Magical Mack's Renovating Rivet Gun!

[Mack]

That's right folks! It's time for another delightful offer from Magical Mack's Ye Olde Techno-Wizard Shoppe!

Ever find yourself miles and miles from the nearest repair shop and in desparate need of some quick MD repairs? Sure, that wizard you're traveling with claims he can repair things via the "Mend the Broken" spell, but says it just too exhausting to try. Well worry no more, because now you can take with you Magical Mack's latest TW creation: the Renovating Rivet Gun!

Just charge this handy-dandy device with a nominal amout of PPE and watch it fire magical rivets that bring your previously busted MD items back to life!

TW Renovating Rivet Gun
Utilizes the Mend the Broken spell (Level 5 Invocation, Book of Magic p108)
One application restores 10 MDC to the item (up to the item's normal maximum)
Build details:
-- Device Level 1
-- 31 carats of Amber, plus 1.25 carats of Diamond
-- 5 PPE per activation, each repairs 10 MDC
-- Can be used 5 times (total of 25 PPE stored in the Diamonds)
-- Build Time: 10 hours
-- Construction Cost: 38,350 credits (MSRP of 50,000 credits)


Notes:
For a Ley Line Walker to repair 10 MDC with this spell, he'd have to spend 310 PPE. This does it with only 5 PPE.
Yep, 31 carats of Amber is a lot, but it's cheap at only 600 credits per carat.

[taalismn]

I like. I really like.
I'll take a dozen, for home, vehicle, and business.

I take it you'll be advertising this on This Old Haunted House and in Bunker and Garden?

[Lenwen]

This thing and a LLW with Energy Sphere would rock....

Very well done ol chap, well done indeed..

[Mack]

Energy Shere is ripe for abuse. For less than 30,000 credits you can create a device that will hold 600 PPE for 12 days, and takes only 11 hours to build. Combine that with my above creation and you could repair 1200 MDC.

I generally avoid that kind of thing, unless I'm letting my inner-munchkin run free just to be silly.

[taalismn]

Energy Shere is ripe for abuse. For less than 30,000 credits you can create a device that will hold 600 PPE for 12 days, and takes only 11 hours to build.

I generally avoid that kind of thing, unless I'm letting my inner-munchkin run free just to be silly.

Oh dear....that former statement has MY inner munchkin now sitting up and saying; "Wait, I missed something?"

[Mack]

Energy Shere is ripe for abuse. For less than 30,000 credits you can create a device that will hold 600 PPE for 12 days, and takes only 11 hours to build.

I generally avoid that kind of thing, unless I'm letting my inner-munchkin run free just to be silly.

Oh dear....that former statement has MY inner munchkin now sitting up and saying; "Wait, I missed something?"

Here ya go...

Pair it with my Annihilate Gun:
-- 2D4x100 MD (not a typo, 2D4x100, Book of Magic p150)
-- Device Level 1, use 20 carats of Lapis Lazuli
-- Only 15 PPE per shot, 600 ft range
-- Construction Cost of 103,000 credits

With the Energy Sphere above, that's 40 shots at 2D4x100 MD.

(Did I mention that the TW rules are ripe for abuse?)

[johnkretzer]

The Renovating Rivet Gun is just awesome. I have already told the player of the Combat Techno-Wizard in the group to make this...even though in that group my character does noty wear armor.

[taalismn]

Energy Shere is ripe for abuse. For less than 30,000 credits you can create a device that will hold 600 PPE for 12 days, and takes only 11 hours to build.

I generally avoid that kind of thing, unless I'm letting my inner-munchkin run free just to be silly.

Oh dear....that former statement has MY inner munchkin now sitting up and saying; "Wait, I missed something?"

Here ya go...

Pair it with my Annihilate Gun:
-- 2D4x100 MD (not a typo, 2D4x100, Book of Magic p150)
-- Device Level 1, use 20 carats of Lapis Lazuli
-- Only 15 PPE per shot, 600 ft range
-- Construction Cost of 103,000 credits

With the Energy Sphere above, that's 40 shots at 2D4x100 MD.

(Did I mention that the TW rules are ripe for abuse?)

*Bolts his nitroglycerine tablets as he feels a cardiac infarction coming on*

[Lenwen]

Energy Shere is ripe for abuse. For less than 30,000 credits you can create a device that will hold 600 PPE for 12 days, and takes only 11 hours to build.

I generally avoid that kind of thing, unless I'm letting my inner-munchkin run free just to be silly.

Oh dear....that former statement has MY inner munchkin now sitting up and saying; "Wait, I missed something?"

Here ya go...

Pair it with my Annihilate Gun:
-- 2D4x100 MD (not a typo, 2D4x100, Book of Magic p150)
-- Device Level 1, use 20 carats of Lapis Lazuli
-- Only 15 PPE per shot, 600 ft range
-- Construction Cost of 103,000 credits

With the Energy Sphere above, that's 40 shots at 2D4x100 MD.

That is a classic weapon haha !!

(Did I mention that the TW rules are ripe for abuse?)

Why .. What ever do you mean ?

[taalismn]

Yeah, I have got to start playing with the TW stuff more.

The above example of the 2d4x100 MD gun is why the Coalition HATES magic....Imagine incorporating that gemstone array into an innocuous-looking plastic squirtgun and going to town with it...

[Mack]

*Bolts his nitroglycerine tablets as he feels a cardiac infarction coming on*

That's OK. I've got a Ressurection Device that only needs 5,000 credits to build, and is powered by a mere 5 PPE.

[Shark_Force]

Yeah, I have got to start playing with the TW stuff more.

The above example of the 2d4x100 MD gun is why the Coalition HATES magic....Imagine incorporating that gemstone array into an innocuous-looking plastic squirtgun and going to town with it...

actually, the above combination is more an example of how not to use the techno-wizardry rules in actual gameplay.

sure, the rules as written allow for that kind of silly scenario. but that's very different from being something that you should do, and it's definitely different from what your GM is going to let you do without a fight. Were I the GM, I *might* allow such a weapon, but i'd probably require it to be either a fixed emplacement or mounted on a massive ship. and i'd probably add a lot more into the spell chains for both weapons, to make it at least a bit challenging. and require that the device level be something other than 1.

and i'm pretty sure mack feels the same, more or less... i doubt he'd actually try to bring that as a TW pistol into a game he was playing, and i doubt he'd allow it into a game he was GMing. it just wouldn't be fun. now, designing that as the main gun for a house-sized tank, or a battleship, or as part of a fixed line of defenses, on the other hand (by combining it with a suitably long-range attack spell)...

truthfully, i'd say the reason the coalition hates magic (referring to the leadership, that is; the general populace pretty much hate magic because prosek told them to) is at least twofold:

1) they can't conveniently take it away from you, nor can they give it to you... it is *your* power, not *their* power being loaned to you for as long as you do what they say.
2) it is a form of power that doesn't lend itself well to being controlled by them. the power is gained in many cases by meditative reflection, can be shared between 2 people without needing any sort of equipment or specialised location, and so forth.

a possible third reason is that it can be very unpredictable (magic simply opens up so many options to use against them), and makes it much more possible for a smaller, weaker force to effectively engage a larger, stronger force. or, in other words... it's something of an equalizer in a world that the leadership of the coalition states have gone to a great deal of trouble to make unequal in their favor.

[Mack]

actually, the above combination is more an example of how not to use the techno-wizardry rules in actual gameplay.

sure, the rules as written allow for that kind of silly scenario. but that's very different from being something that you should do, and it's definitely different from what your GM is going to let you do without a fight. Were I the GM, I *might* allow such a weapon, but i'd probably require it to be either a fixed emplacement or mounted on a massive ship. and i'd probably add a lot more into the spell chains for both weapons, to make it at least a bit challenging. and require that the device level be something other than 1.

and i'm pretty sure mack feels the same, more or less... i doubt he'd actually try to bring that as a TW pistol into a game he was playing, and i doubt he'd allow it into a game he was GMing. it just wouldn't be fun. now, designing that as the main gun for a house-sized tank, or a battleship, or as part of a fixed line of defenses, on the other hand (by combining it with a suitably long-range attack spell)...

That pretty much sums it up. The Renovating Rivet Gun, while powerful, isn't completely unbalancing. The Annihilate Gun, on the other hand, can one-shot a Glitter Boy. It's completely ridiculous and shouldn't be allowed in normal game play. Same with the Ressurection Device I linked to. At best, those type of abuses should only exist as the objective of a campaign where multiple parties are all trying to acquire the plans from the poor schmoe who invented it.



The TW rules work fine for most magic items. But if you really understand the rules, you know how to find combinations that shouldn't be allowed.

[Mallak's Place]

Energy Shere is ripe for abuse. For less than 30,000 credits you can create a device that will hold 600 PPE for 12 days, and takes only 11 hours to build.

I generally avoid that kind of thing, unless I'm letting my inner-munchkin run free just to be silly.

Oh dear....that former statement has MY inner munchkin now sitting up and saying; "Wait, I missed something?"

Here ya go...

Pair it with my Annihilate Gun:
-- 2D4x100 MD (not a typo, 2D4x100, Book of Magic p150)
-- Device Level 1, use 20 carats of Lapis Lazuli
-- Only 15 PPE per shot, 600 ft range
-- Construction Cost of 103,000 credits

With the Energy Sphere above, that's 40 shots at 2D4x100 MD.

Did I mention that the TW rules are ripe for abuse?)(

This is why in our game we changed the TW creation rules slightly. In stead of the usual price per carats worth of gems we change to cost to 100 credits worth of credits per P.P.E. point of the spells with the number of carats acting as a multiplier. that way weather you use a Quartz Crystal or a Emerald a 5 P.P.E. needs 500 creadits of gems.

[Lenwen]

Try as I might, Techno-Wizardry seems to escape me ..

I know that 4 spells can be placed upon a suit of armor, at the 15th lvl.

These are the spells that I want added to a suit of armor. Can you tell me if this is a possible suit of TW Armor and what do you think of it if it is possible ?

1 - Impervious to Energy
(pretty self explanatory)

2 - Little Force.
(doubles the attack damage, and sends it back at the attacker)

3 - Strength of the Dead.
(Grants half the dead's MDC, HP's and SDC to the caster)

4 - Strength of the Whale.
(Doubles the Caster's PS.)

[Shark_Force]

those 4 spells should be possible. in fact, it should even be possible to fuse those 4 spells into an unholy union and make it one effect, if you want (well, probably two actually... the defensive portions of that don't seem like they would logically combine with the strength portions). it will definitely need more than one caster though... the only spell i recognise as being from the invocation magic list is impervious to energy, and i'm pretty sure at least 2 of those are from forms of spell magic the techno-wizard explicitly can't learn (though i could be wrong)

[Lenwen]

those 4 spells should be possible. in fact, it should even be possible to fuse those 4 spells into an unholy union and make it one effect, if you want (well, probably two actually... the defensive portions of that don't seem like they would logically combine with the strength portions). it will definitely need more than one caster though...

Thank you

the only spell i recognise as being from the invocation magic list is impervious to energy, and i'm pretty sure at least 2 of those are from forms of spell magic the techno-wizard explicitly can't learn (though i could be wrong)

True the Techno-Wizard may not be able to learn a couple of those spells (They are invocations, just not the normal learned invocations) they are able to work with other casters to produce their items .

[Shark_Force]

so i just did some quick fact checking:

little force is indeed a paradox shaman spell as i thought, though it *can* be learned by temporal raiders and wizards (with some question as to whether a sufficiently high-level man of magic other than temporal raiders and wizards can learn it, since sufficiently high level man of magic OCCs can learn temporal magic)

strength of the dead is indeed necromantic magic, which the techno-wizard is explicitly prohibited from (personally, i would house rule/interpret that to mean that the techno-wizard can't learn how to glue horse legs onto themselves and make them functional, but that's not what the rule says)

strength of the whale is, as i recalled, ocean magic, which makes it a bit unclear as to whether a techno-wizard could learn it, but in my opinion it should be possible (since the ocean wizard can, as i recall, learn all regular invocation magic, i would be inclined to argue that ocean magic is pretty much just regular invocation magic that is only very common around the oceans, in much the same way that there are spells that are more likely to be known by shifters, or ley line rifters, and so forth)

and impervious to energy is, of course, a standard invocation magic spell, so the techno-wizard can definitely learn it.

tell you what, i'll see what i can come up with as far as the armor goes. i may experiment with two different versions: one based on what i consider reasonable, and one based on what is possible within the rules if the GM doesn't step in and say no...

[Mack]

RUE p134 is pretty clear as to what "non-invocation" spells a TW can work with (with the proper assistance).

[Lenwen]

Techno-Wizards are allowed to bring in other "Casters" for their special spells .. to be placed upon Techno-Wizard creations.

Or am I wrong ?

[Shark_Force]

Techno-Wizards are allowed to bring in other "Casters" for their special spells .. to be placed upon Techno-Wizard creations.

Or am I wrong ?

you are correct. anyways, here's the step-by-step on the armor.

Spoiler:

ok then, so first, a bit of a references section. I'll be using the spells as found in the Rifts Book of Magic (pages 113, 195, 205, and 217 for impervious to energy, strength of the dead, strength of the whale, and little force respectively). I will further be using the techno-wizardry creation guidelines found in Rifts:Unlimited Edition (second printing) pages 130-135. It should be noted few if any of the published techno-wizardry devices follow these rules, with some exceptions in the Rifts:Unlimited Edition book itself.

So, to be generating the cost of the various features, I'll be doing one spell at a time, and not involving any spell chains whatsoever, at least for the first version. I will be working with the spells in the order they appear in the Rifts Book of Magic, and will probably omit the majority of the actual rules information even though I will be doing this step by step to provide an example. For each spell, I will have two versions: the first will be the minimum abuse of the rules, the second (labeled in each step with an 'A', and in one case a 'B') will be doing my best to take advantage of the rules (note: this doesn't necessarily mean that it wouldn't be allowed necessarily, just that it is using the rules as best I can to get the best deal). Finally, the assumption will be that the techno-wizard knows impervious to energy, does not know (but could know) strength of the whale, and cannot know strength of the dead or little force.



Step 1: We've already established it will be a suit of armor we're adding this feature to. My, that was easy. For the sake of argument, I'll use the Crusader Full Environmental Body Armor, since this armor doesn't exactly scream "subtle" to me, rather it sounds like you want something that is basically a nigh-indestructible melee beast that can kick things so hard they go into orbit.

Step 2: Functions as above, there will be ways to activate four different spells (to energy, strength of the dead, strength of the whale, and little force). For the sake of argument, and because I think external buttons on the chest are silly, we'll stick with voice activation, although some sort of mini-computer built into the arm could also plausibly work.

Step 3: Again, really easy. There will be four spell chains, each consisting of one spell (at least, in the initial version).

*****************

Impervious to Energy

Step 4: In my opinion, different device levels for each function should be possible. For convenience in matching up durations, impervious to energy and strength of the dead will have device level 5, and strength of the whale will have device level 2. Little Force will have a device level of 6, to provide a duration that evenly divides (specifically, it is 1/4 the duration of the others). We will therefore need, at minimum, 2.5 carats of red zircon, 2.5 carats of ivory (of the two choices, it seemed to fit most based on the spells each type is attached to), 1 carat of black pearl, and 3 carats of tourmaline (seemed to fit best of the options, based on the other spells tourmaline allows). These are our minimums, of course, and that will be our starting point. So, starting with impervious to energy, we'll use 2.5 carats of red zircon for now.

Step 4A: For the "this is what the rules allow us to do" version, We'll use 10 carats instead.

Step 5: This is pretty much just standard number-crunching. 400 PPE is the base construction cost.

Step 5A: New base cost is 100 PPE.

Step 6: Again, basic number-crunching. Activation cost is 20 PPE.

Step 6A: New activation cost is 5 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 200 hours.

Step 7A: New Construction time is 50 hours.

Step 8: Parts cost is 25,000 credits (plus the armor, which we don't add yet).

Step 8A: Parts cost is still 25,000 credits. We could further decrease the PPE costs involved, but the construction cost will be correspondingly higher.

*****************

Strength of the Dead

Step 4: As mentioned above, the basic version will use 2.5 carats.

Step 4A: for the sake of argument, let's use 50 carats. We could go further if I feel it is necessary.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 1,200 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 2,400 PPE

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is 240 PPE.

Step 6: Activation cost is 120 PPE.

Step 6A: Activation cost is 12 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 1,200 hours.

Step 7A: Construction time is 60 hours.

Step 8: Construction cost is 120,050 credits

Step 8A: Construction cost is 7,000 credits.

Step 4B: For the sake of argument, let's try 300 carats, just to really take advantage of the rules.

Step 5B: Construction cost is 20 PPE.

Step 6B: Activation cost is 1 PPE.

Step 7B: Construction time is 10 hours.

Step 8B: Construction cost is 7,000 credits. as you can see, this is even more advantageous than 50 carats, so we'll use this.

*****************

strength of the whale

Step 4: Basic version using 1 carat.

Step 4A: It's a bit expensive, so we'll stick with only 4 carats, which will actually make the whole thing cost more but be cheaper to activate and still not unreasonably expensive.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 400 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 600 PPE

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is 150 PPE.

Step 6: Activation cost is 30 PPE

Step 6A: Activation cost is 8 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 120 hours.

Step 7A: Construction time is 30 hours.

Step 8: Construction cost is 18,000 credits.

Step 8A: Construction cost is 27,000 credits.

*****************

Little Force

Step 4: Basic version uses 3 carats.

Step 4A: Abusive version (and yes, this is definitely abusing the rules) will use 270 carats.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 2,700 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 5,400 PPE.

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is now 20 PPE.

Step 6: Activation Cost is 270 PPE.

Step 6A: Activation cost is now 1 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 3,240 hours

Step 7A: Construction time is now 12 hours

Step 8: Construction cost is 324,360 credits

Step 8A: Construction cost is 4,440 credits

*****************

Step 9: We just did it, except for the totals, which are: 8,800 PPE, 4,760 hours, and 487,410 credits to construct, plus the cost of armor makes it 542,410 credits.

Step 9A: 270 PPE, 102 hours, and 63,440 credits to construct, plus the cost of armor makes it 118,440 credits

Step 10: No PPE storage was requested.

Step 11: Not applicable to my example, as far as I'm concerned.

Step 12: This is a skill roll based on step 11. It is also not applicable.

So then, you can see the difference between taking advantage of the rules and not taking advantage. The minimum gemstones method takes over a year assuming you work 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. Note that this is actually only giving us the construction costs. It does not include such things as research and development costs (you have to build at minimum 3 in order to get it right). nor does it include any profit for the techno-wizard.

[Lenwen]

Techno-Wizards are allowed to bring in other "Casters" for their special spells .. to be placed upon Techno-Wizard creations.

Or am I wrong ?

you are correct. anyways, here's the step-by-step on the armor.

Spoiler:

ok then, so first, a bit of a references section. I'll be using the spells as found in the Rifts Book of Magic (pages 113, 195, 205, and 217 for impervious to energy, strength of the dead, strength of the whale, and little force respectively). I will further be using the techno-wizardry creation guidelines found in Rifts:Unlimited Edition (second printing) pages 130-135. It should be noted few if any of the published techno-wizardry devices follow these rules, with some exceptions in the Rifts:Unlimited Edition book itself.

So, to be generating the cost of the various features, I'll be doing one spell at a time, and not involving any spell chains whatsoever, at least for the first version. I will be working with the spells in the order they appear in the Rifts Book of Magic, and will probably omit the majority of the actual rules information even though I will be doing this step by step to provide an example. For each spell, I will have two versions: the first will be the minimum abuse of the rules, the second (labeled in each step with an 'A', and in one case a 'B') will be doing my best to take advantage of the rules (note: this doesn't necessarily mean that it wouldn't be allowed necessarily, just that it is using the rules as best I can to get the best deal). Finally, the assumption will be that the techno-wizard knows impervious to energy, does not know (but could know) strength of the whale, and cannot know strength of the dead or little force.



Step 1: We've already established it will be a suit of armor we're adding this feature to. My, that was easy. For the sake of argument, I'll use the Crusader Full Environmental Body Armor, since this armor doesn't exactly scream "subtle" to me, rather it sounds like you want something that is basically a nigh-indestructible melee beast that can kick things so hard they go into orbit.

Step 2: Functions as above, there will be ways to activate four different spells (to energy, strength of the dead, strength of the whale, and little force). For the sake of argument, and because I think external buttons on the chest are silly, we'll stick with voice activation, although some sort of mini-computer built into the arm could also plausibly work.

Step 3: Again, really easy. There will be four spell chains, each consisting of one spell (at least, in the initial version).

*****************

Impervious to Energy

Step 4: In my opinion, different device levels for each function should be possible. For convenience in matching up durations, impervious to energy and strength of the dead will have device level 5, and strength of the whale will have device level 2. Little Force will have a device level of 6, to provide a duration that evenly divides (specifically, it is 1/4 the duration of the others). We will therefore need, at minimum, 2.5 carats of red zircon, 2.5 carats of ivory (of the two choices, it seemed to fit most based on the spells each type is attached to), 1 carat of black pearl, and 3 carats of tourmaline (seemed to fit best of the options, based on the other spells tourmaline allows). These are our minimums, of course, and that will be our starting point. So, starting with impervious to energy, we'll use 2.5 carats of red zircon for now.

Step 4A: For the "this is what the rules allow us to do" version, We'll use 10 carats instead.

Step 5: This is pretty much just standard number-crunching. 400 PPE is the base construction cost.

Step 5A: New base cost is 100 PPE.

Step 6: Again, basic number-crunching. Activation cost is 20 PPE.

Step 6A: New activation cost is 5 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 200 hours.

Step 7A: New Construction time is 50 hours.

Step 8: Parts cost is 25,000 credits (plus the armor, which we don't add yet).

Step 8A: Parts cost is still 25,000 credits. We could further decrease the PPE costs involved, but the construction cost will be correspondingly higher.

*****************

Strength of the Dead

Step 4: As mentioned above, the basic version will use 2.5 carats.

Step 4A: for the sake of argument, let's use 50 carats. We could go further if I feel it is necessary.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 1,200 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 2,400 PPE

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is 240 PPE.

Step 6: Activation cost is 120 PPE.

Step 6A: Activation cost is 12 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 1,200 hours.

Step 7A: Construction time is 60 hours.

Step 8: Construction cost is 120,050 credits

Step 8A: Construction cost is 7,000 credits.

Step 4B: For the sake of argument, let's try 300 carats, just to really take advantage of the rules.

Step 5B: Construction cost is 20 PPE.

Step 6B: Activation cost is 1 PPE.

Step 7B: Construction time is 10 hours.

Step 8B: Construction cost is 7,000 credits. as you can see, this is even more advantageous than 50 carats, so we'll use this.

*****************

strength of the whale

Step 4: Basic version using 1 carat.

Step 4A: It's a bit expensive, so we'll stick with only 4 carats, which will actually make the whole thing cost more but be cheaper to activate and still not unreasonably expensive.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 400 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 600 PPE

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is 150 PPE.

Step 6: Activation cost is 30 PPE

Step 6A: Activation cost is 8 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 120 hours.

Step 7A: Construction time is 30 hours.

Step 8: Construction cost is 18,000 credits.

Step 8A: Construction cost is 27,000 credits.

*****************

Little Force

Step 4: Basic version uses 3 carats.

Step 4A: Abusive version (and yes, this is definitely abusing the rules) will use 270 carats.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 2,700 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 5,400 PPE.

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is now 20 PPE.

Step 6: Activation Cost is 270 PPE.

Step 6A: Activation cost is now 1 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 3,240 hours

Step 7A: Construction time is now 12 hours

Step 8: Construction cost is 324,360 credits

Step 8A: Construction cost is 4,440 credits

*****************

Step 9: We just did it, except for the totals, which are: 8,800 PPE, 4,760 hours, and 487,410 credits to construct, plus the cost of armor makes it 542,410 credits.

Step 9A: 270 PPE, 102 hours, and 63,440 credits to construct, plus the cost of armor makes it 118,440 credits

Step 10: No PPE storage was requested.

Step 11: Not applicable to my example, as far as I'm concerned.

Step 12: This is a skill roll based on step 11. It is also not applicable.

So then, you can see the difference between taking advantage of the rules and not taking advantage. The minimum gemstones method takes over a year assuming you work 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. Note that this is actually only giving us the construction costs. It does not include such things as research and development costs (you have to build at minimum 3 in order to get it right). nor does it include any profit for the techno-wizard.

Which gives the Armor what MDC total and what capabilities ?

[Mack]

Shark, your numbers are off in a few places. Most are not significant, but the last spell (Little Force--abusive version) should be 1/2 hour to build with a Construction Cost of 32,450. I didn't check the non-abusive versions.

[Shark_Force]

Techno-Wizards are allowed to bring in other "Casters" for their special spells .. to be placed upon Techno-Wizard creations.

Or am I wrong ?

you are correct. anyways, here's the step-by-step on the armor.

Spoiler:

ok then, so first, a bit of a references section. I'll be using the spells as found in the Rifts Book of Magic (pages 113, 195, 205, and 217 for impervious to energy, strength of the dead, strength of the whale, and little force respectively). I will further be using the techno-wizardry creation guidelines found in Rifts:Unlimited Edition (second printing) pages 130-135. It should be noted few if any of the published techno-wizardry devices follow these rules, with some exceptions in the Rifts:Unlimited Edition book itself.

So, to be generating the cost of the various features, I'll be doing one spell at a time, and not involving any spell chains whatsoever, at least for the first version. I will be working with the spells in the order they appear in the Rifts Book of Magic, and will probably omit the majority of the actual rules information even though I will be doing this step by step to provide an example. For each spell, I will have two versions: the first will be the minimum abuse of the rules, the second (labeled in each step with an 'A', and in one case a 'B') will be doing my best to take advantage of the rules (note: this doesn't necessarily mean that it wouldn't be allowed necessarily, just that it is using the rules as best I can to get the best deal). Finally, the assumption will be that the techno-wizard knows impervious to energy, does not know (but could know) strength of the whale, and cannot know strength of the dead or little force.



Step 1: We've already established it will be a suit of armor we're adding this feature to. My, that was easy. For the sake of argument, I'll use the Crusader Full Environmental Body Armor, since this armor doesn't exactly scream "subtle" to me, rather it sounds like you want something that is basically a nigh-indestructible melee beast that can kick things so hard they go into orbit.

Step 2: Functions as above, there will be ways to activate four different spells (to energy, strength of the dead, strength of the whale, and little force). For the sake of argument, and because I think external buttons on the chest are silly, we'll stick with voice activation, although some sort of mini-computer built into the arm could also plausibly work.

Step 3: Again, really easy. There will be four spell chains, each consisting of one spell (at least, in the initial version).

*****************

Impervious to Energy

Step 4: In my opinion, different device levels for each function should be possible. For convenience in matching up durations, impervious to energy and strength of the dead will have device level 5, and strength of the whale will have device level 2. Little Force will have a device level of 6, to provide a duration that evenly divides (specifically, it is 1/4 the duration of the others). We will therefore need, at minimum, 2.5 carats of red zircon, 2.5 carats of ivory (of the two choices, it seemed to fit most based on the spells each type is attached to), 1 carat of black pearl, and 3 carats of tourmaline (seemed to fit best of the options, based on the other spells tourmaline allows). These are our minimums, of course, and that will be our starting point. So, starting with impervious to energy, we'll use 2.5 carats of red zircon for now.

Step 4A: For the "this is what the rules allow us to do" version, We'll use 10 carats instead.

Step 5: This is pretty much just standard number-crunching. 400 PPE is the base construction cost.

Step 5A: New base cost is 100 PPE.

Step 6: Again, basic number-crunching. Activation cost is 20 PPE.

Step 6A: New activation cost is 5 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 200 hours.

Step 7A: New Construction time is 50 hours.

Step 8: Parts cost is 25,000 credits (plus the armor, which we don't add yet).

Step 8A: Parts cost is still 25,000 credits. We could further decrease the PPE costs involved, but the construction cost will be correspondingly higher.

*****************

Strength of the Dead

Step 4: As mentioned above, the basic version will use 2.5 carats.

Step 4A: for the sake of argument, let's use 50 carats. We could go further if I feel it is necessary.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 1,200 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 2,400 PPE

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is 240 PPE.

Step 6: Activation cost is 120 PPE.

Step 6A: Activation cost is 12 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 1,200 hours.

Step 7A: Construction time is 60 hours.

Step 8: Construction cost is 120,050 credits

Step 8A: Construction cost is 7,000 credits.

Step 4B: For the sake of argument, let's try 300 carats, just to really take advantage of the rules.

Step 5B: Construction cost is 20 PPE.

Step 6B: Activation cost is 1 PPE.

Step 7B: Construction time is 10 hours.

Step 8B: Construction cost is 7,000 credits. as you can see, this is even more advantageous than 50 carats, so we'll use this.

*****************

strength of the whale

Step 4: Basic version using 1 carat.

Step 4A: It's a bit expensive, so we'll stick with only 4 carats, which will actually make the whole thing cost more but be cheaper to activate and still not unreasonably expensive.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 400 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 600 PPE

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is 150 PPE.

Step 6: Activation cost is 30 PPE

Step 6A: Activation cost is 8 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 120 hours.

Step 7A: Construction time is 30 hours.

Step 8: Construction cost is 18,000 credits.

Step 8A: Construction cost is 27,000 credits.

*****************

Little Force

Step 4: Basic version uses 3 carats.

Step 4A: Abusive version (and yes, this is definitely abusing the rules) will use 270 carats.

Step 5: PPE construction cost is 2,700 PPE. Per the note on R:UE page 133, this cost goes up to 5,400 PPE.

Step 5A: PPE construction cost is now 20 PPE.

Step 6: Activation Cost is 270 PPE.

Step 6A: Activation cost is now 1 PPE.

Step 7: Construction time is 3,240 hours

Step 7A: Construction time is now 12 hours

Step 8: Construction cost is 324,360 credits

Step 8A: Construction cost is 4,440 credits

*****************

Step 9: We just did it, except for the totals, which are: 8,800 PPE, 4,760 hours, and 487,410 credits to construct, plus the cost of armor makes it 542,410 credits.

Step 9A: 270 PPE, 102 hours, and 63,440 credits to construct, plus the cost of armor makes it 118,440 credits

Step 10: No PPE storage was requested.

Step 11: Not applicable to my example, as far as I'm concerned.

Step 12: This is a skill roll based on step 11. It is also not applicable.

So then, you can see the difference between taking advantage of the rules and not taking advantage. The minimum gemstones method takes over a year assuming you work 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. Note that this is actually only giving us the construction costs. It does not include such things as research and development costs (you have to build at minimum 3 in order to get it right). nor does it include any profit for the techno-wizard.

Which gives the Armor what MDC total and what capabilities ?

the armor in it's most basic form is just the same as any other crusader armor. it can be activated, using one action for each spell, to trigger the appropriate spell. the spells cost 5, 1, 8, and 1 PPE respectively to activate (in the abusive version), function exactly as if the spell had been cast on the wearer, and last 10, 10, 10, and 1.5 minutes respectively. (just realised, thought at first that was 2.5 minutes... well, a small increase in cost could take it to 2.5 minutes, for a caster level of 10...) (note: if i thought casting at level 40 was even remotely plausible, they would have all been 10 minutes duration actually). in the event that none of the spells are active, the armor is just an expensive suit of crusader EBA.

[Shark_Force]

Shark, your numbers are off in a few places. Most are not significant, but the last spell (Little Force--abusive version) should be 1/2 hour to build with a Construction Cost of 32,450. I didn't check the non-abusive versions.

you sure? PPE construction cost is 20, device level is 6, that gives 12 hours from what i can tell. though you are right about the cost, which should be over 32,000 at the very least. think i missed a 0 when i was writing down my cost for the gems, and that carried through to the final cost...

[Lenwen]

Shark, question if I may .

I know for a fact (again you re-affirmed my belief) that TW's can in fact work with other Casters to create thier items ..

My question is then rather simple .

Eternal Flame : 3'000 years, +150 per lvl.

Can it be used to increase dramatically spell duration of other spells ?

Or how is that handled ?

[Shark_Force]

well, i answered this in the PM i sent you as well. but i'll give the gist of what i said here.

basically, spell chains work however the GM allows them to. personally, i wouldn't allow that spell to boost the duration of just any spell, but fire globe or fire blossom, for example, would definitely be compatible in my opinion.

but as a general rule, to develop a new techno-wizardry item, the GM and the player have to work together to create something new, and there are no hard and fast rules for it if you want to combine effects (though if you just want a gun that casts a spell when you pull the trigger, that's pretty easy to figure out)

[Anthar]

@OP. They have the exact same thing in Battlefield 2142 with their repair tool, just point, press the trigger and it magically repairs vehicles, consoles and artillery guns.

[Jorel]

@OP. They have the exact same thing in Battlefield 2142 with their repair tool, just point, press the trigger and it magically repairs vehicles, consoles and artillery guns.

Sounds like the Arc Welder in Star Wars: Battlefront. Just point and shoot and everything is magically better.

[Mack]

but as a general rule, to develop a new techno-wizardry item, the GM and the player have to work together to create something new, and there are no hard and fast rules for it if you want to combine effects (though if you just want a gun that casts a spell when you pull the trigger, that's pretty easy to figure out)

Absolutely correct.

Also, one thing we tend to ignore on this forum is the Device Limitations or Side-effects (RUE p132-133). Maybe that Renovating Rivet Gun turns everything it repairs bright pink.

[Mack]

Shark, your numbers are off in a few places. Most are not significant, but the last spell (Little Force--abusive version) should be 1/2 hour to build with a Construction Cost of 32,450. I didn't check the non-abusive versions.

you sure? PPE construction cost is 20, device level is 6, that gives 12 hours from what i can tell. though you are right about the cost, which should be over 32,000 at the very least. think i missed a 0 when i was writing down my cost for the gems, and that carried through to the final cost...

One mistake on my part... had the Device Level at 1 instead of 6. But I still get slightly different numbers.

PPE Construction Cost = (Device Level x Spell Chain PPE x 10) / Primary spell carats
= (6 x 135 x 10) / 270 = 8100 / 270 = 30 PPE

Activation PPE = PPE Construction Cost / 20
= 30 / 20 = 1.5 PPE
(Note - I personally round this up to 2 PPE, but not until after all the other calculations.)

Build Time = (PPE Construction Cost / 10) * Device Level
= (30 / 10) * 6 = 3 * 6 = 18 hours

Construction Cost = (PPE Const Cost x 10 x Device Level) + Gem cost
= (30 x 10 x 6) + (270 x 120) = 1800 + 32400 = 34,200 credits

EDIT - FWIW, I use a spreadsheet to build TW devices. Saves a lot of time looking up the various stones and spell costs, plus I can quickly play with the variables (device level, payload, number of gems) to find the optimal solution.

[drewkitty ~..~]

That's right folks! It's time for another delightful offer from Magical Mack's Ye Olde Techno-Wizard Shoppe!

Ever find yourself miles and miles from the nearest repair shop and in desparate need of some quick MD repairs? Sure, that wizard you're traveling with claims he can repair things via the "Mend the Broken" spell, but says it just too exhausting to try. Well worry no more, because now you can take with you Magical Mack's latest TW creation: the Renovating Rivet Gun!

Just charge this handy-dandy device with a nominal amout of PPE and watch it fire magical rivets that bring your previously busted MD items back to life!

TW Renovating Rivet Gun
Utilizes the Mend the Broken spell (Level 5 Invocation, Book of Magic p108)
One application restores 10 MDC to the item (up to the item's normal maximum)
Build details:
-- Device Level 1
-- 31 carats of Amber, plus 1.25 carats of Diamond
-- 5 PPE per activation, each repairs 10 MDC
-- Can be used 5 times (total of 25 PPE stored in the Diamonds)
-- Build Time: 10 hours
-- Construction Cost: 38,350 credits (MSRP of 50,000 credits)


Notes:
For a Ley Line Walker to repair 10 MDC with this spell, he'd have to spend 310 PPE. This does it with only 5 PPE.
Yep, 31 carats of Amber is a lot, but it's cheap at only 600 credits per carat.

This needs the side effect that the item now shows Rivets at the spots that the Rivet gun was used.

[Mack]

This needs the side effect that the item now shows Rivets at the spots that the Rivet gun was used.

No arguement from me. Personally I'd made the rivet spots bright blue or bright purple.

[drewkitty ~..~]

I was thinking more like rivet heads of some sort.