Weird Technology
Weird Technology
"Alien" does not begin to describe some technology: gadgets that defy natural laws (including a few we haven't discovered); devices from bizarre dimensions; artifacts that mix magic with science, or that contain (or are) demons ... Such things are best described as "weird."
Weird technology need not be advanced – it might have been around since the Bronze Age! In fact, weirdness rarely has anything to do with tech level. Part of what makes a technology weird is that it defies the standard notions of scientific progress. It's different, and even geniuses are at a loss to explain it.
Weird Science
An inventor may choose to roll against Weird Science skill to get a bonus to his Concept and Prototype rolls. This bonus is +5 if he is using the New Inventions rules. It is only +1 if he is using Gadgeteering, as those rules already give large bonuses for the borderline-weird concepts used by gadgeteers. The drawback is that the invention will have weird side effects. Roll 1d-3 for the number of side effects (minimum one), and then roll that many times on the Random Side Effects Table, below.
Gadgets
As mentioned above, even gadgeteers who do not use Weird Science are venturing into the realm of the weird. A buggy gadget can occasionally have weird side effects – see the Gadget Bugs Table.
Experimental Devices
The GM can roll on the Random Side Effects Table whenever adventurers use an experimental device given to them by or stolen from a mad scientist.
Magic Items
There is no reason to limit strange side effects to technological devices! At the GM's option, when a wizard fails his roll to create a magic item by only 1, the enchantment works but the magic item acquires 1d-3 side effects (minimum one), determined by rolls on the Random Side Effects Table.
Random Side Effects Table
Roll 3d, or choose something appropriate.
3 – Each use causes a small, cumulative change in the user's body (mind). Roll against HT+4 (IQ+4) once per use. On a failure, the user acquires -1 point toward a physical (mental) disadvantage of the GM's choice.
4 – Each use inflicts 1d injury on the user (ignore DR).
5 – Each use causes 1 point of injury to the operator (ignore DR).
6 – The gadget transforms someone within 10 yards into something else (alien, animal, plant, etc. – GM's choice) for 10 seconds.
7 – The device makes an incredibly annoying, high-pitched noise when used. This gives everyone within 20 yards a headache for 10 minutes (-2 to DX, IQ, and self-control rolls), and the user gets a migraine (-4 to these rolls) for 20 minutes. Earplugs don't help, although Deafness does.
8 – Use of the gadget disrupts electronics: TVs and radios within one mile get nothing but static, other electronics within 100 yards fail on a roll of 7 or less on 3d. Within 10 yards, even simple electrical devices are affected. This is a classic side effect for UFOs! Magic items produce local mana disruptions instead, giving -3 to all spell rolls within 10 yards for the next 10 seconds.
9 – The device produces noxious fumes in a four-yard radius. Anyone in the area must make a HT+3 roll every second. On a failure, they are nauseated (see Irritating Conditions) for five minutes.
10 – The gadget produces a loud hum in operation (+3 to Hearing rolls to notice it).
11 – Impressive but harmless special effects – beams of light, showers of sparks, etc. – accompany the use of the device. The source of the effects is obvious to any observer. Anyone in the area gets a Vision roll at +5 to notice something is going on.
12 – The gadget emits dense clouds of steam or smoke over a four-yard radius while in operation. Treat as a Fog spell.
13 – Each use of the gadget attracts a swarm of vermin of the GM's choice. The swarm disperses 10 minutes after the device is shut off.
14 – Using the gadget renders the operator unconscious for 1d minutes.
15 – Each use of the device attracts the attention of demons or ghosts, or punches holes into random dimensions through which strange creatures appear.
16 – The device inflicts 1 point of injury (ignore DR) per use on everyone within 10 yards, including the user.
17 – Each use of the gadget opens a gate into a random dimension for one second. The user must make a DX roll to avoid falling into the hole before it closes.
18 – Roll for a different random side effect each time the device is used. (If this result comes up again, roll for two side effects, and so on!)