From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Lizard
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2001 6:31 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [ogf-d20-l] Does it make sense for PCs to make things?
<< Uhm...compare making a high-quality handgun by hand, from raw metals,
compared to buying one at your local gunshop. >>
Well, "high quality" doesn't really count here; if it's really high quality
or really low, that's covered by the DC changing. Let's just talk average
quality.
And it's not the cost I'm concerned about, other than as a measure of
effort. That measure gets exaggerated because Star Wars pays a craftsman a
LOT more for his efforts than does D&D 3E. Time is the real factor. My
brother-in-law's a gunsmith, and he'll turn out a nice weapon in a lot less
than the 44 days implied for a slug-thrower pistol. If he's on vacation from
his day job, he'll turn out a serviceable pistol in a couple of weeks. (And
no offense to him; but I doubt he has a total +7 modifier, either.)
And the "raw metals" issue is open to question, too. Remember, you have to
pay one-third of the final cost for the materials. Now consider that the
wholesale cost of an item -- i.e., what a merchant will pay for it -- is
half the final cost. So these "raw materials" cost two-thirds the wholesale
cost of a finished item. For that kind of price, I expect a LITTLE more than
just piles of raw ore and unfused sand and what not: I expect good bar
stock, pre-printed control circuits, maybe pre-ground lenses, etc. In a
fantasy society, everything is custom; but in a high-tech society, even new
designs are made as much as possible from pre-existing stock materials.
<< Now consider that a blaster
is an order of magnitude more complex, yet has to endure the same harsh
working conditions without it's frammistat going out of phase or it's
hydrowidgets decoupling or whatever. Almost all the tools and equipment we
use today can only be made affordably if they're being made by huge
factories producing thousands at a time. >>
Again, affordable is not the question. Time is. 80 days to make a blaster is
absurd.
<< A sword, or a piece of armor, on the other hand, CAN be made by a single
craftsman. >>
So can a gun. And as you point out, so can a lightsaber.
<< IIRC, a Jedi makes his own lightsaber -- and it's a gruelling process
that
signals the culmination of their training. >>
And it can be done in as little as a day, once you have the materials. Or if
you want to get the best rolls, wait a month (p. 153 of Star Wars RPG). And
of course, that flies COMPLETELY in the face of the rest of the craft rules.
A lightsaber costs 3000 credits, which means 30000 work points. A normal
item of that cost would take 95 weeks to build (with a +7 modifier). You'd
also have to pay 1000 credits for the materials. Now if these were truly
"raw" materials, who knows what they would cost? But the book tells us what
the FINISHED materials are. Here they are, along with my guesses at costs:
Power Cell: 25 cr
Hand Grip: A metal tube, so price it like a baton: 15 cr
Activation Plate: Probably no more complex than a glow rod's activator, so
call it: 10 cr
Safety: Ditto. It's a switch: 10 cr
Belt Ring: A loop of plastic or cord or something: 1 cr
Blade Length Adjuster: OK, this one's probably a bit complex. Thinking of it
as a good, quality rheostat, I'll guess: 50 cr
Emitter Matrix: This, I imagine, is a pretty key piece, and complex. But
there should be something similar in a sporting blaster, which wholesales
for 150. So I'm guessing: 200 cr
Recharge Socket: Not sure what this means; I'll guess: 50 cr
Lens Assembly: Precision optics ain't cheap: 200 cr
Power Conduit: Conduit, on the other hand, is cheap. Let's assume high
quality stuff: 100 cr
Focusing Crystals: Who knows?
Now we have no costs on the crystals; but the costs for everyuthing else are
around 660 credits. Assuming 340 for the credits, we would hit that magic
1000 credit figure. My point? That I highly doubt the 1000 credits could
possibly reflect truly raw materials in this example.
<< As regards the genre -- no one in SW makes stuff. REPAIRS stuff, or
ALTERS
stuff, yes. One exception -- Anakin Skywalker, who built a pod racer and a
protocol droid, but he was the Chosen One, so he gets special breaks. >>
Again, Luke made his lightsaber. The Ewoks made all sorts of
spur-of-the-moment traps and stuff (not to mention a throne for C-3PO). And
all of these happened between scenes. But when we game, we game the big
action scenes AND between the big action scenes. The game doesn't cover that
as well.
In our game tonight, we saw even more examples of this: Craft vs. Profession
vs. Unskilled Labor. A Craftsman 20 times a skill roll for a week's work.
Doesn't matter the craft. Average roll for a starting PC with 4 ranks and a
17 Int is 350 credits. But a Professional gets 50 times a skill roll; and
again, it doesn't matter the profession: a bartender or a cook gets the same
as a doctor or a lawyer, and MUCH more than a skilled weaponsmith or armorer
or such. Average roll for a starting PC with 4 ranks and a 17 Wis is 875
credits. Meanwhile, an Unskilled Laborer can earn 100 credits a day, or 500
credits in a 5 day week. So the Craftsman just can't get an even break.
Martin L. Shoemaker
Emerald Software, Inc. -- Custom Software and UML Training
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.EmeraldSoftwareInc.com
www.UMLBootCamp.com
