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Savar
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 Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:00 pm Post subject: multitool |
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I remember reading this in some star wars rpg book. having used this item in char descriptions I am now having trouble finding the book I got it from.
pointers would be welcome |
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Xain Arke
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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From the Unknown Regions D6 Conversion, Is this the one?
Personal Multitool
Type: Multipurpose tool
Cost: 100
Availability: 1
Game Notes: Multitools vary, but a standard multitool carries a 5-cm vibroblade, a low-power hydrospanner, a small hydrogrip, a toothpick, and a miniature set of eating utensils. These tools are stored within the 6-cm handle and each fold out on a hinge. the multitool may grant a +1 to +1D bonus to various tasks as determined by the gamesmaster. The vibroblade can be used as an impromptu weapon, dealing STR+2 damage.
Xain |
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Savar
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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that is it! thank you
it's a great device every PC should have along with a datapad |
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Xain Arke
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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No problem, Glad I could help.
Xain |
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Matthias777
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Location: North Carolina, USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Xain Arke wrote: | From the Unknown Regions D6 Conversion, Is this the one?
Personal Multitool
Type: Multipurpose tool
Cost: 100
Availability: 1
Game Notes: Multitools vary, but a standard multitool carries a 5-cm vibroblade, a low-power hydrospanner, a small hydrogrip, a toothpick, and a miniature set of eating utensils. These tools are stored within the 6-cm handle and each fold out on a hinge. the multitool may grant a +1 to +1D bonus to various tasks as determined by the gamesmaster. The vibroblade can be used as an impromptu weapon, dealing STR+2 damage.
Xain |
So I didn't know what this was from, but I happen to have the book (honestly I've not read 90% of the D20 stuff I have, as I bought the books just for info referencing), so I looked it up now that I know the source. For some reason they say that this thing weighs 0.2kg, despite being the same size as a Leatherman keychain multitool!  Either WotC just threw a number on there without thinking, or it's not meant to be carried in the pocket. If you were to carry it on your belt or in a pack though, I'd make it a bit bigger in the interest of practicality. I am sure that just as with Earth multitools, there are hundreds of different models from scores of manufacturers and all types and sizes are available.
Not to get off on a wild tangent, but the idea that someone would get a bonus to a roll from using this doesn't quite make sense to me. I've always held that tools fall into one of three categories:
- The right tool for the job. If you needed a tool, went to the hardware store, and bought a standard example of that tool, this is what you'd get. Someone using the right tool for the job rolls their skill normally.
- A better tool for the job. Maybe it's innovative, maybe it's more precise, whatever. It does a better job than the one most people have in their toolbox, and it probably has the price tag to match. This is the kind of tool that provides bonuses when you use it to perform the task for which it was designed.
- A subpar tool for the job. Maybe it's not designed as well. Or maybe it was just something nearby that got turned into a tool because you left your toolbox back on the ship. Or maybe it's a lesser version of the tool that will fit into a multitool that you can keep on you at all times. It's not as good as the real thing, but it allows you to at least attempt the task in question, even if your roll suffers a slight penalty for not having "the right tool for the job".
FYI the WotC book also says that the power cell is good for 50 hours.
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Savar
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:27 am Post subject: |
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a belt clip or a sheath type holder.
I never read the original stats but that it gives a bonus is odd, for some tasks I would say it counts as a proper tool, other tests it might count as improvised, allowing the skill test with a penalty.
no bonus to the roll from a multitool that I can think of.
yes I was thinking a leatherman or a gerber |
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Matthias777
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 10:13 am Post subject: |
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| Savar wrote: | | I never read the original stats but that it gives a bonus is odd... |
To clarify, WotC only gave a damage stat (1D4); the skill bonus is something that was added by whoever converted it to D6.
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Xain Arke
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | To clarify, WotC only gave a damage stat (1D4); the skill bonus is something that was added by whoever converted it to D6. |
I suspect that this was keeping it in line with other D6 tools, which I think
had a similar bonus.
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cheshire
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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I can give a little input on this one. When we were doing the conversions, we had the multitool right there. It's a Sci-Fi representation of a commonplace item in our camping packs or on our belts. Most of us have or have used a leatherman or similar tool. Heck, I'd even taken a miniature multitool and sewn it's case into a non-load bearing section of a climbing harness once. (Don't ask what had happened to make me feel like that was necessary.)
But, there it is in the stats. WotC gave us a cost and a weight, but no game mechanics. WEG had several tools, and (for reasons that baffle me) they'd given most if not all of them bonuses and game mechanics to go along with it. Most of them are pretty noteworthy bonuses, but those are usually "right tool for the right job" sort of things. So, since this was kind of the "that'll do for now" kind of tool rather than "right tool for the right job" item, I just backed the bonus down, and added a caveat that it was at the GM's discretion.
That seemed a fair compromise between what had been established in WEG, and the sans-mechanics description in the d20 book. But if it were in my game, I'd be hesitant to provide bonuses to the jobs you'd do with the multitool.
By Matthias777's three classifications of tools Right tool, better tool, and sub-par tool, I (as a GM) would say that the right tool or sub-par tool makes a thing possible to do. A sub-par tool make increase the difficulty slightly, or may take more time. If you had a better tool, I may grant a small bonus, or will have the action take less time. With something like a multitool, I'd say that it would usually be a sub-par tool for the job, but it allows you to do a great many more jobs than usual. That, and I would allow for "MacGyver" antics.
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Savar
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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| let me take out my multitool and open this airway up |
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Matthias777
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| Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| cheshire wrote: | I can give a little input on this one. When we were doing the conversions, we had the multitool right there. It's a Sci-Fi representation of a commonplace item in our camping packs or on our belts. Most of us have or have used a leatherman or similar tool. Heck, I'd even taken a miniature multitool and sewn it's case into a non-load bearing section of a climbing harness once. (Don't ask what had happened to make me feel like that was necessary.)
But, there it is in the stats. WotC gave us a cost and a weight, but no game mechanics. WEG had several tools, and (for reasons that baffle me) they'd given most if not all of them bonuses and game mechanics to go along with it. Most of them are pretty noteworthy bonuses, but those are usually "right tool for the right job" sort of things. So, since this was kind of the "that'll do for now" kind of tool rather than "right tool for the right job" item, I just backed the bonus down, and added a caveat that it was at the GM's discretion.
That seemed a fair compromise between what had been established in WEG, and the sans-mechanics description in the d20 book. But if it were in my game, I'd be hesitant to provide bonuses to the jobs you'd do with the multitool.
By Matthias777's three classifications of tools Right tool, better tool, and sub-par tool, I (as a GM) would say that the right tool or sub-par tool makes a thing possible to do. A sub-par tool make increase the difficulty slightly, or may take more time. If you had a better tool, I may grant a small bonus, or will have the action take less time. With something like a multitool, I'd say that it would usually be a sub-par tool for the job, but it allows you to do a great many more jobs than usual. That, and I would allow for "MacGyver" antics. |
Makes perfect sense, and you're exactly right about WEG slathering bonuses all over every tool or piece of gear like butter on biscuits. Instead of a hammer enabling someone to drive nails, they'd say it gave a +1D to driving nails. So I get why the stat was put in during the D6 conversion (thanks for all the hard work on those, by the way).
What kind of bonuses does one get from the toothpick, I wonder? Maybe +1D to Stamina when resisting dental disease?
Edit: I also like cheshire's suggestion that one of the drawbacks to using subpar, makeshift, or "compromisory" (new word) tools can be simply an increase of the time taken, rather than an outright penalty. For things like multitools, that seems as though it would often be more appropriate. For some tasks, anyway. Sometimes you have to go with the penalty. I remember trying to use the pliers on a Gerber Dime to pull a nail out of my tire once. It simply wasn't going to happen (the pliers on the keychain-sized Dime weren't thick enough to not flex laterally and slip off of the nail). Got a regular-sized multitool out of the glovebox and seconds later I was ready to patch the tire.
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cheshire
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| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:57 am Post subject: |
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| Matthias777 wrote: |
Makes perfect sense, and you're exactly right about WEG slathering bonuses all over every tool or piece of gear like butter on biscuits. |
| Quote: |
Butter
Model: Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter
Type: slatherable delicacy
Cost: 3
Availability: 1
Game Notes: Provides +1D to survival rolls when applied to biscuits in low-calorie environments.
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Savar
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| Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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| cheshire wrote: | | Matthias777 wrote: |
Makes perfect sense, and you're exactly right about WEG slathering bonuses all over every tool or piece of gear like butter on biscuits. |
| Quote: |
Butter
Model: Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter
Type: slatherable delicacy
Cost: 3
Availability: 1
Game Notes: Provides +1D to survival rolls when applied to biscuits in low-calorie environments.
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rofl |
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