Temp Equipment Kits

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This is a temporary repository for ideas and notes pertaining to Equipment Skill Kits, e.g. Lockpicking Kits and Disguise Kits.

Each Kit is for a defined Skill, usually just one, sometimes just one subject of a single Skill, possibly occasionally usable freely for multiple related skills, or able to function as lower-bonus Kit for a few additional skills in addition to its usage for its Main Skill.

Contents

Bonus Grade

Code Term RD mod. Notes
K- No Gear +4 Work is 1 TSS slower
K0 Improvised +3 Work is twice as slow
K1 Shoddy +2
K2 Poor +1
K3 Basic +0
K3+ Basic+ +0 Can be used at a -1 bonus, a few times per Moon
K4 Good -1
K4+ Good+ -1 Can be used at a further -1 bonus, a few times per Moon
K5 Excellent -2
K5+ Excellent+ -2 Can be used at a further -1 bonus, a few times per Moon. Magic only!
K6 Fantastic -3 Can only be achieved via powerful Enchantments (e.g. Artificer or Endowing)
K6+ Fantastic -3 Allows further usages at a -1 bonus a few times per Moon. Can only be achieved via powerful Enchantments (e.g. Artificer or Endowing)

The triggered bonus

Add up Dexterity(Manual) and Intelligence, then divide by 4 and round down. This is the number of extra-bonus uses per Moon, with a bonus to a normal roll costing 1 usage, and a bonus to any Task costing 3 usages. (A bonus to a single roll cycle for a Task costs 1 usage.)

For K6+, include one more Attribute in the usage calculation formula, and divide by 3 instead of 4. Which one is it depends on the kind of magic used. Artificer uses Will, Divine Blessed Items uses Faith, Endowing uses Psyche.

Other kinds of magic can perhaps use Perception or Charisma, or even Creativity, or some exotic function such as taking the stat for Concentration or Meditation (or even Observation) first doubling it and then subtracting 3 (e.g. so that a Meditation stat of 4.5 yields a result of 6). For some very exotic magics, using Agility, Balance or Reflexes may make sense (or even some figure derived from the number of Luck Traits the character has), but there's no point in sweating over it for hours, since in most cases the stat used does not make a great difference.

As an example, a Divine Blessed Disguise Kit would have a formula of Faith + Intelligence + Manual Dexterity, divided by 3, rounded down.

K6+ items sometimes require the user to do something to trigger the bonus effect, such as say a little prayer, but not always (notably Artificer items do not). K3+, K4+ and K5+ items do not, the decision when to use the bonus is made by the player, not by the character, and what the using character and others percieve is simply that the item seems to be slightly better than the next-lower non-plussed item, e.g. a K4+ Lockpick Kit seems, for those who use it and for those who observe it being used, to be slightly better than a K4 Lockpick Kit but not quite as good as a K5 Lockpick kit.

Unspent bonused usages are lost.

Note that from an optimization point of view, Intelligence and Manual Dexterity summing to 12 is good, such as both being 6, or one being 7 and the other being 5. A rogue-type character might have 6 in each, while a thief would have Manual Dexterity 7 and Intelligence 5, and a spy could have Intelligence 7 and Manual Dexterity 5. This yields 3 Moonly bonused usages, except for a K6+ Kit where it yields 4 (possibly more depending on what the third bonus stat is).

The low number of usages per Moon is based on the assumption that Kit-type skills are rolled for rarely, and so giving a large number of usages will create the effect that in many campaigns, almost all usages are bonused. And that's undesirable, since it removes the incentive for getting the next higher level of Kit.

Kit Traits

Code Trait Picks Effect Notes
Compact I 50% mass The Kit weighs less and takes up less space
Compact II 30% mass, -1 Size
Large I x8 mass, +2 Size The Kit is large and heavy
Large II x70 mass, +4 size
Large III +6 size, weighs about 200 kg (move it by wagon)
Large IV +9 size, room-sized (weighs several tonnes)
Durable I +1 Durability The Kit has higher Durability than normal. Useful for Kits intended for field use (adventuring, military)
Durable II +2 Dur.
Durable III +3 Dur.
Deceptive I RD 9 Cannot be combined with Disguised. The Kit looks like what it is (e.g. a Traps Kit), but is deliberately made so that people will underestimate it, and assume it gives only a small bonus and is of generally low Quality. Useful for certain character concepts. Deceptive can be combined with Decorated, to make what seems to be a Fop's Kit, a Kit that seems to be for show only, never intended for actual us, except perhaps during play-acting. The RD is the base Perception, Intelligence or Skill RD to realize that the item is more than it seems.
Deceptive II RD 10
Deeptive III RD 11
Disguised I x3 mass, RD 9 Cannot be combined with Deceptive. The Kit is made so as to appear to be something else, either a completely different Kit, or else a non-Kit item.
Disguised II x8 mass, +1 Size, RD 10
Decorated I Grade I The Kit is embellished with decorative patterns (abstract or figurative, as appropriate), inlaid with colours, perhaps made of expensive blingy metal and/or set with semi-precious or precious gemstones. First of all this impresses some people, and secondly, in some worlds, such as most medieval societies, people of high Status are expected to only own and use Decorated gear, and so other people make assumptions about what social class someone is based on what Decoration level of gear they use. It simply won't do for a Knight to wield a common-looking sword, or for a Duke who dabbles in Surgery to use an ordinary-looking Surgery Kit. One has to look one's class!
Decorated II Grade II
Decorated III Grade III
Decorated IV Grade IV
Decorated V Grade V
Decorated VI Grade VI


Code Trait Picks Mod.
K1 Shoddy +2
K2 poor +1
K3 Basic +0
K3+ Basic+ +0
K4 Good -1
Code Trait Picks Mod.
K4+ Good+ -1 B
K5 Excellent -2
K5+ Excellent+ -2 B
K6 Fantastic -3
K6+ Fantastic+ -3 B


Quality, Picks and Monetary cost

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