Laser Screwdriver

[cliffr]

I have a player who has made a Time Lord character and wants to take a Laser Screwdriver (who'd have sonic?) as his major gadget. Can anyone help me come up with some gadget stats that would make this work without crossing over into special gadget territory?

[Null and Void]

As a matter of fact, I CAN help you with that... it was one of the first things I statted out and posted. It can be found in the Gadgets section and here's a link:

dwaitas.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gadgets&action=display&thread=286

Bear in mind, this was the version the master used, and thus a player version is not likely to have the Age trait, though it may have isomorphic controls.

[kaemaril]

Jan 18, 2010 1:53:53 GMT cliffr said:

I have a player who has made a Time Lord character and wants to take a Laser Screwdriver (who'd have sonic?) as his major gadget. Can anyone help me come up with some gadget stats that would make this work without crossing over into special gadget territory?

Grab a pencil.
Grab the sonic screwdriver gadget card.
Cross out the word 'sonic', write in 'laser'

Just 'cos the Master had a deadly screwdriver that could do all sorts of neat shit doesn't mean an 'off the shelf' laser screwdriver is necessarily going to do much more then drive screws

[cliffr]

Jan 18, 2010 2:03:33 GMT Null and Void said:

As a matter of fact, I CAN help you with that... it was one of the first things I statted out and posted. It can be found in the Gadgets section and here's a link:

dwaitas.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gadgets&action=display&thread=286

Bear in mind, this was the version the master used, and thus a player version is not likely to have the Age trait, though it may have isomorphic controls.

Awesome, thank you so much! Have some karma for that.

[cliffr]

Jan 18, 2010 2:04:28 GMT @kaemaril said:

Jan 18, 2010 1:53:53 GMT cliffr said:

I have a player who has made a Time Lord character and wants to take a Laser Screwdriver (who'd have sonic?) as his major gadget. Can anyone help me come up with some gadget stats that would make this work without crossing over into special gadget territory?

Grab a pencil.
Grab the sonic screwdriver gadget card.
Cross out the word 'sonic', write in 'laser'

Just 'cos the Master had a deadly screwdriver that could do all sorts of neat shit doesn't mean an 'off the shelf' laser screwdriver is necessarily going to do much more then drive screws

Oh, I was definitely never planning to give the player anything like the Master had. But I did think it should be able to do something different than a sonic screwdriver (especially since another player took one of those for his gadget). I think I'll take Null and Void's stats for the Master's laser, lower the weapon damage and drop the age ability and that should do nicely.

[Matt Johnston]

Hm, tough one.

One of those times when a little bit of science knowledge hurts.

I loathe the way that the Sonic Screwdriver has turned into "The One Ring' when it comes to story plots. It seems to be able to do anything except unlock Dead Lock seals. Act as a weapon, fix anything with a few waves and also seems to act as a Tricorder as well. The only thing I dislike more in the new series is "Universal Roaming".

That said - in emulation of the series, the presentation in the rules is excellently done with the device holding Story Points.

So - are these 'tools' or literal 'plot devices'?

[n01h3r3]

Jan 18, 2010 9:48:47 GMT Matt Johnston said:

One of those times when a little bit of science knowledge hurts.

And likely one where it helps as well, from an in-character perspective. I imagine, from simple origins, the Sonic Screwdriver has been seriously upgraded, tweaked and outright replaced dozens or hundreds of times over the centuries of the Doctor's life, adding new components and new functions and suchlike every time he gets bored or he needs to build a replacement. Story-wise, it's certainly overused, but at the same time, the Doctor's tinkering nature and the broad range of his experience means that such a multi-function tool (with thousands of different functions; who knows, maybe it's bigger on the inside to fit all the extra workings?) makes sense for him to own.

Personally, to avoid such overuse while simultaneously doing justice to the concept of a tool with thousands of uses, I'm likely to award Story Points to the item (rather than the character) in a situation where the item would be useful but isn't just used to solve the problem (similar to the tendancy of some superheroes to not always use certain powers, because it'd interfere with the story), allowing the gadget to store up a decent supply of Story Points for when it's really needed and most appropriate.

[zebaroth]

if you want can say that laser/sonic screwdriver has so many uses say 3-4 before you have
to recharge it

[JohnK]

Hullo, Zebaroth,

Feb 6, 2010 23:28:07 GMT zebaroth said:

if you want can say that laser/sonic screwdriver has so many uses say 3-4 before you have
to recharge it

I would be more inclined to handle this as a story or plot element, a situation where the player wants to hinder the plot, and thus gain a few Story Points, by having the laser or sonic screwdriver run out of juice. That said, I don't think I recall seeing that ever happen in the series to the Doctor, other than when someone destroys the sonic screwdriver, or damages it, or...

[rev503]

Jan 18, 2010 9:48:47 GMT Matt Johnston said:

Hm, tough one.

One of those times when a little bit of science knowledge hurts.

I loathe the way that the Sonic Screwdriver has turned into "The One Ring' when it comes to story plots. It seems to be able to do anything except unlock Dead Lock seals. Act as a weapon, fix anything with a few waves and also seems to act as a Tricorder as well. The only thing I dislike more in the new series is "Universal Roaming".

That said - in emulation of the series, the presentation in the rules is excellently done with the device holding Story Points.

So - are these 'tools' or literal 'plot devices'?

Perhaps take it away for a while and replace it with a decorative vegetable?