Re: [BNW] Thoughts on the Gadgeteer

[Theo McGuckin <tsm@jlab.org>]

> 1.  The Armorgeddon suits are probably at the high end of what a 
> Gadgeteer can do--otherwise, they'd be building better suits.
> 
> 2.  The Bargainers (silly cosmos stuff notwithstanding) have pretty 
> good guidelines--one power/effect/totem per point of Spirit.
> 
> 3.  An Armorgeddon suit has about 4 different effects:  armor, 
> flight, gun, strength bonus.  That's about average for a Gadgeteer, 
> assuming most of them have about a 4 or 5 for Smarts.
> 
> 4.  Thus, one effect can be working per die of Smarts...you can have 
> it all in one basket, or a bunch of little ones, but not more than 
> you have Smarts.
> 
> Granted, this isn't perfect yet.  But it does solve the "Just how 
> many eggs can he fit into that one basket" question, and gives some 
> guideline as to how powerful each effect can be (taking into account 
> the description of that from the Gadgeteer package).

One thing I'd note. It seems like the armegeddon suits are a little more
powerful then the gadgeteer power suit. I always assumed that this
represented the better funding that delta prime gets over the defiants on
the run. So I'd suggest using the gadgeteer power suit as the base line
rather than the armegeddon suit (+3 str. vs. +5, etc.)

> It doesn't solve some others.  But I'm a bit confused as to what the 
> Gadgeteer is supposed to be able to accomplish anyway--after all, he 
> can't break the laws of physics only bend them (and the Armorgeddon 
> suits aren't that far outside what we are capable with today's 
> technology--the biggest thing would be making it fly in the manner 
> described, I think--keep in mind that there are people researching 
> into power armored now).  If he can't make guns more powerful than 
> normal guns, etc, then what is he doing exactly?  What makes these 
> things work and then magically stop working if not tinkered with (the 
> way the book is written, just putting something on the shelf and not 
> using it is no different than using it all day as far as the 
> maintainance rules are concerned)?

I think there is a lot in the suit that could not be duplicated. Think of
power supply for starters. Those jetpacks you see people flying around in
on the discovery channel have something like a 45sec. flight time max.
Then there is the syncing of the suit and person. Picture the loaders in
Aliens, they add incredible strength but at the cost of being incredibly
clumsy. To get that +3 to strength and still be able to move around like a
normal person is a significant jump in tech level.

 Theo McGuckin
	"Powerful like a Gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerfball"