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

[Unknown VariableX]

You're right about the hard-to-start-out thing. I had in mind a kind of 
survivalist-variant type who came to the college to pick up all sorts of 
skills (to carry into the post-apocalyptic world) and who was already 
knee-deep in building stuff before he realized that it was a path to mystic 
power. In this way it's almost like Bibliomancy; you become a DIYmancer 
because you love to tinker, not the other way around.

In theory, this kind of thing would almost always be self-taught, and those 
first couple of weeks would be spent taking all your appliances apart and 
building new and better gadgets out of the parts. For example, the guy in 
the story has a Fallout-style wrist computer (PIPBoy, or Personal 
Information Processor, for those who are curious) made from a mini-tape 
recorder, a graphic calculator, and a couple of VERY SMALL vaccuum tubes 
made from christmas lights. It may or may not be sentient.

One of the unmentioned advantages to this school is that people are a bit 
more prone to shrugging off your work as kooky mad science or mundane DIY 
projects than mystical warping of reality. The Tiger will likely remain 
snoozing... unless someone finds out about the "iron from blood" thing.

Or you try to build a mechanical army. But hell, people go nuts when you try 
to make ANY sort of army.

-Variable (who lives to build, instead of building to live)

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Peter Kisner" <kisnerp at hotmail.com>
Reply-To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List <ua at lists.unknown-armies.com>
To: ua at lists.unknown-armies.com
Subject: RE: [UA] Mechanomancy Variant, or a Whole 'Nuther School? YOU 
Decide!
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 22:41:24 +0000

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)
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>UA mailing list
>UA at lists.unknown-armies.com
>http://lists.unknown-armies.com/mailman/listinfo/ua


_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.unknown-armies.com
http://lists.unknown-armies.com/mailman/listinfo/ua