What enchanted devices in Lapis Crudis?

It was already mentioned, but I will expand on the idea some (along with trying to avoid direct Craft Magic). Tools with a Rock of Viscid Clay effect, with the Duration reduced to Momentary or Diameter and unlimited uses per day, are great items for allowing construction and art with. The Diameter version (+ Unlimited uses) is only a level 20 Enchantment. Making versions of them that effect different things expands on their usefulness. My own group makes extensive use of a Herbam version that affects wood (MuHe base 4) and a version with the +2 metal modifier which affects brass in ship building.

With a Duration of Diameter, they make great work tools allowing you to do things like smooth out/laminate and shape the material, as well as fix minor damage. With a Duration of Momentary on a fine point tool, you can use it for things like art and writing.

Another use for the Rock of Viscid Clay effect is to change it to Rock of Flowing Sand for casting objects from stone or wood. You could also use mud or water (Aquam Requisite), though mud does not pour/flow nearly as well and water might flow far to much for some castings. With a few of these effecting different materials and a mold, you could produce some wild combinations of materials layered and swirled in a single object.

Another useful effect is based on Ink of Noblest Metal (Covenants, p. 97). The effect is to turn the target into ink. Changing to target to a different metal or stone gives you a large range of options. Changing the effect from ink into paint expands on those options, which while not allowing as fine detail as ink allow you to easily plate objects with that material. My group uses this combination to plate the belly of their ships with brass and the rest of the hull with quartz or obsidian.

If you want to include a baths, I already added a list of magic items in A wealth creating scheme a day for January which you might find useful. It includes things like creating the water from nothing, cleaning the water during use, and instantly drying the bathers. You can pick and choose what you like. Some of the effects would also be useful for a magical laundry.

Effects like Unseen Arm and Unseen Porter are very useful and cheap to create. In addition to the uses of manipulation and transportation of heavy things, they could be used in things like artwork. For example an effect that causes the target to hover and slowly turn, combined with a target that is multiple hollow spheres of nested stone. With cutouts and some parts of the spheres made from the clearer forms of quartz, you could create a rather stunning item.

The varies magic crane effects (Zeus' Arm from TtA, Arms of Hercules from HP) could be used to create magical lifts for moving people and objects around. Since they are space limited by the outer bounds of the Regio, building up (and down) as much as possible would increase their usable space. There is also The Wheel from the Hermetic Shipyard part of HP which is a good way to get motive power.

For fun with Herbam, you can create enchanted items or circle/ring spells which awaken plants. These plants can slowly move, which means they can form living changing art. Adding in a CrIm effect can create truly exotic effects. I am partial to a singing rose garden. However you could go as far as to create a variant of The Shadow of Human Life effect that forms a speaking face on a tree. While only a simulated intellect, it would have the awakened senses/memory of the tree to draw off of.

Ok, that is more than enough from me.

3 Likes