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Old 07-31-2009, 10:24 PM   #1
ISNorden
 
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Madison, WI
Default [heretical] Calabim of Technology resonance

Yes, the official rules state that Vapula doesn't create that band himself...but demonic Words like Sabotage, Computer Viruses, Train Wrecks, and Junkyards seem perfectly suited for a Calabite in his service. Even if the GM insists that Vapula has to borrow his Destroyers from outside, there's probably a Band Attunement to go with the service contract. I imagine it working like this...

Calabim of Technology suffer a penalty equal to their Celestial Forces when using their resonance on a mechanical object. (They can wreck such things if they have to, but are extremely reluctant to go that far.) When the modified roll succeeds, the Check Digit of the Calabite's roll determines the amount of damage inflicted. For instance, this might be the result of a Tech Destroyer's attack on a home computer:

1 -- A problem which an average user could fix hiimself in half an hour at most. (Reconfiguring familar software, for example, might be necessary at this level.)
2 -- A problem which an average user could fix himself in an hour, or needs a cheap replacement part to repair (e.g., a new mouse or keyboard).
3 -- A problem which takes the average user several hours' time (with tech support); he still might need to pay for repairs or a replacement part. A medium-risk virus attack might qualify here.
4 -- A problem which takes the average user most of a day to fix (with tech support); he may need to pay for a moderately expensive part instead. A major virus which requires wiping the hard drive/reinstalling the system qualifies; so would a monitor and speakers ruined by a leaking roof.
5 -- A problem that absolutely requires a professional and/or new, expensive parts to fix--taking days, and beyond the average user's ability. ("We're sorry, that power surge fried your motherboard and made your hard drive unrecoverable--but we can send you new ones in 6-10 business days.")
6 -- Massive damage that requires replacing the whole machine. "I can't understand what caught your PC on fire, sir...")
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Last edited by ISNorden; 07-31-2009 at 10:40 PM. Reason: formatting fix
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Old 08-03-2009, 08:29 PM   #2
William
 
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Default Re: [heretical] Calabim of Technology resonance

I don't see how this is any help; Calabim can already target inanimate objects, and can do so subtly if they wish, doing hard-to-find damage.

I would propose that a Calabite given Technology's Band Attunement -- perhaps one that had served Technology well enough to receive it, even though no Calabite of Technology itself need exist -- would be able to use his resonance to disassemble constructed objects, with the amount of work required to restore the final object being determined by the CD. A CD of 1 would loosen some crucial connectors; a CD of 6 would require major repairs. If the equivalent damage is enough to destroy the object, the power might start reducing components to their chemical industrial precursors, like turning plastic into crude oil.

The crucial benefit is that specialized skills and tools are required to restore the target; a Song of Healing or similar supernatural powers won't function, because the result is a pile of undamaged components.
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Old 08-10-2009, 09:22 PM   #3
Acolyte
 
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Default Re: [heretical] Calabim of Technology resonance

As you have it described, Vapula imposes a restriction on Calabim serving him, without giving anything. That makes sense I suppose but isn't so much fun for players.

As for those words:
Sabotage--Vapula wants to increase human reliance/obsession with tech, not encourage them to break things. This seems more Lilith in my mind, though subWords might go elsewhere (Baal might have a demon of Sabotage Missions).
Computer Viruses--Potential, but I would see Vapula more with the word of Hacking or Virus Programming (since Hacking doesn't mean to tech specialists what it means to the popular media...possibly a Nybban influence), and this word under Gluttony, Dark Humor, or surviving demons of Disease
Train Wrecks--again, I see this more with Beleth or Saminga but it could work; lacking Calabim, Vapula could tap a Habbalite for this word.
Junkyards--For me, Djinn seems more appropriate here than Calabite. Things don't go to Junkyards only to be taken apart, but to be put together or just to sit there taking up space.

However, Words like Incinerators and Chemical Leaks could fall to hypothetical Calabim of Technology.

I like the restriction, as it's unique among canon, main book Superiors (like Eli's no Distinctions). When he had to contract with Calabim, I see Vapula using Lilith (it's just easier to get what you want from her and know it will deliver) or Nybbas (an ally with good shared history) or, for especially violent missions like assaulting Lightning Tethers, his military hardware customers (Baal, Belial, and now Furfur).

As for a special attunement, I like the idea of letting the resonance not break things but instead reduce them to components or raw materials. However, the bizarre favor of the attunement would most likely be given only after long successful service to Technology, and would mark the poor Calabite out for quick destruction by jealous other demons of Technology.


INTERESTING THOUGHT. A good adventure might center around Vapula announcing that he plans on lifting the restriction and is accepting volunteer Calabim from other Words to get the attunement and test it out. He naturally gives them all slightly different attunements and they work haphazardly at best--and these weirdly-empowered Calabim are now running amok in Hell and on Earth. Angels and demons alike must try to deal with this chaos, while Vapula assigns his agents to watch the test subjects and report back the results.
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