Inventions, Inventing Points, and Gizmos
Characters may attempt to construct devices to supplement their normal powers or aid in accomplishing a particular task. Detailed below are guidelines for this sort of activity.
Note that the "official" new rules labels this section as obsolete. Personally, I find them far too useful to simply discard. Comic characters invent things all the time: augmented/replacement powers, one-shot solutions to grave problems, sudden breakthroughs or insights, even Magical Spells can all be considered inventions of a sort, and come under these rules in my campaigns. -B.
All characters receive a number of Inventing Points per Level equal to their Intelligence scores divided by 10 (save fractions). Each Inventing Point represents one brilliant idea, one of which is required for each invention conceived.
When applicable (GM's option), Inventing Points can also be expended in order to decipher codes, escape mazes, comprehend unfamiliar equipment, etc. The GM must determine the relevance of brilliant ideas in situations of this sort on a case-by-case basis.
Other good uses: to find clues, help remember important details, detective work, or anytime the character might figure something out that the player might not. Note that Inventing Points are designed to be spent fractionally, in increments of 1/10th of a point. For instance, it might take .1-.2 points to remember that the District Attorney had photos of wife and kids on his desk but no wedding ring; a makeshift radio from materials-at-hand might take .5 points; a full-fledged Shrinking Belt would cost a whole point. Figure 1 Inventing Point per 15 - 20 CPs worth of powers. -B.
The following sections are are factors which must be considered by the character and GM for each new invention attempted.
Design
The player must submit to the GM a description of what he/she wants his/her device to be able to do and how it works. Scientific feasability is unecessary; it only has to sound reasonable. Designs which are too vague or poorly thought out may be judged impossible by the GM. See Predestined Falure, below.
Skill
The importance of this factor is variable, depending on the amount of knowledge in a particular area the GM feels is necessary for the particular invention to be accomplished. Characters without a relevant skill background must resort to researching the necessary data while inventing; the GM may apply research costs (see below) and should consult the characters Intelligence socre as an indication as to how extensive the research will be. If a low Intelligence character tries to research a very complex invention as he/she goes along, the GM may rule that he/she cannot possbily succeed. See Predestined Failure, below.
These rules were written before the addition of Skills to the system; here, pertinent scientific--or mystical--Skills and/or the Research Skill will certainly come into play. -B.
Inventions From Outside Sources
Scientists hired (or forced) into building Inventions will do so only in those fields covered by their Skills/Backgrounds. Considering the necessity of Inventing Points in creating scientific breakthroughs, and the fact that most scientists will be low-level characters, the chances of coercing one into expending his/her precious brilliant ideas for someone else's benefit, for any reason, are slight. If hired, they will ask for the moon and the stars in payment; they may even want a piece of the action, whatever the action happens to be. They will certainly want to publish their results, if successful. They'll want to have all the resources they require arranged for in advance, and so on. Note that scientists assigned to work with government-backed superheroes are generally past their heyday of creative inspiration; they know the current technology, but will have few, if any, Inventing Points remaining. Villains who capture scientists usually do so to obtain new advances the scientist has already succeeded in creating, or they capture them in the midst of an invention so that when it is finished, they have it already in their clutches.
The rules given for Inventing apply equally to inventions by scientists as well as other characters. The building of equipment from kits or using existing (and available) technology can be done without Inventing Point cost (unless, McGuyver-like, it needs to be done immediately and/or with sub-standard or jury-rigged components). The amount of Skill, Time, and Resources required must be set by the GM on a case-by-case basis. See also the section on Equipment.
Scientific Breakthroughs and Disasters
Each attempt to invent carries a 5% chance of resulting in either an unexpected breakthrough in an unrelated area or a severe disaster/accident (I use 5% each, with the top/bottom 5% of the die roll indicating a breakthrough/disaster, respectively. -B.). Exactly what occurs is up to the individual GM. Unless handled properly, inventing can severely unbalance any campaign. The GM has veto power over all inventions, even those already created, if he/she feels a mistake was made in allowing them. Inventions can thus develop flaws or unexpected side-effects, and a character may find that his invention has become more trouble than it's worth. Back to the drawing board!
Resources
The character may require specific equipment, components, reference material, energy sources, etc. in order to build his/her invention. Exactly what is required and how it is to be obtained must be discussed between the GM and player, with possible monetary costs or other requirements (quests for mystic ingredients, positive reactions from a local laboratory technician, etc.) being set by the GM. All these requirements must be met before inventing can begin. Simple inventions will require less in the nature of resources, of course.
Predestined Failure
The GM may rule that an invention is impossible for any of the reasons given above. He/she may do so as well for devices which are too powerful as conceived, though he/she may choose instead simply to give the inventor less than was hoped for if the invention succeeds. And finally, the GM should discourage inventions which conflict with the inventor's motif by labelling inconsistent inventions impossible as well. Tiger Man should invent things to augment his tiger powers, not a laser rifle. Inconsistent one-shot inventions can be allowed, due to their built-in limitations; these are explained below.
When the GM rules that any invention is predestined to failure, the inventor should not be informed of the decision. Let the player spend time, money, and energy and learn this for him/herself.
There are two classes of inventions. New Equipment includes any invention which becomes a permanent addition to a character's powers, and One-Shot Inventions include any special-purpose device created for use only against a certain opponent or in a particular rare circumstance. The additional rules pertaining to each of these types are detailed below.
New Equipment requires the expenditure of CPs in addition to time, money, and energy; One-Shots generally do not.
New Equipment
A character's chance of successfully inventing new equipment (assuming that all inventing requirements have been met and the GM hasn't decided to rule against the particular invention) equals his/her Intelligence score x 3%. Each new project costs one Inventing Point as well: if the first attempt to invent fails, additional attempts may be made on the same invention using the same Inventing Point. Failed inventions may require additional or renewed acquisition of Resources for additional attempts; GM's option.
One attempt to invent New Equipment may be made at a time, requiring 2 months of game time to do the work, or only 1 month if the character sits out of adventures to concentrate on his/her experiments. Failed inventions may be set aside and gone back to at any later time. A renewed attempt may include Design changes without requiring additional Inventing Point expenditure so long as the project is basically the same as in the previous attempts.
New Equipment should not be as powerful as any individual existing super power, though it may mimic the effects thereof. As a general rule, inventions should be about one-quarter to one-third as powerful as any power they mimic. (We can ignore this rule; if the GM approves and the CPs are paid, pretty much anything goes. -B.) The GM must apply his/her own judgment when the invention's abilities are unique. Existing inventions can be upgraded by going through the Inventing process again, increasing the abilities of an existing invention or other piece of equipment at whatever costs set by the GM, including additional Inventing Point(s) per attempted upgrade.
One-Shot Inventions
One-Shot Inventions are of limited usefulness, being designed for highly specific purposes. They cannot be permanently added to any character's regular set of powers, due to size/fragility/whatever (the GM can make up a good reason if the inventor pesters him/her). They also tend to become lost or destroyed or are not reusable after their initial task is over...especially not against the same opponent, who will be ready for it next time.
Example: Super-Nova is a dangerous flame-using villain who has just escaped from prison. The local hero runs to his laboratory, coming up with a few ideas on what might be useful to invent:
- Heat Tracker: A sensor that detects heat trails within a quarter-mile radius, allowing Super-Nova to be tracked and followed by the heated air he creates as he flies.
- Flame-Retardant Spray: A chemical spray usable for coating a costume or whatever, decreasing normal damage taken from or chances to be hit by Flame attacks.
- Foamthrower: Like a flamethrower, but spraying a foamy gelatin with a chance of snuffing Super-Nova's flames.
- And so on.
In general, One-Shot Inventions (and spells) don't cost any CPs, since they aren't a permanent part of the character's repertoire. -B.
Equipment in General
Any campaign taking place on modern-day Earth has a pre-prepared list of equipment prices: real life. If a character wants to purchase something, you can simply look it up...or make a calculated guess. If the campaign takes place anywhere else, the GM is on his/her own in setting prices for available equipment.
Superheroes, as a rule, do not normally drag great heaps of gear along with them wherever they go. To encourage this sort of behavior in their campaigns, we suggest that each GM carefully consider the following aspects of each purchase:
- Is it necessary? A character with energy-blasting powers has no need of guns or hand-grenades in combat. If it looks like a character is simply trying to acheive overkill by carrying loads of gear, it's wrong. This only pertains to activity in the field, however--installing any sort of defenses in one's Base is perfectly legal.
- Is it in character? Even if it would make Tiger Man more useful in combat, he shouldn't carry a laser rifle. (Probably. Depends on the character, really. -B.) A martial-arts character shouldn't take weaponry from out of his/her field, and so on. Encourage characters to work with what they have, or at least within the framework set by their initial super powers and skills.
Violations in these areas should carry penalties. The GM may even reduce the amount of CPs gained by a character when he/she uses something out-of-character without needing to.
Equipment can be purchased for up to 25% off (or even more -B.) at sales, auctions, and the like. If bought directly from the manufacturers, up to 50% can be saved. Gifts of equipment, or price reductions, in exchange for favors are possible as well.
See the Wealth/Monetary Rules section for full details on making purchases.
