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, p. 511). 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.

Concept

Gadgeteers have far milder penal-ties 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 (p. 346). On a failure, he has no skill penalty – he just loses FP. If he reaches 0 FP, he collapses and must rest for1d days to recover. Add this to the time required.

Complexity Base Cost TL Increment
Simple $50k $100k
Average $100k $250k
Complex $250k $500k
Amazing $500k $1m
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.

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!

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 talent 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 following modifications.

Concept

Apply the favorable modifiers given for regular gadgeteering, but each Concept roll requires only 1d minutes!

Prototype

Apply the modifiers given for regular gadgeteering to the Prototype roll.

If the gadgeteer must buy the needed items, calculate facilities and prototype 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 construction 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 gadget, the gadgeteer may attempt to modify 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 modifications 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 builtgadgets for them. Finding such a hireling should be an adventure initself! 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: