There’s one device that seems like spy gear that I’ve not been able to include in Magonomia, and that’s King Henry VIII’s walking stick. True walking sticks don’t develop as a British fashion accessory until the reign of one of the later Edwards, where their function is basically to hit muggers. This differentiations them from the accessibility devices that have existed as long as humans have had sticks. Henry’s walking stick was nothing like those.
Imagine a piece of dowel about four feet long. Jacket it in metal. Attach big flanges, or spikes, to it. Top it with a two foot long spike. Now, run four musket barrels up the middle, and have them all come to a reservoir of powder in the handle that you can light with slowmatch to a touchhole covered by a button or slide. That’s Henry VIII’s walking stick. It’s in the Tower of London now.
The musket barrels, which in the podcast I called “rifle” barrels, but which are not rifled, cannot be fired independently. They all go off at once. I’m also not sure if the spike on the top comes off, cleverly anchors around the barrels, or is just blown clear by the shot coming from behind it.
The story that Henry used this when he went anonymously into town is possible, but suspect. The story that he was arrested and jailed by one of his wardens, when they caught him carrying this object near the King’s residence, is likely untrue. Still it’s a good story hook for a player character: if Henry did pour wealth on the honest warder, he might have used it to have his child educated.
Games From Folktales 