Re: [BNW] Gadgeteer Power Suits (formerly Bomber Moans)

[Chris DeKalb <theseus@linnaean.org>]

Steve put in his response that Gadgeteers were not meant to be the "Iron Man"
type.  Actually, my reading of them was that the power-suit method was exactly
what they were meant to be.
Becuase each device has to be tinkered with individually it seems like Matt was
pushing for a limited number of gadgets.  (ie, the more gadgets the more time
spent fixing them, the less time player sees the outside world..let alone
sunlight..)

Also in the main book it even says "...one reason why most gadgeteers
incorporate as many different things into a gadget as they can.  This has the
effect of putting all their eggs into one basket, but since they can only really
carry one basket at a time, why not?"  (page 179)

And later on it even goes on to provide the one example of a gadget in the main
book:  a power suit.

Also the only examples of gadgeteers (until Delta Prime came out)  were the
Armorgeddon suits..

So it seemed to me that it was set up for Iron Man types, without being limited
to them.  (and with the appropriate limits so that they don't go from Iron Man
to the SDF-1)

Anyways...just my opinion.
Chris

Delta World head-honcho  http://cdekalb.tripod.com


Steve Crow wrote:

> [snipped discussion on Bomber, power levels and cyclops]
>
> Ummm, that's not what I read.  Nowhere in the basic rulebook does it say
> that a Gadgeteer is unrestricted in what he can put into a Gadget.  Rather,
> it says that the final restriction level is determined by the Gamemaster,
> and that he can choose to enforce that restriction by having an item
> breakdown if the Gadgeteer "pushes" it too far.
>
> (This strikes me as somewhat hostile, and if I allowed Gadgeteers at this
> time, would go for discussion with the player rather than simply say, "Ha!
> That doesn't work!"  Nothing in BNW prevents you from taking that approach,
> of course.)
>
>
>
> It's up to the individual GM, but it sure sounds like he is pushing the
> envelope vis a vis what is stated in the Gadgeteer section of the basic
> rulebook.
>
> >Sure he spends a lot of time maintaining things, but he is a jack of all
> >trades.  If I say one gets damaged in a fight or stops working, I feel like
> >I am taking away his creativity.
> >
>
> Again, as a low-end "superhero" RPG, BNW _does_ take away some of the
> players' creativity, vis a vis "superpowers."  BNW was never intended, as
> far as I can tell, to let Gadgeteers emulate, say, Iron Man.  Although the
> latter is undoubtedly a much more "creative" character.
>
> >I still think that gadgeteers need their own sourcebook, possibly with some
> >refined rules, incorporating the rules from Delta Prime (which are great)
> >and giving additional gadgets, some of which may be available to DP and
> >some to the defiance.  Some help here on putting some restrictions would be
> >good, even if it is just to preserve my sanity.
> >
>
> My understanding is that such a book is coming out at some point.  I haven't
> seen the Delta Prime book yet.
>
> The main thing that Matt can help you on is probably determining the
> maintenance requirements for Gadgets.  I think we had determined here that
> those in the basic rulebook didn't make much sense.  Unless they were
> clarified in DP, you can probably ask him this question, either directly or
> post it here with [MATT] in the subject line.
>