[DL] Re: Mad Scientists are so, like, weak, and stuff... (long)

[Patrick Downs <knick_nevin@yahoo.com>]

Some of you understood what I was getting at, which
was cool because I didn't even really understand what
I was getting at until I saw all of these great
suggestions.
What was I getting at? Insanities. Yes, they are SO
fun to play, but you can acquire them so quickly if
you're maximizing your attempts to devise blueprints
(3 times a day).

--- coyote <coyote@net-link.net> wrote:
> Here, try this on for size: Eureka!(3) Edge
(works just like the Old Hand in Hucksters & Hexes)

This is a good start, but it's the card pulling
ability that Mad Scientists NEED. (see my new edge at
the end of this e-mail) What the Mad Scientist AB
needs is something that prevents or lessens the
potency of the Locos that they pick up from pulling a
Joker during Blueprint creation. IMO everything else
about the Mad Scientist is great!
(Shane: I really don't think the MS is weak, I was
just trying to get people's attention because of the
stupid flame war)

--- Horace Black <horaceblack@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Mad Insight				1-5
(multi-leveled edge using Fate Chips described, I'll
sum up)
> White	= draw an extra card during the design phase
> Red = Discard up to 3 cards and redraw them during
the design phase.
> Blue = Make one of the cards wild during the gizmo’s
design phase
> Legend = The poker hand is upgraded to the next best
hand during the design phase

This is great! Although I don't ever see myself using
the white chip ability.
Maybe the effects could be multi-functional, for
instance a White chip could give an extra card during
design or it could give a +1 to reliability, or it
could lower the TN for construction by 1, and then
apply something similar to every chip color (including
black, for those of us who still use those black chip
rules)
 
--- Jeff Yates <jyates@primaryfunction.com> wrote:
> That example items you give are things that would be
a 
> Mad Scientists Masterpiece, his life work,
> something he spends 1 to 20 YEARS, if not his entire
> life, working on. (snipped the rest)

True, but I was using my biggest examples. I acquired
so many insanities just trying to devise the
blueprints for such a life's work, that ultimately the
life's work would never get built. My original MS
paranoicly believes that the British are actually
invading Venusians whose offspring are in the form of
potatoes and if anyone ever eats a potato in front of
her she automatically believes that they've been
"taken over", oh yeah and she has Major Phobias of the
British, flags that have red white and blue colors,
and vegetables that aren't green
This could make it kinda hard to do just about
anything... for any character, for Mad Scientists it's
a wonder that any big inventions ever get made at all.

> And my take on why Hellstrome and his contemporaries
> aren't totally insane -- flunkies.  Gather yourself 
> a bunch of Mad Scientist underlings
> to take the psycological beatings, steal (in a
>
corporate-you-signed-me-the-rights-in-your-employment-contract
> kinda
> way) the blueprints, and get famous while keeping
> some of your marbles.

This is probably a good idea if you're a
multi-millionare like hellstromme, but PCs generally
don't have those kinds of resources. 
it IS a very good idea though *rubs hands together in
villainous and mischeivous manner*
 
--- Nyarlathothep132@aol.com wrote:
> Edge: Invention Specialty (1-5)
(summing up) he's better at building gadgets related
to a particuklar field and gets a +1 bonus when
building a gadget that depends on the specialty

it's good, but I would call it "Scientific Specialty",
or maybe "I Gots Me A Degree!" and I would apply it to
a specific Science Aptitude (not General)
 
> Edge: 1% Inspiration- (3)
> The MS receives an extra fate chip from the pot 
> per session that can ONLY be spent on Mad
> Science or Alchemy rolls.

OUTSTANDING! I'm going to use it.
 
> Hindrance: They All Laughed At Me! (1-5)
> (SNIP!) other scientists won't give 
> him the time of day, or they might even take steps
> to sabotage his work. 

this is too much like a specialized version of
anti-Renown, I don't think I would ever allow it to go
above 3 for my games
what IS the "You Bastard!" Hindrance anyways?
 
> Hindrance: Crackpot! (3)
> They laughed at you for a good reason. Your Mad
> Scientist has theories that 
> even the [spoilers] don't think are right. Perhaps
> he's a believer in Orgone 
> Energy or the Hollow Earth. I had initially thought
> this would be a 1-5 edge, 
> with each rank being a -1 penalty to all Mad Science
> rolls as the MS tried to 
> incorporate his patently untrue theories, but I
> think it works better from a 
> roleplaying standpoint. If the player wants to
> hinder himself building an 
> Orgone Energy Ray instead of a flamethrower, he can
> enjoy the hindrance...

Sorry, won't use this one. Who is to say that devises
built using Orgone Energy won't work in a
manitou-infested world? 
My second MS built his weather machine using a
principle that a special mixture of ghost rock
aluminum (that he devised) could interact with a
certain radiowave signal that he referred to as
weather-waves, the entire principle of his weather
machine relied on this theory and I would've hated the
Marshal if the MS had ever finally built it and it
didn't work.

> Knack: Great Newton's Ghost!
> Your Mad Scientist has the spiritual voices of a
> famous scientist, perhaps even Isaac Newton, 
> offering helpful advice. (SNIP!)

I think one chip-spending edge for MS are enough, how
about if we make this a 4 point edge, it could be a
Knack, it could be a Loco, but it certainly does
benefit the MS because the "ghost" helping the
huckster increases the base reliability of his gadgets
by +2

--- Nyarlathothep132@aol.com wrote:
> 99% Perspiration (2)
> You are a hard working and dilligent Mad Scientist.
> Because of this, every time you repeat an attempt 
> at making a gizmo, you get a +2 bonus. Eventually, 
> with time and energy, you'll get the gizmo to work.

I would change this to +1, so every failed attempt
makes the possibilites better, but it's a slower
crawl. I think I would also apply this bonus to
improvements made on his own designs. NOTE: This kind
of edge does mean that if a MS keeps working on the
same gadget eventually he just needs to not "go bust"
on his roll to draw cards for a specific blueprint.


And finally, I have to throw my own idea into the pot:
NEW EDGE
"Stop Touching My Brain!" (3)
Most Mad Scientists think their ideas are their own, a
select few know about the existence of manitou and a
rare number of those select few use this this to their
own advantage. When this Mad Scientist draws cards to
devise a blueprint, she draws them one at a time and
stops whenever she chooses. (just like Old Hand)
Additionally, this Mad Scientist knows the dangers of
the game she is playing and shoves her experience into
the manitou's face, when she draws a Red Joker she can
use it as a wild card but doesn't suffer the negative
aspects of drawing a Joker during the design phase.
Black Jokers always result in an insanity, however,
and that's the price you pay for letting evil spirits
touch your brain.

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