Aberrant: Quantum Zero - Gadgeteering 101

[ProfPotts]

Quantum Gadgets

While Novas have been responsible for some amazing advancements in science & technology (as presented in Aberrant: Year One, p.72 to 109) they are also capable of building unique, one-off, personalised ‘Quantum Gadgets’ which are often more powerful, but have none of the universal, world-changing, implications of such advancements. Such Quantum Gadgets are akin to a ‘magic item’ created by a wizard in some fantasy setting – a handcrafted object of power which takes many of its characteristics from those of its creator. Having said that, a Quantum Gadget can take many forms, from the fantastic or hi-tech to the deceptively mundane: a ‘Quantum Gadget’ can even be a living creature which has been biologically altered, or something as ephemeral as a computer program. Such Quantum Gadgets are presented in the Aberrant Players Guide (p.143 to 148) – however many gamers have found the APG text to be confusing & difficult to comprehend: this is my attempt to make the gadgeteering system a little easier to follow.

What can a Quantum Gadget do?

In essence a Quantum Gadget can simulate the use of an Ability or Quantum Power. This generally doesn’t grant the Ability or Power as a whole, but rather one specific application of that Ability or Power: e.g. a Nova can build a Quantum Gadget which uses the Computer Ability to crack passwords, but that same Gadget wouldn’t be able to write a word processing program (like someone with the Computer Ability could) without having a separate effect to do so built in. When simulating Quantum Powers with a Quantum Gadget this means you can’t build a Quantum Gadget which simulates, say, a Level 3 ‘suite’ power (such as Elemental Mastery or Weather Manipulation) as a whole, you have to build in each effect you want to simulate separately: a Quantum Gadget can never ‘improvise’ an effect or technique as a Nova with a suite power can.

Who can build a Quantum Gadget?

The basic criterion for building Quantum Gadgets is just having a Quantum score (the character’s Quantum is used to derive the maximum limits of various aspects of the Quantum Gadgets she builds) – so any Nova can build Quantum Gadgets, but baselines cannot. Mega-Intelligence, while not essential, is certainly helpful: Intelligence dice pools are used to build Quantum Gadgets, the character’s Mega-Intelligence sets the maximum limit to the levels of Mega-Attributes he can simulate in a Quantum Gadget &, most importantly, only the Mega-Intelligent can build Quantum Gadgets which simulate Quantum Powers – the non-Mega-Intelligent Nova is limited to Quantum Gadgets based on Abilities. In some cases the Storyteller will require a character to have a certain level of Mega-Intelligence or specific Enhancements (such as Scientific Prodigy & the like) to be able to build certain Quantum Gadgets – this is up to individual STs & Players to work out: different campaigns will vary depending on the flavour of the game (e.g. is gadgeteering being encouraged or just a side-line for the really smart?).

What rolls are required?

Engineering (naturally) is the usual Ability used to build Quantum Gadgets, since most Quantum Gadgets are traditional (if sci-fi) hardtech devices: guns, body armour, hand-held scanners, etc.. Science, covering such things as biology & chemistry, comes a close second, & is used for creating chemical or biological Quantum Gadgets (such as a pill which causes a Sizemorph: Shrink effect, or an acid vapour based on Quantum Bolt + the Cloud Extra). In theory other Abilities can also be used (such as Computer for writing a computer program Quantum Gadget for cracking passwords), or may be required as secondary Abilities – this generally comes down to what the ST & Players think fits the situation best: a Nova gun expert, for example, may have minimal training in general Engineering, but could possibly build a better gun using a cross-matched Intelligence & Firearms roll.

Whatever the dice pool used to create the Quantum Gadget the Nova gadgeteer gets to make a maximum of one ‘gadgeteering’ roll per 24 hours. Each success requires one hour of work: so a Nova with a high dice pool (or who just rolls well) may have to take more than one day to realise the successes he rolls in one shot. Mega-Stamina can help a Nova work longer hours, & the Fast Tasks Mega-Dexterity Enhancement can greatly reduce the time required per success. Gadgeteering rolls are Extended Actions (Aberrant p.109 to 110): successes accumulate with each roll – two failed rolls (no successes) in a row cause the whole project to be ruined (needs to go back to the drawing board & start over), while a Botch has the usual colourful (& possibly explosive) results.

Example one: a brilliant Nova genius with no Mega-Stamina or Mega-Dexterity rolls 15 successes on his first gadgeteering roll of a new project: unable to work 15 hours without a break, or to physically speed up the process, he takes two days to accumulate his fifteen successes (working nine-to-five with a half-hour lunch break), rolling again (if he needs to) when he starts work on day three.

Example two: a less intelligent Nova with enough Mega-Stamina that he can’t recall the last time he needed to sleep rolls 5 successes on his first gadgeteering roll on a new project: even though he can work round the clock, he’s just not smart enough to make any more than those 5 successes of progress on that first day – spending more than the five hours he needs just results in frustration & wasted effort.

Example three: a gadgeteer with the Fast Tasks Enhancement (& a well-stocked work area) rolls 8 successes: since the ST judges the Quantum Gadget he’s working on to be a ‘reasonably complex machine’ the Nova gets his 8 successes worth of work done, at super-speed, in a half hour & spends the rest of the day working on other projects (such as taking a few seconds to re-paint his lab…).

What statistics do Quantum Gadgets have?

A Quantum Gadget, in essence, has the statistics needed to achieve the effect it’s designed for. Quantum Gadgets which simulate the use of an Ability have the related Attribute & Ability scores to form their dice pool (such as Intelligence & Intrusion for a Quantum Gadget to pick electronic locks); Quantum Gadgets which simulate Quantum Powers have the Traits listed for that power’s ‘Dice Pool’ as well as a Quantum Trait equal or greater than that power’s ‘Quantum Minimum’ (so a ‘plasma pistol’ which simulates the Quantum Bolt power would have scores for Dexterity, Quantum Bolt, & a Quantum of 1 or more). A Quantum Gadget can also have Mega-Dice in its dice pool if the gadgeteer builds levels of the appropriate Mega-Attribute into it.

What limits do Quantum Gadgets have?

Quantum Gadgets, unlike characters, have limits or caps on the maximum results they can achieve: this limit is called the ‘Effect Level’ – the higher it is, the better results the Quantum Gadget is capable of. One Effect Level allows one net success worth of results or, in some cases (such as the damage done by a Quantum Bolt) one ‘dot’ worth of effect. The Quantum Gadget’s actual effects are still dependent on the amount of successes rolled when it’s used, but these successes can’t exceed the Effect Level it’s designed for.

Example One: the ‘hypno-disc’ is a Quantum Gadget designed to simulate the Domination power & has two Effect Levels built into it: after rolling the hypno-disc’s Dice Pool in a resisted action against the target’s Willpower the maximum net result can be two successes worth (a Major / Noteworthy intensity command). The hypno-disc can (& probably will) have a Dice Pool higher than 2, since it needs to overcome the target’s Willpower, but Effect Level only limits the final result (i.e. the ‘effect’), not the amount of successes you may roll in getting there.

Example Two: a ‘plasma pistol’ designed as a Quantum Gadget based on the Quantum Bolt (Bashing) power has an Effect Level of 4. At least one Effect Level has to be assigned to results (i.e. damage) based on Quantum, because the power’s Quantum minimum is 1. Each Effect Level assigned to Power Rating allows for a maximum of 4 dice worth of damage / effect, & each Effect Level assigned to Quantum allows for 3 levels worth of damage / effect. Whether the pistol can achieve these maximums depends on whether it has the relevant Power Rating & Quantum Traits built into it (so, in most cases, the guy building it will make sure to match his Effect Level allocation with the Traits he’s built into the weapon).

As well as the Effect Level limit, the Traits (Abilities, Quantum, Power Ratings, Mega-Attributes, Quantum Pool, etc.) built into a Quantum Gadget are limited by the gadgeteer’s skills & abilities – the higher his Quantum, Mega-Intelligence, & gadgeteering Ability (such as Engineering or Science) the higher these limits can be.

Continued...

[ProfPotts]

What advantages do Quantum Gadgets have?

One of the advantages of Quantum Gadgets is that they cost only 1 Quantum Point per use (2 for a baseline user), no matter the level of power they’re simulating, & that’s after the Uses Per Scene have run out. It also takes no more successes to create a power effect with an Extra in a Quantum Gadget than it does to create the basic power, since the Quantum Power’s Level doesn’t figure into things. Doc Techno could make his plasma pistol into, say, an Armour Piercing Quantum Bolt with no more difficulty than it took him to make a simple, unadulterated Quantum Bolt.

While normal game limits still apply to Quantum Gadgets, a gadgeteer with a Quantum of 5 can create Quantum Gadgets with a Quantum of 6 – opening up a whole new world of possibilities. Again this should be scrutinised by the ST, but the potential to build gizmos to simulate Level 4 powers, or powers with the all-powerful Mastery Extra are pretty interesting. Be prepared for your gadgeteer to spend a lot of time ‘researching from a distance’ though (unless you can get Pax or Mal into a lab), & expect the ST to make the essential materials needed for your little ‘doomsday machine’ take at least a couple of adventures to secure… Still, it could be worth the effort if you get to be the guy who built a ‘Crosstime Travel portal’ or that Quantum Bolt + Explosion + Mastery 1 city-busting ‘Death Ray’. Now you see why they have the Project Utopia S & T boys ready to hunt you down?

What form do Quantum Gadgets take?

Quantum Gadgets can take many forms, from ‘ray’ projectors to suits of armour to pills to surgical alteration. The form is based on two things: the Ability being used to make the Gadget (Engineering produces hardtech ‘gizmos’, whilst Science produces chemicals, drugs, explosives & the like, & Medicine could be used to perform surgical alterations); the Durability (Soak & Structural Levels, or Health Levels for biological Quantum Gadgets) the gadgeteer wishes the device to have – bigger things have more Soak & Structural Levels.

As a guideline:

Tiny objects (the size of a wristwatch) have no Soak & a single Structural Level. Since a Quantum Gadget starts with one less Soak & Structural level than its base form this means a gadgeteer making something this small will have to invest a few successes just to get back to these minimum ratings.

Pocket sized objects (such as weapons with a conceal rating of ‘P’) have a Soak of one & a single Structural Level (also requiring the gadgeteer to, at least, buy back the Structural Level with a success).

Objects concealable in a jacket (such as a heavy pistol) have a Soak of two & a maximum of two Structural Levels.

Objects which can be hidden under a trench-coat (such as a shotgun) have a Soak of two & a maximum of three Structural Levels.

Larger handheld objects (such as a large rifle or light machinegun) have a Soak of three & three Structural Levels.

‘Man-portable’ objects (like full-sized machineguns, or bulky backpacks) have a Soak of four & one Structural Level per ten kilograms of weight, up to a maximum of seven Structural Levels.

Anything larger generally has eight Structural Levels, & a Soak appropriate to the material it’s made out of (although most gadgeteers tend to like their creations to be portable). Really big Quantum Gadgets (the size of a house or battleship or something) can have twelve or more Structural Levels, but are seriously impractical for most purposes.

Body armour has the Soak it’s listed as having, & Structural Levels equal to its Destruction rating.

How many times can a Quantum Gadget be used?

Quantum Gadgets often need to be fuelled or powered – some have ‘Uses per scene’, others rely on Quantum Points (built-in or supplied by the user), some have both. Such power sources can be defined in many ways – from hi-tech batteries to bullets in a clip to web fluid cartridges to reserves of adrenalin in a biological host – but as far as game-mechanics go they’re all the same thing (although, generally, they are unique to the Quantum Gadget they’re built into – you can’t use the spare ‘Uses per scene’ you have from your plasma pistol to replace your expended web fluid cartridges). A few Quantum Gadgets with ‘Permanent’ Effects don’t require such ‘charges’ & just work all the time.

Who can use a Quantum Gadget?

A gadgeteer can build Quantum Gadgets usable only by himself (& others who can figure out how the darned thing operates), other Novas, or everyone (Novas & baselines alike): the more type of people who can use the thing, the more time & effort (gadgeteering roll successes) it takes to build it.

How long does a Quantum Gadget last?

A Quantum Gadget has a limited life-span, after which it starts to degrade, & eventually busts altogether. Most gadgeteers will offset this with regular maintenance (a single gadgeteering success extends the lifespan of the Quantum Gadget by a month) – but if the thing falls into the hands of someone else who can’t maintain it, it’s eventually going to break.

Gadgeteering 101:

Okay, that’s the overview - & it got a little involved towards the end, but hopefully a step by step look at the process with some examples will make everything clear… Time to get gadgeteering!

- Step One – recognise your own limits

Quantum: the maximum Quantum score a Gadget can have is equal to the gadgeteer’s own Quantum +1: so you can just forget building anything to simulate a power with a higher Quantum minimum than that.

Example – Doc Techno has Quantum 3, so the maximum Quantum score he can build into a Quantum Gadget is 4: he can’t build a gizmo to simulate, say, the Clone power (or any other power with a Quantum minimum of 5 or more), but his ‘weather machine’ using the Weather Alteration Technique of Weather Manipulation, with a Quantum minimum of 4, is fair game.

Effect Levels: the gadgeteer’s Quantum x2 is also the upper limit to the number of ‘Effect Levels’ the Quantum Gadget can have. One ‘Effect Level’ equals one ‘success’ in use, or rather, one ‘dot’ worth of effect - on occasion this can mean more than it seems at first glance, especially with damage dice pools from Quantum Powers.

Overall power: [Quantum x2] is also the limit of the Quantum Gadget’s combined Quantum & Power Rating scores.

Traits: the higher of [Quantum -1] or [Engineering / Science / appropriate gadgeteering Ability -1] is the Trait limit for Traits (Abilities or Power Rating) the gadgeteer doesn’t possess, but can study in a lab, & the higher of [Quantum -2] or [gadgeteering Ability -2] the limit for Traits he doesn’t possess & has to study at a distance (i.e. research without a test subject handy).

Example: Doc Techno builds a plasma pistol based on the Quantum Bolt power & creates it with his maximum Effect Level of [Quantum 3 x 2 =] 6. He wants the pistol to inflict Bashing damage, so each Effect Level he assigns to Quantum grants the pistol a potential 3 levels of damage, & each Effect Level he assigns to Power Rating (in this case Quantum Bolt) grants it a potential 4 dice of damage. Not one to do things by halves Doc Techno is planning on building the pistol with the maximum Quantum score he can [Quantum 3 + 1 =] 4, which means he can only build it with [Quantum x 2 = 6; 6 – 4 =] 2 dots worth of Power Rating. He assigns the pistol’s Effect Levels to match. When complete the pistol will inflict damage of [2 x 4 =] 6 dice & [4 x 3 =] 12 levels (or 6[12]B in game terms) per shot.

Example Two: say Doc Techno wants to create his plasma pistol with more potential damage, but more variance in damage too. In this case he builds the pistol with the same 6 Effect Levels, but with only a Quantum of 2, leaving him free to build in 4 dots worth of Power Rating (the maximum he can hope for with his Engineering Ability of 5 & a helpful Nova friend to study lobbing plasma bolts under laboratory conditions). Now the pistol inflicts [2 x 3 =] 6 levels & [4 x 4 =] 16 dice of Bashing damage (or 16[6]B in game terms).

Mega-Intelligence: if you don’t have it you’re stuck with building Quantum Gadgets to simulate Ability use. You can still make some pretty handy stuff (such as a Drive-based auto-pilot for your car, an Endurance-based energy drink, or an Intrusion-based electronic lock pick) but the really sci-fi stuff will be out of reach.

Mega-Attributes: Mega-Intelligence also limits the number of dots worth of Mega-Attribute the gadgeteer can build into the Quantum Gadget for Mega-Attributes he doesn’t possess himself: [2x Mega-Intelligence] -1 for Mega-Attributes he can study in a lab, & Mega-Intelligence -2 for Mega-Attributes he has to study at a distance.

Example – Doc Techno has Quantum 3, Mega-Intelligence 4, & Engineering 5. He can create Quantum Gadgets with a maximum Quantum score of 4, a maximum of 6 Effect Levels, & a maximum [Quantum + Power Rating] total of 6. He can simulate Abilities & Power Ratings he doesn’t posses up to 4 dots if he can study them in a lab, or 3 dots if he can’t find a willing test subject & has to rely on old research he finds on the OpNet (studies at a distance). He can simulate Mega-Attributes of up to 5 if he can study them in the lab (Mega-Intelligence 4 x 2 = 8, -1 = 7, but he can only build up to Quantum 4 into a gizmo, which limits him to Mega-Attributes of 5), or 2 (Mega-Intelligence 4 – 2 = 2) if he can’t find a volunteer willing to be probed.

Continued...

[ProfPotts]

- Step Two – dream the dream

Now you know your ballpark maximum targets, decide what you want the Quantum Gadget to do, then work out which Ability or Quantum Power is required to achieve that effect. Some are obvious (a shrink-ray will need Sizemorph: Shrink, a force field belt will need Armour or Force Field, a rocket pack will need Flight & possibly Hypermovement: Flight too), while others are less so (e.g. incense which enables the character to ‘astral project’ could be built using ESP with the Distant Scan Extra).

Once you know which Ability or Quantum Power you’ll be simulating, you can take note of the related Dice Pool Traits & Quantum Minimum – these are the things you’ll need to build into the gizmo to make it work.

- Step Three – research

If your Quantum Gadget is going to simulate Traits you don’t possess, you’re going to need to do some research before you even start: studying in laboratory conditions is, of course, preferred, but studying at a distance is generally more available (pretty much all known Nova powers are well documented thanks to the media’s love-affair with the ‘Quantum gods’, not to mention all that research done by other scientists – standing on the shoulders of giants & all that).

- Step Four – resources

To build things you generally need stuff: i.e. whatever it is you’re going to be building the gizmo out of. Unless the ST is happy with you being a ‘junkyard inventor’ then you’ll probably need some Resources, & possibly appropriate Contacts who can supply you with the bits & bobs you need for your masterpiece. In many ways this stage of the process is the ST’s opportunity to control the whole situation – if he’s happy for you to build the thing you could find you’ve got everything you need in your garage, if he wants you to work a bit more for it, then a critical component could turn out to be rare, expensive, or otherwise hard to get your hands on. Hey, there could even be a scenario or two in there somewhere…

- Step Five – the hard work

Having planned your Quantum Gadget, done the research, & gathered the resources you’ll need, it’s finally time to build the thing. Roll the appropriate gadgeteering dice pool in an extended action until you’ve got enough successes for the thing to be built. This could take hours, days, weeks, or more, depending on how fast your character accumulates successes, & the amount of time he has to spend on the project. Try not to botch any rolls – STs can be cruel…

- Step Six – tinkering

Having built the contraption you can spend any extra success as you see fit: Quantum, Power Rating, Effect Level, Quantum Storage, Health Levels (&, logically, Soak), & possibly Ability ratings are all capped with a maximum limit so, if in doubt, remember you can always pile extra successes into Duration (i.e. life span) or (if you have enough successes) extra Uses per scene.

Example: our good friend Doc Techno is building his plasma pistol, based on the Quantum Bolt power. In the end he can’t find a Nova with the appropriate power to study in a lab, so he designs the gun with Quantum 3, Power Rating 3. It takes him 18 hours to research the pistol (he takes it easy & spends 3 days on the research). When completed the gun will fire a plasma bolt which inflicts 12[9]B damage, to a medium range of 90 meters – much better than the .45 the Doc’s carrying at the moment. Having several minor, but lucrative, patents under his belt Doc Techno has a well-equipped lab with everything he needs to build his plasma pistol at hand, so on day four of the project he starts the construction…

… Now he’s down to assigning gadgeteering roll (in this case Engineering) successes Doc Techno’s player starts off by assigning successes to the essentials: Quantum, Power Rating, Effect Level, & Dexterity (the ST agrees with the Doc’s player that the gun will use the firer’s Firearms dice pool like any other gun, but the plasma pistol still needs a Dexterity rating to define the maximum number of dice this will be, since Quantum Bolt uses Dexterity + Power Rating to hit its targets – wanting as little limit as possible the Doc’s Player decides to give the gun the maximum Dexterity of 5: giving the gun a maximum dice pool ‘to-hit’ of 8 – i.e. anyone firing the gun uses their own Firearms dice pool, up to a maximum of 8 dice, Novas can spend Quantum Points to exceed this limit if they have a larger dice pool). The Quantum 3 takes 8 successes, the Power Rating 3 takes 9 successes, the Effect Level 6 takes a whopping 64 successes, & the Dexterity 5 takes 16 successes (Doc Techno’s Dexterity is 3) for a grand total of 97 successes. Doc Techno prefers to keep business hours, & works around 40 hours a week – his Engineering dice pool is plenty high enough to sustain that many successes, so he’s got the basic gun finished in about three weeks.

At this point the plasma pistol can be used by Doc Techno (or another Nova with Mega-Intelligence 3 or more who takes the time to figure the thing out) but costs him one Quantum Point per shot (still cheaper than a natural Quantum Bolt). It’ll last for 9 months, & has one less Soak & Health Level than a heavy pistol (since that’s what it’s based on). If he continues to work on the pistol Doc Techno can assign additional Engineering successes to give it a power supply (its own Quantum Pool & / or Uses Per Scene), make it more user-friendly (usable by other Novas, & even baselines), increase its Durability (Soak & Health Levels), & extend its operational life span (Duration).

If Doc Techno wants to build another plasma pistol in the future he has a couple of options. Firstly he can use the research he’s already done & just build another one the same (plus or minus extra successes). Secondly, since he now has a working ‘power’ (from the pistol he’s already made) he can study in the lab, he can adjust the design, doing more research & increasing the Power Rating to 4 (although this will necessitate decreasing the Quantum to 2 to abide by his overall total limit of 6). Such a pistol would inflict 16[6]B damage (as opposed to the ‘prototype’s 12[9].

Notes: if the ST is using the Strengths & Weaknesses rules these too can be applied to a Quantum Gadget, with no real limits – although the overall Effect will still be limited by the Quantum Gadget’s Effect Level. As usual with Strengths & Weaknesses, the ST needs to keep a close eye on potential abuse (a Quantum Gadget which conjures up Permanent effects through the application of a single Strength is just as abusive as Nova power which does the same).

Continued...

[ProfPotts]

Quantum Gadget Variants:

Gizmos [Engineering]

Gizmos are hardtech devices, & are the most common & familiar form of Quantum Gadget, following the rules as presented. In the comics ray guns, armoured suits, costumes, helmets & the like are all popular forms of gizmo, as are rocket packs, flights discs, & similar hi-tech travel devices. More humble gizmos include electronic lock picks, mini-hacking computers, & vehicle auto-pilots.

Chemicals & Drugs [science]

A close second to gizmos in popularity chemicals & drugs include all sorts of things, from shrinking pills, to acid bombs, to explosives devices.

Generally chemicals & drugs, unlike gizmos, are consumed when they’re used. When a gadgeteer initially constructs a Quantum Gadget like this, what she’s actually made is a means of producing the chemical or drug in question. The Gadget’s ‘Uses per scene’ designates how many ‘doses’ are produced & available in a scene, & those operating the production equipment can spend Quantum Points (their own or those built into the Quantum Gadget) to squeeze a few more doses out. The Quantum Gadget’s Duration generally applies to the production equipment, rather than each individual dose. Doses can’t be ‘stockpiled’ from scene to scene – until enough existing doses are used up to drop the total amount less than the Uses per scene any extras made will cost a Quantum Point each to produce.

A chemical or drug can be designed with more than one ‘use’ per dose: generally this is used for Quantum Gadgets which simulate ‘Maintenance’ duration powers & means you end up with less doses, but each one lasts longer.

The disadvantage of chemicals & drugs compared to gizmos is that you generally can’t get any additional uses out of them ‘in the field’ – producing doses takes a certain amount of time & effort. The advantage is that you can split up your uses (e.g. passing out your shrinking pills or acid bombs to all your friends).

Surgery [Medicine]

Often the realm of super-villains & their loyal minions in the comics a Quantum Gadget can be built into a person or animal (this could represent anything from cybernetics to gene-splicing). This generally follows the standard Quantum Gadget rules, but there are a few things to look out for:

Duration – unless the gadgeteer keeps up regular ‘maintenance’ on the surgically altered subject they’ll eventually self-destruct (often in a spectacular & unpleasant manner), just like any other Quantum Gadget. Keeps the Followers in line though…

Durability – the very act of making the biological subject into a Quantum Gadget reduces their Health Levels by one. However, it just takes a few extra successes to regain that Health Level, & pile on a few more while you’re at it (up to the gadgeteer’s Quantum in Health Levels) – this is a cheap & easy boost to grant your minions.

Versatility – generally you’ll want your biological subject to be able to use the fantastic new Traits you’ve grafted into him, which will require the usual level of successes added to Versatility, as well as a Quantum Pool if the subject is a mere baseline you’re trying to elevate to greater heights.

A baseline by any other name – even if you build fantastic powers & a Quantum Pool into your baseline Follower when he’s under the knife, he’s still a baseline, & not a Nova: the ‘Quantum Pool’ you give him isn’t a Nova’s ‘generic’ pool, but rather a power source for the specific effects of the Quantum Powers you build in – he can’t max those powers, or exceed the Effect Level, or do any of the other things which Novas are so good at. He won’t detect as a Nova, although he will show up as a ‘source of Quantum’ which can be seen as pretty much the same thing by those not familiar with your glorious work.

Artifice [Occult]

As an example of how flexible the Quantum Gadget rules can be, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that, since a Quantum Gadget is an extension of the gadgeteer’s Quantum talents as much as it is real ‘technology’, a character with the Occult Ability (such as several characters in Reign of Evil dot.com possess) could use the same rules, with Occult as the applicable gadgeteering Ability, to create ‘magic items’ – wands, rings, staves, etc. would be similar to gizmos, whilst potions would follow the rules for chemicals & drugs, & enchantments (such as magical tattoos) would be similar to surgical alteration. From a game mechanics point of view there’s really no difference between a Quantum Bolt fired from a wand & a Quantum Bolt fired from a plasma pistol; even from an in-game perspective it’s not really a question of whether magic is ‘real’ or not in the game setting, but rather a question about the nature of Quantum Gadgets – are they ‘real’ technology, which could (eventually) be duplicated by others, or are they just another manifestation of Quantum power shaped by our expectations of how the world should work?

[ProfPotts]

Quantum Gadget Example - Body Armour

A pretty common 'gadget' in comics is an armoured costume. Most Novas in Aberrant either scorn the use of armour altogether, or wear Eufiber from the apparantly endless supply of this 'rare' substance which seems to grace character sheets. However, Quantum Gadget body armour can be pretty good, even at minimal levels:

Starting with the armour chart (Aberrant p.277) we see that the most likely candidates for an armoured costume are 'Reinforced Clothing' (full body protection, minimal extra Soak, but no penalties), or 'Advanced Body Armour' (full body protection, environmentally sealed, electrically insulated, with a decent Soak bonus, but also a 2 dice penalty to Dexterity dice pools) - essentially the difference between 'the Bat suit' & 'Iron Man'.

Say our gadgeteer has Mega-Intelligence, but only one dot of Quantum - what can he make?

Since we know what we'll be basing the gizmo on (body armour), we'll start with the thing's Durability. After applying the -1 Soak & Structural Level for being a Quantum Gadget the Bat suit has -1 Bashing Soak, 1 Lethal Soak, & Destruction of 7: this obviously needs some work, so the gadgeteer plans to throw a few gadgeteering successes into Durability to raise these Traits back up again (with Quantum 1 this is the best he can manage). If he was building Iron Man, he'd probably do the same thing (even though, with no Traits below zero, he wouldn't have to). This, essentially, gets us right back to where we started, but with one important difference: our armoured costume is now a Quantum Gadget.

Since he has Quantum 1 our gadgeteer can only build Quantum Gadgets with a maximum of 2 Effect Levels, & a Quantum + Power Rating total in any effect as 2. Even though he can, in theory, build Quantum Gadgets with a Quantum of 2 (his own Quantum +1) in effect he can only build in a Quantum of 1 if he also wants to have effects with Power Ratings (which, let's face it, is kinda' the point). He allocates 4 successes to give the costume Quantum 1.

At this point our gadgeteer decides that he's only looking for permanent effects for the body armour at the moment, so he doesn't bother assigning any successes to Quantum Pool or Uses Per Scene. He also doesn't really want anyone else stealing & using his new costume, so he leaves the Versatility at the default level of 'him only'. Flicking through the powers section of the Aberrant main rule book he also realises that the powers he's thinking about for the costume don't require any Attributes in their dice pools either, so he forgets about them for now as well.

Finally ready to start allocating successes to Power Ratings our gadgeteer notes that none of the powers he's looking at are ones he possesses himself or which are available for him to study in a lab, but since he can only build a maximum of 1 dot's worth of Power Rating into any effect anyway (thanks to the Quantum + Power Rating limit of 2 he has), & he has Engineering & Science Abilities of 5 each, he's not too worried. He'll take six hours to research each dot of Power Rating he wants to build in.

To start with he builds in a dot of Armour (duh!) but, since it takes him no extra effort to do so, he also tosses in the Impervious Extra, just to be on the safe side. This grants the costume an additional 3 Soak, even against Aggravated damage (the Bat suit's now on Bashing 3 / Lethal 5, whilst Iron Man's on Bashing 9 / Lethal 9). For an armoured costume this isn't half bad, but our gadgeteer wants a bit more. Thinking that he's more likely to go up against guys with guns than he is Quantum Bolt lobbing Elites he also builds in a dot of Invulnerability [broad Category - Physical] which adds an extra 6 Soak against physical attacks (putting the Bat suit on Bashing 9 / Lethal 11, & Iron Man on Bashing 15 / Lethal 15). Our man would like to add in more Invulnerabilities, but that would exceed his Power Rating limit - so he'll need to build them into seperate Quantum Gadgets (such as a cape with a dot of Invulnerability [broad Category - Energy]). Finally, wanting all-round protection, he also adds in a dot each of Psychic Shield & Sensory Shield - 'cos you never know, right? For each of these seperate effects he spends three successes to add the dot of power rating, & twelve successes to add two Effect Levels (each power is only using one dot's worth of Effect, from the Power Rating, but he still need to have a single Effect Level allocated to the Quantum Minimum of 1 each power has).

Happy with the protective value of the costume he's created our gadgeteer flips through the book to see if he can't spice it up a little more. Noticing the Body Modification power with a Quantum Minimum of one & effectively only one 'Power Rating' dot for most of the modifications (apart from multi-pick ones like really long tentacles or loads of extra Health Levels) he smiles & decides to indulge, adding in a 'stealth' effect based on Chromatophores. Wings / Patagia he takes note of, but decides to save for the cape he's planning on creating to go with the costume.

Note that although our gadgeteer had to spend successes for Power Rating & Effect Level for each effect / power he built into his costume, he only had to spend successes for Durability & Quantum once, since these apply to the entire Quantum Gadget rather than just individual effects. The costume will last for 11 months before it falls apart - but our gadgeteer is pretty sure he'll be sewing up bullet holes in it long before then anyway.

[ProfPotts]

Quantum Gadget Example - Utility Belt

All the best dressed heroes are wearing them! After making his costume, & a similar cape (with Invulnerability [broad Category - Energy], & the gliding ability of Body Modification - Wings / Patagia) our gadgeteer decides to go totally bats :batlogo: & make himself a utility belt.

Starting with an actual utility belt (similar in design to a military belt with multiple pouches) he once more spend a couple of successes on Durability to offset the penalties imposed by making the thing a Quantum Gadget. Next he adds in a single dot of Quantum, so that it can have powers. So far it's just like when he was building his costume & cape, but this time he wants to build in some powers which aren't so permanent.

Wanting to have lots of things to throw at the bad guys our gadgeteer builds a dot of Quantum Bolt into the Utility belt, defining it as bashing damage, & giving it the MIRV extra (so that he can hit lots of targets with one shot). For his two Effect Levels he has to allocate one to Quantum & one to Power Rating, which gives him a modest ranged attack which does 4[3]B damage. Since our gadgeteer has Dexterity 5 it only costs him 6 successes to give the effect that rating as well, which he does so: he now rolls 6 dice (Dexterity 5 + Power Rating 1) to target the attack. The attack has a medium range of 30 meters. Wanting to use this attack more than once per scene he assigns 30 successes to get 4 Uses Per Scene, & doesn't bother with giving it a Quantum Pool. Effect complete he calls is his 'bat-a-rangs' & defines it as four collapsable boomerangs he carries in his utility belt which he can throw in such a way that they arc about hitting mutliple targets.

Realising that he can just repeat the process without any additonal maths our gadgeteer creates a few more similar effects based on Quantum Bolt: a mini-grenade with the Explosion Extra, a Lethal throwing blade with the Armour Piercing Extra, & a knockout-gas grenade with the Cloud Extra. None of these do huge amounts of damage, but then again he's planning on using them against baseline thugs, not the Teragen.

On similar lines our gadgeteer goes on to create a mini smoke-bomb using the Shroud power (& the ST's agreement to allow the smoke to last for a set duration, rather than 'Concentration'), & a nausea-gas mini-grenade based on the Disorient power with the Cloud Extra (in this case his Effect Level of 2 limits the grenade's effectiveness to 2 net successes, but he gives the effect a Manipulation of 5 so that he can roll 6 dice against the target's Willpower in the resisted roll called for by the Disorient power).

Pleased with his new utility belt our gadgeteer realises that he can just keep going like this, adding effects - each with its own Uses Per Scene to define how many he carries - whenever he gets a spare few hours (or days) to work on it some more. Since the belt is also an actual utility belt as well as a Quantum Gadget he doesn't neglect filling it with more mundane items as well: lock picks, radio, med-kit, etc.. Whilst he could create Quantum Gadgets to simulate some of the things these items are used for, he's pretty confidant that his personal dice pools in each case will far outstrip the maximum 2 Effect Levels he could build in, so doesn't bother. Naturally there's only so much the Utility Belt can logically carry, but since the gadgeteer is making all his 'doses' of effect micronised or miniturised (hey, it's Nova-tech after all) this limit will probably be a long time coming.

[archer]

Prof, thank you for such a detailed and easily understandable explanation! Outstanding work. It helped me really clear up certain things I didn't understand before.

I do still have some questions though. For instance, I'm still a bit fuzzy on that thin line between Gadgets and high-tech equipment, and I blame that mostly on the Elites book. Some of the items are obviously Gadgets, like the Invisibility Suit...it requires Quantum to function. But other things, like the Electro-Shock Pistol or the Monofilament Whipsword, those are realllllly nasty, but still available for purchase(at least with Backing or just a ton of money.)

Where would you say that line is?

[ProfPotts]

Technically that 'line' is variable - using the rules in Aberrant: Year One a really smart character who puts in the effort (& takes a Taint hit for 'messing with the unknown' - or whatever it is they call it) can, in theory, change Gadget-ish technology into 'real' technology - not just a one-off toy, but an actual improvement / development of humanity's scientific & technological understanding. Real world-changing stuff (potentially).

On the other hand, such developments, unlike Quantum Gadgets, do require at least some basis in current scientific theory - Electro-shock pistols, BFGs, monofilament weapons & the like are all (sort of) plausable, if not practical, by today's understanding of science. Gadgets often also, technically, fulfil these criteria (unless they are literal 'magic wands' or other such fantasies) - so a gadgeteer willing to put in the extra effort (& take a dot of permanent Taint) to consolidate the principles behind his Quantum Gadget can, eventually, make it possible for the thing to be made by others - even baselines, or mass-produced! At that point the former Gadget won't follow quite the same rules, but will be a specific creation with a rules-set of its own (like an Invisibility Suit).

Of course, in many cases the technology to support manufacture just won't be in place - you can't build a computer out of piles of the raw materials (sand, metal ore, raw chemicals, etc.) which ultimately go into its construction: you need to build the machines to build the machines to build the machines to build the machines which ultimately make the components of the computer. In other words, if a character wants to invent the warp-drive he can either build it as a one-off Gadget, or start the long process of trying to elevate humanity's technological capabilities to the point where warp drive manufacture is a practical possibility. Since we can flick through the Trinity books & get a good idea of which technologies are established enough to survive the Aberrant War (OpNet stuff, computer stuff, energy weapons, 'mecha' robots, etc.) we can have a reasonable idea of which technologies from the Nova age are developed as 'real' & which are mere Gadgets which don't outlast the war.

Aberrant: Year One has a host of already established technologies of the Nova age - perhaps the most impressive being Advanced Genetic Engineering (p. 79), which any character with a half-decent Medicine dice pool can attempt. Phobia fields, remote weaponry, vitrium, & others are all in there too. The Elites book, of course, provides some rules for what can be done with vehicles (p. 80) without the need to resort to gadgeteering.

So - an Invisibility Suit (as DeVries make) isn't actually a Quantum Gadget. Sure, you could make a Quantum Gadget which granted the Invisibility power, but it'd work differently (& could be modified as you liked, within the limits of your gadgeteering skills). Or, you could get hold of the plans for an Invisibility Suit, the correct resources, & just make one - even a skilled baseline could. Or, you could get hold of an actual suit & 'reverse engineer' it.

[SkyLion]

I have a relevant question here. If you think you know the answer please don't hesitate to respond.

Gadgeteering is an extended action. An extended action is only so because you need a higher than normal ammount of successes to succeed and are allowed to add up your rolls to that effect in such appropriate circumstances.

However certain powers, namely fast tasks and hypercognition say that they can turn an extended action into a simple one.

How is this possible for gadgeteering? If I need 80 successes for my gadget and I use fast tasks and hypercog to make this a simple non-extended action, how does that work? Does this change the limit of being able to make only one roll per 24 hours? Would you make as many rolls as needed to complete the project still but consider them to take place in the same ammount of time one would normally spend on the single roll required of a normal standard action???

A little help here...

[BlueNinja]

Gadgeteering is an extended action. An extended action is only so because you need a higher than normal ammount of successes to succeed and are allowed to add up your rolls to that effect in such appropriate circumstances.

However certain powers, namely fast tasks and hypercognition say that they can turn an extended action into a simple one.

How is this possible for gadgeteering? If I need 80 successes for my gadget and I use fast tasks and hypercog to make this a simple non-extended action, how does that work? Does this change the limit of being able to make only one roll per 24 hours? Would you make as many rolls as needed to complete the project still but consider them to take place in the same ammount of time one would normally spend on the single roll required of a normal standard action???

This is how my last group did it, and I know because I was the gadgeteer. ::biggrin

Normally, you make one roll per day. However many successes you accumulate is however many successes you accumulate; a "day" with 15 successes was just an outstanding day where everything went according to plan, while a "day" with 5 successes was a disappointment. (And let's face it, when you toss Inventive Genius and the neccessary Prodigy into the mix, 15 successes is easy.) Fast Tasks let me reduce a regular 8 hour "day" into a 4 hour "day" essentially letting you make two rolls. Adaptability let me add another extra roll into the day, while still participating in group operations, or letting me turn any 4-hour down-time into lab time.

Given these guidelines, I would just have Hypercognition add bonus dice; alternately if you want to stick with the Prof's rules here, have Hypercognition and Fast Tasks reduce the amount of time each 'success' takes, by half (so that a character with both would only use up 15 minutes per success instead of an hour).

Personally, I prefer adapting the Adventure! gadgeting rules to Aberrant powers, but that's mostly because I think it's slightly less confusing.

[metaphysician]

Downside to that interp is that it doesn't give you any benefit to focused effort on invention. You can do inventions more casually, but if your still limited to one roll a day, your still limited.

[SkyLion]

Right. Thats my point. According to Fast Tasks even a complex device would take only a half hour to construct, also noted in Prof's deciphering. Prof didnt rewrite the rules, he just stated them more clearly. So given that fast tasks means you can do the construction in a half hour, and hypercognition makes the extended task simple, wouldn't it make sense to be able to make ALL your rolls in the same day? I mean, normally you dont roll multiple times for a simple action, only for extended ones, as in this case with the roll per day rule. So if it isnt extended anymore then you only need 1 period of time to complete the task.

Otherwise it sounds like the rules for fast tasks hypercog and simple and extended actions were quite daft, and not at all well thought out or explained.

ICly, Hypercog means you dont have to go through all the steps...you simplt comprehend the final design in an instant, and then with fast tasks you could assemble it in a half hour. Am I wrong in this? Are the rules just wack?

[BlueNinja]

Right. Thats my point. According to Fast Tasks even a complex device would take only a half hour to construct, also noted in Prof's deciphering. Prof didnt rewrite the rules, he just stated them more clearly. So given that fast tasks means you can do the construction in a half hour, and hypercognition makes the extended task simple, wouldn't it make sense to be able to make ALL your rolls in the same day? I mean, normally you dont roll multiple times for a simple action, only for extended ones, as in this case with the roll per day rule. So if it isnt extended anymore then you only need 1 period of time to complete the task.

Otherwise it sounds like the rules for fast tasks hypercog and simple and extended actions were quite daft, and not at all well thought out or explained.

ICly, Hypercog means you dont have to go through all the steps...you simplt comprehend the final design in an instant, and then with fast tasks you could assemble it in a half hour. Am I wrong in this? Are the rules just wack?

I think this is yet another example of the rules being broken. If you could use them both in such a fashion to build a gadget from initial concept to testable product in one day, that's ridiculously overpowering. IMO, Hypercognition was there to reduce things like, say cracking a password, a job of a couple of hours, down to a couple of minutes. It's not meant to reduce a (potentially) several month job down to a day or two.

Have you read the file I uploaded to modify the Adventure! gadget rules for nova-quantum-Gadgets?

[SkyLion]

I think this is yet another example of the rules being broken. If you could use them both in such a fashion to build a gadget from initial concept to testable product in one day, that's ridiculously overpowering. IMO, Hypercognition was there to reduce things like, say cracking a password, a job of a couple of hours, down to a couple of minutes. It's not meant to reduce a (potentially) several month job down to a day or two.

Have you read the file I uploaded to modify the Adventure! gadget rules for nova-quantum-Gadgets?

Actually thats exactly what it was meant to do. Hypercognition has one effect, making extended rolls into simple fast ones. And Fast tasks gives you the phyisical ability to act on it.

Basically what I am saying is that if it *doesn't* do this then the enhancement (Hypercog) is utterly useless. The question isnt whether or not it makes the extended roll simple...it says that already. The question is how does that work with gadgeteering, where there is simply no way to accumulate those successes on a single simple roll. Furthermore the extended action rules that these enhancements keep refering to on Page 109 all say that the only reason extended rolls exist is when you need to accumulate alot of successes over time. IN that case one shoud be able to Gadgeteer with a simple action: IE: ONe roll only. So maybe a better way to handle it is that Hypercog reduces the overall successes needed...maybe something like it halves the number needed per q point spent.

Or maybe the enhancment needs to be rewritten...there has GOT to be a way to make this bloody thing effective... ::brick

[metaphysician]

*shrug* Way my GM handled Fast Tasks plus Gadgeteering was to just give three rolls per day, rather than one. Worked fine.

Though, honestly, an effect that lets you entirely skip the experimental phase of gadget design, going straight from conception to final assembly? Probably too powerful for below Q6.

[Alex Green]

Basically what I am saying is that if it *doesn't* do this then the enhancement (Hypercog) is utterly useless.

Not useless... Hypercog is still a legit enhancement even if it doesn't interact well with Gadgets. But you'd think it do *something* without simply handing the ST's keys to the player, there needs to be a happy medium in there...

...or it could be an enhancement in search of a problem.

[metaphysician]

Maybe that latter. I can't remember, but is there actually any firm distinction between "Intelligence skill checks that are simple" versus "Intelligence skill checks that are complex", aside from the fact that some such skill checks require more sux than are likely to be acquirable in a single action?

[metaphysician]

Hmm. . . rereading the description of Hypercognition, I'm increasingly skeptical of its utility. Or rather, its utility for gadgeteering.

Basically, as near as I can tell, Hypercog lets you make a skill check immediately, for something that would otherwise require more than a single turn of actions before you could do so. It *doesn't* actually alter the difficulty of the skill check in any way. So, to use the example, you enter a crime scene that requires 5 sux of Investigate success to figure out what happened. With Hypercog, you don't need to spend hours examining the scene, you just give it a once over, and bam. However, you still need to roll 5 sux on the skill check.

Going off this, my best guess of how Hypercog interacts with gadgeteering: you get an intuitive 'step up' on the process of design, equivalent to one free Int + Science ( or whatever ) skill check on the first day. If that check is enough to make the gadget, then bang, you finish the thing in a single scene, limited only by how long it takes to assemble. If it doesn't? You get those sux, and then you get to roll for that days work. Your hypercognitive intuition helps, but it wasn't enough to do all the work for you.

This, btw, is how I'd apply Hypercog to other skill checks where you can potentially fail the initial simple skill check. If you need 10 sux to figure out the crime scene, and you only get 5, well, you still have more investigating to do, but your basically half done from the moment you lay eyes on the scene.

[SkyLion]

*shrug* Way my GM handled Fast Tasks plus Gadgeteering was to just give three rolls per day, rather than one. Worked fine.

Though, honestly, an effect that lets you entirely skip the experimental phase of gadget design, going straight from conception to final assembly? Probably too powerful for below Q6.

And yet that is what the enhancement says it does Hyper- Cognition. You comprehend it all immediately.

QUOTE(metaphysician @ Jun 11 2008, 12:57 PM) Hmm. . . rereading the description of Hypercognition, I'm increasingly skeptical of its utility. Or rather, its utility for gadgeteering.

Basically, as near as I can tell, Hypercog lets you make a skill check immediately, for something that would otherwise require more than a single turn of actions before you could do so. It *doesn't* actually alter the difficulty of the skill check in any way. So, to use the example, you enter a crime scene that requires 5 sux of Investigate success to figure out what happened. With Hypercog, you don't need to spend hours examining the scene, you just give it a once over, and bam. However, you still need to roll 5 sux on the skill check.

Going off this, my best guess of how Hypercog interacts with gadgeteering: you get an intuitive 'step up' on the process of design, equivalent to one free Int + Science ( or whatever ) skill check on the first day. If that check is enough to make the gadget, then bang, you finish the thing in a single scene, limited only by how long it takes to assemble. If it doesn't? You get those sux, and then you get to roll for that days work. Your hypercognitive intuition helps, but it wasn't enough to do all the work for you.

This, btw, is how I'd apply Hypercog to other skill checks where you can potentially fail the initial simple skill check. If you need 10 sux to figure out the crime scene, and you only get 5, well, you still have more investigating to do, but your basically half done from the moment you lay eyes on the scene.

However you still are not addressing the fundamental description of the enhancement, which is to make the extended, simple. In the example above, if you still have more work to do then you are still in an extended roll. From what I can tell to follow the letter and spirit of the enhancment maybe you still have to keep rolling to accumulate successes but all of those rols are considered to happen at the time it would take for a simple single roll.

[metaphysician]

Let me put it slightly differently: if the enhancement *just* makes the extended, simple, then an action that requires 20 sux, or 50 sux, or 100 sux, should still require exactly that many sux.

If it suddenly requires fewer sux, than its not only simple and immediate, its also easier, maybe massively easier. This is, mechanically, the equivalent of adding extra dots of Intelligence or Mega-Intelligence. . . possibly *large* amounts of it.

So, your choice really do boil down to:

1. "Some actions are so tough that they still take time"

2. "Some actions are so tough they cannot benefit from it at all"

Because #3, "You get what amounts to a few dozen extra dots of Intelligence", is not an option any sane GM will embrace.

[BlueNinja]

However you still are not addressing the fundamental description of the enhancement, which is to make the extended, simple. In the example above, if you still have more work to do then you are still in an extended roll. From what I can tell to follow the letter and spirit of the enhancment maybe you still have to keep rolling to accumulate successes but all of those rols are considered to happen at the time it would take for a simple single roll.

No ... Hypercognition doesn't make an extended action simpler, it just makes it shorter. How much shorter is, similar to Fast Tasks, open to interpretation by the GM. As a GM, I would allow some bonus for having it to Gadgeteering (which I realize, I didn't include in my write-up/conversion) but there is still a limit on just how much you could reduce the time frame before it reaches me "Um, no" point.

A Gadget that would normally take a few weeks? With Fast Tasks and Hyper-cog you could drop it to a few days, yeah. Not to one day, probably.

Fast Tasks is there to let you do an hour long task in a minute, or a day long task in an hour. In the books, the biggest example of it I can remember is when a group of Utopians build a housing project (several square blocks) in a handful of days, and that was a dozen or so novas, working with baseline support. Hypercognition should be the equivalent for mental-only tasks, like doing the Sunday NY Times crossword in a minute or so, or something like a projected rocket launch in a couple of seconds. Gadgeteering is a slightly different line of work, so to speak.

[SkyLion]

Let me put it slightly differently: if the enhancement *just* makes the extended, simple, then an action that requires 20 sux, or 50 sux, or 100 sux, should still require exactly that many sux.

If it suddenly requires fewer sux, than its not only simple and immediate, its also easier, maybe massively easier. This is, mechanically, the equivalent of adding extra dots of Intelligence or Mega-Intelligence. . . possibly *large* amounts of it.

So, your choice really do boil down to:

1. "Some actions are so tough that they still take time"

2. "Some actions are so tough they cannot benefit from it at all"

Because #3, "You get what amounts to a few dozen extra dots of Intelligence", is not an option any sane GM will embrace.

You misunderstood me sir. I didnt imply it would take less successes or rolls...merely that you could make all of your rolls at once rather than extend the rolls over days.

Re: What BN said:

In the fast task enhancment it says you could rebuild something complex, like an engine in half an hour. Thats pretty crzy fast if you ask me.

[Alex Green]

In the books, the biggest example of it I can remember is when a group of Utopians build a housing project (several square blocks) in a handful of days...

Yet another example of PU wanting PR instead of efficient use of nova resources. I.e. this sounds like a waste of time for the typical nova... but this is getting off topic and more into my "novas are underpaid" tangent.

You misunderstood me sir. I didnt imply it would take less successes or rolls...merely that you could make all of your rolls at once rather than extend the rolls over days.

How is rolling your dice over and over and over again different from having lots more dice?

In the fast task enhancment it says you could rebuild something complex, like an engine in half an hour. Thats pretty crzy fast if you ask me.

True.

Question: Would a nova in this situation, with or without fast tasks, be making one roll?

[metaphysician]

What Alex Green said. There's a small chance of failure and botch, granted. . . but for all intents and purposes, the limiting factor for gadgeteering is time, not likelihood of failure. Especially since only a botch, or a *lot* of failures, would actually be an obstacle in this case.

[SkyLion]

How is rolling your dice over and over and over again different from having lots more dice?

Because if you fail one of the discreet rols you have to start over IIRC.

[Alex Green]

I suspect what Hypercognition does in this case is let the Gadgeteer instantly use his dice for small gadgets. I.e. ones he can make with one die throw. That might not be as limiting as it sounds if the ST lets you change an existing gadget for just a few succ.

[Centimane]

Alright, here's the enhancement, written out for everyone to see while they're considering this problem:

Hypercognition (a Mega-Wits enhancement)

Novas with Mega-Wits are always thinking several steps ahead of everyone else. Those with Hypercognition are seeral steps ahead of them. They have the ability to make tremendous deductive leaps, synthesizing all of the information at their disposal and coming to conclusions more rapidly than any process of simple logic.

System: By spending a quantum point, the player can turn any extended action for the character into a simple action (Aberrant, p. 109), provided that the action primarily involves thought and information that is potentially available to the character (even if he is not consciously aware of it). For example, a nova with Hypercognition can sovle a puzzle of mystery simply by looking at the clues, navigate quickly through a maze, immediately overcome a trap, and so forth. The effects of Hypercognition are cumulative with other enhancements that speed up the nova's thought processes. For example, a nova with both Hypercognition and Mathematical Savant can perform calculations at truly blinding speed, coming up with answers to even complex problems instantly.

This enhancement costs a quantum point to activate it for a single task.

So here's my attempt at answering your question, Sky: "how does Hypercognition interact with the rules for creating Quantum Gadgets"?

First off, you need to look at the Hypercognition enhancement itself (helpfully provided above), and notice what it actually claims to do. It does not say (and I'm not claiming that anyone has said different here) that Hypercognition turns all Extended Actions into Simple ones; only an action that "primarily involves thought and information that is potentially available to the character" gains the benefits of this enhancement.

Second, you need to look at what exactly is involved with making a gadget. Prof's examples at the beginning of this thread are quite helpful in this regard, as is the actual Novus Ex Machina article in the APG (p. 143-148). And a quick survey of the process shows that there is one area in which Hypercognition seems to be a perfect match for: Research. When you don't actually possess the Ability and/or Power of the gadget you're trying to make, you have to do research - either in the lab, or out in the field - and in either case, it normally takes hours of careful study and observation. This is not only an extended action, it is a primarily thought- and information-based extended action, and it is exactly what Hypercognition is designed to help with. Since Hypercognition is essentially the mental equivalent of Fast Tasks, we would treat it the same for determining its benefits in this instance. As an off the cuff ruling, I'd say cut the times listed in half, rounding in favor of the nova.

Now on to the bad news. Actually making the gadget does not qualify as a primarily thought- and/or information-oriented extended action. It is a primarily physical action, for which both mega-stamina and fast tasks would come in very handy. Because it is primarily physical, and because it is not primarily thought-, or information-based, Hypercognition would not (nor does it claim to) make the process go any faster. Just because you were able to use Hypercognition to figure out how to create a Warp Gate capable of taking you to the other side of the Galaxy in only a few hours doesn't mean that it'll only take you a few minutes (or even just a few hours) to put the thing together. H-Cog makes your brain move faster, not your hands. ::wink

So, in (my attempted) answer to your question, Sky, Hypercognition would indeed help with Gadgeteering, and its benefits are quite substantial, under the right circumstances. By spending a quantum point, and carefully observing your subject to determine how to go about mimicking an ability/power you yourself do not possess, you can, within a few hours, gain an understanding of an ability/power that would take others up to a few (or possibly even several) days to properly understand. Based off the [two hours in a lab], [three hours in the field] time-frames given, it can be assumed that this Research is considered to be an extremely complex Extended Action, hence the long period of time needed for each die or dot gained in the Gadget's relavent ability, but if the ST were to rule that the Research would more likely be no more than just "moderately hard", or even "simple", then the time needed to achieve the desired results would be even less - possibly as little as a few seconds in some cases.

And that's my $ .02. Take it or leave it.

[SkyLion]

Thanks Cottus! It would be extra helpful even if one used the Adventure! gadgeteering rules, since those make you do all your research up front.

[Centimane]

No problem, glad I could help! ::wink