[UA] Mechanomancy Variant, or a Whole 'Nuther School? YOU Decide!

[Peter Kisner]

This strikes me as a pretty neat school.  Although I think it's a little 
tougher to get started on that it first appears.  An adept's first 
activities (or a precursor to joining) almost has to be building a workshop 
from scratch lest they violate their taboo while constructing something.  
It's one thing to smelt ore, but what are you using to do the smelting in?

- Peter K.


>From: "Unknown VariableX" <unknown_variablex at hotmail.com>
>
>This thing has been sitting on my desktop for a month and a half... mocking 
>me... smirking with its .txt extension! Well no more!
>
>...er... sorry. Lost control.
>
>DIYmancy
>
>(Help me with the name. Please.)
>
>Core Idea: Making stuff yourself, because your stuff is so much better than 
>the stuff in stores or on infomercials or even in high tech government 
>labs.
>
>Paradox: The drive to make the better machine ignores how the convenience 
>of other machines is also a good quality. If you need a flashlight right 
>now, a cheap one in your hand is better than a high-powered spotlight with 
>a bulb that never burns out later on in the week. So your machines are both 
>better and worse than the machines of others.
>
>Random Magick Domain: Independence and Improvement. We can rebuild it! We 
>have the technology! Faster, stronger, better than it was before! And we'll 
>throw in some fuzzy dice too.
>
>Taboo: Using any device or machine you haven't made yourself. In devoting 
>yourself to your own creations, you have spurned all other technology. and 
>it spurns you back. Your machines will not lose power... but YOU'll be in 
>trouble. The device will malfunction in a way that is certain to harm you, 
>or at least inconvenience you. In this way it's kind of like an avatar path 
>where the Avatar is a very strict, jealous guy, like the Old Testament God.
>
>Of course, the definition of "using" is a little bit fuzzy sometimes, so it 
>can basically be described as "actively trying to control the functions of 
>a device" with a few clarifying points. So, watching your buddy's TV is not 
>a violation (even though you'd rather watch yours, because it's better). 
>Trying to change the channel will probably make it explode and shower you 
>with glass shards. Using the remote will leave the TV unharmed, but the 
>remote may explode, or catch fire, or something. Similarly, looking at a 
>clock will not break it. Plugging it in or trying to change the time might, 
>though. Wearing a watch will almost certainly break it, since that's half 
>of using a watch anyway (the other half being looking). You can, however, 
>turn things off without triggering the taboo. Just don't turn them on 
>again.
>
>As a general rule, anything that can be held in the hand will cause one die 
>worth of damage when it goes haywire. Anything larger does two dice worth 
>of damage, added together. If the thing uses high voltage electrical 
>currents, or some similar hazard, or is some sort of vehicle, the damage is 
>worth two dice rolling an actual number, like a firearms attack.
>
>Minor Charge: Spend a day working on something.
>
>Significant Charge: Forget one appropriate memory, or use parts that have 
>somehow been made from your body, perhaps a screw made from the iron in 
>your blood cells. Or maybe plastic parts derived from the oil in your hair.
>
>Major Charge: Forget one very important memory, or a series of related 
>memories, or build a device entirely out of raw materials without any help. 
>This means finding the ore, digging it up, smelting it, working it, shaping 
>it, assembling it, et al, on your own (your creations may help you so long 
>as they are not sentient). The ultimate Do It Yourself project. Depending 
>on what you're trying to make, this could take from six months to a year to 
>pull off.
>
>All devices built by DIYmancers subscribe to the same construction rules as 
>those built by Mechanomancers; Minor Clockworks are single purpose, only 
>Majors can do anything paranormal, etc. There is one exception: DIYmancers 
>can build replacment arms and body parts and such without the help of 
>Fleshworkers. It's all plug and play. Of course, the human body is very 
>complicated, and prosthetics is a relatively primitive science even without 
>magick, so the arm may not work as planned. Your Mileage May Vary (Or to 
>put it another way, the GM may screw with you).
>
>DIYmancers cannot use important objects or machinery for sig or major 
>charges, as it goes against the idea that what the DIYmancer makes is 
>better than anything else. For some strange reason, though, store-bought 
>parts don't seem to cause the same problem unless it's something that was 
>special-ordered.
>
>Charging Tips: Find a Junkyard for minors. Build a chemical/medical 
>laboratory setup for sigs. Stay as far away from typical technology as you 
>can for your own safety.
>
>Notes: Most magickal schools allow the adept to walk away from the path if 
>they should decide to; the Videomancer can turn the TV off, the 
>Urbanomancer can move to the country, the Narqui and Boozehound can head 
>off to rehab, and so on. Maybe the House of Renunciation got em, or maybe 
>the Sleepers did something. But the taboo for DIYmancy is anathema to the 
>adept, not just the magick the adept uses. Unless the school is going to 
>end uplike a trap for practicioners (and there might be such schools out 
>there), there needs to be some way to zap the taboo and magick skill. So 
>far I've got the following options:
>
>Time Limit: If there's a stretch of time of a certain length where you 
>don't build anything, your Magick skill either declines or instantly 
>disappears, in which case the taboo is no longer a problem.
>
>Ritual Sacrifice: Destroying or disassembling your best creation.
>
>Magick Toggle: A whimsical idea that I include only because I can think of 
>nothing else, a Magick Toggle is a Major Charge device built into the 
>adept's body. When "ON", the adept can use magick and the taboo is a 
>problem. When "OFF" the magick don't work and the taboo is no problem at 
>all. Combine with elements of Time Limit and Ritual Sacrifice as to its use 
>and limitations, and possibly expand it to keep the target from channeling 
>avatars or using rituals. Mix and match. Serves some.
>
>The school came about as a thought for a story I'm writing, about the most 
>adept-heavy center of higher learning in North America. Called "Unknown 
>University", it chronicles the sometimes hilarious tales of several adepts 
>wrestling with rivals in another dorm, new additions to the staff, the 
>local Urbanomancer, a few pesky demons, and one very inconvenient 
>Otherspace. Among other things. The DIYmancer would be the resident 
>Mechanomancer's childhood rival. The kind of dichotomy between past-centric 
>and future-centric people is exactly what is needed.
>
>Help would be appreciated like you wouldn't beleive.
>
>-Variable (is completely out of ideas)
>
>
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