Rifts techno-wizard

[Bob the Urgh]

I am going to be playing in a game of rifts soon and the techno-wizard looked appealing. The problem I'm having is the creation of items. Going off of the ultimate edition creation guidlines and selling prices, how do the TWs make money off of their products? I thought creating an item would be a lot cheaper but it has close to the same price as just buying it off the black market.

[VirOath]

But the case and point is that TW items aren't manufactured, Tolkien was the closest thing there was to a line production for TW items. Reality of it is that the Wizard himself is much more likely to craft the items themselves and use them, or break down an existing item to alter it to produce a different or better effect, depending on the power level of the campaign.

Because of this, TW items are rare on the blackmarket and can easily be facing markups of 50% to 150% depending on the item. Things are very fickle with TW items as well, since the people that can generally use them are very limited, there isn't much call or market for them compared to general arms and armor.

The bonus to being a TechnoWizard is that you can make these items for yourself, and even augment your existing gear as you go, making continuing investments. And remember, the general costs are just for raw materials and gems for the creator, not needing to be credits, so there are other ways to obtain the required materials.

And do remember, that Techno-Wizards get lucky with not only be able to auto-pilot any TW craft and use any TW weapon without extra skills, but their OOC skills has the coveted "Pilot:Any" meaning that you can pick up Power Armor and use it fully skilled. And Augment it with spell chains to eventually produce effects like Free Action Armor Of Ithan, Or Invulnerability, or Supernatural Strength on said Power Armor.

But the class is one that does require work with the GM to get the most out of.

Edit: Figured I'd be clear on this. Don't expect to make money off of your creations. From several angles it doesn't work well, first off being that as a GM, an endless loop of income based off of skills because of production can break they dynamic of the party and the adventure part. Secondly, there isn't a huge market for TW items, it's a niche market, already being filled by a few producers. But being a TW not only gives you limitless and free access for yourself to any and all TW augmentations and weapons, it's also a way for your kick open the door Borg Tea Party to get in on the action for TW augmentations, as you can craft small storage reservoirs into the items. It's a way to be able to cast spells more often and possibly with better results or in ways not possible by a Leyline Walker. And since you aren't funneling the spells directly, but rather powering the items, you don't face the problems of casting in armor.