Chapter Two
Bones of Steel Kail hefted the paralysis ray emitter, saving the far deadlier harrower for later. He adjusted the rubbery tube that connected the targeting array to the clamp set into his temple. He felt the pulse of energy run from the device to his skull. The throbbing subsided, and he felt the emitter key into his thoughts and respond to his wishes with subtle adjustments. He looked around him, then remembered to lower the protective goggles that he had shoved up on his head. Through them, the world was a dimmer place, but he liked it that way. Suddenly the shaft of a crossbow bolt cut through the air from behind him, just missing his head. Kail turned and saw a shadow run toward the open door of the stone building he had just left. He bit down on the mouth switch connected to the emitter by a thick coppery wire, aiming the weapon with his mind rather than his hands.Yellow and violent energy cascaded out of the device and slammed into the target, who fell against the wall and slumped to the ground like a half-empty sack.
s described in the Introduction, some chaositech devices are fashioned from steel, wire, and glass. These items seem more straightforward than the other types of chaositech, because they look the most like devices that people are already familiar with, such as crossbows or clockwork machines. These are the chaositech devices that virtually anyone can just pick up and use—if they can figure out how to work them. So many of those desiring chaositech seek these types of devices first. Chaos cultists use the term “bones of steel” as a secret code phrase for this type of “familiar” chaositech. The bones of steel tap into chaotic energies and harness them, but, in terms of basic operation, they are still machines. Those with the proper training can refuel, repair, or even sometimes create these devices using specialized tools. Iron bolts and clamps hold the mechanisms together. Their interiors are a jumble of wires, tubes, and spinning apparatuses bewildering to the eyes of most people—but then, most people rarely see a chaositech device at all, let alone open one up to look at the insides. When hefted, the bones of steel feel cold and give off a tingling sensation that sets most people’s teeth on edge. A few users complain of headaches or muscle aches in the hands or arms (specifically, the hand holding the device). When activated, chaositech devices are rarely subtle. They make strange, unearthly noises, flare with arcing energy, and sometimes give off odors—usually a powerful metallic smell or the stench of acrid chemicals. This chapter deals with chaositech devices that are not meant to become fused with a creature’s body. They are frequently called non-intrinsic devices. These inorganic items draw on the power of chaos to produce strange and often dangerous effects. In the hands of someone who knows how to use it properly, a non-intrinsic chaositech device might appear to be magical. The truth is actually much stranger. The chaositech devices described here do not have caster levels. They are not magic items and cannot be dispelled. In
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addition, because they are not magical, devices like insect gloves† do not resize to fit the wearer. Spells that offer protection against spell-like effects and magic, such as nondetection, do not work against similar chaositech devices (such as a long-range tracker†). The primary exception to this rule is energy types. If a chaositech device inflicts damage of a given type, such as acid, a spell or magic item that offers protection against the energy type, such as a potion of protection from acid, still provides protection. (This is true in more general cases as well: A ring of protection still offers an Armor Class bonus against an attack made with a chaositech weapon.) As a rule of thumb, when an effect specifies spells or magic, you cannot extrapolate that such an effect applies to chaositech as well. Chaositech items are never masterwork. They can be made into magic items with the proper feats and spells, however.
Activation Using a chaositech device is rarely easy or straightforward. Usually, strange switches, levers, dials, or even more obtuse mechanisms are involved. Sometimes one lever must be activated just right in order for another switch to function at all, or to function safely. Other devices have two switches that the user must activate at the exact same time. There is no internal logic to it, and even two devices with the same function might have different appearances and different means of activation. A character who finds a chaositech item and wants to figure out how to use it has two options: 1. Use the identify device† spell. (A generous DM may allow identify to work on chaositech items, but technically speaking the spell reveals only the magical properties of magic items.) 2. Examine and experiment with the item. The character makes an Intelligence check (DC 20), with the following modifiers:
