New skillset, The Engineering Field

[berserkx33]

This proposal for a new sub-system similar to Magic, Sword Schools and Gun Kata is based on an idea of creating something out of the high level machinery on this game's lore that the players could play with. So here I created the Engineering Fields.

The Engineering Fields are a set of skills that allow your character to create Gadgets, amazing contraptions with a Macro Style set of Commands and Functions that allow you to automate certain actions or even achieve some interesting effects through smart use of those Functions.

The basic idea of a Gadget is that it is, similar to how you create moves with Sword Schools, a set of stuff you can buy using EXP and combine in ways to make it into a special ability that you Setup to make certain actions for you.

Common Tools of the Engineers

What everyone who wants to start using Engineering Fields on their games has to know beforehand is a set of concepts that are common to them:

Gadget - Gadgets are the fully realised results of creating something with the Engineering Fields. They are made of a single Command and as many Functions as you can fit. Each Gadget has also a set amount of Charges and a Setup Difficulty. You spend Invention Points to create a Gadget.

Command - Commands are the triggers that make your Gadgets act. They can be activated as many times as possible in a single turn unless stated otherwise by the Command itself or one of it's Functions.

Function - Functions are what your Gadget actually does. Each Engineering Field will give you multiple choices on both Commands and Functions.

Charge - Charges are the amount of times a Gadget can be activated before having to be Setup again. Your invention can never have more Charges that it's max amount. The max amount of Charges is always the amount of Charges of the function with the least amount of Charges unless stated otherwise.

Setup and Setup Difficulty - Setup is the action of "Setting Up" your Gadget, as in, assembling it and making it functional. After it is Setup it will activate every time it's Command condition is met. the Setup Difficulty is the score necessary to successfully Setup the Gadget. The Setup Difficulty is equal to 10 times the amount of Functions used on the Gadget. You will roll Tech Use+Intelligence to make the Setup Test. A Setup is an Extended Action, as it will require you to focus on setting it up properly. If you are on a situation where you can take a long time to set things up, you can skip the Test by spending X minutes setting it up slowly (X being it's target score).

Invention Points - Similar Style Points in Sword Schools, everything in Engineering Fields is bought using Invention Points. Each Invention Point costs 50xp. The Maximum Budget you can have for a single Gadget is double your current Engineering Field level.

Application - Each Engineering Field will give you a "Application" type. This is, what is the Gadgets are applied to. Each Gadget can only be applied to a single of your avaliable Engineering Fields' Applications. So a Gadget that is applied to Vehicle must have it declared on it's creation, and the player will need to pay it's cost again to apply it to their Body. 

Anyone that starts their study on the fields of engineering will have access to common knowledge amongst them all, this includes the following tools:

Note: X Charges don't affect the number of charges this Gadget has.

Common Commands:

1 Command: A Simple Button
This command is activated by direct input from you, being a Half Action during your turn.

1 Command: Pressure Plate
This command will be activated when the setup object is pressured or hit by anything (like Attacks or Pushs) as a Reaction.

Common Functions:

3 Overclocking, X Charges
You can use this Gadget's effect Twice per activation as long as you still have charges left.

2 Jury Rigging, 5 Charges
You can spend 1 Charge from this Gadget to recharge another Gadget currently setup.

1 Bigger Battery, X Charges
Gives this Gadget 1 extra charge.

-1 Slow Charger, X Charges
This Gadget can only be activated once per turn.

-2 Battery Intensive, X Charges
This Gadget has only half of their total charges. (Can't be used on Gadgets with a Single Charge).

-3 Overheat, X Charges
Every Charge this Gadget spends adds 1 Cooldown turn until the next activation.

Tutorial:

As you think of your Gadget, you will follow those steps: Decide the Command it will have. than what Functions it will have, than name it and give it a short description to fluff how it works. So, for example, I want to create "The Smart Boxer", this Gadget will follow this method, using the Corpus Mechanicus field:

I have 100xp, I will spend it all to get 2 Invention Points.

The first Invention Point will be spent on buying it's Command. Since I want it to passively work against people who enter my melee range to prevent melee attacks, I will put in the "Danger Zone" trigger, since it works exactly for that.

The other Invention Point will be spent on the Piston Pusher, since I want a manneuver that will work defensively. Since my worry are melee attacks, this combo is pretty useful to keeping them at bay.

With this I have an Invention Cost of 2. Since it only has a single function (Piston Pusher), it will have a target score of 10, so it will be trivial to set this up. Since the Charges from the single Function are 3, this means that it will push to up to 3 people before I have to spend another Action setting it up again, this way I have the following Gadget:

"The Smart Boxer" - Total Invention Cost: 2 - Target Score 10 - Trigger: Danger Zone - Functions: Piston Pusher - Charges: 3 - Description: A compact glove that will automatically "push back" any assailant that thinks it is a good idea to try and get too close to you.

Engineering Fields

Corpus Mechanicus

The Corpus Mechanicus is a group of cybernetics intusiasts that think stopping at just "improving" the body is just too shalow of an use for their wonderful creations, and as such, they move their efforts to instead expand their body by adding extra "stuff", like limbs or even joints to help their bodies move. Sometimes they end up adding too much, and doing the basics end up becoming their main problem.

This Field was thought out to be used with Aedeptus Mechanicus.

LINK

Turret Defense Smiths

The Turret Defense Smiths, or how they like to call it, TD-S, are a strategy oriented bunch. They like to create arrays of connected turret style contraptions for the most varied uses. Why do something when you can create a bunch of things that do that for you in a complicated and indirect manner?

Gadgets from this field are applied to Stationary Turrets/Towers.

LINK

Off-Road Customizers

The Off-Road Customizers are specialized on one thing, and one thing only, their vehicles. The people who follow this field want to create new ways of making their vehicles cooler, making them more useful, more dangerous or just sleaker (Who am I kidding, it is always to make it sleaker). Who needs roads when you can drive up walls.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Vehicles.

LINK

Clockwork Puppet Maker

Drones, drones everywhere. There is something Clockwork Puppet Makers love to do is to make Drones and leave them to do errands. You will never see them without a bunch of those doing something useless somewhere. Just be cautious, because they know the strength in numbers.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Drones.

Chemistrappers

Some people prefer Concoctions over Contraptions, and those people are really annoying to deal with. Chemistrappers are into taking their knowledge and creating a bunch of chemical bombs that can do the most varied things, like acid splashes, adesive traps, slippery puddles, etc, etc, etc. Mines and Bombs are fair game to them.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Bombs and Mines.

Electropunks

Electricity is an amazing thing. And Electropunks will agree with this wholeheartedly. By using an endless supply of electricty they can generate fields of awesomeness with the most interesting effects. Just remember not to stay too close with your metallic possessions.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Orbiting Fields (Mechanisms that Float on an Orbit around user).

Bio-Engineering-Synthetisers

Bio Engineering is also a kind of engineering don't you know? Bio-Engineering-Synthetisers understand that and can make "wonders" happen using their unparalleled ability to genetic code in real time to achieve the most varied mutations. I didn't even knew Robots had genetic codes, but I guess nothing is too much to those genious.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Injection Pistols and Pills.

Info-jack Riggers

Information is an important part of any field, and getting more information is never a bad thing. Info-jack Riggers are the best at getting and transmitting info. You couldn't trust anyone to get ahold of secrets more than the social, digital and info engineers of the Info-jack Riggers.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Cybernetics, Comunication, Record and Playback Devices.

LINK

CivCon Dungeoneers

The secret of victory is having a stable, well rounded, well built base of operations. As such, CivCon Dungeoneers study day and night for ways to make the most perfect, undestructible, uninvadable, unenterable, and sometimes unusable bases on the Great Wheel. They got so good at it that they can pretty much turn any place into a fortified based in a very short period of time.

Gadgets from this field are applied to Locations, bet it fields or buildings.

More to come in the future.

[Traskus]

Okay, so I’m getting dinner soon so I’ll go over the mechanics later, but this is the most novel homebrew idea I’ve seen in a long time. Be proud of that even if other people (even I) talk this down.

[GuardianTempest]

Further comments down the line when I've properly understood this. I think this could be put in general Homebrew as an entire add-on system. Although when you said that it's alternate skills, I'm a bit opposed when you could roll a skill and fluff it as gadgetry. I do think the concept is neat especially for codifying a layer of mechanics to engineered mechanisms. For example, a Customizer could use this to give a little more depth on his turrets.

[Traskus]

Okay, back at the fort and I've read the OP. This is what I'm getting so far:

Triggers are things you have to do or have to happen to use the engineering technique. The "disadvantages" or equivalent.
Functions are what happens in the engineering technique. The "advantages."
Gadgets are "martial techniques" of engineering.

Charges are the number of times you can use the engineering technique before you have to do the triggers again.
Setup is a tech use test to activate the engineering technique. The "attack roll."

This about right?

I'm going to assume this is comparable to sword schools and gun kata in concept. If not, please correct me. This in mind:

Is there a budget to functions and triggers? Is there a limit or guideline to how many you put on one gadget?
Do gadgets cost experience points to create? What is the structure for that?
What is the TN of a setup?

What are the numbers with asterisks to the left of triggers and functions?

Please provide an example of building and using an engineering technique to walk us all through it and communicate your intent. If nothing else, please do this.

Looking at your example engineering school I'll say that you should keep it to the sword school/gun kata formula of two items per rank. If you don't want to, great, but I'd like to know what you're going for if that's the case. Whether it be the regimented sword school or mostly-freeform gun kata formula is up to you. For a little more fun I'll suggest the first rank being about what items can be used with gadgets to complement gun kata's actions.

SPOILER: Click to show

1-Amateur
1* Trigger: Danger Zone: This Gadget activates when an opponent enters melee with you.
Suggested rewording. Please correct me if this was not your intent.

2* Function: An Extra Hand: Choose a piece of equipment you have equipped. You may use this equipment at a -0k1 penalty. 5 Charges
Suggested rewording.

1* Function: Piston Pusher: Push a single target out of melee range. 3 Charges
Suggested rewording.

I suggest removing one of the items above to make the school less "busy." I also suggest removing another item to make a clause to specify what equipment is used in the gadget. That's less important and more of a "you must conform to core" thing but it helps give the idea structure.


2-DIY
1* Function: Better than the real thing: Choose a specific action whenconstructing this Gadget. Gain a +1k0 bonus to the roll to use this Gadget. 3 Charges
Suggested rewording. Please correct me if your intent is lost.

1* Function: 360° No Scope: This action does not trigger Opportunity Attacks and you get +0k2 against Dodge actions. 3 Charges
1. Suggested rewording. If I am mistaken, please let me know.
2. Does this mean you get a +0k2 to a roll that your opponent dodges or you get a +0k2 to dodge something? In any case, I suggest it apply to one action per charge.


3-Enthusiast
2* Trigger: Laser Pointer: This Gadget activates on an Aim Action. Add 0k1 to a full Aim Action.
Suggested rewording.

2* Function: Ejection Jets: Instantly move 1 zone (enough to instantly evade any melee action). 3 Charges
Do you mean zone like in zone-based combat? If so, great but I don't think the first engineering school should reference homebrew material. Just a personal matter.


3* Function: Smart Shield: Activate Full Defense. 3 Charges
I assume this means "you perform a full defense action as part of this gadget." Am I correct?

I suggest removing one of the items above to make the school less cluttered.


4-Experienced
3* Function: Claw Rope: Perform a Grapple Action on a target up to (distance) away. 3 Charges
Rewording and suggestion of range. This raises questions of how grappling at a distance works in terms of escaping, attacking with weapon, etc.

2* Function: Electric Field: Create an electromagnetic field immediately around you. This disarms opponents in melee range. 2 Charges
1. Reworded to be a little clearer.
2. I suggest a way for targets to resist or escape the disarmament. Disarmament is pretty damaging.


5-Expert
3* Trigger: Aggression Detector: This gadget activates when targeted by any action with the Attack subtype.
Suggested rewording.
2* Function: Emergency Bumper: Ignore one attack and the effects thereof that deals Impact damage. 1 Charge
Suggested rewording.
3* Function: Turn of the Century: The effect of the Gadget is applied in a 360° degree radius. 1 Charge
1. Suggested rewording.
2. What is the range?

I suggest removing two items above to bring it in line with sword schools and gun kata. Or to make it less cluttered, if nothing else. Level 5 of a school should be special.

Lastly, what is/are the "bit/s" of this engineering school? The fluff suggests concealed items or even cybernetics, but the mechanical benefits are a little all over the place. To compare, my recent Butlerian Jihad gun kata has the two bits of pivoting your initiative and eventually fighting machines.

To make suggestions to the idea at large:

Please define "equipment." Does this mean Gear, Weapons, Armor, Vehicle, Console, or some combination of the above?
Make a table of generic triggers and functions like sword schools and gun kata have. Suggested examples:

Trigger: This Gadget activates when targeted/hit by an attack.
Trigger: This Gadget activates when (performing action/test).

Function: Choose a piece of equipment you have equipped.
Function: Gain a +1k0 bonus to a roll while using this Gadget.


I look forward to your response because I am super enthusiastic with this idea. Just gotta work out the kinks.

[berserkx33]

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

Okay, back at the fort and I've read the OP. This is what I'm getting so far:

Triggers are things you have to do or have to happen to use the engineering technique. The "disadvantages" or equivalent.
Functions are what happens in the engineering technique. The "advantages."
Gadgets are "martial techniques" of engineering.

Exactly. Triggers will activate as a free action at any moment after they are setup as long as you can reach their condition (With the Exception of the * On Command trigger because it's trigger is a full action) or stuff that specifically refers to an action, like Laser Pointer.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

Charges are the number of times you can use the engineering technique before you have to do the triggers again.

Pretty much, except it is per Setup instead of per Trigger Activation. So, let's say, if you have the Danger Zone trigger, you can Setup the Gadget once, and after that, every time a opposing force enters your Melee Range, it will activate, using a Charge. So if you have stuff like the Piston Pusher with a Danger Zone trigger, you will set it once, than, the next 3 people who get close to you for a melee attack, they will be pushed back by the Piston Pusher.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

Setup is a tech use test to activate the engineering technique. The "attack roll."

This about right?

Exactly. It's target score is 10 times the amount of Functions it has. So a Gadget with 2 functions has a Target Score of 20.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

I'm going to assume this is comparable to sword schools and gun kata in concept. If not, please correct me.

Exactly too.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

This in mind:

Is there a budget to functions and triggers? Is there a limit or guideline to how many you put on one gadget?
Do gadgets cost experience points to create? What is the structure for that?
What is the TN of a setup?

What are the numbers with asterisks to the left of triggers and functions?

The budget is similar to how we spend Style Points. Each Invention Point costs 50xp and and the Stars on the left are their costs in Invention Points. I will create some functions that work like Restriction other than the Triggers to help even out some costs. Like, an Idea I was having was a "Slow Charge" function that lowers the Invention Cost of the Gadget by one but also restricts that Gadget to being activated only Once per turn on any condition.

The most Gadgets you can have prepared as the sum total of the Invention Cost of your Gadgets is 5 times the number of dots you have on your Tech-Use Skill. So with 1 dot you can have a Sum Total of 5 Invention Cost of Gadgets at once with a max of 25 with 5 dots.

The number of Gadgets you can have in your library is actually not limited as long as you have already invented it once by paying it EXP cost, but for you to use it you will have to have it declared prior to the current encounter following the above rules. So if I have around 10 Gadgets, all with 2 Invention Cost each, and have 2 dots on Tech Use, this means that I can carry around 5 of them at any time.

If you want to change your load out, you can spend the time you would be using on a rest to remove one of your current Gadgets and replace it with another of them, allowing you to replace it as long as it still keeps the sum total under your Max amount. So in 5 short rests you could replace all of your Gadgets on the above mentioned situation.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

Please provide an example of building and using an engineering technique to walk us all through it and communicate your intent. If nothing else, please do this.

As you think of your Gadget, you will follow those steps: Decide the Trigger it will have. than what functions it will have, than name it and give it a short description to fluff how it works. So, for example, I want to create "The Smart Boxer", this Gadget will follow this method:

I have 100xp, I will spend it all to get 2 Invention Points.

The first Invention Point will be spent on buying it's Trigger. Since I want it to passively work against people who enter my melee range to prevent melee attacks, I will put in the "Danger Zone" trigger, since it works exactly for that.

The other Invention Point will be spent on the Piston Pusher, since I want a manneuver that will work defensively. Since my worry are melee attacks, this combo is pretty useful to keeping them at bay.

With this I have an Invention Cost of 2. Since it only has a single function (Piston Pusher), it will have a target score of 10, so it will be trivial to set this up. Since the Charges from the single Function are 3, this means that it will push to up to 3 people before I have to spend another action setting it up again, this way I have the following Gadget:

"The Smart Boxer" - Total Invention Cost: 2 - Target Score 10 - Trigger: Danger Zone - Functions: Piston Pusher - Charges: 3 - Description: A compact glove that will automatically "push back" any assailant that thinks it is a good idea to try and get too close to you.

Ok, a few more examples:

"Say hello to my little friend" - Total Invention Cost: 7 - Target Score 30 - Trigger: On Command - Functions: Helping Hand (Autogun), 360° No Scope, Turn of the Century - Charges: 3 - Description: Your mounted Autogun is wired to a smart aiming arm, allowing it to shoot towards targets comming from any direction, all at once.

"Mayday Mayday!" - Total Invention Cost: 4 - Target Score: 20 - Trigger: Aggression Detector - Functions: Ejection Jets, Slow Charger - Charges: 3 Charges - Description: Sometimes the best option is just to avoid your problems completely.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

Looking at your example engineering school I'll say that you should keep it to the sword school/gun kata formula of two items per rank. If you don't want to, great, but I'd like to know what you're going for if that's the case. Whether it be the regimented sword school or mostly-freeform gun kata formula is up to you. For a little more fun I'll suggest the first rank being about what items can be used with gadgets to complement gun kata's actions.

SPOILER: Click to show

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

1-Amateur
1* Trigger: Danger Zone: This Gadget activates when an opponent enters melee with you.
Suggested rewording. Please correct me if this was not your intent.

2* Function: An Extra Hand: Choose a piece of equipment you have equipped. You may use this equipment at a -0k1 penalty. 5 Charges
Suggested rewording.

1* Function: Piston Pusher: Push a single target out of melee range. 3 Charges
Suggested rewording.

I suggest removing one of the items above to make the school less "busy." I also suggest removing another item to make a clause to specify what equipment is used in the gadget. That's less important and more of a "you must conform to core" thing but it helps give the idea structure.

It is a good idea, maybe with some time on the garage I can try and get a better grasp of what I want for this. If I had to choose, I would probably put it as keeping the Extra Hand and moving the Piston Pusher to the Smart Shield spot and just remove the Smart Shield, since it could be replaced with something else completely later in line. This way I could replace the Helping Hand effect to only working on Gear or Weapon type Equipment, and it must be declared during invention.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

2-DIY
1* Function: Better than the real thing: Choose a specific action whenconstructing this Gadget. Gain a +1k0 bonus to the roll to use this Gadget. 3 Charges
Suggested rewording. Please correct me if your intent is lost.

1* Function: 360° No Scope: This action does not trigger Opportunity Attacks and you get +0k2 against Dodge actions. 3 Charges
1. Suggested rewording. If I am mistaken, please let me know.
2. Does this mean you get a +0k2 to a roll that your opponent dodges or you get a +0k2 to dodge something? In any case, I suggest it apply to one action per charge.

The "Better than the real thing" is mostly a temporary aid to a single action, so it could be used to aid any single action you can currently do, so, say, if you want to shoot better, you create a "Better than the real thing" based Gadget that helps with this action, so for the following 3 "Shoot" actions you perform, you get the 1k0 bonus to them. If you to improve dodging, create a new Gadget with the Dodge action in mind and so on.

The "360° No Scope" description you created is perfect. And you get +0k2 to an attack where the target dodges, meaning you sort of counter their dodges.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

3-Enthusiast
2* Trigger: Laser Pointer: This Gadget activates on an Aim Action. Add 0k1 to a full Aim Action.
Suggested rewording.

2* Function: Ejection Jets: Instantly move 1 zone (enough to instantly evade any melee action). 3 Charges
Do you mean zone like in zone-based combat? If so, great but I don't think the first engineering school should reference homebrew material. Just a personal matter.


3* Function: Smart Shield: Activate Full Defense. 3 Charges
I assume this means "you perform a full defense action as part of this gadget." Am I correct?

I suggest removing one of the items above to make the school less cluttered.

"Laser Pointer" is perfect how you put it.

About the "Ejection Jets", you are right, maybe we could replace it with a dodge move with a bonus to it or something. I will probably move it to the Claw Rope Spot and remove Claw Rope since it sort of escapes the Close Quarters focus of this school.

And as I said above, I will probably remove the Smart Shield, since other functions can work together with shields to similar effect.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

4-Experienced
3* Function: Claw Rope: Perform a Grapple Action on a target up to (distance) away. 3 Charges
Rewording and suggestion of range. This raises questions of how grappling at a distance works in terms of escaping, attacking with weapon, etc.

2* Function: Electric Field: Create an electromagnetic field immediately around you. This disarms opponents in melee range. 2 Charges
1. Reworded to be a little clearer.
2. I suggest a way for targets to resist or escape the disarmament. Disarmament is pretty damaging.

About "Claw Rope"'s distance, I will probably have to figure out how long could I stretch it without it becoming unfair, but I will remove it from this school for not following the Close Quarter focus of this school.

About "Electric Field", replace it's effect with a Disarm Action with a score of your (Tech Use+Intelligence)*2, this way it doesn't become overpowered, since it could potentially disarm multiple targets per activation. This way it is easier to resist it.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

5-Expert
3* Trigger: Aggression Detector: This gadget activates when targeted by any action with the Attack subtype.
Suggested rewording.
2* Function: Emergency Bumper: Ignore one attack and the effects thereof that deals Impact damage. 1 Charge
Suggested rewording.
3* Function: Turn of the Century: The effect of the Gadget is applied in a 360° degree radius. 1 Charge
1. Suggested rewording.
2. What is the range?

I suggest removing two items above to bring it in line with sword schools and gun kata. Or to make it less cluttered, if nothing else. Level 5 of a school should be special.

Lastly, what is/are the "bit/s" of this engineering school? The fluff suggests concealed items or even cybernetics, but the mechanical benefits are a little all over the place. To compare, my recent Butlerian Jihad gun kata has the two bits of pivoting your initiative and eventually fighting machines.

I completely agree with the "Aggression Detector" new description.

The "Emergency Bumper" will probably have to be removed, since it is kind of overpower in hindsight.

And "Turn of the Century" is applyed to the range of the action specified by the other functions, since it will not do anything by itself (Other than doing a funny spin), so it combined with "Helping Hand (Autogun)" will do a 360° spread, or a "Better than the Real Thing (Sword Swing Attack)" will make you do a Spinning Swing. I was thinking of how to make it work with guns with limited ROF, and I think a compromise could be that just does the All Out Attack version of that move without restricting Dodge or Parry. Honestly, this All Out Attack version could be the default. But I think I will have to rebalance it.

I'm kind of undecided in between removing "Aggression Detector" or "Turn of the Century", maybe Aggression Detector would be a good thing to remove, because I don't want to have too much Triggers on a single school.

Jun 15, 2019 22:05:53 GMT -6 Traskus said:

To make suggestions to the idea at large:

Please define "equipment." Does this mean Gear, Weapons, Armor, Vehicle, Console, or some combination of the above?
Make a table of generic triggers and functions like sword schools and gun kata have. Suggested examples:

Trigger: This Gadget activates when targeted/hit by an attack.
Trigger: This Gadget activates when (performing action/test).

Function: Choose a piece of equipment you have equipped.
Function: Gain a +1k0 bonus to a roll while using this Gadget.


I look forward to your response because I am super enthusiastic with this idea. Just gotta work out the kinks.

About the equipment part, I said above, and agree with you, when referring to equipment maybe specify and limit them to specific kinds (That are limited to logic), so on the Helping Hand I put it as only Gear and Weapon types.

About the generic table, I will make it once I get a more concrete idea of what I want for each of the base schools, so that they don't become rendundant, but I think most of the restriction style functions could be placed on the Generic table, with stuff like the "Slow Charger" or "Battery Intensive"(Halve your number of Charges) to allow for most schools to be able to use it without too much trouble.

Also, THANKS A LOT for the feedback, once I get a good idea for what I will want for the schools, I will post it here and make samples for them. The Mechanicus Corporus are funnily enough, based on Data from Goonies with some W40K spoofs thrown in between.

[Traskus]

The budget is similar to how we spend Style Points. Each Invention Point costs 50xp and and the Stars on the left are their costs in Invention Points. I will create some functions that work like Restriction other than the Triggers to help even out some costs. Like, an Idea I was having was a "Slow Charge" function that lowers the Invention Cost of the Gadget by one but also restricts that Gadget to being activated only Once per turn on any condition.

[/div]

Wait. Triggers cost xp to add onto a gadget? Their purpose as a limiter makes me think they'd be free on that level. Unless they aren't supposed to be a limiter and more like a martial school's action typing?

The most Gadgets you can have prepared as the sum total of the Invention Cost of your Gadgets is 5 times the number of dots you have on your Tech-Use Skill. So with 1 dot you can have a Sum Total of 5 Invention Cost of Gadgets at once with a max of 25 with 5 dots.

The number of Gadgets you can have in your library is actually not limited as long as you have already invented it once by paying it EXP cost,

Martial techniques, got it.

but for you to use it you will have to have it declared prior to the current encounter following the above rules. So if I have around 10 Gadgets, all with 1 Invention Cost each, and have 2 dots on Tech Use, this means that I can carry around 5 of them at any time.

You declare them before a scene? Interesting.
I assume you meant 1 otherwise the math doesn't work out.

I have 100xp, I will spend it all to get 2 Invention Points.
The first Invention Point will be spent on buying it's Trigger. Since I want it to passively work against people who enter my melee range to prevent melee attacks, I will put in the "Danger Zone" trigger, since it works exactly for that.
The other Invention Point will be spent on the Piston Pusher, since I want a manneuver that will work defensively. Since my worry are melee attacks, this combo is pretty useful to keeping them at bay.

With this I have an Invention Cost of 2. Since it only has a single function (Piston Pusher), it will have a target score of 10, so it will be trivial to set this up. Since the Charges from the single Function are 3, this means that it will push to up to 3 people before I have to spend another action setting it up again, this way I have the following Gadget:

Ahhh. I understand now. There are actual uses for triggers beyond limitation. I want to say something about how this relates to martial school action types but the thought has not formed yet.

About the equipment part, I said above, and agree with you, when referring to equipment maybe specify and limit them to specific kinds (That are limited to logic), so on the Helping Hand I put it as only Gear and Weapon types.

I was thinking more along the lines of putting an equipment type at level 1 and saying "Use X in Gadgets" so you can use that equipment type no matter the Gadget. It's stupid because of obvious logic holes but hey.

[GuardianTempest]

I kinda get it, though I was thinking that the traits would come from the component themselves. Kinda like Lestat's traps, where there would also be power sources, sensors, maybe materials needed; placing more emphasis on the sub-items than the guy making them. But it would just clog things up.

I assume it goes without saying that you need the appropriate building materials to make the gadget.

[berserkx33]

Jun 16, 2019 16:47:40 GMT -6 GuardianTempest said:

I kinda get it, though I was thinking that the traits would come from the component themselves. Kinda like Lestat's traps, where there would also be power sources, sensors, maybe materials needed; placing more emphasis on the sub-items than the guy making them. But it would just clog things up.

I assume it goes without saying that you need the appropriate building materials to make the gadget.

Pretty much. Like, I was thinking of fluffing it out, but if you want to hard code it, you can create a Rarity test to see if the character could find it's component materials. Since most functions would be kinda of mundane use (Since they are literally mechanisms) I mostly reserved their difficulty to their respective Invention Points as it would more of a matter of being smart enough to create that Gadget out of the stuff you have avaliable instead of something you buy.

The main idea is that this school would mostly be based around setting up Gadgets that work like Macros, sort of adding extra stuff that happens thanks to your setups. Like, a school I am already thinking is the Turreteer, that is pretty much focused on turrets, towers and the like.

Also, I would make it so it has as little overlap with magic as possible since my main idea is to give the non-magic Intelligence classes something to do other than investing on purely equipment/vehicle use.

[berserkx33]

Jun 16, 2019 16:39:18 GMT -6 Traskus said:

You declare them before a scene? Interesting.
I assume you meant 1 otherwise the math doesn't work out.

It is 2, because 2 Tech Use * 5 = 10 points, so 5 Gadgets * 2 means 10.

Also yup, the idea of declaring it before a scene is just to prevent people from throwing a huge backlog of Gadgets and just declare then only when they become useful, meaning they might become Batman, where they are just prepared to everything.

Jun 16, 2019 16:39:18 GMT -6 Traskus said:

Ahhh. I understand now. There are actual uses for triggers beyond limitation. I want to say something about how this relates to martial school action types but the thought has not formed yet.

Yup, Triggers are a mix of a Restriction and a Advantage, as they sort of serve as a "soft" action. I was thinking of creating this whole set based on the idea of Macros. So classes that have Engineering Schools will mostly focus on preparing the Gadgets to sort of "automatize" their actions.

Jun 16, 2019 16:39:18 GMT -6 Traskus said:

I was thinking more along the lines of putting an equipment type at level 1 and saying "Use X in Gadgets" so you can use that equipment type no matter the Gadget. It's stupid because of obvious logic holes but hey.

Pretty much, I was thinking of doing something like that, but than I kind of fear it might be abused to break certain stuff. I think other schools might have similar "Add Equipment X to Y" functions too, so this way they can be all defined separatedly.

As I mentioned in the above post, the next school I'm thinking is the Turreteer, but other schools I have in mind would be something to customize vehicles and something based on Drones and maybe even something less mechanical, like maybe if I can squeeze chemistry, electricity or thermophysics in there somewhere.

[Traskus]

Well, keep us posted. I'm certain at least one of the others here will want in on it after the system's been worked out.

Happy homebrewing.

[berserkx33]

OK. So I've remade some stuff and I'm making it more interesting and well defined. Also, some tips on the next fields I will be working on.

Here is the generic table for those that want to start creating their own mechanisms.

Common Tools of the Engineers

Anyone that starts their study on the fields of engineering will have access to common knowledge amongst them all, this includes the following tools:

Note: X Charges don't affect the number of charges this Gadget has.

Common Triggers

  1* Trigger: On Command
    This trigger is activated by direct input from you, being an Action during your turn.

  1* Trigger: Pressure Plate
    This trigger will be activated when the setup object is pressured or hit by anything (like Attacks or Pushs).

Common Functions:

  3* Overclocking, X Charges
    You can spend as many Charges as you want per activation to repeat this Gadget's effect.

  2* Jury Rigging, 5 Charges
    You can spend 1 Charge from this Gadget to recharge another Gadget currently setup.

  1* Bigger Battery, X Charges
    Gives this Gadget 1 extra charge.

 -1* Slow Charger, X Charges
    This Gadget can only be activated once a turn.

 -2* Battery Intensive, X Charges
    This Gadget uses 2 Charges per activation. On an uneven number, the last Activation has a -0k1 penalty.

 -3* Overheat, X Charges
    Every turn you activate this gadget at least once you have to spend 1 turn of Cooldown use it again.

Future Fields

SPOILER: Click to show

Off-Road Customizers

The Off-Road Customizers are specialized on one thing, and one thing only, their vehicles. The people who follow this field want to create new ways of making their vehicles cooler, making them more useful, more dangerous or just sleaker (Who am I kidding, it is always to make it sleaker). Who needs roads when you can drive up walls.

Gadgets from this field are applied to vehicles.

Clockwork Puppet Maker

Drones, drones everywhere. There is something Clockwork Puppet Makers love to do is to make Drones and leave them to do errands. You will never see them without a bunch of those doing something useless somewhere. Just be cautious, because they know the strength in numbers.

Gadgets from this field are applied to drones.

[berserkx33]

Corpus Mechanicus



The Corpus Mechanicus school of Engineering is dedicated to helping themselves achieve the best they can by creating new limbs and tools for those new limbs, and because of that they have to take care of their machines (Since they pretty much depend on them for everything) and as such, a lot of what they do is made to keep themselves safe from those pesky melee fighters and their machine breaking tools.

Gadgets from this field are applied to the User's Body.

Tier 1 - Amateur

  1* Command: Danger Zone
    This Gadget activates when an opponent enters melee with you.

  2* Function: An Extra Hand, 5 Charges
    Choose a piece of equipment of the Weapon or Gear types you have equipped. You may use this equipment at a -0k1 penalty.

Tier 2 - DIY

  1* Function: Better than the real thing, 3 Charges
    Choose a specific Action when constructing this Gadget. Gain a +1k0 bonus to the roll to use this Gadget as the Action declared on creation.

  1* Function: 360° No Scope, 3 Charges
    This action does not trigger Opportunity Attacks and you get +0k2 against Dodge actions.

Tier 3 - Enthusiast

  2* Command: Laser Pointer:
    This Gadget activates on an Aim Action. Add 0k1 to a full Aim Action.

  1* Function: Piston Pusher, 3 Charges
    Push a single target out of melee range.

Tier 4 - Experienced

  2* Function: Ejection Jets, 3 Charges
    Instantly move 1 zone* (Zones as in the Zone Homebrew rule, otherwise it is just enough to instantly evade any melee action).

  2* Function: Electric Field, 2 Charges
    Create an electromagnetic field immediately around you. This will cause a Disarm Action with a score of your (Tech Use+Intelligence)*2 against all opponents in melee range.

Tier 5 - Expert

  3* Function: Turn of the Century, 2 Charges
    The effect of the Gadget is applied in a 360° degree radius. Effectively it will do an All Out Attack without restricting Parry or Dodge actions.

[berserkx33]

Turret Defense Smiths



The Turret Defense Smiths, or how they like to call it, TD-S, are a strategy oriented bunch. They like to create arrays of connected turret style contraptions for the most varied uses. Why do something when you can create a bunch of things that do that for you in a complicated and indirect manner?

Gadgets from this field are applied to Stationary Turrets/Towers.

Tier 1 - Amateur

  1* Command: Motion Detector
    This Gadget activates when an opponent moves up to 10 meters of distance close it (Assign the distance on Gadget Creation).

  2* Function: Tower Stand, 5 Charges
    Choose an equipment of the Weapon type and equip it to this Gadget. It's Attack Roll will be based on your Tech Use instead of the equipment's relevant roll.

Tier 2 - DIY

  2* Function: Activator, 3 Charges
    Any Gadget of yours in up to a 10 meters radius of this Gadget is forced to Activate.

  1* Function: Extended Barrel, 3 Charges
    Attack actions get the Aim effect, gaining a 1k0 bonus.

Tier 3 - Enthusiast
  
  2* Command: Smart Support:
    This Gadget activates when another Gadget in up to a 10 meter radius has their charges exhausted.

  2* Function: Groundbreaking, 3 Charges
    Causes ground tremors. Any grounded character in a 5 meter radius of the turret has to make an Easy Dexterity test or suffer from the effects of Knockdown.

Tier 4 - Experienced

  1* Function: Portable Waist High Wall, 3 Charges
    Create a Cover Space that can sustain 1 Attack.

  2* Function: Scatter Shot, 2 Charges
    Attack actions get the Suppressing Fire effect, forcing opponents to take cover but getting -2k0 to Ballistics.

Tier 5 - Expert

  3* Function: Rapid Fire, 2 Charges
    Attack actions get the Full Auto Burst effect, gaining +2k1 to hit and an additional hit for every raise.

[Divergent Reality]

I am going to drop a recommendation for clarification sake, can you change the name Trigger to Activation. We have Trigger weapons, this will help separate their concepts by using a different name.

[berserkx33]

Jun 18, 2019 9:06:37 GMT -6 Divergent Reality said:

I am going to drop a recommendation for clarification sake, can you change the name Trigger to Activation. We have Trigger weapons, this will help separate their concepts by using a different name.

OK, it might be good to prevent confusion, when I get home I will fix those.