Publication:World of Warcraft: The Role Playing Game/Creating Technological Devices

Magic shapes the world of Warcraft, but it is technology that helps to define it. Mages and shamans are accompanied into battle by infantry carrying dragon guns and dwarven tinkers in steam armor. Adventurers setting out on a long journey are just as likely to board a phlogiston-powered zeppelin as a sailing ship. Chapter 9: Weapons and Armor presents some standard technological weapons, including firearms and bombs; this chapter explains how the heroes in your Warcraft campaign can harness the power of technology to build and use amazing devices of their own creation.

Step One: Define the Primary Function
The first step in creating a device is determining its primary function. Though inventive or desperate heroes may find alternate uses for a device, tinkers typically design a device with a single function in mind. Think of a device’s primary function as the verb that will be used most often when describing its use. Some possibilities include:
 * • Magnifying a view of far-away objects.
 * • Boring through the lock on a door.
 * • Ferrying cargo and passengers through the clouds.
 * • Testing floors for traps.
 * • Assembling a building.
 * • Communicating with a distant city.
 * • Translating one language into another.
 * • Forging swords and axes.

Once you have described the device’s primary function, the GM assigns the function a Difficulty representing the function’s complexity. Note that this Function Difficulty (FD) is not a Difficulty Class and is never used in skill checks. Function Difficulties serve as a way of evaluating how complex a device is and how difficult it is to construct.

While determining the Function Difficulty, the GM should take into account the scale of the function’s operation, how long the function will take to complete, how complicated the function is to perform, and how independent or responsive the device is intended to be. These factors create a wide continuum of possible FDs — a function that produces a small fire without fl int or tinder may have an FD of 5, for instance, while a device that follows the tracks of an elven ranger without being detected would be considerably higher. The GM may rule that a specific task is impossible to perform with the technology available to Warcraft characters.

Table 11–1: Technological Device Function Difficulty Benchmarks provides suggestions for establishing a Function Difficulty for a device. These are suggestions only; the GM has complete freedom when assigning a device’s FD.

One method of convincing a GM to set a lower FD for a function is to provide as complete a description of a device’s workings as possible. As a certain degree of impossible science is a tinker’s stock in trade in the world of Warcraft, a cartoonish but detailed drawing may be just as valid as engineering blueprints.

Step Two: Set the Technology Score and Determine Features
Even devices that perform the same functions can have different forms. A device’s complexity and power determines its Technology Score (TS). Items with lower Technology Scores are cheaper and easier to construct, while those with higher Technology Scores are more powerful.

The features of the devices a tinker can create are limited by his experience and ability — his Technological Limit (TL). The features of any device a tinker designs must have Technology Scores less than or equal to his TL, which is determined as follows:

A feature’s Technology Score establishes its power, as shown on Table 11–2: Technological Device Features. The device’s overall TS is equal to the highest TS among its features. A cannon that deals 5d6 points of damage (TS 5) yet has a range increment of 50 feet (TS 1) has a TS of 5.

Step Three: Determine Complexity Score
The more complex a device is, the more difficult it is to construct. A device’s Complexity Score is equal one-half its Function Difficulty plus the combined values of all of its features’ Technology Scores. Add all of the features’ TSs together, then add them to half the FD.

Step Four: Decide Time Factor
The primary function of a device takes time to perform. For most devices, this time is the interval between initiating the function and completing it. For others, where the function is instantaneous or continuous, the time is that required for the device to be prepared to function — the time required to load a weapon or start a vehicle’s steam engine.

Once you determine the device’s primary function and its features, the GM decides the basic time unit on which it operates — move actions, standard actions, rounds, minutes, hours, days, weeks or months. The time unit chosen should be that most appropriate given the scale of the function and the design of the device.

The tinker then selects a number between 1 and 10. This is the Time Factor (TF), or how many time units the primary function of the device requires to perform its task. The Time Factor is important because slower items are less expensive and can be built more quickly than fast items. The faster an item is, the more it costs.

Personal firearms, for example, usually operate on move actions and have TFs of 1 — they take a single move action to reload.

Some items, such as bombs or disposable fl ares, work just once and then destroy themselves. These items have Time Factors of 10.

Step Five: Determine Malfunction Rating
Reliable and durable devices are always a possibility, given suffi cient skill, time and resources. However, ambitious tinkers and the cheapskate adventurers funding them often settle for devices that serve the desired need despite the risks of an occasional explosion.

During the design process, tinkers assign the primary function of the device a Malfunction Rating (MR) between 1 and 5, representing the chance that the device will fail to operate when used. If the device’s operator makes a Use Technological Device check or attack roll, and the roll is equal to or less than the device’s Malfunction Rating, the device malfunctions. (See “Malfunction Effects” later in this chapter for more information on specifying the details of a device’s malfunctions.)

Step Six: Calculate Market Value
Once you have fully designed a device, you must determine its market value before you can begin construction. The device’s market value takes into account all of the factors you previously determined.

Remember:

Function Difficulty: Determined in step one.

TS: The device's overall Technology Score, determined in step two.

Complexity Score: Determined in step three.

TF: The Device's Time Factor, determined in step four.

MR: The device's Malfunction Rating, determined in step five.

Round the market value to the nearest 5 gp. Market values are not set in stone; the GM may adjust it further if he feels it appropriate.

Step Seven: Fill Out the Details
You now have completed the design's blueprint and the shopping list (and price) of the required materials.

Before you begin construction, you and the GM should work together to describe the details that are not explicitly determined in the above process.

Base the device’s size and weight on its function and the materials going into its construction. In most cases, the device’s size and weight are obvious: hand tools are Tiny and weigh a few pounds at most, steam-powered tree saws are Small and can be held and operated in two hands, while self-propelled mechanical lumberjacks may be Huge and weigh thousands of pounds.

Keep in mind that steam technology in the world of Warcraft is oversized, involving great pistons, huge boilers and other large pieces of equipment. Also, despite the incredible abilities they can possess, the materials and techniques that go into tinker-made devices are less sophisticated than those of 21st-century Earth, resulting in constructions that are big and bulky. Devices that are self-powered also require fuel of some sort; probably liquid phlogiston (see sidebar.)

A device’s size determines its hit points and hardness, as shown on the following table. You can add hit points and/or hardness to your device by adding layers, armor plating, supports, solidifying the design and the like. Adding hit points or hardness counts as a feature, as described in step one.

During this step, the GM should also determine what proficiencies (if any) and checks are required to operate the device. A good baseline is a Use Technological Device check with a DC equal to 10 + the device's TS. If you did not do so in step five, you should determine the device's malfunction effects (see below) now.

Step Eight: Build the Device
Once you reach this step, the design work is completed and it is time to begin construction using the Craft (technological device) skill. The construction process follows the normal Craft (technological device) rules (see Chapter 5: Skills). The Craft DC is equal to the device’s FD + TS.

Add-Ons and Upgrades
Tinkers can improve technological devices. Two types of improvement exist: add-ons and upgrades.

Add-Ons
Add-ons perform functions that are peripheral and/ or unrelated to a device’s primary function. They are secondary devices included in a larger construction, such as a steam cannon mounted on a suit of technological armor or a clock in a steam-powered drill. You design an add-on as an independent device, using steps one through eight in the normal design process, but addons do not automatically receive hit points. Either the add-on shares the device’s hit points or it has its own hit points. In the latter case, granting the add-on its own hit points counts as a feature (TS = hp x 5, so granting a Medium add-on its own hit points is a TS 4 feature). Add-ons that possess their own hit points continue to function if the primary device is disabled.

An add-on’s market value is 75% that of an independent device of its type. Construct it using Craft (technological device) checks.

After you complete the add-on, you must incorporate it into the device. This requires one day and a Craft (technological device) check with a DC equal to the device’s TS plus the add-on’s TS.

Add-ons are generally smaller and less obtrusive than the device to which they are added, and their reduced market value represents the fact that they make use of the existing device’s capabilities (drawing power from its boiler, being steadied by its frame, and so on). The GM may rule that a particularly large or unusual addon, such as a cannon added to a pocket watch, cannot make substantial use of the existing device and does not benefit from the reduced market value.

Upgrades
Upgrades improve a device’s existing functions. A tinker can upgrade a flintlock pistol to enhance its ability to deal damage, or she might upgrade a steam horse so that it moves faster. To make an upgrade, design the upgraded device as if it were a wholly new device sharing all the device’s existing attributes along with all desired upgrades. Once you determine the market value of the upgraded device, subtract the market value of the original design from that of the upgraded design. The result is the upgrade cost. Make Craft (technological device) checks to upgrade the device; the DC equals the upgraded device’s Function Difficulty + its TS – 10. The device cannot be used while you are upgrading it.

Masterwork Devices
In their most desperate moments, tinkers can use their skills to cobble together makeshift devices from rusty nails, string, monster teeth, and other items commonly found in dungeons. These rough gadgets serve their purpose, but no tinker would dare call them masterwork.

Masterwork devices are similar to masterwork items created by other artisans in that their superior construction makes them more effective than normal devices. They grant their operators a +3 enhancement bonus on any skill checks required to operate them or a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls.

To create a masterwork technological device, first design the device normally. Like any other item, you create the masterwork component as if it were a separate item. The masterwork component has its own price (25% that of the device) and a Craft DC of 20 or the device’s TS +5, whichever is higher. Once both the device and the masterwork component are completed, the masterwork item is finished. (Note: The cost you pay for the masterwork component is one-third of the given amount, just as it is for the cost in raw materials.)

An upgrade to a masterwork device is not automatically masterwork itself; you must construct it as a masterwork item in its own right.

Collaborative Construction
Some devices, are so complex or so difficult to design that few tinkers could complete the task on their own. Multiple, skilled tinkers often combine their efforts to create such a design and guide the project to a timely and successful completion.

Designing a technological device by collaboration proceeds normally through the design process, except that the Technological Limit is determined as follows:

Technical Limit on a collaborative design = number of tinkers + the project’s average tinker level

This calculation does not include feat modifiers unless an engineer with the lead collaboration ability heads the project (see the engineer prestige class in Chapter 2: Prepare Yourselves! of Magic & Mayhem.)

Usually, a group of high-level tinkers put their heads together to create the design. After they complete the design and pay the construction costs, they hire a crew of low-level tinkers to assist them. The crew uses the aid another rule to pool their construction efforts.

Malfunctions and Repairs
Stories of the amazing devices created by tinkers are matched in number by stories of their malfunctions. At best, vehicles do not move and weapons do not fire. At worst, the devices’ phlogiston-fueled boilers explode and those standing nearby are reduced to smoldering messes on the ground.

Every technological device has a Malfunction Rating (MR) between 0 and 5. This number represents the chance that the item fails when used. When making a skill check or attack roll while using the device, if you roll a number equal to or below the Malfunction Rating (MR), without taking into account any modifiers, the object fails to operate correctly. Thus, if your character attempts to use a device with an MR of 2, and you roll a die to use the device and the roll comes up a 1 or a 2, the device malfunctions (despite any bonuses you have to the check).

When most devices malfunction, they fail to perform the desired task (the vehicle stalls, the weapon jams, the chicken gets stuck and so forth) and must be repaired. Repairing a technological device probably requires a Craft (technological device) check (as per the normal repair rules — see Chapter 5: Skills). The GM may rule that a malfunction has other effects, as described in the following section.

Vehicles: Movement and Maneuverability
Tinker-built vehicles can travel at speeds that match or exceed even the fastest mounts.

Piloting a vehicle requires regular maneuverability checks to maintain control. Maneuverability checks are based on a vehicle’s Maneuverability Rating, which is set during the vehicle’s design and construction (see step two, above). While a vehicle may travel up to its top speed, its Maneuverability Rating assigns it a speed increment. See Table 11 –4: Maneuverability Ratings for the speed increment associated with each level of maneuverability. For each speed increment a vehicle is traveling beyond the first, the vehicle’s pilot takes a –2 penalty on maneuverability checks. To maintain control of a vehicle traveling in a straight line at a constant speed, a pilot must make regular maneuverability checks with her Use Technological Device skill. In travel under normal conditions, the pilot must make a DC 10 Use Technological Device check once per hour. In combat a vehicle moves on its pilot’s initiative count and the pilot must make a DC 20 Use Technological Device check each round before she acts.

If the pilot succeeds at this check, she is in control of the vehicle and may perform a standard action; controlling the vehicle (and moving it, if applicable) is her move action that round. If the pilot fails the check, the check becomes a full-round action. She can do nothing else in that round.

On the pilot’s turn, the vehicle moves. It can move any distance between its current speed and the speed that is one speed increment below it. For example, if a vehicle with a Maneuverability Rating of 1 enters combat traveling at 10 mph, on her turn the pilot moves the vehicle between 45 and 90 feet. If she decelerates by one speed increment, she moves the vehicle between 0 and 45 feet. If she accelerates by one speed increment, she moves the vehicle between 90 and 105 feet.

Attempting to do more than maintain control of a vehicle and move in a straight line can also require maneuverability checks:
 * Changing Speed: Accelerating or decelerating up to one speed increment is easy. For each additional speed increment the pilot accelerates of decelerates in a round, she takes a cumulative –4 penalty on her maneuverability check for the round.
 * Drifting: The pilot may drift a vehicle while it is moving, sliding the vehicle laterally to the left or right while continuing to travel forward. The pilot can drift one vehicle width with no added diffi culty; for each additional vehicle width the vehicle drifts, the pilot takes a –4 penalty on her maneuverability check that round.
 * Moving Quickly: For each full speed increment beyond the first at which the vehicle travels, the pilot takes a –2 penalty on all maneuverability checks.
 * Turning: A vehicle can turn up to 45 degrees (or 90 degrees, if it has a Maneuverability Rating of 4 or higher) easily. Turning more than 45 (or 90) degrees requires a move action (in addition to that used for controlling the vehicle) and a maneuverability check with a –4 penalty per additional 45 (or 90) degree increment. If the pilot fails this check, the vehicle turns only 45 degrees (or 90 degrees, for vehicles with a Maneuverability Rating 4 or higher).

Example: Maneuverability in Combat
Riding out with Quarvel’s Raiders in search of , Ryon Quarvel is traveling into the  on a steam horse with a top speed of 60 mph (530 ft./round) and average maneuverability (Maneuverability Rating 3). Traveling for several hours at 45 mph, each hour he makes a maneuverability check — a DC 10 Use Technological Device check with a –2 penalty for each of the two speed increments (15 + 15 + 15 = 45 mph) beyond the first.

Suddenly encountering a pair of , Ryon enters combat at 45 mph (390/feet round). Roaring past the  in the first round, he makes a DC 20 Use Technological Device check with a –4 penalty due to  speed. In the second round he slows down to a more manageable speed and turns to face the , slowing two speed increments to 15 mph (130 ft./round) and turning 180 degrees. Slowing down requires a DC 20 Use Technological Device check with a –4 penalty for the second speed increment decelerated. Turning 180 degrees requires a move action and a DC 20 Use Technological Device check; the check takes a –12 penalty because 180 degree is four 45-degree increments.

In the third round, as he lowers his lance to attack, Ryon is traveling 15 mph. As this speed is within the first speed increment for his vehicle, Ryon moves between 0 and 135 feet in the round. He takes no penalties on his maneuverability check (a DC 20 Use Technological Device check) this round. He makes the check, which is therefore move action — allowing Ryon to move his vehicle and attack the  in the same round.