Diagoras
2010-03-10, 08:04 PM
Inspired by Lappy9000's Engineer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114229) class, I was inspired to homebrew this Jury-Rig skill.
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Jury-Rig (Int)
You can design and construct with available tools and resources fantastic devices and machines, be they as simple as makeshift barricades or distractions to flying machines, powerful explosives, or anything else that comes to mind!
Check: You can design and construct an item extremely rapidly. Items created by use of this skill are held together by spit and prayers as much as they are by magic and engineering and seldom last long, but can be used for a quick escape or a sudden combat scenario.
Items created this way last for ten minutes plus one minute for every 2 points the construction DC is beat. However, due to their makeshift nature items constructed this way are easier and quicker to built. Devices that would normally take weeks instead take days, days take hours, hours take minutes, and minutes take seconds.
{table=head]Difficulty | Check DC | Example
Simple | 10 | Building a makeshift battering ram, assembling a barricade.
Tricky | 15 | Making a raft, setting a clockwork distraction.
Difficult | 20 | Creating a simple explosive, building a ballista.
Expert | 30 | Creating a powerful explosive, constructing an outboard motor.
Outrageous | 40 | Building a steampunk tank, rigging a make-shift flamethrower.
SCIENCE! | 50 | Building a flying machine.[/table]
This skill is used in concert with another craft skill, such as Craft: Mechanics. The SCIENCE! skill merely allows the rapid assembly of preposterous inventions, but does not grant an understanding of those inventions in and of itself.
{table=head]Example Device | Craft Skills Used
Raft | Carpentry
Explosive | Alchemy, Metalworking
Tank | Metalworking
Flamethrower | Weaponsmithing, Alchemy[/table]
The DM has final say about whether any given device is possible with the materials on hand, and may demand an explanation (utilizing fake pseudo-science) as to how the device will be assembled.
Action: Building one of these devices takes one round and is a full-round action.
Try Again: As a rule, no. If there are not enough material to construct your device then there is little you can do. However, radically different devices require different materials and thus may be attempted.
Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Disable Device you gain a +2 bonus on Jury-Rig checks.
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So yeah, here's my second draft. Balancing the desire to allow players to build cool stuff against the DM's need to not have fire-shooting flying machines everywhere is tough. I'm considering adding a table of modifiers based on available resources (ie. -10 if you're on a barren island and +10 if you're in a workshop). And yes, this is also inspired by both MacGyver and the A Team episodes when they exploded out of a garage in a makeshift tank. :smallbiggrin:
So, criticisms? Comments?
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Jury-Rig (Int)
You can design and construct with available tools and resources fantastic devices and machines, be they as simple as makeshift barricades or distractions to flying machines, powerful explosives, or anything else that comes to mind!
Check: You can design and construct an item extremely rapidly. Items created by use of this skill are held together by spit and prayers as much as they are by magic and engineering and seldom last long, but can be used for a quick escape or a sudden combat scenario.
Items created this way last for ten minutes plus one minute for every 2 points the construction DC is beat. However, due to their makeshift nature items constructed this way are easier and quicker to built. Devices that would normally take weeks instead take days, days take hours, hours take minutes, and minutes take seconds.
{table=head]Difficulty | Check DC | Example
Simple | 10 | Building a makeshift battering ram, assembling a barricade.
Tricky | 15 | Making a raft, setting a clockwork distraction.
Difficult | 20 | Creating a simple explosive, building a ballista.
Expert | 30 | Creating a powerful explosive, constructing an outboard motor.
Outrageous | 40 | Building a steampunk tank, rigging a make-shift flamethrower.
SCIENCE! | 50 | Building a flying machine.[/table]
This skill is used in concert with another craft skill, such as Craft: Mechanics. The SCIENCE! skill merely allows the rapid assembly of preposterous inventions, but does not grant an understanding of those inventions in and of itself.
{table=head]Example Device | Craft Skills Used
Raft | Carpentry
Explosive | Alchemy, Metalworking
Tank | Metalworking
Flamethrower | Weaponsmithing, Alchemy[/table]
The DM has final say about whether any given device is possible with the materials on hand, and may demand an explanation (utilizing fake pseudo-science) as to how the device will be assembled.
Action: Building one of these devices takes one round and is a full-round action.
Try Again: As a rule, no. If there are not enough material to construct your device then there is little you can do. However, radically different devices require different materials and thus may be attempted.
Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Disable Device you gain a +2 bonus on Jury-Rig checks.
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So yeah, here's my second draft. Balancing the desire to allow players to build cool stuff against the DM's need to not have fire-shooting flying machines everywhere is tough. I'm considering adding a table of modifiers based on available resources (ie. -10 if you're on a barren island and +10 if you're in a workshop). And yes, this is also inspired by both MacGyver and the A Team episodes when they exploded out of a garage in a makeshift tank. :smallbiggrin:
So, criticisms? Comments?