Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[SavageGamerGirl]

I want to see if I can come up with a way for characters to make Inventions out of Weird Science gizmos.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Required Powers: You must have the power as part of your Weird Science AB.

Required Knowledge Skill: All Weird Science gizmos to be converted to Inventions require Knowledge (mechanics), Knowledge (engineering), and Knowledge (science). This reflects the overall complexity of the device.

Repair/Construction Modifier: The Repair/Construction Modifier is a negative number equal to the PP cost for a single use of the device. This provides the device with 10 PP before it needs to be recharged. You can give the device more or fewer charges by altering this modifier by an equivalent amount.

Cost: £10 x Power Point cost. The expense is intentional, since the book already says that Weird Science devices break the laws of physics in a setting where physical laws are already pretty broken. Making the devices almost prohibitively expensive keeps them rare, and doesn't water down the setting with too many 'magic items.' Furthermore the sample Electric Gun in the book has a construction cost of £20 and appears to be modeled after the Bolt power, so there is a precedent.

Rank: The Inventor must be at least one rank higher than the Power rank requirement.

Reliability: Reliability functions as per the normal rules, except for devices that operate in conjunction with an existing skill. With those devices, the wielder would use his skill die or the device's Reliability die, whichever is lower. This reflects the accuracy of a ranged weapon (Shooting) or the balance of a melee weapon (Fighting, Throwing), and so on.

Weight: Since these devices are meant to be portable, their weight should reflect that. A good rule of thumb is that a device weighs about 1 lb. per Power Point, or half that if its Reliability die is d8 or greater.

Commercial Availability: No device based directly on a Weird Science power is commercially available. Each device is unique and must be hand-crafted.

Recharging and Reloading: A device comes with a miniature battery that supplies its Power Points. Each battery weighs 1 lb. and costs £1. These batteries can be recharged at a rate of 1 PP per hour when plugged into an active power source. More efficient batteries are available as well. A battery costing £2 recharges at a rate of 1 PP per half hour, and a battery costing £5 recharges at a rate of 1 PP per 15 minutes.

Loading a battery into a device requires 2 actions: one action to remove the spent battery and one action to install the fresh one.

You do not have to invent the battery separately, as creating the battery is assumed as part of inventing the device. Simply add the price for each battery you want to include with the device in its Construction Cost.

*****

Thus, to make a gun that uses the Bolt power the inventor would need all three invention Knowledge skills, the Repair/Construction modifier would be -2, the Construction Cost would be £20, and he would have to be at least Seasoned. The gun would have 10 PP. (If he wanted the gun to have 20 PP, his Repair/Construction modifier would be -4 and its cost would be £40.) Since it's based on the Bolt power, it functions the same way. A series of dials allows the wielder to select 1, 2, or 3 bolts, or a single 3d6 bolt, an expends 2, 4, or 6 PP just like the Bolt power. A person using the Bolt gun would use their Shooting skill or the device's Reliability die, whichever is lower.


Does this all sound reasonable?
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[SavageGamerGirl]

Does anyone have any input at all on this, or am I just so awesome that I got it in one?
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[ValhallaGH]

Sorry, but Space 1889 isn't a part of my toolset right now. So, no comment.
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"Got a problem? I've got the solution: Rocket Launcher."
"Not against a Servitor."
"... We're all gonna die."

[SavageGamerGirl]

Heehee thanks!
_________________
'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[Timon]

I dont have it either - but there is a procedure in Deadlands for creating an invention - have you seen it?
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Biting! It's like kissing but there's a winner!
The Doctor's Wife

[SavageGamerGirl]

No, I haven't.

Space:1889 has some setting-specific rules, though, as I'm sure Deadlands does. I'll have a look at it when I get a chance, though.
_________________
'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[Bill]

Hi! Not sure what you are going for in Space 1889. The way the book is written Wierd Science works but does allow for mass production of wierd science weapons. Instead you can "invent" lighting guns, heat rays and other such items. Also most of these items tend to be bulky in form and function (thus a suit of iron-wood woven plate armor might be as good as kevlar when it works but would wiegh much more). In the inventions case the reliability die represents how well it was manufactured as well as the design. That's one reason "mass -porduced" items get the +1 (or more) on their reliability die. Thus the Wierd Science guy can knock together something that shouldn't work, but does, that uses either Wierd Science or an appropriate skill but is limited in number (only 1 device per power) and can't be duplicated. Inventotions take time to design and produce a prototype that could be sold, stolden, or more prototypes built.

However, what works for your game is what is important!
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The More I Learn, The Less I Know

[SavageGamerGirl]

Thanks!
_________________
'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!