Devices
From D20advanced
A device is an item that provides a particular FX (see the Container FX Structure). If the character doesn’t have the device, he doesn’t have access to those powers. The cost for devices is given below:
| Device Cost = 3 cp/rank (easy to lose); 4 cp/rank (hard to lose) |
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While devices are typically creations of advanced science, they don’t have to be. Many characters have magical devices such as enchanted weapons and armor, magical talismans, wands and staves of power, and so forth. Some devices are products of alien technology so advanced they might as well be magical, or focuses of cosmic power beyond the understanding of both magic and science. All devices work the same way in game terms, regardless of their origin or descriptors.
Just like other FX, devices cost character points. Characters who want to have and use a device on a regular basis have to pay power points to have it, just like having any other power. The device becomes a part of the character’s abilities. If the device is lost, stolen, or destroyed, the character can replace it, given time, since the device is considered a permanent part of the character. Only a re-allocation of character points will change this, and Gamemasters should allow characters to re-allocate character points spent on a Device if it is somehow permanently lost.
In other cases, characters may make temporary use of a device. Most devices are usable by anyone able to operate them, in which case characters may loan devices to each other, or may pick up and use someone else’s device (or even steal a device away from someone in order to use it against them). The key concept here is the use of the device is temporary, something that happens during a single encounter or, at most, a single adventure. If the character wants to continue using the device beyond that, he must pay character points to make the device part of his regular abilities. Otherwise the GM can simply rule that the device is lost, reclaimed by its owner, runs out of power, breaks down, or whatever, and is therefore no longer accessible. Characters with the Inventor and Artificer feats can also create temporary devices for use in an adventure.
Gamemasters may require characters to spend a hero die to make temporary use of a device that doesn’t belong to them. This helps to limit the loaning and temporary use of devices.
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Types of Devices
Battlesuits
A common staple of comic books is the battlesuit, also known as power armor. It is an advanced suit of technological armor, giving the wearer FX.
Battlesuits commonly grant the following FX:
- Enhanced (Toughness): This is the foundation power for a battlesuit. Whether it is armor plating, metallic mesh, flexible ballistic material, or some combination of these and other cutting-edge technology, a battlesuit protects its wearer from damage. Some battlesuits provide a Force Field, either in place of or in addition to their Protection.
- Immunity: A part of the protection a battlesuit offers is a sealed environment, offering Immunity to various conditions. Many battlesuits provide Immunity (life support). Some might have more extensive or specialized forms of Immunity.
- Attacks: Battlesuits are typically equipped with some kind of weapon or weapons, based around various attack FX, particularly Ranged Damage. A battlesuit with an array of weapons may have a primary attack FX and several others as Alternate FX.
- Might: A battlesuit might have servomotors or other mechanisms to magnify the wearer’s Strength. This is typically done with the Damage and Might allowing a normal-Strength wearer to strike for increased damage and lift tremendous weights. A battlesuit may also simply provide Enhanced (Strength), or some combination of the two options.
- Movement: After defense and offense, battlesuits typically allow the wearer to get around, whether it’s hydraulic-assisted Leaping, bootjets or anti-gravity repulsion for Flight, turbines for Swimming, or some other movement effect.
- Sensors: Finally, battlesuits often come equipped with a suite of sensors providing Enhanced Senses. Blindsight (radar or sonar), darkvision, direction sense (possibly from a global positioning system), infrared vision, radio, time sense (from a chronometer), and ultra-hearing are all common battlesuit sensors.
Enhanced Equipment
Some devices are otherwise normal equipment with special properties. Magical items, normal equipment imbued with magical properties, are examples. Magical weapons may have greater damage bonuses or grant attack roll bonuses while magical armor has no armor check penalties and provides greater protection. Such enchantments move archaic weapons and armor from the realm of mundane equipment to devices. The same is true of super-alloys, bulletproof cloth, and other wonders of super-science.
Weapons
Weapons are common devices, ranging from super-powered versions of ordinary weapons like swords, bows, or guns to more exotic weapons like magic wands or alien power rings. A weapon device usually has one or more attack FX but may have virtually any FX the player wants to include. Weapon devices often have several different attacks as Alternate FX. One example is a set of magic rings, each with its own FX, but only usable one at a time.
Other Devices
The full range of devices d20 Advanced characters can create and use is limited solely by your imagination. Essentially any item with a power is considered a device. Players and GMs may well come up with additional devices beyond those described here. Use the guidelines in this chapter and in Chapter V: FX to handle any new devices and their capabilities.
Plot Devices
A plot device is an item or even character whose function is important to the story, but is not a part of a character’s regular abilities. Therefore the actual character point cost or sometimes even game statistics of a plot device are irrelevant, so long as the device fulfills its role in the story. Technically, nearly any character or device the character don’t directly interact with can be seen as a plot device, freeing the GM up from having to assign game stats to every single thing in the game world.
For example, part of an adventure is planned to take place on board a vast alien city-ship. While the GM may want to know things like the Toughness of the city-ship’s walls or the game stats of the alien soldiers the characters may fight, it’s not important to assign game statistics to the city-ship’s engines or it’s planet-busting main gun. They’re plot devices. It’s also not necessary to determine how much the ship costs in character points, unless the player characters are going to use it as their regular vehicle or base of operations. It’s sufficient to know the city-ship can get where it needs to go and its main gun will shatter any planet it’s fired at unless the heroes manage to stop it in time. Likewise, consider a cosmic device able to reshape reality at will. This is far beyond any of the FX in Chapter V: FX, so it’s best to simply treat it as a plot device: the wielder of the object can make anything happen, as called for in the adventure.
Plot devices are best kept in the hands of the Gamemaster, since unlimited power in the hands of the players can quickly spoil everyone’s fun. If the characters aren’t wise enough to reject absolute power, the GM can come up with any number of reasons why a plot device no longer works once the characters get their hands on it. It may run out of power, be attuned only to particular users, or perhaps cosmic beings reclaim it. It’s fine to allow a characters to use a plot device occasionally, such as the character who takes the Cosmic Crown from a villain and uses it to undo all the damage the villain has done before casting the Crown into the heart of the sun (or something similar). But long-term use (and abuse) of plot devices can ruin a game, and the GM would be wise to have the Cosmic Crown disappear or have powerful entities reclaim it before characters to abuse its power.
Inventing
Characters with the necessary Knowledge, Science and Technology skills and the Inventor feat can create inventions, temporary devices. To create an invention, the inventor defines its traits and its total cost in character points. This cost is used for the necessary skill checks, and determines the time required to create the invention. Inventions are subject to the same power level limits as other powers in the campaign.
Design Check
First, the inventor must design the invention. This is a Technology or Science skill check. The DC is 10 + the invention’s character point cost. It requires an hour’s work per character point of the invention’s cost. The character can take 10 or 20 on the check. In the latter case, the design process takes 20 times longer (20 hours per character point). You can halve the design time by taking a –5 on the check.
| Design Check = DC 10 + invention’s point cost |
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If the check is successful, you have a design for the invention. If the check fails, the design is flawed and you must start over. If the check fails by 10 or more, the character is not aware of the design flaw; the design seems correct, but the invention won’t function (or at least won’t function properly) when it’s used. For this reason, the GM should make the design check secretly and only inform the player whether or not the character appears to have succeeded.
Construction Check
Once the design is in-hand, the character can construct the invention. This requires four hours work per character point of the invention’s cost, so an invention costing 10 points takes 40 hours (about a week’s work normally, or working two days straight without rest) to construct. When the construction time is complete, make a Technology or Science skill check, using the Craft specialty appropriate to the invention (generally chemical, electronic, or mechanical). The DC is 10 + the invention’s power point cost. You can’t take 20 on this check, but you can take 10. You can halve the construction time by taking a –5 on the check.
| Construction Check = DC 10 + invention’s point cost |
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Success means the invention is complete and functional. Failure means the invention doesn’t work. Failure by 10 or more may result in a mishap, at the GM’s discretion.
Using the Invention
Once the invention is complete, it is good for use in one encounter, after which it breaks down or runs out of power. If the character wishes to use the invention again, there are two options. The first is to spend the necessary character points to acquire the Device for the price described at the beginning of this chapter and make the invention a part of the character’s regular traits; in this case, the new device can be used like any other. The other option is to spend a hero die to get another one-encounter use out of the invention. Each use costs an additional hero die, but doesn’t require any further skill checks.
Although it’s possible to prepare certain one-use devices in advance, the GM should carefully enforce the guidelines for having items on-hand. If an inventor wants to have a particular previously-constructed invention on-hand during an adventure, the GM should require the player to spend a hero die.
Jury-Rigging Device
An inventor can choose to spend a hero die to jury-rig a device; ideal for when a particular device is needed right now. When jury-rigging a device, skip the design check and reduce the time of the construction check to one round per character point of the device’s cost, but increases the DC of the check by +5. The inventor makes the Craft check and, if successful, has use of the device for one encounter before it burns out, falls apart, blows up, or otherwise fails. You can’t take 10 or take 20 when jury-rigging an invention, nor can you speed up the process any further by taking a skill check penalty. You can jury-rig an invention again by spending another hero die.
Mishaps
At the GM’s discretion, failure by 10 or more, or a natural roll of 1, on any required inventing skill check may result in some unexpected side-effect or mishap. Exactly what depends heavily on the invention. Inventing mishaps can become a source of adventure ideas and put the characters in some difficult situations. They may also be setbacks, suitable for hero die awards.
Magical Rituals
Characters with the Ritualist feat and the Expertise (magic) skill can perform magical rituals. They are similar to inventions: one-time FX requiring some time and effort to set up.
For rituals, substitute the Expertise (magic) skill for both the design and construction checks. The design portion of the ritual takes 4 hours per character point of the ritual’s cost (pouring over ancient scrolls and grimoires, drawing diagrams, casting horoscopes, meditating, and so forth). The performance of the actual ritual takes 10 minutes per point of the ritual’s cost. So a ritual costing 10 character points takes 40 hours to research and 100 minutes to perform. As with inventing, the ritual is good for one encounter. Failing the research check means the ritual isn’t usable and failure by 10 or more results in a mishap (at the GM’s discretion).
“Jury-rigging” a magical ritual has the same effects as mentioned previously. This allows the ritualist to skip the design check and perform the ritual in a number of rounds equal to its cost. An Expertise (magic) check against a DC equal of (15 + the ritual’s cost) is needed to successfully perform the ritual.
Magical Inventions
For magical inventions, use the normal inventing rules, but use the Expertise (magic) skill for the design check and the Art skill for the construction check.
