Re: [BNW] Go-go-gadget.....

[Theron Bretz <tbretz@mciworld.com>]

>Something else too... the feds have unlimited resources with the absolute
>best equipment. This can make a big difference as how efficiently and how
>fast they can maintain this stuff. And also one more thing... like the man
>in the commercial said, "You use better ingredients to get a better pizza".
>They have the best resources. This is really the name of the game. If they
>have Ford Motor Co. cranking these things out in Detroit, next to the
Taurus
>assembly line, and then have crews dedicate to them. Heck... maybe the feds
>contract out the maintenance to private organizations... there are lots of
>ways to reason it out even in today's world, not in the game.


Except that in the BNW world, the Armorgeddon suits are specifically noted
to be gadgets (not cars, not tanks, but _gadgets_) and (one assumes) should
have to obey the gadgetry rules as they apply to PCs (and yes, to those who
like to point these things out, I know this may be a false assumption, but
see below).  In other words, they cannot be mass produced, each one must be
maintained by a gadgeteer (not a crew), and no two are exactly alike.  This
seems to be supported on the BNW rulings page:

"Q) Delta Primes armeggedon suits - as they're gadgets does that mean each
one is somewhat unique ?

A) Yes, although they are obviously going to share some traits. The Delta
Prime book is going to have more fun stuff for gadgeteers, including more
power armor suits. [Matt Forbeck, BNW Listserv, 9/7/99]"

Now, either the suits are gadgets and obey the gadgeteering rules, or else
you run into "well, these are special gadgets, that don't have to be
maintained so often, and they can be mass-produced, yeah, that's the
ticket", aka, the "because I said so" syndrome.

So, assuming that the armorgeddon suits are gadgets (and Matt seems to think
they are), then DP must have an obscene number of gadgeteers available to
construct/maintain them, assuming their numbers are anywhere near the levels
I feel were implied in the text.  And, yes, the gadgeteers certainly would
be a potential Achilles' heel for DP.

Theron
Houston