A Device is a machine (or sometimes a building) that enacts a magical effect. Various technomantic paradigms, such as the Technocratic Union and the Sons of Ether, rely heavily on Devices.
Renaissance[]
In the time period of Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, the term "Device" is applied to both magical and mundane technology. Thus they are categorized in the following ways:
- Mundane Devices are those which can be devised and built by Sleepers, such as crossbows, weight-driven clocks and Gothic cathedrals. They are also sufficiently common among Sleepers that they do not attract undue attention.
- Unusual Devices are those which, while exceedingly rare in Sleeper society, would not actually violate a Sleeper's sense of propriety. While they can be built by Sleepers, they are usually only invented by the Enlightened or a rare, particularly ingenious sleeper. While not subject to Scourge, they are often unreliable.
- Extraordinary Devices are those Devices which are clearly past the cutting edge of Sleeper technology, often as much as two centuries ahead of their time, but can still be built and utilized by Sleepers after proper testing by an Enlightened designer. Despite not being powered by magic, these Devices may sometimes provoke Scourge and are even more temperamental and unreliable than Unusual Devices. However, over time, Extraordinary Devices naturally become Unusual, and Unusual may become Mundane.
- Machinae are those Devices which are absolutely must be operated by an Enlightened Artificer, as they involve the direct application of one or more Spheres. These are the most likely to provoke Scourge.
References[]
- MTAs: Technocracy: Iteration X, p. 50-51, 72
- MTAs: Technocracy: Void Engineers, p. 49-53
- MTAs: Technocracy: N.W.O., p. 52-57
- MTAs: Technocracy: Progenitors, p. 48
- MTAs: Technocracy: Syndicate, p. 49-52
- MTAs: Guide to the Technocracy, p. 31, 46, 172-173 216-223
- MTSC: The Artisans Handbook
- MTAs: Mage Storytellers Companion, p. 57-60
- MTAs/cMET: Laws of Ascension Companion, p. 21