Abilities: Hyper-Technology

Since the 2840 setting is a science fiction setting, it is necessary to have a catch-all skill for creating, repairing, manipulating, and using tools and weapons that do not exist in the 21st century. A character with the Hyper-Technology skill may attempt to create new inventions that do not currently exist in the 2840 world. The difficulty of this roll is dependent on the complexity of the item being created, the character’s access to fabrication machines and raw materials, and adequate time for research and development. Additionally, the Hyper-Technology skill is used for most rolls involving the repair, diagnosis, and improvement of existing technology. This applies to both mundane tech that is available now and advanced technology that can be classified as science fiction today.

Ability Levels:

0	Abysmal: For you, the difference between Hyper-Technology and magic is negligible. You will probably break any item you try to repair.
1	Novice: You like taking things apart, seeing how they work, and make minor adjustments when the muse strikes you.
2	Practiced: You are comfortable working in a machine shop or research and development lab.
3	Competent: Your ability to design new technology is a cut above most of your peers. Given time, you can make fairly impressive new devices.
4	Expert: You are likely the head mechanic for your company or space craft. You are frequently designing new devices, and improving existing ones.
5	Master: You are revered among other gear heads. Your grasp of esoteric technological concepts is legendary and your services are in high demand.

Hyper-Technolgy crafting system.

When a character attempts to create a new type of technological machine or process use the following system:

• (1) Inspiration: roll Intelligence + Appropriate Knowledge for the character to envision the concept. (Difficulty = 4 - 10 depending on the idea's complexity. Threshold = a minimum of 5 successes). This roll may be made by the character once per in-game month until they achieve enough successes to cross the threshold determined by the Storyteller. A botched inspiration roll indicates the creative process has stalled with the character losing all accumulated progress. Examples of an appropriate knowledge for this roll include: Cybernetics for crafting wetware, Physics for tech with moving parts or unique energy needs, Biomedicine for making vaccines or pharmaceuticals, and Engineering for large structures such as vehicles.


• (2) Research and Development: roll Intelligence + Research to develop a working schematic of the item. (Difficulty = 4 - 10 depending on the tools available to the character. A character with a research library and computer software for drawing three-dimensional schematics has a considerable advantage over a character working with pencil and paper and no access to academic research. Threshold = a minimum of 5 successes). This roll may be made by the character once per in-game month until they achieve enough successes to cross the threshold determined by the Storyteller. A botched Research and Development roll indicates the schematic is hopelessly flawed and the character must literally go back to the ol' drawing board with zero cumulative successes.


• (3) Prototype: roll Intelligence + Hyper-Technology to craft a working prototype of the device. (Difficulty = 4 - 10 depending on the resources available to the character. A character with a machine shop and ready access to construction materials receives a lower difficulty compared to a character building their prototype out of scraps using archaic tools. Threshold = a minimum of 5 successes). This roll may be made by the character once per in-game month until they achieve enough successes to cross the threshold determined by the Storyteller. A botched Hyper-Technology roll results in the materials becoming hopelessly damaged. In this event, the character must acquire new parts and raw materials and start fabricating their prototype from scratch. Characters that achieve a critical success on this roll when they cross the threshold for successes (half of their successes were 10s) may skip the 4th step as their device works perfectly without any glitches.


• (4) Refining roll Stamina + Hyper-Technology to continue tweaking the design until the storyteller rules that the object works perfectly. If the character does not complete this step the prototype device should have at least one design flaw or technical glitch that keeps it from working exactly as intended (e.g. it over heats after 5 minutes of use, or the device needs to be recalibrated after so many uses). Difficulty = 4 -10 depending on the resources available to the character. A character with a factory and employees will usually perfect a new piece of tech faster than a person working alone. Threshold = a minimum of 5 successes). This roll may be made by the character once per in-game month until they achieve enough successes to cross the threshold determined by the Storyteller. A botched Hyper-Technology roll at this stage makes the glitch worse.

Possessed by:

Technologists, Mechanics, Weapons Developers, Inventors, Patent Officers, Gadgeteers, Tech-support Technicians.

Sample Specialties:

Weapon Smithing, Earthbound Vehicles, Nanotech, Trinary Computers & AI, Research and Development, Repair, Machining Parts, Hidden Functions.

Players may choose a specialty at level 4 and another specialty at level 5.