INVENTING
Characters with the Inventor Edge can create inventions, temporary technological devices. To create an invention, the inventor defines its effects and its cost in equipment points and determines how many ranks of Equipment it would require, keeping track of Effect Rank and any Extras or Flaws used. These will be used for the necessary skill checks, and determine the time required to create the invention. Inventions are subject to the same power level limits as other effects in the series.
DESIGN CHECK
First, the inventor must design the invention. This is a Skill check of an appropriate Proficiency, the GM should make in secret. The DC is Easy (DC 10 + Rank) for 1 Rank in the Equipment Edge, Moderate (DC 10 + Rank x2) for 2 or 3 Ranks, and Hard (DC 10 + Rank x4) for 4 or 5 Ranks, and Very Hard (DC 10 + Rank x8) for 6 or more Ranks. In addition suffer Disadvantage per Extra used, but gain Advantage for every Flaw included.
Designing an invention requires a Short Rest for an invention with 1 Effect Rank, each additional Rank increases the design by one step using the Recovery Time scale, with each additional rank beyond Rank 6 taking an additional year. You can make a routine check to design an invention. You can reduce the design time by taking additional Disadvantage on the check for each -1 in step. In addition you can increase the design time gaining additional Advantage on the check for each +1 in step.
If the check is successful, you have a design for the invention. If the check fails, the design is flawed and you must start over. With three or more degrees of failure, the designer is not aware of the design flaw; the design seems correct, but the invention won’t function (or at least won’t function properly) when it’s used. For this reason, the GM should make the design check secretly and only inform the player whether or not the character appears to have succeeded. In addition with two or more degrees of success, the inventor gains Advantage on his construction check per additional degree of success.
CONSTRUCTION CHECK
Once the design is complete, the character can construct the invention. This requires a Short Rest for an invention with 1 Effect Rank, each additional Rank increases the design by one step using the Recovery Time scale, with each additional rank beyond Rank 6 taking an additional year.
When the construction time is complete, make a Skill check of the appropriate Proficiency. The DC is Easy (DC 10 + Rank) for 1 Rank in the Equipment Edge, Moderate (DC 10 + Rank x2) for 2 or 3 Ranks, and Hard (DC 10 + Rank x4) for 4 or 5 Ranks, and Impossible (DC 10 + Rank x8) for 6 or more Ranks. In addition suffer Disadvantage per Extra used, but gain Advantage for every Flaw included. You can make a routine check to construct an invention. You can reduce the construction time by taking additional Disadvantage on the check for each -1 in step. In addition you can increase the construction time gaining additional Advantage on the check for each +1 in step.
Success means the invention is complete and functional. Failure means the invention doesn’t work. Three or more degrees of failure may result in a mishap, at the GM’s discretion. In addition with two or more degrees of success, the inventor gains Advantage on their first check when using their invention per additional degree of success.
USING THE INVENTION
Once the invention is complete, it is good for use in one encounter, after which it breaks down or runs out of power. If the character wishes to use the invention again, there are two options.
The first is to spend the necessary power points to acquire the invention as a regular gear power, part of the character’s traits; in this case, the device qualifies for the Removable flaw and, once purchased, can be used again like any power.
Another option is to spend Destiny to get another one encounter use out of the invention. Each use costs an additional Destiny, but doesn’t require any further Skill checks.
The last option is to repair or recharge the invention by redoing the Construction phase again, though at -1 Step to get another one encounter use out of the invention, including the Construction check, though with a rank of Advantage. Each additional use requires another repair or recharge, but grants additional ranks of Advantage per time repaired or recharged. If the Construction check to re-use an invention fails, the character needs to take the full maintenance time to try again. If it fails by two or more degrees, the invention cannot be re-used and must be rebuilt from scratch at the normal time step, and losing the ranks of Advantage gained from familiarity.
Inventors generally create inventions as needed and then use them, but it’s possible to prepare certain one-use devices in advance. An inventor can have one declared invention held in reserve waiting to be used, or he can leave this reserve slot undeclared requiring the player to spend a Destiny to have a particular previously constructed invention conveniently on-hand during an encounter.
Some inventors have mastered the technique of preparing inventions beforehand.
Prepared Invention is a Benefit Edge, with the following benefits.
Prepared Invention
Each rank of this Edge allows the inventor to have one extra declared invention held in reserve waiting to be used. Constructing an invention to occupy one of your available reserve slots still takes the same amount of construction time as normal.
JURY-RIGGING DEVICES
An inventor can choose to spend a Destiny to jury-rig a device; ideal for when a particular device is needed right now. When jury-rigging a device, skip the design check and reduce the time of the construction check to one round per Effect Rank, but increase the DC to the next step and suffer additional Disadvantage for every Effect Rank above 1. The inventor makes the check and, if successful, has use of the device for one encounter before it burns out, falls apart, blows up, or otherwise fails. You can’t jury-rig an invention as a routine check, nor can you speed up or slow down the process any further. You can use a jury-rigged invention again by spending another Destiny.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
At the GM’s discretion, three or more degrees of failure, or a natural roll of 1, on any required inventing skill check may result in some unexpected side-effect or mishap. Exactly what depends heavily on the invention. Inventing mishaps can become a source of adventure ideas and put the heroes in some difficult situations. They may also be setbacks, suitable for Destiny awards.
Players of inventor characters may wish to keep notes on the concepts for various inventions for future reference, should the character decide to “re-activate” that invention or create something similar. At the Gamemaster’s discretion, inventors can save designs they have completed and use them again to produce inventions in the future without having to re-design that invention. If so, players should keep track of the designs their inventors have created, including their concept and game traits. If anything about the invention changes, the inventor has to re-design it, although the GM may grant Advantage to the design check the second time around, given the inventor’s prior experience. Changes to the invention might include changes to the circumstances the invention was originally designed to take into account. This saves time during play and reduces the work the GM needs to do in reviewing and approving of the concept (since it was previously approved).
If the inventor has mental Quickness it applies to the reduction of the time needed for the design, if the inventor has physical Quickness it applies to the reduction of the time needed for the construction. To determine this reduction, determine time step first then convert them to the following time Ranks before applying Quickness; 1 Minute to Rank 3, Short Rest to Rank 6, Long Rest to Rank 12, 1 Day to Rank 14, 1 Week to Rank 17, 1 Month to Rank 19, 1 Year to Rank 23, 2 year to Rank 24. Also use these time Ranks if multiple people are contributing to the design or construction phase, using them as a total each person contributes to.
Generally, there’s no restriction on an inventor giving an invention to someone else to use. Inventions can also be restricted to their inventor, which is a no-cost Extra; it keeps the invention from being shared, but also from being taken and used against its inventor.
Inventors may also be able to share designs, if the GM wishes, but since inventions are so personal and idiosyncratic, another character must succeed on the Design check in order to understand it well enough to use the design to construct a working version of that device. The main benefit is getting to skip the design phase.
