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A New Weird Science System for TORG
1991 by the Warmonger
This system is designed to replace the Weird Science system
given in the Nile Empire Source Book. It is not intended to cope with conventional science skills. It is also not intended to be used for modification of existing items into Weird Science, but rather for construction from scratch.
This material is in the public domain and may be distributed
freely as long as original authorship is quoted.
Terminology:
Component
Any single part of a device
System
Any component other than power plants or possibility
capacitors
There are two stages to the construction of a device. The
first is to construct the components of the device; the second is to link them together. * No blueprints, adaptors or caps! Mainly because there's a single strategy that minimises the number of adaptors and caps required, and it becomes simply an exercise in application of algorithms. Secondarily because that makes it an exercise in player skill, not character skill.
Systems available include statistics, speeds, skills and
powers.
Statistics
The Mind rating serves as an indicator of available memory.
Level 0 represents 1K of memory, and the normal scale is used. A device may be constructed a Memory rating greater than its Mind would allow; this is built as a separate system, though for purposes of power usage it counts as part of the Mind. There is no limit to the value of Memory.
Every device must have a Toughness system; this represents the
casing. The Toughness minus five also gives the mass of the device. If a device is intended to be self-mobile (i.e. it has a Speed system of any type), it should also have Strength; this has the following effects.
S<T-5 All speeds reduced by (T-S-5), usable Strength = 0. S>=T-5 Speeds are as normal, but usable Strength = S-T+5.
The usable Strength of a vehicle is used on the Mass table to
determine its payload. An overloaded vehicle should generate a bonus number with its usable Strength (minimum bonus of 0), and must exceed the total mass on board to be able to move. This check is repeated at the GM's discretion.
The Toughness should not be more than five points less than
the highest other system rating (for this purpose, the Strength system rating is the usable strength), or the device will take damage when used.
Toughness is the only system which does not require a power
source of any sort.
For devices intended to serve as armour, the Toughness-10
should be checked on the Power column of the General and Push Results Table in order to find the bonus rating of the armour. The maximum Toughness is, of course, the Toughness of the armour itself.
Device mass may be reduced by building another system, which
acts directly against Toughness to reduce the mass. This is not usable for Weird Science-based vehicles.
There are two new statistics, those of "Damage" and "Range".
These are used in weapon design. The final value of Range gives the long range of the weapon (limit 16); the final value of Damage gives the weapon's damage (no limit). Mle weapons, of course, do not require a Range system. Other ranges, ammunition capacity, and other weapon statistics should be determined in consultation with the GM. (Note that weapons doing reasonable damage will normally be quite heavy. Weird Science isn't meant for conventional weapons!)
Other statistics may be added as required, in consultation
with the GM. Examples would include "Communications", with the rating giving the range.
Speeds * There's a problem with the standard system of speeds; they're either too low or too high. I think the system wasn't designed for people to build new items, just to modify old ones. Weird. No pun intended.
Vehicle speeds are built as other systems. However, boosters
for speeds use the Speed column rather than the Power column of the General and Push Results Table, as do any bonus values gained in construction.
Skills
These are as in the standard system.
Powers
These are as in the standard system.
Limits to system ratings are as found on the last page of the
Weird Science chapter.
Construction
In order to construct a system, the Weird Scientist should
choose the system rating desired and generate a Weird Science total.
If the total is greater than the system value, the
construction is a success. To find the time taken, calculate the system rating minus the WS total, plus 22; this is called the efficacy rating. If this is greater than or equal to the system rating, the time should be checked on the time chart. If the efficacy rating is less than the system rating, the time taken is equal to the value of the system rating on the time chart, and the difference between the system rating and the efficacy rating should be checked on the Power column of the General and Push Results Table and the result added to the system rating, though it cannot exceed its limit value in this manner. This bonus system rating may be rejected if desired.
If the generated Weird Science total is less than the system
value, the attempted construction has failed. The time taken is equal to the difference in values, plus 17.
To summarise:
Pick System Rating desired (SR). Generate Weird Science total (WS).
IF WS>SR
' Successful construction
ER=SR-WS+22
IF ER>=SR
Time={ER}
ELSE
Time={SR}
SR=SR+Pow(SR-ER)
ENDIF
ELSE
' Unsuccessful construction
Time={SR-WS+17}
ENDIF
[The function {x} here represents the use of the exponential table; it could also be written 101/5^x. The function Pow(x) represents the use of the Power column of the General and Push Results Table.]
A note on times
The times generated by this system represent the total time
required for the particular task. Clearly, the builder cannot work continuously. A value of +2 on the time roll represents 9 hours, 33 minutes and 16.46 seconds of work per day, and will give the total time needed. A value of +1 on the time roll represents 15 hours, 8 minutes and 34.71 seconds of work per day, but this can only be sustained for a total time equal to the value of the character's Toughness plus Spirit plus Mind minus 1 (typically about a week), after which extended rest is required.
The Many-On-One table may be used to modify the time roll if
several Weird Scientists are cooperating; but in this case, the system value can be no larger than planned, no matter how good the roll.
Obviously, there is a temptation for players to abandon
projects if they get bad rolls. However, once a roll has been made and the time determined, no other Weird Science activity may be undertaken by that character until the time required by the roll has been spent.
Power Plants
The value of the power plant for a device should normally be
similar to the maximum system rating; it may not be more than five points less than this value. When power plant exhaustion is checked, the plant must generate a total with its rating against the maximum system rating it powers. If this fails, the plant is exhausted and must be recharged by a Weird Scientist (difficulty 12). A Weird Scientist may add his, her or its skill bonus (not including mind) to the roll, if he, she or it is personally operating the device and is familiar with its construction.
The power plant is constructed in the same way as a system.
Normally, a power plant has effectively unlimited duration.
Power plant exhaustion checks are at the discretion of the GM, but normally occur when a stymie or setback card takes effect.
Possibility Capacitors
These have an effective system rating of 12, for purposes of
connection only.
Boosters
These are constructed as systems, though they must be attached
to a specific other system at the time of construction and cannot subsequently be used on others. A booster must be built at a minimum system rating of 12. The system rating minus twelve is checked on the Power column of the General and Push Results Table in order to determine the rating of the booster. Each single booster, or each point of system rating above the limit value (whichever is higher) is manifest as a penalty point in operation, as in the standard system.
A booster must immediately be connected to the system it
boosts. The difficulty of this is equal to the system rating, plus the values of any boosters already attached.
Compensators
These are constructed as systems, though they must be attached
to a specific booster or set of boosters at the time of construction and cannot subsequently be used on others. A compensator must be built at a minimum system rating of 12. The system rating minus twelve is the compensator's rating, which is offset against the booster-induced penalty.
A compensator must immediately be connected to the boosters
with which it will be used. The difficulty of this is equal to the total value of the boosters.
For purposes of connection and repair, the system rating is
given by the sum of: The base system rating, The sum of the booster values, and The total number of compensators.
For purposes of operation and power requirements, the system
rating is the sum of the base rating and those of the boosters.
For purposes of minimum toughness, the system rating is taken
at its base, unboosted value; if its boosted value is greater than the limit value, the difference between them is added. For example, a system with a limit value of 13 is built at level 10 and boosted by +5. Its value for this purpose is 10+15-13, or 12. Thus the minimum toughness of the device housing it will be 7.
The second stage in device construction is the connection of
the separate components into a cohesive whole. This is resolved as a series of tasks, each of which will take time. The time is calculated as for system construction, except that high rolls can cut the time drastically, rather than increasing the system rating.
IF WS>Diff
' Successful connection
Time={Diff-WS+22}
ELSE
' Unsuccessful connection
Time={Diff-WS+17}
ENDIF
First, each component must be placed in the casing. This is a
comparatively simple task for small devices; its difficulty is equal to the average of the Toughness of the casing (i.e. the rating of the Toughness system) and the adjusted system rating.
Then, the power-using components must be connected to the
power plant. The difficulty of this task is equal to the average of the power plant's rating and the adjusted system rating, with a minimum value of 12.
Finally, the Possibility-using components must be connected to
the possibility capacitor. The difficulty of this task is equal to whichever is higher of the adjusted system rating and 12.
At this stage, the device is complete.
* In general, I think this system works fairly well. Note that most of the time will be spent on failed attempts, and the best way to build something quickly is to use lots of possibilities. This strikes me as reasonable.