Magitek Reactor

In the setting I'm working on, raw magic can be generated in a reactor like nuclear energy, by using Orichalcum as an emitter and Mythril as a fuel rod. However, I'm having trouble thinking of what could be used as shielding and in control rods.

edited 8th Jun '14 10:34:46 PM by dvorak

The "classic" anti-magic material would be Cold Iron.

Cold Iron for the shield, and lead for the control rods.

Yeah, lead is another good option. It's very strongly associated with inertia, dullness, lack of anything exciting, which makes it a good "foil" for any magical materials. The fact that it's actually kinda reactive and terminally exciting when ingested can probably be disregarded for metaphysical purposes :P.

Cold Iron would make sense for controll rods, as it is usually considered to be anti-magical (Cold Iron hurts fae and other magical creatures). Lead isn't usually ascribed any special properties, but it would probably make a good shielding material for the same reason as in real life: it's very dense so radiation won't get through it.

I suggest Hematite (an iron ore) same anti-magical properties as cold iron, but it's also a Stone of protection and can absorb negative energy.

If your magic system supports it, you might have no physical shielding at all: place the reactor in an ordinary room, then draw a binding circle around it and plaster the walls with runes of warding. It might make for an interesting distinction between the two types of reactor: unlike nuclear reactors, you can actually go and stare right at the thing, glowing with arcane light.

Until someone accidentally scratches a break in the circle, and the whole room fills with white-purple light, ripping through you, ripping at you—followed by blackness... ;)

As to control rods, you essentially want something that "consumes" magic, I take it? IT could be fed into high-power spells, perhaps—indeed, you might feed it into the spells that maintain the shielding, strengthening the shields as the output increases. Otherwise, perhaps some sort of other-dimensional portal, dumping energy into some other space, the degree of loss being controlled by the size of the aperture.

Earth-magic has a sub-element that works specifically on metals; there are spells specifically intended to make iron sharper and stronger. Iron isn't really much of a Power Nullifier in this setting. The only thing that really stops magic is more magic; specifically Void spells. That being said, maybe a Void Ward imbued into a synthetic onyx casing placed around the reactor could work. The reactors themselves are small and light enough to act as power sources for Magitek weapons, ranging from swords to pistols to BFGs. This still leaves me looking for control rods though...

edited 11th Jun '14 12:27:08 AM by dvorak

edited 10th Jun '14 2:02:38 AM by MattII

metal and stone can be afect by magic? because you cand use vold metal to deflect the magic and maybe transfered to other places, or so i think

Iron, silver, gold, and brass are traditionally resistant to magic when applied as a current or a diffuse mass.

I've been working with something nearly identical to this.

Mythril and jade circuitry transmit and process the raw magic. Void just out-and-out "eats" magic. It's called "void" because it makes magic impossible by opening a gate to a dimension where magic is nonexistant, called "the void".

edited 27th Jul '14 12:14:42 AM by dvorak

Layered walls of water and ice for shielding, and fire to serve the same purpose as control rods (the idea being that you burn off and render inert excess ...whatever the equivalent of neutrons are, rather than absorb them).