Crafting System

[Christopher]

I have seen a lot of questions about crafting lately and there is a very good system in a German Indy Space RPG(NOVA), that I thing could be adapted nicely for HERO. So I just give it a try and see what everyone thinks.

While I mostly use sci-fi or technical terms and examples, the rules are unviersal and might be useable for any heroic crafting (magic, current weapons, medicines/nanomachines, cybernetics) and even super-inventions (it might be to detailed there, however).

Also, a lot of answers to the balacing questions of the system depend on how easy or difficulty crafting should be for a given campaign.

Creation Complextity (short "CC"):

A elemental value for the following. It is a value determining the complexity of the item to be crafted/modified. What it exactly stands for, is the intersting question:

One thing you could use is Active Points. But perhaps a Weapon with one Unrecoverable Charge should be easier to build than one with magazines that can be easily reloaded?

Real Cost may be another way as it includes Limitations, but may not give full credit to the power of a weapon once enough limittions are put on it.

The Middle Way would be the average of active and real cost and I think I will use that in my examples (as that is the closest thing to the original system).

The best thing to use, is the value you base the pricing on (as it makes cost calculation that much easier).

 

CC-Penalty (short "CCP"):

Similar to the active Point Penalty on Required Skill Rolls, the higher the CC of the item, the harder it is to build it/design it/modify something into it. Thus the crafting atempt has a Penalty equal to -1/5 CC, -1/10 CC or -1/20 CC. Wich exaclty, depends on what is used as CC and requires some experience and calculations on how each version works (it may also be a question of intent, when the GM doesn't wants his players running around with cheap, self build super strong guns).

Different actions may have differen modifiers (Design could be more difficulty than just building or modifiying).

 

CC based Time (CCT):

One of the most important questions: How long does it take to modify Y to X, Produce X or Make the Plan needed for the Production of X?

The orignal crafting system uses the following approach: At least half the CC counts for CCP, the other half get's multiplied with a time modifier based on the action/itemclass in question. You can use more of the CC for CCP calculation - those points then don't count for time.

Designing a 5000pt Spaceship may take some time, while small modifications to weapons may be done in hours. What time exactly depends on a lot of factors - inlcuding travelling-/downtimes.

 

Required Skills/what each skill can do:

For most parts I will use very narrow PS, corresponding SS and Inventor. While the system has some existing skills for certain repair/building actions (Eletronics, Mechanics, Weapon Smith) they won't be used here (they seem to be the easy approach and this one is a rather complex, unique one).

This might mean you want to increase the cost for those PS and SS usefull for crafting (up to 3 to learn at 9+[iNT/5] and 2 Real Cost per +1), to reflect their higher useability.

Inventor is also used and might be split up into apropirate X-Designer (Weapon Designer, Armor Designer, etc.) if you feel desingning of items is that much more powerfull.

Another approach may be to narrow it down, the more powerfull it gets:

PS: Spaceship Repair may be enough to fix the ship and be the basis for all the following. But SS/Inventor must be bought very narrow (Spaceship Weapons, Spaceship Drives, Spaceship Design).

 

About terms:

"Main Skill" refers to what you test on. Without the main skill, you can never try it.

"Required Skill" means that if you don't have it, you get the -1 to -3 penalty often used in the book, or the GM may forbid this action entirely. A Required Skill can still work as Complimentary Skill.

 

Actions:

Reparing:

PS is Main Skill and it may not care for the CCP at all (or only in a very small degree). SS is complimentary, Inventor may be. Having the plans of the item helps too.

 

Modification:

PS Main Skill, but affected by CCP of the target item. Costs the Full Price difference in Raw Materials. Fail Destroys the Item to be modified and raw materials. It does not require a Plan of the current or the target item, but it may help. SS is Complimentary, Inventor may be. The costs equal the full price difference between current and target item and the time sequence for this is the basis for all the more complex actions.

 

Building after Plan (this is not Assembling from pre build parts):

PS Main, SS required, full CCP. Inventor may be complimentary. Obviously requires the Plan. It only costs half what it would to buy it, but failing destroys the raw materials. The Time should be at least one step up in the Time Chart from Modification.

 

Making the Plan:

Before you can build it from scratch, you need a plan on how to build it. You can buy that plan, but most likely your players want to make their own. Inventor is Main Skill, SS and PS are required. Time should be at least two steps up from Building it and costs might be equal to to the full price to buy (for prototypes and material tests). Especially the time is, what makes R&D so expensive...

 

Reverse Engineering:

Sometimes you have an item whoose techlevel you understand, and just want to extract the plans. Maybe you want to copy or mass produce it, or you just want to understand how exaclty it works so you can better repair and Modify it later

Inventor is main Skill, SS and PS are Required. Time Period should be in the middle between making the plans yourself and building it (+2 Steps from Modification).

The savings in R&D costs is what makes copying so appealing...

 

 

That is my idea/adoption. What do you guys think about it?

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Crafting System

 

I am responding to this because I am both intrigued and too intoxicated to fathom this, so I'll revisit it later

[Ulmageist]

Re: Crafting System

 

YES PLEASE!!

 

I like this setup. Specially how inventing costs as much, if not more, than the final price of the item.

 

So by this system, you can not really make anything that is any sort of complicated without a plan of some kind (which is either purchased, reverse engineered, or 'invented')? I like how it makes the inventor skill more useful *nods*

[Christopher]

Re: Crafting System

 

So by this system' date=' you can not really make anything that is any sort of complicated without a plan of some kind (which is either purchased, reverse engineered, or 'invented')?[/quote']

Nothing permanent. You may make a one-shot trap just with Electronics, but a weapon you can use easily in Combat requires a Plan and a lot of time.

 

What I liked in the original system:

Reparing a wide range of items is easy and cheap to learn. Just one Skill for Ship-Technology (Astrotech). So simple, you can cheaply build a robot for it (but a PC may still be better).

But Modifying or even Making a small range of Items requires point investments on par with the paranormic/magic system in that game. This can make a builder-technican a viable long term archetype and the fighter will have less problems with protecting him in combat, than with a guy who can just repair.