That would have been pretty good twist indeed. Bummer the team fell apart. And as a side note: I really liked the 2006 Prey's ending. "You know what must be done."
I wanna share something with you guys. I'm playing a game called Elona. Specifically Elona+. It's an oldschool JRPG type deal where the main developer fucked off and it got picked up by his friends. It's got DND style stats, various quests, farming, shop ownership, a main quest line, gods, recruitable monsters, artifact gear, etc. etc. Whatever. ANYWAYS, this is a rock. It's a particularly mean rock, or appears to be at least. Actually it' shit. It's one of the, if not the, most pathetic ranged weapon in game and this one's blessed. Nobody bothers with this when you can have enchanted bows that chuck out 4 arrows in a second and literal shotguns that are both made of silver and blessed by your diety. It's important you understand how pitiful these things normally are, because they're rocks, just rocks, nothing more. I was dungeon delving in a low tier dungeon today to find shit to fill my shop with to sell. Easy clear, used a scroll of return to get home and went through my inventory to see what I should sell and keep (even low level gear can improve my crafting skills so they're good for equipping temporarily). So then I see this shit, and it gives me pause... Upon closer inspection: It's made from fucking adamantium. What insane dwarf made this thing? It's got 50% armor penetration and increase my stats by a significant amount for my level. Will by SEVEN? Is this supposed to be the Cleric's stone of "Oh hell I'm out of spells for the day; FUCK IT, just throw rocks!" ?!?! I thought I was infinitely lucky found a shotgun that deals 4d9+2 and THIS is potentially better on a lucky hit?! I just don't know anymore. Jesus Christ. Edit: For comparison here is that ...fucking thing alongside some other in game ranged weapons. Normally ranged weapons have ammo with them that goes into your ammo slot, rocks don't because they are their own ammo. Assuming metal materials, bolts go usually 1d6, arrows are higher than that between 6-9, and bullets range 1d2 to 2d2 at around my level. The negatives on ballista are to accuracy and to your DV which is a total measure of your evasiveness, which make sense (although this ballistae gives you a bonus to heavy armor skill so your PV goes up, a measure of how well you take a hit). Anyways, this stone's damage is around on par with the ballista WITHOUT giving negatives to your stats, and can easily outperform the shotgun and bow and with artifact arrows..
Dwarf weaponsmith: "huh. I mined this precious metal i think i will just form it into a ball and call it a day."
Do you have to run and grab the rock after you throw it? Or does it just magically reappear on yourself.
No retrieval necessary. The reason it weighs so much is it assumes there are several for the purpose of ammo. This is why some arrows "weigh" 1.2 stones and others weigh close to 5 stones based on material, there are several. Edit: Wait, shit there's several of these adamantium stones then. THAT'S EVEN WORSE.
So you know it says it weighs 7.5 stones which is 105 pounds it seems. Have fun with that... Just imagine some dude with a giant sack filled with adamantium rocks slumped over his shoulder and throwing them at people. Probably why it increases will and constitution by so much... It's only for those that can handle that giant sack. Edit for grammar