[Torg] Weird science question?

[Steve Crow]

Long time Torg player, first-time poster. :)

 

We were playing Torg the other night and had a Weird Science
question come up. Yeah, it may be a lost cause. But...

 

How do skill gadgets work?

 

There don't seem to be any examples in either the NE or Terra
SBs. Presumably they work like attribute gadgets, but we're a little unsure on
that, too...

 

Hopefully the basic question & answer is the same regardless
of which gadget creation rules are used, NE or Terra, and the version of basic
rules.

 

So for instance, Two-Fisted Fred (PER 8, two adds in Evidence
Analysis, total 10) wants to build a weird science magnifying glass that
provides Evidence Analysis. It has a system limit of 8. He builds it, doesn't
add any boosters.

 

What does that 8 do?

 

Does it:

 

a) Replace Two-Fisted Fred's Evidence Analysis of 2? (PER 8, +8
gadget adds = 16)

 

b) Replace Two-Fisted Fred's Evidence Analysis overall total of
10? (Gadget has value of 8, so 8 is the value)

 

c) Add to Two-Fisted Fred's current Evidence Analysis total of
10. (Total of 10 + gadget value of 8 = 18)

 

Presumably it works similar to attribute gadgets, but we're
unclear on that too. A crane and a computer are mentioned as examples of STR
and MIN gadgets. But the implication and common sense is that these function
independently of the user. Someone using a crane doesn't add the crane's
strength to their strength to lift a crate.

 

But there are times when a gadget might add to the user's
existing attribute, or skill or both. The... Silk Panther? in the Terra SB has
+2 climbing gloves. These don’t replace his Climbing, but add to it.

 

Two-Fisted Fred's uber-magnifying glass would presumably be
similar. He wants to boost his own skill: the magnifying glass doesn't function
independently of him the way a crane does.

 

Maybe it has something to do with the rules on gadget-armor that
add to TOU rather than replace it (we think), but we got a little confused at
that point.

 

Of the options above, C seems really really over-powerful. And A
can be powerful for those skills with high system limits, and make the actual
purchase of personal skill adds redundant.

 

But B sometimes seems a bit underpowered.

 

Hope that makes sense...

 

Thoughts?

 

--- "Logic merely enables one to be wrong with authority."





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