Objects in our CYBERPUNK ambientation...

[Lo.Ste.Pelle]

Hello again people! (in my last topic i've forget to sorry for my elementar english)...

We are playin' a CYBERPUNK ambientation of mine creation, named 2022...

We were stucked with the objects, 'cause we have a very creative Cyber Constructor in the group... So, we have created a simple way to CONSTROY the objects...

Well, maybe is better i explain some things first. We want in our campaign objects that really make the difference, so we had to implement some new stuff in the general rules.

At first, the character with the appropriate secret will test the appropriate ability (Cibernetic Engineering, in our case), and count the result.
Then, compare the results with that tabel:

- 3 a 0   . The object is well done, but doesn't have nothing special.
     +1   . The object has 1 DEGREE +1.
     +2   . The object has 2 DEGREES +1.
     +3   . The object has 3 DEGREES +1.
     +4   . The object has 1 DEGREE +2.
     +5   . The object has 2 DEGREES +2.
     +6   . The object has 1 DEGREE +3.

The cost of activation of the object's effect is also a general rule: every object degree must has connected with one pool. To activate the effect, the player must use how much pool points that is the ability degree.

EXEMPLE: Fex McAnics is a cyber constructor with 3 in the ability CIBERNETIC ENGINEERING. He want's to constroy two robotic legs that give him a bonus to run away on feet. He tests his ability and achive a +6! Well, he makes the legs with a +3 degree, that will give to him a +3 bonus to run away on feet.


Please, if anyone has some critic or advices (or doubts), say so!

[Paolo D.]

I don't know if it's exactly what you need, but... Did you try the Equipment rules from TWoN?

[Lo.Ste.Pelle]

actually, my friend Davide just tell me about the new rules for equip from TWoN...

i will take a look and than i post a reply!

Thanks a lot!

[P.Jeffries]

Davide, the friend, it's me.

[Eero Tuovinen]

What do you think about the default conceits that equipment ratings have in the SS rules? I'm asking because it seems to me that you're ignoring many of the important balancing measures there - it might be intentional or not, so I don't know how well you've thought this through. For instance, consider the following points:

• Equipment ratings in SS are defined both by a scope and a strength: the stronger the equipment rating is, the narrower the scope. For this reason we normally handle individual equipment ratings as "equally valuable" against each other; a +1 to fighting in general is not as strong as a +3 to fighting werewolves at night, but at least it's going to be useful in many more situations. This is why the default rules do not limit high/specialized equipment ratings only to high-quality equipment. Your example seems more like you're handling a high rating as a prerogative of great success, which is a completely different conceit, one with its own implications. Did you make this change intentionally, or was it because you missed the idea that higher equipment ratings always reflect more specialized equipment?
• The default rules allow items to have as many as six equipment ratings when the item is created with a sufficiently powerful Ability check. It seems to me that if I understand your rules correctly, you're allowing at most three +1 ratings or two +2s or one +3. Furthermore, getting any of the higher ratings is always substantially more difficult than getting a lower one. This all makes sense if you're assuming that a higher equipment rating is always more powerful and desirable than a lower one, as per the above point.
• I'm assuming that equipment ratings improve your own Ability check results or decrease those of your opponent, as per Solar System and classical TSoY. I do not consider the cost of activating the equipment excessive, especially in light of your other modifications discussed above: as higher ratings are so much more powerful and equipment ratings are so powerful in general in the SS rules, it's not a bad idea to put a price tag on using them.

I well might be missing some advantage this alternative equipment rule has for your purposes, of course, but to me it seems a shame to increase the amount of complexity this much while also limiting the system in terms of possible equipment. To pick an arbitrary example, here's a piece of equipment that doesn't seem possible under your system:

A Bog-Standard Shotgun
+1 to firefights
+2 for fighting in close quarters
+3 in stopping power

See how that equipment spec uses the different equipment rating levels to express different features of a shotgun at different levels of specialization? It's not an objective truth of course, but it's an interesting brush for doing a bit of lazy modeling of various in-game equipment. I do have to admit that I probably just like this because I've been doing these equipment profiles like this for years, so changing it seems unnecessary to me. I don't know, perhaps there are advantages to doing it differently.

[Lo.Ste.Pelle]

I understand your concern, EEro, and yes, the changes were intentionally made, after a long discuss with the group.

The bonus of the equipment is a additional to the Ability, as you say...

And, about the possibility to create a multi-effect equipment, in this system you can imbue new effect AFTER the creation of the object... Let's se an example:

John has made a bionic eye that has +2 to aim at great distance. Successively, he can work a little more on the object to improve this bonus, or to make a different improvment, like a +1 to nightvision, for exemple...

I understand that in the original equipment system, the more an object grade, the more specialized this object is, but was exactly because this rule that the group ask for a modification IN THE CYBERPUNK ADVENTURE... maybe because the use of object has to be very important in this ambientation...

We are playin' a pulp-mafia scenario where we are playing with the original rules and work perfectly...

[Eero Tuovinen]

Ah, yes. You can imbue the same item several times. In that case I have no objection here, this seems reasonable enough. Perhaps somewhat direct in some ways, but it's sort of interesting how difficult it is to get high equipment bonuses here; a +3 bonus will likely not be seen very often.

Do check out the equipment rules in World of Near, too, if you'd like. They're somewhat complex if your English is weak, but it should be interesting to compare another take on where the Solar System equipment rules can be taken.

[Lo.Ste.Pelle]

oh, i will take a look on TWoN...

i can reed very well in english... is my expression that is a little . . . confuse!

i will reply after takin' a look for the equipment rules on TWoN...