograph-611 in Saṃsāra
Grand Dreampool Hydromantic Guild Halls
These are the original makers and maintainers of the River-Sense Cartograph. Guild halls at places like Vara-Sul’s Dreamwright District or Dreamtide’s floating dry docks keep a small number of master-crafted units for sale. Each device is custom-assembled and attuned to the buyer’s Mind’s Eye resonance; the buyer undergoes a short ritual to prevent psychic backlash. These halls charge a premium—usually 850–1,000 gold plus a ceremonial tithe of enchanted riverwater to the guild’s reserves. Often purchased by government surveyors, Dreampool engineers, and airship flotilla captains mapping new trade routes.
Steamwright Navigators’ Emporiums
Urban merchants in large riverports—especially Southflow Dominion and the docks of Dreamtide—buy used and partially spent Cartographs from retired explorers or salvagers who recover them from sunken barges. These are refurbished, re-inked, and tested for safe use. Cost is lower but variable, usually 600–800 gold, with some risk of worn dream-ink channels or hairline crystal fractures. Popular among ambitious captains or treasure seekers who can’t afford guild-new.
Mystic Salvage Houses and Wreck Divers’ Markets
In secondary port towns or deep jungle salvage outposts, treasure divers bring up damaged Cartographs from drowned caravans or ruined Dreampool installations. They sell them “as found,” usually needing repair. Prices can drop to 350–500 gold for cracked frames or depleted dream-ink reservoirs, but the buyer must risk psychic residue or waterlogged vellum that maps poorly. These are sought by independent monster hunters or rogue explorers wanting cheaper kit.
Floating Bazaar of Moonwake Anchorage
A traveling market of dream-ink specialists and ley-cartographers who trade in rare map gear. They sometimes offer unique or modified River-Sense Cartographs tuned for dangerous magical rivers. Because of rarity and exclusivity, their asking price is 1,200–1,500 gold, often bundled with extra dream-ink reservoirs and protective amulets. Only the wealthiest captains or high-level monster guilds can justify this.
Small-Scale Jungle Artisan Forges
A few rural Nga-Tara families maintain secret water-crystal polishing techniques and will craft “homestead versions” of the Cartograph for local river scouts. These are simpler but still functional, lacking advanced Dream-Route Projection. Costs run 400–550 gold, but you must barter favors or goods in addition to coin—safe ferry routes, monster trophies, or rare enchanted water.
Acquisition Rituals and Restrictions
Because of its potential to map ley weaknesses, the River-Sense Cartograph is sometimes regulated; larger guilds require the buyer to swear magical non-interference oaths. In black markets, smugglers bypass this by selling stripped units without oath plates, but these can backfire dangerously if misused.
Roleplay Use of the River-Sense Cartograph-611
Jungle Rivers and Swamps
The Cartograph becomes a lifeline when traveling half-sunken jungle passages. Its passive Current Sight lets the user sense lurking predators beneath dark water before they strike; they can steer boats or rafts quietly away from ley whirlpools and monster ambushes. In defense, activating Tremor Pulse sends a gentle steam vibration through the riverbed, revealing hidden crocodile-maws or deep sinkholes before the party steps into danger. If attacked, Veil Drench can flood the clearing with dream-mist, muffling magical eddies and making hostile river creatures slower to attack. Offensively, that same mist can disorient enemies and obscure line of sight while allies reposition or strike unseen.
Coastal Harbors and Ship Decks
At sea or on airship docks, the Cartograph’s live mapping gives captains a tactical edge. The user can chart safe approaches to hostile harbors or mark strong currents to slingshot vessels faster than pursuers. During boarding actions, triggering Dream-Route Projection creates a glowing path over water or open void between ships, letting allies cross safely while enemies struggle. In combat, Tremor Pulse destabilizes enemy gangplanks or reveals invisible saboteurs clinging to hulls, making it both a defensive scout and an offensive area-control tool.
Cavern Lakes and Underground Waterways
In pitch-black subterranean expanses, the Cartograph’s magical “water sense” allows safe passage and immediate hazard warnings where sound echoes confuse normal scouts. Defensively, its Veil Drench can suppress wild underground magic or blinding phosphorescent spores stirred up by enemies, giving cover while retreating. Offensively, striking with the Tremor Pulse can collapse thin rock shelves under pursuers or scatter fragile formations to block tunnels behind you.
Urban and Industrial Settings
Within great cities like Vara-Sul or Dreamtide, water channels power steamworks and feed entire districts. The Cartograph can reveal sabotage attempts or unsafe magical currents threatening flood gates or steam conduits. In defense, it helps avert magical accidents or ambushes by sensing hidden fluid channels enemies might use to travel or attack. In offense, it can weaponize the very infrastructure: a Tremor Pulse at the right valve might burst pipes and scald opponents, while Dream-Route Projection can create escape routes across flooded streets or between rooftops with conjured water paths.
Open Plains and Overland Travel
While less effective far from water, the Cartograph’s Current Sight still senses underground aquifers and ley trickles. Defensively, this means finding hidden oases and avoiding dangerous, magically “dry” death zones that sap power. In battle, conjured mists from Veil Drench can obscure riders or confuse ranged attackers. Offensively, striking the ground with a Tremor Pulse near hidden water veins might cause sudden geysers or mud traps to hinder enemies.
Roleplay Texture
Carrying the River-Sense Cartograph feels purposeful and heavy. The wielder often acts as the group’s environmental sentinel and navigator, eyes half-closed as streams of magical waterflow diagrams overlay their vision. They are the first to warn of shifting terrain, sabotage, or aquatic predators. Yet there’s drama in the device’s risk: push it too far, and its swirling dream-ink visions can disorient the user, creating moments where their insight turns to confusion mid-fight. Groups often roleplay helping stabilize or anchor the Cartographer after prolonged use, reinforcing party bonds.
Defense Highlights: anticipate ambush, shield party with mist, stabilize unsafe routes.
Offense Highlights: weaponize terrain (collapse decks, release scalding pipes, flood or obscure enemies), create magical water pathways for tactical strikes.
In every setting, the Cartograph bridges exploration and battle, giving the character a distinct blend of support, control, and environmental mastery.
Perception of Activation:
User’s Perspective
When the River-Sense Cartograph-611 unfolds and the steam pistons begin to cycle, a deep, liquid hush seems to swallow outside noise. The Nga-Tara bearer feels an immediate cool rush through the spine and trunk, as if their own blood has turned to riverwater. The “Mind’s Eye” blooms wide—currents become visible like translucent blue-green ribbons under the skin of the earth and sea. The scent of damp moss and fresh rain floods the senses. The user’s ears ring faintly with layered tones, as if dozens of streams whisper distant directions at once. Fingers and trunk tingle with subtle pulses, each beat aligning with unseen flowlines. A soft vibration thrums up through the shoulders where the brass frame anchors, felt like the living heartbeat of the rivers themselves.
Extra-sensory glimpses slip into thought: images of underwater caverns, submerged roots, drowned ruins, and the safe channels between shifting ley floods. The user perceives not only water paths but also pressure eddies that warn of danger—silent floods and unseen whirlpools of magic. Sometimes fleeting memories of other lives on riverbanks surface, half-remembered and luminous, offering subtle intuition about which way to travel.
Observer’s Perspective
Those watching see the brass and teak frame glow with faint emerald and aquamarine veins, like cracks of light under dark water. Crystal lenses swivel and refract shifting shapes of current-maps that briefly float in the mist. Steam coils lazily from hidden vents, scented faintly of ozone and river reeds. The user’s skin markings glow softly in sympathetic rhythm; the tusks and trunk twitch slightly as if tasting the unseen flow. Their eyes cloud with silver-blue light, faraway and focused beyond the immediate scene.
Positives
- Immediate, intuitive map of waterways and magical hazards, granting safe passage and strategic foresight.
- Heightened sensory precision; the user can predict ambush points, collapsed channels, or ley turbulence before danger strikes.
- Creates confidence and calm even in chaotic environments like flooded caverns or sea-choked docks.
Negatives
- Overload risk: the rush of layered visions can disorient, causing dizziness, nausea, or loss of balance if overused.
- Vulnerability during mapping: user’s focus is half-dreaming, leaving them slower to react to sudden physical attacks.
- After prolonged activation, ears ring painfully, and phantom river-voices may linger long after the device is stowed.
Crafting Recipe: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Materials Needed
- Dream-Steel Rivets (12): To anchor the moving brass hinges and hold resonance under magical strain.
- Dark Teak Planks (5): Carved from jungle-grown, water-resistant timber; forms the foldable frame.
- Refraction Crystals (3): Clear quartz treated in Dreampool water to capture ley-line shimmer.
- Vo-Run Glyph Plates (4): Thin bronze plates inscribed with precision hydromantic script.
- Steam Pistons (miniature set, 8): Brass pistons with copper tubing, enchanted to run on minimal steam pressure.
- Dream-Ink Reservoirs (2): Glass orbs filled with enchanted ink mixed with bioluminescent spores.
- Enchanted Vellum Rolls (5 yards): Treated with river oils to absorb shifting lines of current without smudging.
- Binding Straps of Kelp-Leather (3): Flexible, waterproof, and resilient, securing the frame to the wearer.
- Riverwater Core Flask (1): Vessel of sanctified water drawn from a ley-rich Dreampool to power the mapping resonance.
Tools Required
- Brassworking Forge and Bellows
- Precision Gear-Hammer and Etching Awl
- Vo-Run Inscription Tools with tonal tuning forks
- Steam Lathe for shaping pistons and tubing
- Hydromantic Lens Calibrator (to set refraction crystals)
- Ink Alchemy Kit for dream-ink preparation
- Carpentry chisels and clamps for teak shaping
Skill Requirements
- Journeyman Brassworker: For pistons, hinges, and gear fit.
- Hydromancer (apprentice or higher): To attune crystals and charge ley-water core.
- Rune-Scribe: To inscribe Vo-Run glyphs with precise tonal inflection.
- Cartographer/Surveyor: To calibrate vellum alignment and ensure maps remain accurate when drawn.
- Steamcraft Engineer: To integrate piston flow with magical current sensing.
Crafting Steps
- Frame Assembly: Carve teak planks into foldable struts, polish to resist water damage, and assemble into a collapsible frame using dream-steel rivets.
- Piston Installation: Forge and attach miniature brass pistons with copper tubing along the frame, ensuring smooth steam release and pressure control.
- Crystal Embedding: Set refraction crystals into brass sockets using hydromantic calibration to align their resonance with Whisperwind ley frequencies.
- Glyph Inscription: Etch Vo-Run glyphs into bronze plates, then affix them around the frame to stabilize ley-channel readings. Tune inscriptions with tonal forks until glow harmonizes.
- Reservoir Integration: Fit dream-ink reservoirs into the lower panel, linking steam pistons so ink pulses synchronously with the mapping process.
- Vellum Mounting: Install a scroll mechanism with enchanted vellum, allowing charts to be drawn as the device operates. Test ink flow and legibility under mist exposure.
- Core Charging: Place sanctified riverwater flask into central chamber, binding it with kelp-leather straps. Hydromancer channels currents into the flask, awakening the mapping resonance.
- Final Attunement: Activate the device in a running stream or Dreampool. Calibrate flowlines against visible current paths, adjusting piston timing and crystal alignment until readings match.
- Blessing Ritual (Optional): Waterdreamer chants over the cartograph, whispering Yirra’s flow-words to prevent distortions from Dreamrift interference.
Once complete, the River-Sense Cartograph-611 becomes a living tool of navigation—its charts pulsing with ley-water signatures, guiding its bearer safely through hidden rivers, aquifers, and currents of magic.
Map That Walked on Water and Dream
Long ago, when rivers were young and sky steam not yet tamed, there was told tale of a mighty maker named Haura-Venn, a great dream-engineer among the early Nga-Tara. It is said she listen to the sleep-singing of rivers when other still feared the deep mists. People then sail blind on jungle flood and drowned much; monsters coil in whirlpools, and whole villages vanish when Dreamrift tremor break ground.
Haura-Venn see sorrow and weep. From her tears grow reeds that sang of safe way. She wander far with only trunk and tusks and one burning lantern. In cavern where water echo like lost heart, she met River That Thinks, an ancient thing no shape can hold. Old writing say the water speak but broken: “Path… moves… you… not you… path.” She answer, “Then I move with path.”
For seven cycles of moon, she labor. Brass from mountain belly, teak from trees that drink magic fog, and crystals from lightless deep, all she gather. She carve glyph not with knife but with word-sound half forgotten. It is told she sing so long the fish swim asleep and rocks soften. In end she birth a strange back-frame—bones of brass and dark tree, eyes of waterlight, lungs of steam. She call it Kara-Phenn, “back that remembers river.”
But river spirits jealous. When first she wear the great frame, river flood angry, to test. The water rise black, quick like serpent, and beast of mud and scale wake from bed. It roar and crush tree like straw. Yet she stand. Steam hiss from device, and dream-ink bleed blue across vellum, drawing lines where safe current run. Each step she take, map change, path safe before her. She lead whole village through howling flood while beasts bite and whirlpool pull. None drown but the mud serpent vanish down and not come back.
After, she set the frame down by Dreampool edge and whisper, “Path knows now.” She vanish into mist; some say she become river or dream or star. The cartograph remain. Carried by many hands—engineers, river-walkers, monster hunters—until names forgot and tongue twist. It save many but warn none should use long, else river voices fill head till dream and waking drown each other.
Old fragments say each time it is woken, shadows of her steps rise in mist; watchers claim to see a tall tusked shape walking across water, lantern swinging, guiding but silent.
Moral of the story: To master the flow, you must first let the flow master you; force drowns, but understanding carries safely through dream and danger.
Suggested conversions to other systems:
CALL OF CTHULHU 7th EDITION
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Type: Large Survey Apparatus (Hydromantic Engineering Tool)
Era/Setting Fit: Age of Steam & Exploration in Saṃsāra
Description:
A collapsible brass-and-teak frame with shimmering dream-crystals and steam pistons, used to chart magical waterways and ley currents. When deployed, it projects shifting river lines onto vellum, warning of hazards and revealing hidden channels.
Game Effects:
- Skill Bonus: +20% to Navigate (when used on or near a body of water or ley channel).
- Occult Insight: +10% to Cthulhu Mythos or Occult when interpreting magical currents or unstable Dreamrift tremors.
- Hydromantic Detection: Once per day, user can sense magical eddies or anomalies in a 500-yard radius (Spot Hidden roll with advantage).
- Sanity Risk: Each hour of continuous use requires an Idea roll; failure triggers mild hallucinations (1/1D4 SAN loss) as conflicting dream currents overwhelm the Mind’s Eye.
Weight & Handling: Heavy and cumbersome; requires STR 60+ to carry comfortably.
Value: £150–£200 (rare arcane/engineering relic; prices vary by harbor, Dreampool temple, or university).
BLADES IN THE DARK
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Type: Fine Gadget (Surveyor’s Relic)
Description:
A self-inking magical current plotter strapped to the back or mounted on a skiff. When deployed, it marks shifting safe channels and warns of dream surges.
Load: 2 (counts as heavy gear).
Special:
- Surveyor’s Edge: +1d to Survey when analyzing waterways or supernatural terrain.
- Safe Passage: Spend 1 Stress to declare a pre-charted safe path or ambush route on water-based maps (narrative positioning benefit).
- Ley Echo: Once per score, you can Attune with potency to predict magical instability or detect lurking entities beneath the surface.
Drawback:
Using Ley Echo fills 1 stress and 1 level of temporary trauma if repeated within same score—mind flooded by conflicting currents.
Value: 4 Coin (rare artifact).
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 5E
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires Attunement by a creature proficient with Cartographer’s Tools or Arcana
Description:
An enchanted brass-teak frame that senses magical water paths and records them in living dream-ink.
Stats & Powers:
- Skill Buff: While attuned and carrying the cartograph, you gain a +3 bonus to Nature and Survival checks related to waterways, currents, or underground aquifers.
- Hydromantic Mapmaking: Over 10 minutes, you can produce a magically accurate map of all waterways and magical eddies within 1 mile.
- Danger Sense: Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks to detect ambushes or unstable terrain while near water.
- Pulse of the Dreamrift (1/day): As an action, scan for magical anomalies in a 300 ft radius; creatures hiding or cloaked by illusions near water must make a DC 15 Wisdom save or be revealed by glowing lines of mist.
Curses/Drawbacks: Each time Pulse of the Dreamrift is used more than once per day, roll DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or suffer short-term confusion (as per confusion spell for 1 minute).
Weight: 40 lb.
KNAVE
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Type: Tool/Relic
Properties:
- Grants +2 to Exploration rolls when navigating or mapping watery terrain.
- Once per expedition, the user may automatically avoid a natural hazard involving water or unstable magical current.
- While carried, increases INT Save vs environmental or magical confusion near rivers and Dreamrift zones by +2.
- Overuse: on a fumbled INT Save after using its auto-map function, user becomes disoriented for 1 turn and loses their next action.
Encumbrance: 2 slots (bulky frame and vellum rolls).
Value: 600 silver (extremely prized among explorers and Dreampool engineers).
FATE
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Aspect: “The Currents Whisper Their Secrets”
Description:
A massive foldable frame of brass and dark teak, fitted with dream-crystals and tiny steam pistons. When unfolded and tuned, it makes the unseen waters and ley-lines visible and traceable, marking safe passage and lurking danger.
Game Effects:
- Invoke: Gain +2 when using Crafts or Lore to map, analyze, or navigate magical waterways or unstable Dreamrift zones.
- Create an Advantage: Once per session, automatically succeed at creating an advantage related to “Safe Passage,” “Dream Current Mapping,” or “Unstable Flow Warning.”
- Boost: GM may compel its weight and unwieldy nature when you try to deploy it quickly or carry it while fleeing; accept a Fate point for slowed movement or distraction.
- Overload: Using it twice in the same scene without proper rest gives you the mild condition “Mind’s Eye Strain.”
Value: Rare relic; typically worth 3–4 Refresh-equivalent if traded for permanent stunts or favors.
NUMENERA & CYPHER SYSTEM
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Level: 5 Cypher / Artifact
Form: Brass-teak surveying rig with refractive dream-crystals and steam tracers
Effect:
- Grants an asset on any navigation, surveying, or magical current detection task in watery or ley-rich terrain.
- Spend 2 Intellect points to activate Current Scan: detect and map magical anomalies and safe travel routes within long range for 1 hour; creates a physical vellum chart if desired.
- Once per day, as an action, user may sense hidden creatures or traps submerged or cloaked by magical water effects within immediate range; creatures must succeed on Intellect defense roll (Level 5) or be outlined by glowing mist.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (each long Current Scan or extended mapping session risks depleting its dream-ink reservoirs).
Weight: 2 burdens.
PATHFINDER 2E
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Worn Item — Invested, Rare
Level: 7
Price: 450 gp
Bulk: 2
Activation: Interact (1 minute to deploy)
Effect:
- While invested, you gain a +2 item bonus to Survival checks to navigate, track along waterways, and avoid aquatic hazards.
- While deployed and active, you automatically know the direction and relative strength of nearby magical currents and can detect magical traps or hazards within 60 feet as if with detect magic (but only if connected to water/ley flow).
- Dreamrift Mapping (once per day, 2 actions): As you adjust the cartograph, you produce an instant magical map of waterways and safe passages within 1 mile; gain a +2 circumstance bonus to initiative against creatures emerging from those waters for 1 hour.
Drawback: Overuse (more than 1 hour continuous) requires DC 19 Will save or be sickened 1 from psychic overload.
SAVAGE WORLDS (ADVENTURE EDITION)
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Gear Type: Magical Gadget (Heavy Survey Apparatus)
Weight: 25 lbs.
Cost: $2,000 equivalent
Edges & Powers:
- Surveyor’s Aid: Grants +2 to Survival rolls when navigating or mapping waterways, swamps, or magical rivers.
- Arcane Detection: Once per session, as an action, detect magical anomalies or hidden water-based threats in a Large Burst Template around the user; treated as the detect arcana power with a free raise.
- Safe Passage Planning: After 10 minutes use, group gains +1 to Notice and Athletics rolls for the next day’s travel across aquatic or unstable terrain.
Drawback: Heavy — counts as two carried items. Long-term use forces a Spirit roll or take one Fatigue (mental strain from conflicting visions).
SHADOWRUN (6E)
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Category: Specialized Sensor / Magical Survey Gear
Availability: 8R
Cost: 8,500¥
Slots: Backpack Rig (counts as 2 capacity)
Device Rating: 5
Game Effects:
- Provides +3 dice pool bonus to Navigation, Outdoors, or Magical Theory tests when mapping waterways, underground streams, or ley currents.
- As a Complex Action, user may trigger Current Scan: detect and digitally plot magical eddies, astral water flows, and submerged hazards within 100 meters. Duration: 1 Combat Turn.
- May assist Spellcasting (Detection) tests involving water or current sense by adding +1 die.
- Wireless Bonus: AR overlay of safe passages and unstable magical zones visible to user and linked teammates.
Drawback: Running Current Scan drains 1 Charge; unit holds 3 Charges before needing enchanted water refill. Glitches on use cause astral feedback (Stun damage equal to device rating).
STARFINDER
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Item Level: 6
Price: 4,800 credits
Bulk: 2
Hands: 2 (when deployed)
Game Effects:
- When invested, grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Survival checks for navigating aquatic or ley-energy-rich regions and to Engineering checks for charting safe passage for vehicles or starships in unstable magical waters.
- Mapping Pulse (once per 24 hours): As a full action, detect magical hazards, currents, and potential ambushes within 120 feet. Reveals invisible aquatic creatures (as see invisibility but only for water-linked beings) until the end of your next turn.
- Grants +2 insight bonus on Piloting when crossing liquid-based anomalies or unstable planar waters.
Drawback: If used for more than 10 minutes consecutively, the user must succeed at a Will save DC 16 or become Staggered for 1 round from Mind’s Eye overload.
TRAVELLER (Mongoose 2E)
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
TL: 11 equivalent
Mass: 8 kg
Cost: Cr75,000
Traits: Survey, Magical Navigation Aid
Game Effects:
- Provides DM+2 to Navigation and Survival checks related to rivers, underground aquifers, or ley-water mapping.
- Using Deep Flow Scan (takes 10 minutes): detect hidden obstacles, currents, and magical anomalies in a 5 km radius; treat as successful Recon roll at DM+4 for hazards.
- When powered by enchanted water (1 litre/day), can store charts digitally or inscribe on vellum automatically.
Drawback: Extended scanning without rest requires END 8+ roll or suffer -1 DM on all INT-based tasks for 1 hour due to sensory overload.
WARHAMMER FANTASY (4E)
Item Name: River-Sense Cartograph-611
Encumbrance: 3
Availability: Rare
Price: 80 gc
Craftsmanship: Exquisite Dreamforged
Game Effects:
- Provides +20 to Navigation Tests and +10 to Lore (Magic) when near rivers or magical waterways.
- Unseen Current Reading (1/day): Spend 1 full action to map hidden channels and magical turbulence up to 1 mile; GM reveals obstacles, monsters, or warped flows.
- Provides Advantage on the next opposed Test against ambush or environmental hazard from water.
Drawback: Each extra use beyond the first in a day forces a Willpower Test (Easy +40). Failure causes 1 Fatigue Condition as visions of endless currents invade the user’s mind.