Devices

Devices are a set of game items that represent powerful technological tools and weapons. In most cases, Devices can be used by characters to achieve effects that would not otherwise be possible, like scanning areas for strange phenomena, or firing energy blasts that knock enemies from their feet. Devices are represented by pieces of technology with a laminated item card provided by the Game Team - this “lammie” denotes the item as special and details what abilities it has.

Devices are separated from other Game Items by dint of their ability to be maintained and Modified by characters with the Engineer skill. Most devices also use Charges to power their abilities.

• Devices hit by the SUNDER call cannot be used until they have been repaired by an Engineer roleplaying fixing them.
• Devices that are Broken cannot be used until they have been repaired by an Engineer performing a Card Draw Action on them, which is riskier.

Devices in the game can become damaged by various effects and phenomena, and can usually be repaired by Engineers. There are two levels of damage that Devices can suffer - Sundered and Broken. Both render the device unusable until it is repaired, but one is more complicated and risky to repair than the other.

A Sundered device has been struck or blasted by the SUNDER call, causing minor damage that prevents the device from working, but is easy to fix. Sundered devices can be repaired by an Engineer in the field by a minute or two of roleplayed action fixing the device. More skilled engineers take less time to repair devices in this way.

A Broken device has suffered more extensive damage, internally as well as externally, which takes more time to fix and can be risky to repair. To fix a Broken device, an Engineer must obtain 1 or more successes at a Card Draw Action, which requires a Referee. The Card Draw Action carries the risk of failure - a Broken device may injure the people trying to repair it, permanently break or even explode! Items become Broken through different circumstances that reflect unusual conditions - using Quark Plasma Exotic Particles on a device can burn out its internals, while exposure to certain strange entropic energies can rapidly degrade most devices.

Devices need to be regularly maintained lest they break down and stop working. A character with the engineer skill can perform maintenance on a device to extend its lifetime - with regular maintenance, a device can continue working potentially forever.

• Device Lammies have a duration - they will work until just before a numbered Orion Sphere LRP event - at that event they will stop working.
• An Engineer can maintain a device between events to extend its life by 4 more main events. Maintaining a single device uses up one of the Engineer's work slots (of which they get 1 for every rank they have in the Engineer skill.
• If a device is not maintained, its lammie expires completely 4 events after it stops working - at this point it is junk and can never be useful again.
• Maintaining a device costs Energy Chits, which are used to buy materials. The cost is determined by how many Mods are on the device, and its Cost.
  • Maintenance costs 1/10 of the Base Cost.
  • This is multiplied by a modifier determined by the number of mods on the device (see the table below).

Devices can be modified with extra technology to grant them more powers and abilities, although each modification crammed into a device makes it more expensive to maintain and modify further. A character with the engineer skill can work on a device between events to add one of the Mods that they know to it (assuming it is the right kind of device).

• An Engineer can work on a device between events to add one of the Mods that they know to it. Modding a single device uses up one of the Engineer's work slots (of which they get 1 for every rank they have in the Engineer skill.
• Modding a device costs Energy Chits, which are used to buy specialist materials to apply the Mod. The cost is determined by how many Mods are on the device, and its Cost.
  • Maintenance costs 1/2 of the Base Cost.
  • This is multiplied by a modifier determined by the number of mods on the device (see the table below).

If you haven't managed to get hold of a device you want to Mod, you can buy off-the-shelf equipment between events from the Advanced Armaments MegaCorp. The list of purchasable equipment can be found here - Advanced Armaments Equipment List.

The more you modify a device from its basic version, the more temperamental and expensive it becomes. Cramming additional tech into a device can vastly expand its capabilities, but maintaining those additions is expensive. Adding even more modifications means having to miniaturise things or create complex workarounds so that the device works with its new additions, and the price rapidly mounts up. Most devices can accommodate about seven or eight modifications before the cost starts to become truly astronomical, but dedicated Engineers can in theory go much further for wealthy patrons who are willing to pay for a truly extraordinary device.

The cost multipliers to maintain and mod equipment are listed on the table below. All the costs are multiplied by the devices “Base Cost” - the price of the basic item off the rack from the manufacturer. Fractions are rounded to the nearest whole number.

From humble origins a legend can be made

This basic pistol, with a charge capacity of 2 and no special firing modes or anything else out of the box costs 20 chits brand new. Having rolled off the Advanced Armaments assembly lines, it would cost 2 chits to maintain and extend its life for 4 more events, and 10 chits to apply a Mod to it.

• Its owner adds the Disruption Bolt Mod to it, allowing it to tear 2 charges to call DISRUPT. It now costs 2 EC to maintain, 12 to Mod again.
• They then add the Increase Charge Capacity Mod, giving it a total of 4 Charges. It now costs 3 EC to maintain, and 16 to Mod.
• They add more Charge Capacity again, giving it a total of 6 Charges. It now costs 4 EC to maintain, and 22 to Mod.
• Since they've invested quite a bit, and don't want it broken, they add an Integrity Field mod. It now costs 6 EC to maintain, and 32 to Mod.
• Trying to get a bit more utility, they add an Impact Bolt mod. It now costs 10 EC to maintain, and 48 to Mod.
• They get an Elysian to work on it and add the Psi Crystal Battery mod, giving it a total of 9 Charges. It now costs 15 EC to maintain, and 74 to Mod.
• They re-commission the same engineer to add another Psi Crystal Battery, giving it a total of 12 Charges. It now costs 23 EC to maintain, and 116 to Mod.
• The pistol is stolen by an assassin, who takes a shine to it. It needs more punch for their line of work, and they have a friend add the Kill Bolt Mod. It now costs 37 EC to maintain, and 184 to Mod.
• The owner commissions another Charge Capacity increase, bringing the total to 14 Charges. It now costs 59 EC to maintain, and 294 to Mod.
• It is sold to a wealthy Dominion dealer, who has a Priest make it into a Talisman. It now costs 94 EC to maintain, and 472 to Mod again. This legendary weapon can hold up to 14 Charges, is able to fire for DISRUPT, LETHAL or STRIKEDOWN, and can resist SUNDER calls, as well as acting as a spiritual bulwark for its Dominion owner. Having come from humble origins, it is now a weapon to be feared.