[Prince Charon]

Sorry for taking so long to update. I have been working on it, but computer trouble and other distractions mean that a proper timeline update may take a while, yet. If my computer is repaired tomorrow (I'm using my father's, at the moment), I'll try to have an update by Friday or earlier, even if it's got gaps in it. I have some crunch to post, but it's less ready. Might end up posting some of it anyway, just to get help, though.

In the thread on Spacebattles.com, Random 832 asked a question that I feel should also be answered here, since it's potentially quite important:

Originally Posted by Random832

Will newly-built props still be able to empower themselves, or are these (of any type, not just portal guns) pretty much a limited resource?

The props don't empower themselves, they're empowered by the spirits and the possessor's subconscious as part of the empowerment of outsiders. By 'newly built,' I think you mean props built after the probe arrives (I can't think of another interpretation in context, but I could be missing something)?

Yes, but more haphazardly. Spontaneous' enchantment occurs due to several factors: possession, emotional investment, whether the owner also built/modified it, how 'interesting' the spirits think it will be, ambient temperature, and surprise factor - the latter is important, because if an item is made, modified, or otherwise obtained with the intention that it will be empowered, the spirits usually expect the owner to consciously work toward empowering it (though once they've started, a change in expectation won't necessarily get them to stop), which mostly limits it to the skills the owner has developed, or gained access to by getting outside help. The spirits may help out, especially if the result would be interesting/entertaining, and/or would be 'in-genre', from the spirits' PoV.

I should also note that how long a spontaneous enchantment takes varies upward by how powerful and how complex it would be, and downward by how many spirits take an interest, how much interest they give it (i.e. how much time and effort they're willing to spend), and how powerful the spirits are (gods and powerful saints can just snap their fingers and it's done, but that's more a matter of enchantment through prayer, not 'spontaneous' enchantment; spirits tend to take longer).

The first few magic items were empowered within a day, but weren't all that powerful, and in some cases, what power they had took longer to notice. The last items marked for 'spontaneous' enchantment are still being worked on. The restored Galileo prop is one probable example, although it probably won't be as capable as it's fictional counterpart. Likewise, there are attempts to build the Millenium Falcon, and other SF vehicles. The various TARDIS props will probably take the longest to go 'live', due to the massive amounts of permanent space warping (wormhole or otherwise) required. (EDIT: Signature Possession (GURPS Spaceships, not sure which page, due to aforementioned computer problems) is probably the easiest way to write this up; Joel described it as "an Enhancement modifier to Wealth-level that lets you treat an object (must be SM+4 or larger I think, so you cant use it for personal gear) worth a % of your total wealth as if it's signature gear.")

None of them will be capable of FTL on their own, unfortunately, though some may be capable of astrally projecting the crew/passengers into the realms of the collective unconscious occupied by their series of origin (or into humanity's memory of the past/prediction of the future, for vessels said to be capable of time travel). That's not necessarily a good thing, of course, but it could be advantageous - the probability of it being lethal is not small, though, and it could lead to attracting the wrong sort of attention to the physical world.

Determining whether a prop or other item is being enchanted is fairly simple, once you know how to look. The most mundane method is comparing temperatures: fetishes and some charms are often a little cooler than their surroundings, as the spirits involved draw in the heat to power themselves (unless they have no physical effect, in which case they don't need it), and items being enchanted (even those with no powers that should have a physical effect) will normally be cooler than that, as the spirits make small physical changes to the item. How much cooler, again, depends on how powerful the item will need to be, and how fast the spirits are working. Very rarely, if ever, will an item be cold enough compared to it's surroundings for condensation to form, and in those cases, only briefly, while it's in use, not while being empowered. Electromagnetic sensors, such as those used by OTL ghost hunters, will sometimes detect spiritual activity, but won't help much in determining what the spirits are doing. ESP, telepathy, astral sight, and various sensory spells and magically enhanced sensors, will also detect such activity, and may grant more details as to what's actually being done, and how long it will take.

A similar situation prevailed on Clockpunk Earth (though on a smaller scale, due to the lower population, smaller number of outsiders, and the relative lack of things to be enchanted - still, a fair number of people had geegaws that they thought were 'lucky' or 'magical'), a while after the comet arrived, but it happens very rarely, now.


Another note, related to spirits: Spirits capable of semi-permanent 'solid' manifestation are fairly common on Fantasy Earth, uncommon on Dieselpunk Earth, quite rare on Clockpunk Earth, and vanishingly rare on Steampunk Earth, to the point that few, even among magic-users, believe it's even possible (they'll be quite surprised when they find out what the Britannian embassies are). On Infopunk Earth (calling it 'OTL Earth' is starting to feel odd), it's rare, but growing more common, especially after the arrival of the embassy from Britannia. It will probably never be as common as on Fa-Earth, and perhaps not even as common as on Dp-Earth.

Spirits capable of brief moments of 'solid' manifestation, or longer periods of audible and/or visible interaction with the living, perhaps accompanied by momentary bursts of psychokinetic and ergokinetic force, are much more common, though less so on Stp-Earth (where even a moment of 'solid' manifestation almost never happens) than on Clp-Earth. Sorry about the run-on sentence.

I may end up altering which worlds have more easily manifesting spirits (or altering how generally easy it is, at least), between Infopunk Earth and Dieselpunk Earth, but the others are pretty firmly set.

EDIT: The disconnects between 'reality', 'what human society wants', and 'what the spirits expect and want' (for the spirits, that's mostly 'in-genre behavior,' not that they all agree on what the genre is), is one of the important background conflicts of the story. For example, if a government makes a habit of 'stealing' the gifts the spirits give (whether or not that government gives itself the legal right to do so, a la things like 'eminent domain'), that government is likely to end up cursed by angry spirits, even if their motivation is a genuine desire to keep irresponsible children and/or fools from killing themselves with their 'cool new toys' (a very real possibility with some of them).

On another note, I'm thinking that having whole paragraphs in red text, bold or not, is perhaps a bad idea, for reasons of eye strain. Having the first few words might work better, as in the edit a few paragraphs up, about Signature Possessions. What do you think?

Later EDIT: 'Will Not Immediately Work For Thief' is a normal 0-point Feature for spontaneously enchanted possessions. Something that will automatically work for anyone (or any category of user that the GM feels is large enough) would get a limitation on point cost, worth the negative of the 'Will Not Immediately Work For Thief' enhancement's normal cost (I can't find it, but I know I've seen it somewhere, before - maybe in Supers, in the gadget rules?), or should just be treated as equipment. Signature Gear and Signature Possessions that were not a gift of the spirits may have the 'Will Not Immediately Work For Thief' enhancement, but are not required to. It costs half as much as normal, if they do. 'Will Try To Return To True Owner' (not sure how much that should cost, but if it doesn't move on it's own, this qualifies as a very limited form of the Serendipity advantage) is not a Feature, but it should be very common among spontaneously enchanted items.

The monetary cost (which determines the cost of Signature Gear/Possessions) should be based on the cost of the base object, with a small multiplier - the actual cost will vary quite a bit until the setting matures, after all.

EDIT: Turns out it's Signature Assets, not Signature Possession, and it's SM+2, probably so you can use it for a motorcycle. It's on Spaceships 2, p27.