Mechanik’s Union

Although the benefits of mechanika offer endless combinations of versatility to armor and weapons, the curiosity and innovation  of man demands that guns shoot louder, hammers smash harder, and that every ounce of arcane energy be squeezed out of arcanodynamic accumulators. And, as is also human nature, if the risks of harming another outweighs harming oneself, it’s obviously worth it. So, when young, ambitious arcane mechaniks proposed the idea of increasing the power output of rune plates with only a ‘slight’ chance of failure to equally young and ambitious adventurers, the plans turned to products faster then a Journeyman making off with an abandoned ‘Jack.

The Accumulator Overdrive Socket is a component that can be used both in armor and weapons, which increases a rune plate’s effective power by sending an increased flow of arcane energy from an accumulator. By modifying either a Charge, Trickle, or Hybrid accumulator socket to a secondary mechanical spell trigger, a shutter in the socket widens, which in turn allows a greater flow of energy to be sent through the rune plate. This means that the spell engraved in the plate, whether passive or aggressive, will instantly become more potent or damaging.

Statistically, when an Accumulator Overdrive Socket is activated, the amount of charges needed to power a spell is doubled, and in turn, the potency of the spell is increased by 50%. For instance, if a set of plate armor with a Resist Energy (Fire) Rune plate is fitted with a Reflective trigger, and the secondary trigger for  the Overdrive Socket is flipped, a fire based attack would increase the plate’s Fire Resistance from 5 to 8 (7.5 rounded up) at the cost of 6 charges of energy from the accumulator. Further, if a Flaming Long Rifle with a similar configuration (with an offensive trigger, of course) activated the Overdrive, the damage will increase to 1d6 + 1d3 for the cost of 2 charges per day. This increase in power output also increases DC checks of offensive spells according to the spell enhancement bonus (+2 enhancement = +2 DC).

It’s obvious, however, that if double the charge is needed to provide a 50% boost of power, then not all of that arcantrik energy is being properly put to use.  As a result of forcing that extra charge, some of the energy escapes as heat, some as harmless static, and but the majority of this extra energy creates a small disruptive wave of feedback that could potentially damage the accumulator. Whenever the Overdrive  Socket is used (Once per activation for immediate spells, and only once per immediate activation for passive spells), there is a cumulative 5% that the feedback will cause the accumulator to rupture, as per Pg 326 of the IK Player’s Handbook. This figure is based on the enhancement bonus of the spell, so an enhancement bonus of +5  will cause a feedback rupture of 25%.  This failure rate lowers as the unused energy is dissipated by a rate of 5% for every  full minute that that Overdrive Socket is deactivated, the accumulator runs out of energy, or that the accumulator is carefully removed with a Craft (Mechanika) check (DC20).

Costs:

Accumulator Overdrive Socket (Charge or Trickle): x3 Gp

Accumulator Overdrive Socket (Hybrid): x5 Gp

Secondary Mechanical Trigger: Varies per spell

Improvements-

Arcanodynamic Energy Insulators- This simple, structural  enhancement involves a series of layered, alchemicaly treated strips of steel that surround the accumulator. Not only does this add an extra layer of protection (AC +1, HP +2) to the delicate machinery, but when the feedback energy of the accumulator is released, that energy is absorbed and dissipated faster then the accumulator could release on its own. Decrease the recovery time of an overcharged accumulator by 1/2. Cost: 425 Gp