Innovation System

Innovation is the heart of progress on Pannotia. Whether it’s a gardener experimenting with a new plant strain, a smith hammering out a groundbreaking alloy, or a spellbinder weaving magic into an entirely new form, your character has the power to change the setting through the process of Innovation.

An Innovation isn’t just a one-off item; it’s a new technique, discovery, or creation that can ripple outward to affect others. For example:

• A new alchemical mixture that saves lives
• A magical spell never before cast
• A unique steam-powered device that shifts how characters travel, build, or fight
• A plant that produces exotic psychedelics

Every Innovation is a chance for your character to leave a legacy, change the course of stories, and open up roleplay opportunities for others. This guide will walk you through exactly what steps to follow: how to submit your idea, what to include in your write-up, what to expect during the in-character experimentation phase, and how success or failure plays out.

Innovation submissions open regularly, and will be announced in the lore announcements channel on the Gears of Galudon Discord, with their results presented in an Innovation Progression once the submissions for that period have been completed. Innovations cannot be submitted outside of these periods!

Who Can Submit

Any character with talent points invested in a relevant Talent can submit an Innovation. Relevant Talents are:

• Gardening
• Smithing
• Engineering
• Medicine / Alchemy
• Arcane Knowledge
• T3 Spellbinder

Additional requirements:

• Hextech projects must include at least one participant with 2+ points in Arcane Knowledge.
• If other characters helped invent or contributed expertise, include them in the submission (with links to their character sheets). Collaborators should be present for in-character testing. Adding additional characters improves your chances of success.
• Evidence of independent roleplay toward the design, creation, or funding of an invention can be provided for bonus points, making success more confident.

What Counts as an Innovation

An Innovation is a new method, product, spell, plant, device, or technique that introduces something not previously available to players in the world. It must:

• Be original and fit the steampunk setting
• Be more than a single crafted item (it should be a repeatable process, new recipe, new spell, or novel device/technique)
• Be grounded in the talents and resources your character can plausibly access

What Happens After You Submit

• Review - Your Innovation DM will check for clarity and how well it fits into the world. They may request clarifying edits but will not redesign your concept.
• Experiment - You’ll be invited to an in-character roleplay session where a DM tests the practical steps you described (checks, consequences, obstacles, and breakthroughs).
• Results - At the end of the experiment one of three outcomes occurs:
  • Inspired Success - The Innovation works with an additional bonus.
  • Success - The Innovation works as intended.
  • Failure - The attempt fails, but you gain a bonus on your next attempt.

When the experiment succeeds, the Innovation process will be complete. After which your DM will finalize the Innovation and upload it to the wiki.

The World Technology Fair

After your Innovation is finalized you will have the opportunity to submit your creation to the World Technology Fair, a showcase of innovation hosted by the Kingdom of Galudon. The World Technology fair is an in game event that will allow your character to showcase their creation for the world to see. This event offers your character the chance to gain notoriety for their dedication and commitment to leading innovation around the world.

Submission Checklist

Make sure to cover the following sections in your submission document:

• Name of Innovation
• Invented By - character name(s)
• Collaborators - characters for the experimentation stage (include sheet links!)
• Purpose - Public, for anyone’s use. Private, for explicit personal use. Military, to be sold to the military (Generally these are unusable in day to day roleplay.)
• History - at least two paragraphs of in-character lore (inspiration, earlier attempts, cultural context)
• Construction - clear step-by-step description (this is what will be tested in experimentation, so be thorough! Include any unique lore defined materials you are trying to utilize the properties of, as well as potential power or fuel sources as applicable.)
• Physical Characteristics - size, appearance, moving parts, et cetera
• Applications & Weaknesses - uses, limits, and shortfalls (This may be altered by Innovation DMs as necessary)
• Business / Owner - who owns or sponsors it in-character. This is used to determine patents should there be any issues in character about who owns the innovation.
• Written By - your username

Rules & Constraints

• Only characters with the required Talent points can submit.
• Hextech requires a contributor with 2+ Arcane Knowledge points.
• The power/size/complexity of an Innovation will be matched to the inventor’s Talent level and lore consistency.
• Must fit the steampunk setting (no modern/cyberpunk/dieselpunk tech).
• Do not submit a direct copy of a real-world device; inspiration is fine, but make it original!
• Very large and complex inventions such as walking cities may require multiple preliminary inventions first.
• Staff may refuse or require adjustments for lore or balance reasons.

Systems Talent | Combat | Progression | Crime | War | Innovation | Artifacts

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Accreditation
Writers Bimberi, JadexTheRed Artists JadexTheRed Processors JadexTheRed, Bimberi	Last Editor Bimberi on 09/30/2025.

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