Artificer light sources

From Sagataflwiki

Revision as of 10:08, 27 August 2010 by Loki 29091974 (Talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

This article contains the options for Artificers to make light sources, including candles, torches and various lamps, and either can be a Lesser item or a normal Artificer Enchanted item.

Contents

Subject

Candles and torches

These options are for Artificers making magic candles or torches. Please note that while candles have a longer Duration, they give off much less light, counting as one illumination category weaker.

LIt EL ES Base
Duration
Picks Name Notes
I 2 0.1 4 Hours 2 Artificer Candle I (tallow) Gives a batch equal to Artificer Level.
II 3 0.3 4 Hours 7 Artificer Candle II (tallow) Gives a batch equal to Artificer Level.
4 0.1 4 Hours 13 Artificer Candle III (tallow) Gives only one candle. Not a Lesser item.

The first two grades of Artificer Candle and Artificer Torch are Lesser items, and each instance lets the Artificer make a batch of candles or torches equal in size to his Artificer Level, e.g. if an Artificer with an Artificer Level of 7 spent 0.1 Essence on Artificer Candle I, he'd be able to make 7 candles each with a base Duration of 4 Hours, and he'd have 2 picks to spend on choosing how he wants the candles better than ordinary candles, but he must spend these two picks the same way for the entire batch. He cannot make one candle with quadrupled Duration and the other six with the No Smoke and Smell property.

If he wants that, he must make two batches, costing 0.2 Essence, giving him 7 candles with quadruple Duration and 7 candles with No Smoke and Smell.

The third grade, of Artificer Candle and Artificer Torch, is not a Lesser item, and lets the Artificer create a single candle or torch, and gives him many picks with which to improve it. This is the option to choose if the desired outcome is candles or torches that are much better than mundane ones, but note that Artificer Level does not matter for the grade III versions

LIt EL ES Base
Duration
Picks Name Notes
I 2 0.1 1 Hour 2 Artificer Torch I Gives batch size equal to Artificer Level
II 3 0.3 1 Hour 7 Artificer Torch II Gives batch size equal to Artificer Level
4 0.1 1 Hour 13 Artificer Torch III Gives only one torch. Not a Lesser item.

Please note that the materials used to make candles may affect the Duration, for instance inferior materials may cause the candle to have its Duration halved. The material used may also affect other properties, for instance wax candles produce less smoke and have a less strong smell, so for a wax candle, the No Smoke or Smell trait costs only 1 pick. If another material is used instead of the default assumption of tallow, note that in the paranthesis after the Enchantment name.

These options simply increase the Duration of the torch or candle. Note the maximum on Lesser items.

Picks Effect (on Artificer candles or torches
1 x2 Duration
2 x4 Duration
3 x8 Duration
4 x16 Duration (the longest possible for a Lesser item)
5 x32 Duration
6 x64 Duration
7 x128 Duration (the longest possible for a non-Lesser item)

These options affect the light, heat or pollution caused by the torch or candle.

Picks Effect (on Artificer candles or torches
1 Richer light (no penalty to any artistic skills, or to or Colour Vision, because the light contains more blue wavelengths similar to sunlight and unlike normal firelight).
1 Neglible smoke, reduced smell.
2 No smoke or smell. (this costs 1 pick for a wax candle.)
5 Stronger light (one illumination class brigher, a candle is as bright as a torch, and a torch is as bright as a small bonfire), but halve Duration.
3 Warmer fire. A candle becomes as warm as a torch, and a torch gives off the same amount of heat as a small bonfire. Duration is reduced to 1/2 normal. Note that even though the size of the flame doesn't change (the amount of light given off is not increased), oxygen consumption does (one such torch burns as much oxygen as a small bonfire would). This can be a problem in enclosed air-tight spaces (such as created by elaborately engineered traps in tombs or other underground facilities).

These options make the torch better suited for unusual situations (such as many that may occur during adventuring), or less likely to start accidental fires.

Picks Effect (on Artificer candles or torches)
1 Safer to use. 3d12 Saving Throw to avert accidentally setting fire to anything. Deliberate attempts are not penalized (please note that the RD of the Saving Throw depends on the circumstances. If the character is surrounded by large amounts of extremely flammable material, the RD may be 11 or 12, or even higher for something like finely ground gunpowder). A partial save means that a fire is started, but that there is plenty of time to extinguish it, so it is only a scare.
3 Much safer to use. As above, but the saving throw is 5d12.
1 Not easily extinguished by accident or enviroment, e.g. rain or water. Gets a 4d12 Saving Throw (4d12-2 for a torch, because the flame is larger) against being extinguished by enviromental causes or non-deliberate action. This saving throw covers only extinguishihng the candle or torch itself, not any fires started by it. Also note that the RD of the Saving Throw may vary wildly due to circumstances. Dropping the item into 10 cm of water is likely to be RD 12 for a candle, while light rain is only RD 5. On a partial save, the torch or candle will sputter, and may become dimmer for a Second or a Round, but will recover.
2 More difficult to extinguish by accident. As above, but the Saving Throw is 6d12 (6d12-2 for the torch).
1 Weight reduced by about 17% (thus 20% more torches or candles can be carried for the same encumbrance)
1 Easy to light. Any spark but the faintest is likely to ignit the torch or candle. -2 RD to any mundane skill to light a torch, e.g. using flint and timber, or a bow and palette (typical used skills are Survival or Camping, or maybe Cooking, and note that the base RD to ignite a flammable object such as a torch or candle is already very low. This effect is useful under unusual circumstances that causes the RD to increase drastically). Any magical fire, such as a Flame I spell, can automatically ignite the torch or candle in 1 Round, even if circumstences are such that there's only be a percentage chance per Round of ignition (50% or 10%, due to somehing like strong winds and heavy rain). Note that a lit torch is a source of heat and can be used to dry kindling to eventually make it flammable.
2 Very easy to light. As above, but more so. -5 RD to any mundane skill to light a torch.
1 Very easy to put out. This is really a superflous trait on a candle, and canot be put into a candle or torch that has the "Not easily extinguished" trait.

As an example, Lesser II Artificer Torch gets 7 picks, and costs 0.3 Essence to make. If the Artificer has a Power Level of 4, then his Artificer Level is 5 (Artificer Level is always 1 higher than the Power Level rounded down to the nearest whole number), and so he actually gets 5 torches for the 0.3 Essence. He spends 5 picks on stronger light, which reduces the Duration to 1/2 Hour, then the last two picks are spent on quadrupling the Duration, for a final Duration of 2 Hours, of light much brigher that that of a normal torch.

Examples I

Getting more in depth

Examples III

Advice

Please note

See also

Personal tools