life & style // no. 16

RPG hooks: Machinations

> Getting technical with the mechanical

Davie Wong Sports Editor

A: one point or another in a RPGer’s ife, they start to delve into the dark abyss that is science-fiction fantasy. It’s actually pretty difficult not to. In a world where magic can make literally anything possible, the lines between fantasy and science-fiction are a bit of a blur. One

of the most common blurred lines is machination or mechination.

Ever since the idea of automatons, humanity has played with the idea of creating idle-minded labourers capable of completing assigned tasks. Introduce the concept of magic and suddenly the idea evolves to a whole new level. Plenty of popular games have dabbled in, and even centered, their stories on this concept. From Final Fantasy’s “Machina,” to the Elder Scrolls’ “Dwemer’—there are plenty of mainstream examples that you can borrow inspiration from to help improve your design.

Having an origin for your machines isa key. Who created them? How? Why? Was it the Dwarves who smithed the first set? Were they created by an ancient race

that no longer inhabits the world?

Another important factor is the level of sentience that they automatons have. Are they simple creations made for tasks such as cleaning? Or are they a fully sentient race made from a magical metal that was imbued with life somehow? Maybe a middle ground where the machines are intelligent enough to complete complicated tasks, but can only follow orders?

Two of the more relevant questions to your world are how common are the automatons and how likely is your roaming band of troublemakers going to run into these creations?

Something beautiful about small things such as machinations is that they don't have to have too deep of a backstory—unless your adventure is based off them, then it might be a good idea to figure out the essentials. If they simply exist, it could just be that they are the creations of an ancient race, and all they do is maintain cities. Only if your adventurers decide to really dig into them do you have to figure things out. But any decent Game Master should be able to keep their party off the beaten path if

Fall favourites

> Vegan spice cake with cranberries

Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor

Ingredients:

11/2 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

1 tblsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 fresh grated ginger 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup ginger ale

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract 1/3 cup canola oil

tart by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and greasing a 20cm x 20cm—or 8”x8”—cake pan

with vegan-friendly shortening. Combine all the dry ingredients (with the exception of the cranberries) and stir well. Just stir them by hand, as an electric mixer will make a mess. Next slowly mix in the ground ginger, the ginger ale, the vanilla extract, the vinegar, and the oil. Make sure the mixture is even and there are no lumps. When that is done, fold in the cranberries. You can do this by creating a mountain of them in the centre, and then stirring from the bottom up with a wooden spoon. When the cranberries are evenly distributed, pour the batter into your greased cake pan and then bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the middle is no longer gooey. To test this, get a toothpick and poke the centre of the cake. If the toothpick comes away clean, the cake is done. After baking, let the cake cool before removing it from the pan.

theotherpress.ca

there’s a different story at play. Whatever you choose, remember

that you have creative

freedom here. They could

be whatever you want.

While there are examples

of mechinations, you have the final creative say. If you do choose to incorporate machinations, just remember, if it can be created, it can always be recreated... Have fun!

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Illustration by Ed Appleby