Gadgeteering
Gadgeteering
Fiction is full of inventors who can design devices that are far ahead of their time. Below is advice on how to relax the requirements and restrictions of the New Inventions rules for such "gadgeteers." These benefits apply only to inventors with the Gadgeteer advantage.
Inventing Gadgets
Before beginning, the player must describe the proposed gadget to the GM in a logical manner, and offer an explanation of how it is supposed to work. The item should not actually violate physical laws (which eliminates FTL travel, antigravity, teleportation, etc.) unless the GM rules that such "superscience" is possible in the game world.
The GM is free to accept or reject the design, depending on its feasibility. If he accepts the item, he assigns it a tech level (see Tech Levels). The stronger, smaller, or more effective the gadget is, relative to an item that performs a similar function at the campaign's TL, the higher its TL should be.
Required Skills
This is unchanged from New Inventions. A gadgeteer must have a good understanding of the field in which he is working. The Gadgeteer advantage represents a broad, intuitive capacity for inventing – it does not grant specific scientific or technical knowledge. Most gadgeteers focus on one or two skills to start out with.
Complexity
Use the usual complexity levels, but do not confuse complexity with tech level. A ray gun that sells for $1,000 at TL10 is most likely an Average item, however amazing it might be in a TL8 setting.
| Complexity | Base Cost | TL Increment |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | $50,000 | $100,000 |
| Average | $100,000 | $250,000 |
| Complex | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| Amazing | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
Concept
Gadgeteers have far milder penalties on their Concept rolls. There is no penalty at all for a Simple invention, and only -2 for an Average one, -4 for a Complex one, or -8 for an Amazing one. For software, use Complexity (not twice Complexity). Ignore the -5 for a technology that is totally new to the campaign.
A gadgeteer is not limited to inventions only one TL advanced. He may attempt to create a device of any TL, at a flat -5 per TL above his own.
Prototype
All the benefits listed for Concept rolls apply equally to Prototype rolls. Furthermore, the GM may choose to waive the penalty for questionable equipment. Many fictional gadgeteers work out of a basement or a garage!
Time Required: This is unchanged. However, the times under New Inventions assume an eight-hour day, which might not be enough for a cinematic gadgeteer! If the inventor pulls long shifts, he must make daily HT rolls as described under Long Tasks. On a failure, he has no skill penalty – he just loses FP. If he reaches 0 FP, he collapses and must rest for 1d days to recover. Add this to the time required.
Cost: Calculate the cost of the necessary facilities using the table above. Use Base Cost for an item at the campaign TL, and add the amount under TL Increment for each TL beyond that. A gadgeteer may divide these costs by 10 if he has already paid for facilities for a similar project of equal or higher complexity and tech level.
- Example: A gadgeteer working on a Complex item must pay a Base Cost of $250,000 for the necessary facilities. If his invention is a device three TLs above the campaign TL, he must add three times the TL Increment for a Complex gadget, or $1,500,000, bringing the total to $1,750,000.
As with regular inventions, there is also a cost for each attempt to build a prototype. For an invention at the campaign TL, this is just the retail price of the item. For a device from above that TL, start with the item's retail price at its native TL, double this for each TL of difference, and accumulate the cost!
- Example: A gadgeteer working on an invention with a $4,000 retail cost would pay $4,000 per attempt to create a prototype if the device were at the campaign TL. If it were three TLs more advanced, he would double the cost three times and add: $4,000 + $8,000 + $16,000 + $32,000 = $60,000!
Gadget Bugs Table
When a gadgeteer invents a gadget of a higher TL than his own, the GM should roll 3d on the following table for each bug (or simply pick something appropriate).
3 – Roll 3d per use or hour of constant use. On a 6 or less, the gadget attracts the unwelcome attention of aliens, time travelers, Men in Black, Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, etc. (GM's choice.)
4 – The gadget is huge! If it would normally be hand-held, it is so large that it needs a vehicle to move it around; if it would normally be vehicle-borne, it must be mounted in a really big vehicle (like a battleship) or a building; and so on.
5 – Each use or hour of constant use consumes $250 worth of resources – exotic chemicals, radioactives, etc.
6 – The device has 1d+1 side effects; see the Random Side Effects Table.
7 – Anyone carrying the gadget is so inconvenienced by its awkward shape and balance that he has -2 to DX. Vehicles or vehicular gadgets give -2 to vehicle control rolls.
8 – The gadget has 1d-2 (minimum one) side effects.
9 – A powered device requires a big power supply – for instance, a vehicle power plant. If it would normally require this much power, it needs to be tied into a continental power grid, and causes brownouts whenever used. If the device is unpowered, treat this result as 10.
10 – The gadget is twice as large, twice as heavy, and uses twice as much power as it should. If it's a weapon, halve its damage, range, and Accuracy instead.
11 – The gadget gets too hot to handle after being used, and must cool down for 10 minutes before it can be used again. (If used before it cools off, it burns out in a shower of sparks and inflicts 1d burning damage on the user.)
12 – Each use or hour of constant use consumes $25 worth of resources.
13 – The gadget is unreliable, and fails on any operation skill roll of 14 or more.
14 – The gadget requires minor repairs after every use, and does not work until repaired.
15 – The device recoils like a heavy projectile weapon (even if it isn't a gun). The user must make a DX roll for every use or be knocked down.
16 – The gadget is very unreliable, and fails on any operation skill roll of 10 or more.
17 – The device is overly complicated. If it is a weapon, it takes five seconds to ready (this represents pushing buttons, setting dials, etc.). Other gadgets require two hours of painstaking preparation before each use.
18 – On any critical failure using the device, it self-destructs...spectacularly. The user must make a DX roll at -2 or suffer 2d injury as a result. The gadget is gone – it cannot be repaired or cannibalized for parts.
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Testing and Bugs
For a gadgeteer, success by 3 or more results in no bugs, while a lesser success gives 1d/2 minor bugs. There is no chance at all of a major bug. If the device is above the gadgeteer’s TL, roll once on the Gadget Bugs Table (box) for each “minor” bug.
Production
The standard rules apply, but use the tech level-adjusted retail price in all calculations. In the example above, retail price would be $60,000 (not $4,000) for production purposes.
QUICK GADGETEERING
Inventors with the Quick Gadgeteer advantage require very little time or money to do their work. They can throw together a useful gadget in minutes, using only the contents of a random glove compartment. This tal- ent is completely unrealistic; most GMs will want to restrict it to highly cinematic campaigns!
Quick gadgeteers use the Inventing Gadgets rules (p. 475) like regular gadgeteers, with the follow- ing modifications.
Concept
Apply the favorable modifiers given for regular gadgeteering, but each Concept roll requires only 1d minutes!
Prototype
Apply the modifiers given for regu- lar gadgeteering to the Prototype roll.
Time Required: A Simple gadget takes only 2d minutes to assemble, an Average one calls for 1d-2 hours (a roll of 1 or 2 indicates a 30-minute assem- bly time), a Complex one requires 1d hours, and an Amazing one takes 4d hours.
Cost: The quick gadgeteer is a master at cannibalizing parts and scrounging for equipment. If there are many sources of parts, the GM should allow a Scrounging roll to locate usable components. If the available resources are more limited, the GM may require a roll against a specialized skill; e.g., if the only thing available is a wrecked ’65 Mustang, the GM might call for an Engineer (Automobiles) or Mechanic (Automobiles) roll to find the neces- sary hardware. These rolls are at no modifier for a Simple gadget, -2 for an Average one, -6 for a Complex one, and -10 for an Amazing one. On a success, the total cost for the proj- ect is only (1d-1) × $100, with a roll of 1 indicating no cost.
If the gadgeteer must buy the need- ed items, calculate facilities and proto- type costs as for a regular gadgeteer, and then divide by 100.
A critical failure on the Prototype roll ruins the parts – the gadgeteer must find new ones before construc- tion can resume.
GADGETEERING DURING ADVENTURES
Gadgeteers can also analyze and modify gadgets encountered during adventures.
Analysis
To figure out a mysterious piece of equipment, the gadgeteer rolls as if he were making a Concept roll to invent the item from scratch, using the same skills and modifiers. This takes 1d¥10 minutes for a regular gadgeteer, or 1d minutes for a quick gadgeteer.
Modification
After successfully analyzing a gadg- et, the gadgeteer may attempt to mod- ify it. He rolls as if he were making a Prototype roll, using the same skills and modifiers. This takes 1d hours for a regular gadgeteer, or 1d¥10 minutes for a quick gadgeteer. All modifica- tions in function are subject to GM approval!
Gadgets for Non-Gadgeteers
Anyone can own and use gadgets. Only those who can alter their capabilities or invent new ones must buy the Gadgeteer advantage. But it would be unfair to let non-gadgeteers have gadgets for free – Gadgeteer costs points as much for the gadgets themselves as for the ability to build them. The GM should adopt one of the following rules to maintain game balance.
Gadgets Cost Money
The GM may permit the PCs to hire a gadgeteer to design and built gadgets for them. Finding such a hireling should be an adventure in itself! In addition to the hireling’s pay, the PCs must pay the standard facilities cost for development and 150% of the prototype cost per item. Work out these costs as described for regular (not quick) gadgeteering. This option has a “hidden” point cost: to cover these expenses, the heroes almost certainly need to take high Wealth (p. 25) or trade points for money (see Trading Points for Money, p. 26).
Gadgets Require an Unusual Background
The GM might require gadget users to have one of these Unusual Backgrounds:
Unusual Background (Gadgeteer Friend):
If an adventurer has a gadgeteer friend who equips him with useful inventions, he has an Unusual Background. This is an unabashed game-balance measure – it is unbalancing to let a single gadgeteer outfit an entire party at no point cost, however realistic that might be. 15 points.
Unusual Background (Invention):
The character possesses one specific gadget without being a gadgeteer. This must be a unique invention; if it weren't, it would just be Signature Gear. The player must explain how his character came to have the item: he invented it through a lucky accident, his inventor grandfather left it to him, aliens planted the blueprints in his head telepathically, etc. The points in this trait buy a single, bug-free item. The owner can copy it, but he must pay the usual production costs. 5 points if the gadget is Simple, 15 points if Average, 30 points if Complex, or 50 points if Amazing.