Crafting Equipment

Prior to reading these houserules, please familiarize yourself with our Equipment Chart, where standard equipment stats and tags can be found.

Crafting can be approached as an Instant (Special) action or as an Extended action, depending on the context. Some house rules apply to both cases, while others only apply to one or another.

CRAFTING TYPES

♢ INSTANT (SPECIAL) CRAFTING

Sometimes crafting equipment can be abstracted into a single roll. This abstraction is intended solely for equipment that can be reasonably built in 1-2 hours or less, and not meant for building complex items or designs from scratch.

If the character has plenty of time, isn't under any duress, and has dots in the relevant building Skill equal to the equipment bonus a standard example of the equipment would provide, the Storyteller may choose to skip the roll. In these cases, the Storyteller sets the amount of time it takes and describes how it happens within a scene duration (or between two scenes).

A Storyteller should ask for a roll if:

The character is under pressure (i.e., time limit, being attacked/threatened)
The character is attempting to build something beyond their casual expertise (i.e., something with an equipment bonus greater than their dots in the relevant building Skill)
The character is attempting to make a version of the equipment that has higher traits than the standard example
The character is attempting to make equipment in a shorter amount of time than proposed by the Storyteller without rolling
The Storyteller determines the equipment is too complex to be made without a roll

For example, the Storyteller might choose to skip a roll for a character sewing a stolen I.D. patch onto an outfit, if the character has enough Crafts or Expression. However, if a character is attempting to put together a makeshift trap, the Storyteller should call for a roll.

JURY RIGGING

An even more special type of Instant Crafting is Jury Rigging. Sometimes you don't have the luxury of time - you're dangling from a grappling hook 30ft above the cold concrete with an angry mob of gunmen on your tail, and that Molotov cocktail you're mixing gets done now or never.

Jury Rigging uses the same dice pool as you would in regular Instant Crafting, but cuts out all the game time that Instant Crafting might normally take. Note that every Failure in Jury Rigging is considered a Dramatic Failure. On Success, the resulting equipment is guaranteed to be Fragile, Volatile, or something similar.

A Storyteller can rule that an item is too complex to be jury rigged.

♢ EXTENDED CRAFTING

In many cases, crafting will require an extended action. This covers:

Equipment requiring more than 1-2 hours of work
Building from scratch
Almost all armor, weapons, and unique equipment

The Skills involved may vary depending on the equipment, but all extended crafting should follow the same guidelines in terms of roll duration and successes required.

Extended Crafting has a baseline of 12 hours/roll. More complex equipment should have longer times. For example, building a car from scratch may be 1 week/roll. Note that unless specified otherwise, extended action durations includes time for the character to eat/sleep/attend to other basic needs, though they may not perform other actions.

The number of successes required depends on the desired item's Size, Durability, and Complexity.

SIZE: The larger an item is, the longer it takes to create it, the smaller it is, the harder it is to work on.

DURABILITY: Carving an ice sculpture is harder than a Play-Doh sculpture. How difficult is a given material to work with?

COMPLEXITY: Intricate details or moving parts require more effort and skill.

Complexity acts as a multiplier to the required number of successes. Many objects will likely fall within the Simple to Moderate range.

Simple: x1 Successes
Moderate: x1.5 Successes
Complex: x2 Successes

Note that this rating system does not take into consideration the character's areas of expertise - building a car from scratch will always be considered complex, for example, regardless of who is attempting it.

DICE PENALTIES

♢ CRAFTSMANSHIP (QUALITY)

In some cases, a character may want a certain level of quality in their final product. They can take additional penalties to do so.

-0 dice (rough/average/passably functional)
-1 dice (nice)
-3 dice (exceptional)
-5 dice (masterpiece)

This penalty is most relevant when creating artwork or gifts, though it can be applied to objects with equipment bonuses. The Storyteller should exercise reasonable judgment - for example, if a character is crafting a fashionable gala gown with a +3 bonus to social rolls, some level of quality is assumed even if the player does not take an additional craftsmanship penalty. If the player does take additional craftsmanship penalties, this should be considered on top of the baseline for the equipment. This does not grant the item additional mechanical bonuses, but may have roleplay value.

♢ EQUIPMENT BONUSES

Crafting rolls always take a penalty based on the desired equipment bonus. For example, if an item provides a +2 bonus, then rolls to craft that item will take a -2 penalty.

If the equipment is meant to grant other benefits, like a new function, an increased trait, or access to a resource, each benefit counts as a one-die bonus for this purpose. For example, a fake security guard badge that provides a +1 bonus to pretending to be a security guard with the intention to gain access to a secure facility will take a -2 penalty during crafting.

Weapons impose a penalty equal to their weapon modifier, and armor imposes a penalty equal to its highest armor rating (general or ballistic).

♢ ACCESS TO EQUIPMENT

As in all cases, crafting rolls can benefit from or be hindered by what the character has access to. If the character has barely functioning tools, they may garner an additional penalty, up to -3. However, if the character has access to a state-of-the-art facility, they may get up to a +3 bonus. Merits such as Makerspace can guarantee easy access to tools.

♢ PREREQUISITES

Not all ideas are possible. Especially for complicated, restricted, or narratively interesting equipment, Storytellers can require the use of Resources, Contacts, Merits, or Specialties. A Storyteller may require separate rolls for researching or designing equipment. Generally, this should be reserved for particularly unique creations (e.g., an angel's bane), and should not be a hoop to jump through for every attempt at crafting, especially with standard equipment.

However, many "specialized" areas will require a relevant Specialty. As examples:

WEAPONS → Weaponsmithing, Bladesmithing
FIREARMS → Gunsmithing
ARMOR → Armor Crafting, Protective Gear
POISONS → Poisons, Toxicology, Biochemicals

At the Storyteller's discretion, equipment can be ruled to be complex enough to require a Specialty for crafting. A character lacking required Specialties can attempt to acquire equipment through other means. Alternatively, a Storyteller may inflict a -5 penalty for crafting outside of their trained niches.

CUSTOM EQUIPMENT

Whenever possible, use an existing equipment/armor/weapon as a baseline for stats. A character can create new equipment with altered stats through a series of bonuses and offsets. For example, a character could create an object with an additional +1 equipment bonus, at the cost of applying a flaw like Fragile.

♢ BONUSES AND OFFSETS

Bonuses can increase an item's equipment bonus by 1, lower an item's existing penalties or requirements by 1, or add a beneficial equipment tag. Certain modifications to armor/weapons may require more offsets - refer to the table on the right.

Offsets are penalties you take in exchange for a bonus elsewhere. Consider penalties to Speed and Defense (armor-specific), increased Strength Requirements, penalties to Initiative (weapon-specific), and higher costs. You may also apply negative equipment tags for a single offset such as Fragile, Inaccurate, and Slow.

EXCEPTIONS

Cost can never be reduced. It can only go up as a result of offsets.
Size cannot be adjusted up or down unless it makes sense
- For example, you could create a pike or boar spear by increasing the size of the standard spear it's based on, or creating a larger shield for a Giant-sized person
- However, you can't miniaturize a greatsword or make a size 8 rapier without good reason
The Two-Handed weapon tag is applied logically. Large weapons like greatswords, pikes, sledgehammers, and so on will require the Two-Handed tag
8-again may not be applied to melee weaponry or archaic ranged weapons. It only applies to firearms or high explosives.
The maximum rating of any individual quality is limited to +5 or -5. Mundane equipment cannot exceed these limitations.
You may not improve an item's Speed, Initiative, or Defense penalty to the point that it provides a bonus. You may only reduce them to a 0 penalty. The Guard equipment tag is the exception to this rule.
You may only take three instances of Guard, Accurate, Piercing or Enhance on any given item.
A weapon's damage rating may be improved no higher than twice its base rating or by 1 if its rating is usually 0.
An armor's General and Ballistic ratings may be improved no higher than twice its base rating or by 1 if its rating is usually 0.
Additional Armor Coverage never applies to the head. Helmets are always handled as detailed in Hurt Locker.
Helmets cannot have their armor quality improved. They are always based on the armor they complement per the rules in Hurt Locker.
Storytellers reserve the right to decline your desired construct. Please note that if you bring equipment approved by one Storyteller into another Storyteller's game, that other Storytellers reserve the right to re-balance equipment as they see fit.

♢ FLAWED EQUIPMENT

Failing crafting rolls, Instant or Extended, can lead to flaws in the resulting equipment. Per the Storyteller's discretion, a character may be awarded equipment even on failure, though the equipment will be subpar or even be a hindrance.

The Storyteller can place an Offset or equipment flaw on crafted equipment. For example, if a character failed two rolls during extended crafting, the Storyteller might choose to reduce the equipment bonus by 1, or reduce the overall craftsmanship, or apply Volatile to the equipment. The Storyteller should use reasonable judgment - you don't need to have a 1:1 flaw to failure ratio, and the flaws should be interesting rather than punishing. Confer with the player during crafting - for example, a player may instead want to take a -2 penalty to continue crafting their item rather than take a flaw on their resulting equipment.

Fragile (Tag)

The equipment won’t last long for some reason, whether because it’s an object put together with duct tape and bubble gum or because the computer ends up suffering a blue screen of death and the data is corrupted. The equipment ceases to exist in any usable form after a number of uses equal to its creator’s dots in the Skill used to build it.

Volatile (Tag)

The equipment is ready to blow at any moment, figuratively or literally. One wrong word, one badly-placed rune, and it’s time to duck and cover. Any failure achieved while benefiting from the equipment is automatically a dramatic failure.

Shoddy (Tag)

The equipment exists, but barely. Its equipment bonus is reduced by two dice. This can create equipment penalties if the original bonus was fewer than two dice.

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