Has anyone written up a Smart Phone

[massey]

In my game the players pay for a smart phone because it provides them with access to the Internet which means they can use Google and they can access their base AI to ask questions.

 

Think about all the things a modern smart phone provides:

• Instant communication with anyone in the world
• Photos & Video
• Access to knowledge
• Maps
• Navigation
• Time
• GPS
• Maybe even custom crime fighting apps (photograph a fingerprint and it searches fingerprinting databases)

Besides in Champions you pay points for everything.

 

 

"Pants"

KS: Legal system, 15-

Limited Power, Only to avoid arrest for indecent exposure (-2)

plus

Life Support: Cold

Limited Power: Doesn't protect from very much cold

[Christopher R Taylor]

Pants should have 1 ED to protect from hot leather seats.

[massey]

Batman has to pay points for the Batmobile, a superhero vehicle with missiles, smokescreens, oil slicks, and bulletproof armor.  Batman does not have to pay points for Bruce Wayne's Rolls Royce, an incredibly expensive car that he uses to get around town.  He just paid money for that.

 

You want a smartphone like Tony Stark had in Iron Man 2, where he can hack into Justin Hammer's stuff with it?  You want a smartphone like Batman had in Dark Knight, where he can scan everything in a building with it?  You pay points for those phones.  You want the new iPhone with just regular old normal consumer stuff?  You just want to play Angry Birds and use Google Maps?  You pay money for that phone.

[Doc Democracy]

As far as items like smartphones are concerned, or weapons etc, my rule for the players was:

 

Anything you want that can be bought, legally, for money you can have.  Anything you want that can be acquired, illegally, you can roleplay for.  Any of these things, unless they are bought through points, I can take away from you narratively at any point in the adventure if I do not want you to have them.

 

The idea is that smartphones are great until they are fried by an EMP or dunked in water.  Guns are great if you have the ammo and they are not taken away from you at some point, or gunked up in river mud, etc.  All equipment that would make story sense for characters to have they should be able to acquire and should be able to lose in the same way.  If they have paid points then, as GM, you have a responsibility to give them access to whatever was paid for, even if that means NPCs behaving stupidly.

 

Yes the OAF pistol (with or without special modifiers but paid for in character points) was taken away but when they escape from the prison cell the guard they knock out happens to have that very pistol stuck in his waistband.  Or it was left in a drawer or hung up within reach of someone else or something.  Deprived for a short time but not forever.  

 

A pistol bought for dollars may never be regained.

 

To me, that is the big difference.

 

Doc

[Vondy]

As far as items like smartphones are concerned, or weapons etc, my rule for the players was:

 

 

Anything you want that can be bought, legally, for money you can have. Anything you want that can be acquired, illegally, you can roleplay for. Any of these things, unless they are bought through points, I can take away from you narratively at any point in the adventure if I do not want you to have them.

The idea is that smartphones are great until they are fried by an EMP or dunked in water. Guns are great if you have the ammo and they are not taken away from you at some point, or gunked up in river mud, etc. All equipment that would make story sense for characters to have they should be able to acquire and should be able to lose in the same way. If they have paid points then, as GM, you have a responsibility to give them access to whatever was paid for, even if that means NPCs behaving stupidly.

 

Yes the OAF pistol (with or without special modifiers but paid for in character points) was taken away but when they escape from the prison cell the guard they knock out happens to have that very pistol stuck in his waistband. Or it was left in a drawer or hung up within reach of someone else or something. Deprived for a short time but not forever.

 

A pistol bought for dollars may never be regained.

 

To me, that is the big difference.

 

Doc

This is fairly close to how I do it on my games, too.

[Vondy]

Another thing to keep in mind is whether the equipment is redundant.

 

Let's say I'm playing a Super-Fed with ST 80 and DEF of 40.

 

I can punch for 16 DC and throw trucks at people (which, depending on DEF/BDY could also be 14-16DC).

 

It also so happens that its agency policy that I have to carry a semi-automatic handgun (RKA 1d6+1 of 4DC).

 

Yes, its killing damage, but even so, tossing a Mack truck onto a normal is also lethal.

 

As a rule, I would not charge the brick for the handgun that does half to one-quarter of the characters usual DCs. 

 

Its not essential to the character, it can be taken away, and its less effective than his mainline attacks.

 

In fact, I had a super-fed just like this who early in his career consistently left his service weapon in his desk drawer.

 

It was only a series of warnings and ass chewings that led to a begrudging acceptance of "policy" that led to him carrying it.

 

And then, he only used for presence attacks, or to hand to the normal agents in an emergency.

 

Ergo, he carried their backup piece.