The first rule is that you should never sell 1 weapon when you have 10 customers.
The second...
The second...
Manufacturing Death: A Science-Fantasy Armaments Developer Quest
- Thread starter Gideon020
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi Fantasy
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 40
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 2
-
Statistics (2 threadmarks, 1.4k words)
User Total Gideon020 2 Threadmarks Reader mode
Admissions
Gideon020
Really in the mood for ribs.
The first rule is that you should never sell 1 weapon when you have 10 customers.
The second rule is that you should never be satisfied with just having 10 customers.
The third rule is the most important: Never Stop Selling
The Sword Age, which was preceded by the Wolf Age, ended when the Artificers, the Alchemists, the Blacksmiths, the Apothecaries and more decided that the world needed to advance, that the world was getting stagnant, and the Great Empires, indolent and excessive in their decadence, were turning their ire to those who learned, who explored, and above all who questioned everything, from the state of the world to the state of the empires.
So they banded together, they traded secret knowledge stolen from libraries or passed down in whispered lessons around the fire, they found differences, correlations, and advancements. They discovered that the child of Water and Fire is Steam, that Lightning could be made tame and with Copper and Iron create a stranger, invisible force. They found the secret of the Blast Powder, and through an accident learned how it could be used to kill with a sound like thunder.
This was how the Sword Age ended, when the first rebels armed with Thunderers gunned down the decadent courts of the Emperors, Empresses, Priest-Kings and High Chiefs with fire and smoke, a terrible noise that unnerved hardened soldiers, and slew them with wounds that punched through leather like it did not exist and could only be stopped by the heavy steel armour of elites.
That was how the Thunder War started, and before long rebel groups across the nine empires clamored for these new weapons and more, offering gold, secret knowledge, ancient artifacts, safe places and recruits to build the weapons. The potential for profit was had, and the once-disparate groups united as the Thundersmiths.
It was therefore unsurprising that 'traitor' Thundersmiths sold their weapons to the reeling empires, using the vast treasuries, libraries and secret gardens as their personal storehouses and vaults. Even so, this was acceptable to the Thundersmiths, even if loud and hot-blooded rebel voices disagreed, but the empires fell and the ones who supported them so late in their fall escaped punishment by the new governments, while the Thundersmiths were joined by merchants and bankers to invest their new wealth.
The gods, ever aloof from mortal events, watched with interest but did nothing to intervene since they knew the paths of the future. Magic would not fade no matter the advance of technology, the changing of a weapon did not change a warrior's valor, and the old empires had long since torn down the temples and churches to expand their city-sized pleasure palaces so an eyesore and insult was removed.
This is how the Sword Age ended and the Thunder Age began.
So they banded together, they traded secret knowledge stolen from libraries or passed down in whispered lessons around the fire, they found differences, correlations, and advancements. They discovered that the child of Water and Fire is Steam, that Lightning could be made tame and with Copper and Iron create a stranger, invisible force. They found the secret of the Blast Powder, and through an accident learned how it could be used to kill with a sound like thunder.
This was how the Sword Age ended, when the first rebels armed with Thunderers gunned down the decadent courts of the Emperors, Empresses, Priest-Kings and High Chiefs with fire and smoke, a terrible noise that unnerved hardened soldiers, and slew them with wounds that punched through leather like it did not exist and could only be stopped by the heavy steel armour of elites.
That was how the Thunder War started, and before long rebel groups across the nine empires clamored for these new weapons and more, offering gold, secret knowledge, ancient artifacts, safe places and recruits to build the weapons. The potential for profit was had, and the once-disparate groups united as the Thundersmiths.
It was therefore unsurprising that 'traitor' Thundersmiths sold their weapons to the reeling empires, using the vast treasuries, libraries and secret gardens as their personal storehouses and vaults. Even so, this was acceptable to the Thundersmiths, even if loud and hot-blooded rebel voices disagreed, but the empires fell and the ones who supported them so late in their fall escaped punishment by the new governments, while the Thundersmiths were joined by merchants and bankers to invest their new wealth.
The gods, ever aloof from mortal events, watched with interest but did nothing to intervene since they knew the paths of the future. Magic would not fade no matter the advance of technology, the changing of a weapon did not change a warrior's valor, and the old empires had long since torn down the temples and churches to expand their city-sized pleasure palaces so an eyesore and insult was removed.
This is how the Sword Age ended and the Thunder Age began.
******
The University Of Armaments, City-District of Scholars, Great City of Zahen, 13th of Seconds-Dark, Storm Season, 92nd Year of Thunder
The University Of Armaments is without any hyperbole or pomposity, the largest, most prestigious, most exclusive of any university or academy that dealt in the delicate and still largely-newborn field of Thundersmithing, of building weaponry using Blast Powder and also in developing new and improved defenses against the same.
Hundreds upon thousands upon tens of thousands make the journey every two years to attempt the entrance examination that is universally respected and reviled as the most difficult in a country-sized city whose very nature stratifies all based on their skills, knowledge and merits in order to ensure that all are in their most appropriate station to begin working to advance. Every two years, a bare hundred or less pass these exams and of those the number that get high or even full marks are often counted on the divisions of two fingers.
You have come to take the exams, and as you approach the professionally-pleasant staff at one section of the massive table where other hopefuls receive their registration forms, you take a moment to marvel at the fact that your years of study and learning have managed to get you here, at the doorstep of the University Of Armaments.
You head to one of the many scattered tables to fill out your registration papers, pulling out ink and pen from your pack as you take a seat.
[]Your name is Elera Dys'Trilian, a Deva. You hope that this will improve your marriage prospects and fortunes.
A Deva is the closest thing to an elf on this world, whose matriachal society forbids males from leaving their lands, if they are even allowed out of the house. Skilled females are more likely to put forward for marriage than the unskilled, and they earn more money as well.
Traits:
-All Deva possess infinite magic from their jeweled hearts, and are natural prodigies with magic. You can assign up to 20 additional dice when Enchanting alongside your base Magic Stat.
-Deva are detail-obsessive. Development time is increased by one Timeframe step, but every success when Troubleshooting removes 2 Bugs from a design.
Traits:
-All Deva possess infinite magic from their jeweled hearts, and are natural prodigies with magic. You can assign up to 20 additional dice when Enchanting alongside your base Magic Stat.
-Deva are detail-obsessive. Development time is increased by one Timeframe step, but every success when Troubleshooting removes 2 Bugs from a design.
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 5
Endurance: 4
Magic: 10
Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 5
Endurance: 4
Magic: 10
[]Your name is Draug, one of the Hoz. Becoming a maker of weapons seemed like a better thing to do than die to them.
A Hoz is a stubborn, eight-foot mountain of muscle, shaggy hair and fur that looks like someone mixed what they considered the best parts of an angry dog, an enraged bull, and a particularly pissed-off cat with a dragon and then set it loose. The Hoz clans have been killing each other and anyone that crosses their path for millennia, and it was only a series of cataclysmic magical attacks that finally 'calmed' the Hoz to become 'civilised'.
Traits:
-Hoz possess herculean strength. They can add up to 20 additional dice alongside their base Strength on appropriate Manufacturing or Testing rolls.
-Hoz are stubborn, easily angered, and generally prefer to go with short plans, if they plan at all. Quality of all sorts suffers even if the work is swift. Development takes one Timeframe step less, but Bugs that arise are tripled.
Traits:
-Hoz possess herculean strength. They can add up to 20 additional dice alongside their base Strength on appropriate Manufacturing or Testing rolls.
-Hoz are stubborn, easily angered, and generally prefer to go with short plans, if they plan at all. Quality of all sorts suffers even if the work is swift. Development takes one Timeframe step less, but Bugs that arise are tripled.
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 4
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 8
Magic: 2
Dexterity: 4
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 8
Magic: 2
[]Your name is Horris, one of the Delvers. The clans desire more weaponsmiths, and you didn't have skills or a job, so here you are.
Delvers are Dwarves, short, built like a steel keg, with most males possessing two or more short, jagged horns made of their own metal bones. Delvers live for the clan, and everything they do serves the clan, even exile or abandonment.
Traits:
-Delvers can keep working long after others die of exhaustion, starvation or thirst. Even machinery can often pale in comparison. They can add up to 20 additional dice to appropriate Endurance rolls.
-Delvers are snobs about the usage of Tamed Lightning, or Metalpull (Magnetism) in anything they develop, but they love steam. Steam technology is 50% faster to research while Tamed Lightning and Metalpull are 50% slower.
Traits:
-Delvers can keep working long after others die of exhaustion, starvation or thirst. Even machinery can often pale in comparison. They can add up to 20 additional dice to appropriate Endurance rolls.
-Delvers are snobs about the usage of Tamed Lightning, or Metalpull (Magnetism) in anything they develop, but they love steam. Steam technology is 50% faster to research while Tamed Lightning and Metalpull are 50% slower.
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 10
Magic: 3
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 10
Magic: 3
[] You are Anna, and you are one of The Dead. It seemed like fun to make weapons since you remember dying to one.
The Dead have no set form, this one here is one of the long-extinct Humans but there are others who range from Devas, Hoz, Dweller and Nilithid to more ancient and alien forms. No-one knows why or how The Dead exist but their gel-like bodies are surprising in their utility.
Traits:
-The Dead can twist and manipulate the gel that makes up their body into all manner of forms. They can add up to 20 additional dice to appropriate Dexterity rolls.
-The Dead can turn even a fleck of blood into up to 100 Shambling Workers without a Magic roll. By rolling Magic, they can create an additional 50 Shambling Workers per success. Which is good because everyone is terrified of The Dead, so hiring workers incurs triple costs and they will flee or quit enmasse after a month which cannot be prevented short of locking them in.
Traits:
-The Dead can twist and manipulate the gel that makes up their body into all manner of forms. They can add up to 20 additional dice to appropriate Dexterity rolls.
-The Dead can turn even a fleck of blood into up to 100 Shambling Workers without a Magic roll. By rolling Magic, they can create an additional 50 Shambling Workers per success. Which is good because everyone is terrified of The Dead, so hiring workers incurs triple costs and they will flee or quit enmasse after a month which cannot be prevented short of locking them in.
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 6
Magic: 5
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 6
Magic: 5
[]You are Sings-With-Dusk, a Nilithid. You consider it good fortune that no-one has tried to hook you!
Nilithids are a strange race that resemble a large, long-tailed fish with several manipulator tendrils, coloured in an array of striking patterns. Or perhaps they are long-tailed tropical fish possessing of intelligence that should be beyond them. What is known is that they are the only race so far to begin scratching the mysteries of Clockworks and Golem, which is how their unique, self-sustaining mechanical conveyances work.
Traits:
-Only a Dragon can beat a Nilithid in a contest of knowledge. They can add up to 20 additional dice for appropriate Intelligence rolls.
-Nilithids have an early lead in Clockworks are are no slouches in other research but utterly despise Steam and Tamed Lightning. Clockworks are 50% faster to research, other topics are 25% faster, but Steam and Tamed Lighting are 75% slower to research.
Traits:
-Only a Dragon can beat a Nilithid in a contest of knowledge. They can add up to 20 additional dice for appropriate Intelligence rolls.
-Nilithids have an early lead in Clockworks are are no slouches in other research but utterly despise Steam and Tamed Lightning. Clockworks are 50% faster to research, other topics are 25% faster, but Steam and Tamed Lighting are 75% slower to research.
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 10
Endurance: 5
Magic: 4
Dexterity: 5
Intelligence: 10
Endurance: 5
Magic: 4
DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
[X] You are Anna, and you are one of The Dead. It seemed like fun to make weapons since you remember dying to one.
Dropbear
Tourists Taste Terrific
- Location
- The next tree you walk under
[X] You are Anna, and you are one of The Dead. It seemed like fun to make weapons since you remember dying to one.
Undead workforce. I'm guessing we'd specialize in mass producing easily made things. Shambling Workers don't exactly sound like skilled labor, but it still sounds fun.
Undead workforce. I'm guessing we'd specialize in mass producing easily made things. Shambling Workers don't exactly sound like skilled labor, but it still sounds fun.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
[X] Your name is Elera Dys'Trilian, a Deva. You hope that this will improve your marriage prospects and fortunes.
- Location
- Philippines
[X] You are Anna, and you are one of The Dead. It seemed like fun to make weapons since you remember dying to one.
- Location
- va
[X]Your name is Elera Dys'Trilian, a Deva. You hope that this will improve your marriage prospects and fortunes.
- Location
- United States
[X]Your name is Elera Dys'Trilian, a Deva. You hope that this will improve your marriage prospects and fortunes.
Graduation and First contract
Gideon020
Really in the mood for ribs.
Your name is Anna, a member of The Dead, and the feeling you are experiencing as you stand with the other graduates to be officially recognised as the developers of a new but growing way of doing warfare.
For six years, you learned the ins and outs of developing Thunderers and how they mesh with magic but it was also a time to stand out from the other students and present new ways of building Thunderers, and you were able to stand out from the rest when you developed a new system.
[] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[]Circular bullets had too short a range for combat, so you tinkered and made a conical bullet.
[]Apparently, making a bullet with a hard core helped it penetrate armor.
[]You made a modification to a Thunderer to fire multiple smaller bullets in a cloud of metallic death.
[]A core of Blast Powder makes a bullet that explodes when it penetrates soft armor or hits metal.
[]You figured out a way to pack bullets in a chambered cylinder, improving your rate of fire.
After you developed your new innovation, there was the question of whether you should patent and sell licenses for money, or keep it secret until you could refine and use it for a greater innovation.
[]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[]You kept it secret. Too many lazy weaponsmiths who'd steal it and make their own duplicates. Plus, it means a greater profit share in the long run.
But the long years and watching classmates drop out or flunk out helped motivate you to keep on top of your studies, and looking out at the cheering crowds, you can't help but wonder what your goal will be beyond developing and making weapons.
[]You decided that a luxurious, decadent retirement life will be for you, which means money and an extravagent mansion.
[]You want to build something revolutionary. A weapon that will be forever associated with you. Something that will change warfare like the Thunderer.
[]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
Which now brings you to your first port of call. When the University Of Armaments graduates students, there is an exhibition to attract them to a nation to begin working in their armaments industry or for the various armaments guild selling products to nations or groups that can't develop their own.
Or perhaps you could strike out on your own? The profits would be all yours but you would be competing in a market rife with infighting, kidnapped prodigies and geniuses, and newborn companies and guilds being crushed by older and established groups.
So, checking your clothes, ensuring that your pin is affixed to your cap, you head out towards the exhibition.
[]Go see what governments are hiring. Stable paycheck, cheaper employees, but greater demands and little room for innovation.
[]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
[]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
For six years, you learned the ins and outs of developing Thunderers and how they mesh with magic but it was also a time to stand out from the other students and present new ways of building Thunderers, and you were able to stand out from the rest when you developed a new system.
[] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[]Circular bullets had too short a range for combat, so you tinkered and made a conical bullet.
[]Apparently, making a bullet with a hard core helped it penetrate armor.
[]You made a modification to a Thunderer to fire multiple smaller bullets in a cloud of metallic death.
[]A core of Blast Powder makes a bullet that explodes when it penetrates soft armor or hits metal.
[]You figured out a way to pack bullets in a chambered cylinder, improving your rate of fire.
After you developed your new innovation, there was the question of whether you should patent and sell licenses for money, or keep it secret until you could refine and use it for a greater innovation.
[]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[]You kept it secret. Too many lazy weaponsmiths who'd steal it and make their own duplicates. Plus, it means a greater profit share in the long run.
But the long years and watching classmates drop out or flunk out helped motivate you to keep on top of your studies, and looking out at the cheering crowds, you can't help but wonder what your goal will be beyond developing and making weapons.
[]You decided that a luxurious, decadent retirement life will be for you, which means money and an extravagent mansion.
[]You want to build something revolutionary. A weapon that will be forever associated with you. Something that will change warfare like the Thunderer.
[]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
Which now brings you to your first port of call. When the University Of Armaments graduates students, there is an exhibition to attract them to a nation to begin working in their armaments industry or for the various armaments guild selling products to nations or groups that can't develop their own.
Or perhaps you could strike out on your own? The profits would be all yours but you would be competing in a market rife with infighting, kidnapped prodigies and geniuses, and newborn companies and guilds being crushed by older and established groups.
So, checking your clothes, ensuring that your pin is affixed to your cap, you head out towards the exhibition.
[]Go see what governments are hiring. Stable paycheck, cheaper employees, but greater demands and little room for innovation.
[]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
[]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
Last edited:
[X] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
[x]Apparently, making a bullet with a hard core helped it pentrate armor.
[x]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[x]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[x]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
[x]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[x]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[x]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
- Location
- va
[X] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[X]You want to build something revolutionary. A weapon that will be forever associated with you. Something that will change warfare like the Thunderer.
[X]You kept it secret. Too many lazy weaponsmiths who'd steal it and make their own duplicates. Plus, it means a greater profit share in the long run.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
[X]You want to build something revolutionary. A weapon that will be forever associated with you. Something that will change warfare like the Thunderer.
[X]You kept it secret. Too many lazy weaponsmiths who'd steal it and make their own duplicates. Plus, it means a greater profit share in the long run.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
- Location
- Philippines
[X] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
zamin
The Watcher in the Dark
[X] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
[X] You developed a way encase Blast Powder in a metal jacket with an explosive primer to set it off.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
[X]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[X]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[X]No, you will strike out on your own. Whether you profit or collapse will be based on your own efforts.
[x]Apparently, making a bullet with a hard core helped it pentrate armor.
[x]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[x]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[x]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.
[x]You decided to patent it. The money would be useful.
[x]As one of The Dead that is human, the fate of your species is a curiosity. You plan on uncovering it.
[x]Go see if the guilds have any offers. While the paycheck is based on fluctuating sales and workers are more expensive, you will be able to exercise your creative muscles in a competitive environment.