Strange Devices to Stumble Upon in the Dungeon

An Electromagnetic Polarity-Reverser Transducer

Here are ten wacky machines for use with Into the Odd or other OSR games. These can be used whenever you want a weird thing for the players to experiment with. Some of these lend themselves well to tinkering or puzzle solving, some just have random effects for you to screw with things. All of them have a chance to break with each usage since they’re old and falling apart.

Obviously, a lot of these are the kind of thing that can totally screw with a player's character. You might end up being 1 inch tall or turning into a monkey irreversibly. Optionally, you could make any effects temporary for the current dungeon. If you're more hardcore than me you could also add chances that straight up murder the character, eg the teleporter could have a chance of teleporting you into rock or 100 feet in the air, and the alternate-universe exchanger could have a chance of just dumping you into an alternate universe with no way to come back.

The Old Ones

Before all of this, there were the Old Ones. Once a proud civilization, they are now gone from the world, their great works crumbled into dust.

But in the dungeon, the mythic underworld, time runs in strange directions and forgotten things come crawling back. And in long-abandoned corners of the Earth, moss-covered machines still run in the darkness.

Here are ten such machines: 

1. Hypo-Reduction Ray Emitter: Shrink ray
2. Hyper-Amplification Beam: Growth Ray
3. Inversion Centrifuge: Turns objects into their opposite
4. Rosetta Transmitter: Allows communication with anything
5. Biosynthesizer Processor: Brings random objects to life
6. Low-Range Teleportation Device: Teleports you to a random room in the dungeon
7. Quantum Exchanger Portal: Replaces objects and people with an alternate universe version
8. The Enlightenment Transducer: Transmits knowledge and steals memories
9. Gravitation Alteration Switch: Alters gravity in all surrounding rooms
10. Universal Synthesizer: Combines objects

The Hypo-Reduction-Ray Emitter

Pedestal with a laser pointing to it, connected to a wall panel with a single lever. When the lever is pulled the laser shoots at whatever is on the pedestal with a red beam. The beam gradually shrinks anything in it. For every 30 seconds a character spends under the beam their height is reduced by 25% of their original size, granting them +1 dexterity and -1 strength. The minimum a character will shrink is to 1%, granting +4/-4.

For every 30 seconds the device runs it has a 1-in-6 chance of breaking.

The Hyper-Amplification Beam Generator

Pedestal with a laser pointing to it, connected to a wall panel with a single lever. When the lever is pulled the laser shoots at whatever is on the pedestal with a blue beam. The beam gradually enlarges anything in it. For every 30 seconds a character spends under the beam their height is increased by 50%, granting them +1 strength and -1 dexterity. The maximum a character will grow is to 300% original size, granting +4/-4 but probably trapping you in the cavern.

For every 30 seconds the device runs it has a 1-in-6 chance of breaking.

The Inversion Centrifuge

A cylindrical container on a pedestal, with a panel of buttons and levers in front. The container is about 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide. When an object is placed into the container and the right combination of panels are pressed, the door to the container slams shut and spins around rapidly. After 30 seconds the door opens and any object placed inside will have turned to its opposite (up to the GM to figure out).

It has a 1-in-8 chance of breaking with each use.

The Rosetta Transmitter

Looks like a phone booth, with a small speaker and microphone inside that connects via wires to a speaker and microphone attached to a panel. Anything inside the booth is able to talk to anyone standing at the panel. This can be used for speaking to creatures with a different language, inanimate objects, or dead people. Each time it is powered on it works for 2d6 minutes before sparking and shutting down.

It has a 1-in-8 chance of breaking after each use.

The Biosynthesizer Processor

This machine looks like a refrigerator connected via pipes composed of muscle tissue to several large vats of organic materials (blood, viscera, skin, brain matter, bones suspended in a green liquid). Any inorganic material placed into the device will be animated with life. It will become a fleshy version of itself (HD 0-4 depending on size of the object, slam 1-1d10 depending on size, Armor as unarmored unless the object is hard or small, morale 7). Unless it’s a book or a computer it only has animal intelligence, and will be interested in finding food. Creatures start off with a neutral disposition to the PCs.

The device has a 1-in-6 chance of breaking after each use. 

Low-Range Teleportation Device

A pod connected to a control panel. The control panel has a large blinking green button that can be pressed and teleports anything in the pod to a room (roll randomly when the device is first used) in the same dungeon. By messing with the various levers and switches on the device the destination can be changed (re-roll it randomly). 

When the device is used, there is a 1-in-20 chance for each person that something goes wrong. Roll a 1d6:

1. Gain a random mutation  
2. Wrong destination, go to another random part of the dungeon
3. You are teleported but lose some inconsequential organ, take 1d6 nonlethal damage
4. You are fused with another person who was in the pod, or with a random bug.
5. You are swapped with you from an alternate timeline with slightly different memories and appearance. Roll below as if you had used the Quantum Exchanger Portal.
6. You are slightly perpendicular within the timeline. After being teleported you are invisible and intangible, but can still communicate with sound and smell. This effect has a 1-in-4 chance of expiring every ten minutes. 

The device has a 1-in-6 chance of breaking after each use. 

Quantum Exchanger Portal

This doorway, when powered on, exchanges objects and people passing through with a version from an alternate timeline. 

Objects are replaced with a different version from an alternate timeline, make up your own or roll 1d6:

1. Worse version, take -3 weapon/armor enhancement or -3 to all rolls using it
2. Better version, +1 weapon/armor enhancement or -1 to all rolls with it
3. From a smaller universe, is only half the size
4. From a larger universe, is twice the original size
5. Random special ability
6. Made out of flesh and blood

People are swapped with a version from an alternate timeline with slightly different memories and appearance (roll a random appearance detail if you like), plus roll on the following table:

1. Minor differences only, different eye color and add a random appearance detail
2. Character is a different gender.
3. +1d6 and -1d6 to each ability score
4. Reroll background
5. You come from a world with a different dominant species, become a random intelligent animal 
6. Different race
7. Different class
8. Roll Twice (if you get this again roll three times, then four, etc)

If a player character uses it, their character is now trapped in a parallel universe and basically out of the campaign unless the characters have a way of travelling between dimensions, and the player is now playing a different character from an alternate timeline.

The device has a 1-in-6 chance of breaking after each use. 

The Enlightenment Transducer

A helmet hooked up to a large device with a control panel. It has two modes: Forward and Backwards, which can be swapped with a switch on the control panel. If in forward mode, anyone wearing the helmet when the device is activated gains a random knowledge. If in backward mode, the player must say a random memory from their life. They now forget that memory.

The device has a 1-in-8 chance of breaking after each use.

Gravitation Alteration Switch

This device is a single switch that can be set to values from 0-8. When you find it it is set to 4. For each point above 4 gravity is increased by +25%. For each point below 4 gravity is decreased by 25%. 

When set to 8 anything in the rooms must succeed in a save vs paralysis or strength check for each action they want to take, and can only move at a crawl.

When set to 0 there is no gravity, everything floats around and people can move by kicking off walls.

This device has a 1-in-8 chance of breaking each time the switch is moved.

The Universal Synthesizer

This ancient machine consists of three rusty, stained pods and a control panel. Each of them are connected by pipes and exposed electrical wires. The pods to the left and right have open doors, the middle one is locked shut. The control panel has a bunch of levers and a giant glowing button. If the button on the control panel is pressed the doors will snap shut and anything in the two pods will be combined in a horrific fashion and teleported to the middle pod. Each time the machine is used there is a 1% chance that a fly got into one of the pods and is also combined. 

Each time the machine is used roll a 1d8. On a 1 the machine works as normal, but afterwards the machine makes grinding noises and stops working. 

When combining inanimate objects, the result is a tool that does whatever each original object did.

Example: A hammer and a lantern are combined. The result is a hammer that glows like a torch. A smoke bomb and a computer are combined, creating a computer that constantly emits smoke.

When combining a creature with a random object, roll a 1d3 for both physical and mental effects. On a 1, a bad effect happens, on a 2 a purely cosmetic effects, and on a 3 a good effect. Decide what the effects are before rolling. 

Example 2: Bob the fighter is combined with a suit of heavy armor. 

Physical: 1-The character’s movement speed is reduced by 50% 2-The character gets metallic skin but nothing happens, 3-the character gets +1 armor (or +2 AC). 

Mental: 1-The character becomes afraid of fire 2-the character becomes stubborn and rigid 3-The character gains +2 vs mental effects due to having a metal mind.

When two living creatures are combined, it creatures a creature with the higher of the original two characters’ stats for each ability score and saving throw, that has all the individual creature’s abilities. If they ever disagree on what to do they make opposed will tests. If two PCs are combined, keep track of their levels separately, they still level up as individual characters and split xp earned between them however they choose. Plus, roll a d20:

1. The resulting character has two sets of arms. Each one has the physical stats and access to the abilities (eg attack bonus, spellcasting) of the creature it originally came from, and can take one action a round. If one of the original creatures had no arms ignore this.
2. The resulting character has both sets of eyes. For any search, perception, or surprise checks, roll twice and take the better result.
3. The resulting character has two sets of each internal organ. They gain +1d6 HP.
4. The resulting character has two faces, one on the back of their head. Both are able to talk perfectly and control the body.
5. The resulting character is super tall: 1.5 times the average of the two character’s heights.
6. The resulting creature looks like the front half of each original creature stuck together in the middle, each facing the opposite direction. It can see equally well in both directions and walk in both directions.
7. The resulting character is missing some feature. Roll 1d6: 1-mouth, 2-eyes, 3-nose, 4-ears, 5-hair, 6-tongue
8. The resulting creature’s legs are on backwards. It moves at half speed and is uncoordinated.
9. The resulting creatures is poorly put together, and uses the lower of the original creature’s physical scores.
10. The resulting creature is very clever (maybe they have a giant brain that sticks out of their head), and has 1.5x the average of the two constituent creature’s INT scores (unless that would be lower)
11. The constituent creature’s combined brains unlock unknown powers: They can use ESP 1/day (as the magic-user spell)
12. The two creatures’ minds, now sharing a body, become best friends. They each keep their own saving throw value for fear or other mental effects, and are only affected if both of them fail.
13. The resulting creature has two heads.
14. The resulting character talks with two voices at once in unison.
15. The resulting character develops a random quirk or personality trait
16. The constituent character’s different personalities are irreconcilable. They suffer a random insanity.
17. The resulting character is constantly confused and suffers -4 to all mental saving throws.
18. The resulting creatures is poorly put together, and uses the lower of the original creature’s mental scores.
19. Roll a random mutation and make up a reason why it applies
20. Roll twice and combine!

Example: Peker (str 10, dex 15, cha 5, HP 4, can climb walls) and Abbie (str 8, dex 8, cha 14, HP 3, can cast a spell) are combined. They roll a 7, indicating the resulting character has no nose. The result is Pebbie, who has STR 10, Dex 15, Cha 14, and HP 4. Pebbie can climb walls and cast spells but has no nose. 

When I used this in my game of Into the Odd, the characters first made a two-headed dog. One of the players then used it to combine with a brain in a jar, giving her a second consciousness but afflicting her with faceblindness.