PCs as inventors

[Azantys]

I’m planning to start a new game where one of the players is going to be playing an Inventor. Since they were interested in a talent focused on designing and constructing new machines and devices, I’m trying to get ready for that. There’s not much in the way of guidance in the rules, so I was curious how other people have handled this.

If you’ve had inventors in your game, what sort of inventions do they try to create? Given the sometimes fantastical nature of technology in the setting, how much do you let them get away with? How do you handle it mechanically?

[CDCopeland]

I have created some home-brew rules on crafting the various devices and weapons described in the book, and which I think can be expanded to non-book items fairly easily on the fly (other than bonecharms). Basically, under my rules, the PC must own the blue-prints or schematics for a thing before they can craft it, and they must have a tinker’s tool set. At that point, I set a difficulty rating for the location of the materials based on the thing to be crafted, with smaller and common items being easier than larger rare items or complicated devices. In general, I want my PCs to imagine the things they seek to craft, and I’ll just make it harder or easier depending on the thing and their location. Weapons and ammo are usually important, but so are mines, grenades, looking/listening-devices, boats, air-ships, etc. Don’t be boxed in by the book; let your players use their imaginations. Hope this helps!