Re: [HOE] Junker Tool Browser [HOPLER]

[Robert Holland <robert@macauley.com>]

>> Y'know if you can manage to get a device's stability up to 45, it becomes
>> permanently immune to instability? 'Course, you'll need a LOT of blue
>chips. :)
>
>Where is this stated?

Math. When a device becomes unstable, you roll on the Instability Table, adding
the amount by which the stability roll was failed, *unless* the stability is
greater than 20 and you rolled a natural 20, in which case you *subtract* the
difference between the stability and the roll. EG, if you roll a 20 on a
stability check for a device with a 22 STA (easier to say, that), than you roll
on the inSTA table at -2. A device with a 40 STA subtracts 20 from inSTA rolls
if it destabilizes. The table only goes up to 20, so the modified roll is at
most 0--no possible effect. Of course, damage reduces the STA by 1 for each
durability step lost, so a 44 STA makes sure that it can't drop below 40 no
matter how much it's damaged. (I should have said 44 earlier, not 45, since 5
durability steps lost means the thing is destroyed.)

There are two caveats. One is the Destabilize tool trick, which forces a STA
check at -2 per raise. A really, really, REALLY good roll on Destabilize could
push through even this buffer, but don't bet on it. Second, there's a few powers
which have additional effects on a failed STA roll, like Brain Drain and
Reactor. You'll still get hit with these if you roll a 20, even if you're immune
to the effects on the table.

--Robert Holland