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

[Unknown VariableX]

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)