Re: [DL] Mad Scientists [JOHN]

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

>1.in smith and robards the shots for vapor cannons are listed as BL.  This
>is not helpful.  I need to know how many shots can be extracted from a ghost
>rock core.  And don't go reprinting that section from the archives it
>doesn't help either.

Ugh.  This is the first time I looked at that chart - and it's just fubar'd.  
Here's the new chart I am sending to John for approval.
            Shots   Spd   Crew   ROF    Range     Cost     Dmg
Reliability        Hand

                                17                3 of a kind
6lb         20         2         2        BL        150        5,000    

    2      Can  5d12 AP

    10    Fuse 2d12 (exp)

    5      Shot  3d10/hit
10lb       12        3         3        BL         350        8,000

    4      Can  5d20 AP

    15    Fuse 3d20 (exp)

     6     Shot  3d12/hit
12lb       12        3         3        BL         350        9,500    

     5     Can  6d20 AP

     20   Fuse 5d20 (exp)

     7     Shot  4d12/hit

Refurbishment costs 10% of the cost of a new cannon.

The biggest change is to the 12 pounder.  In the artillery section, the 12
pounder is mostly inferior to the rifled 10 pounder.  But all the vapor
cannons are rifled - so the larger size allows for a greater payload and a
vastly improved range (over the standard 12lb muzzleloader).
The other minor tweaks are just based on chart comparison.


>2. What is research time.  It is listed in both the main book, smith and
>robards, and the revised edition.  It says that if you don't get the minium
>hand for the gizmo you spend half the research time and get nothing.  Is
>research time the same as construction time?  Or is it the 8 hours that you
>get from a botched roll halved?

The actual blueprint takes about 5 minutes per hand rank to draw up!  Once
the muse strikes, it is ruthless in not letting go and the scientist
scribbles fervently.  This time may be extended if the appropriate
materials are not at hand - GM's call, but these guys are the ultimate
napkin scientists.

On a Hard (9) spirit roll, a mad scientist can actually slow down the time
it takes him to devise the blueprint to a whole day, giving a +2 bonus to
any construction roll using that blueprint. 

Ohh. . . tattoo blueprints. . . 

>3. when decideing reseach time and construction time.  Do you roll once to
>get the same research time for each attempt or do you roll again each time
>you attempt the blueprint roll.  Again with the construction time, if I roll
>a 6 hour time building it the first time, is it always 6 hours or is it 1d6
>hours and it varies each time you build it.

Don't treat the construction time as a roll - but as a guideline for how
long the construction requires.  If the scientist is in a good shop with
all of the materials at hand, the time will be on the lower end of the scale.

>4. If you have to build the same device over and over, like say phosphorous
>bullets would each succesive manufature get eaiser?  Could you eventually
>build a machine that would do the work?

Yup.  But the machine would require a blueprint. . . :-)

>51/2. What is the average range of a piano traveling at 600 mph.

Is it a Baldwin or a Steinway?
-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com
Deadlands fan site - http://www.darious.com/deadlands/index.html

My freshly made cross, my freshly dug grave, 
I'm still a man but no longer a slave. 
     Scarf Jones, The Railway of Death.  (Burma-Thailand railroad, WWII)


Why did the chicken cross the road?

George Orwell:
Because Big Brother was watching to make sure that it did cross the road,
although in its heart, the chicken never did.