Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [P3.66] Thoroughly Modern Magic math error?

deathbyflossing · 05-28-2017, 03:43 PM

I've had Pyramid 3.66 since it came out, and I enjoyed it. but I've recently been examining the industrial enchantment rules in Thoroughly Modern Magic more, well, thoroughly and I'm either not understanding it or making serious errors.

It started when I decided I wanted to have a TL 4 world with no gunpowder and extremely common magic, and decided to peg its TL as 4+2^, or TL 6 for the purposes of industrial enchantment. But then I decided I wanted to increase the efficiency rating of industrial enchantment to 40, to reflect both extreme research in the field and the fact that the setting uses symbol magic. Here's where we get into trouble.

According to Thoroughly Modern Magic on page 26, one calculates the manufacturing cost of a product by determining to total daily cost to operate the line, dividing by 0.9547, dividing again by the efficiency of the line, and then multiplying by the energy cost of the item. The daily operational cost is determined by multiplying the daily wage of a line wizard by the number of wizards on the line, and adding the operational expenses which are 0.833% of starting wealth per hex the production line occupies. so, to use the book's example of the Redd Up Cleaning Wand on p. 26, "The Redd Up Cleaning Wand production line is a 16-hex TL 8 industrial enchantment line, requiring a total of $2,665.60 per day in operational expenses. Each line mage earns $163.64 per day. The manufacturing cost of each Redd Up wand is $2,883."

The problem with that is that the math does not work out that way, as far as I can tell. Starting Wealth at TL 8 is $20,000. 0.833% of 20,000 is 166.6, which matches the book. 166.6 times 16 is 2,665.6. Again, so far so good. According to Thoroughly Modern Magic, a TL 8 line mage earns $163.64 daily; 16 of them would earn $2,618.24. 2,618.24 + 2,665.6 = 5,283.84; divided by 0.9547 this is 5,534.55536; divide THAT by 12 (the efficiency of a TL 8 production line) and you get 461.212946, times 100 (the energy cost of a Clean wand) is $46,121.2946, which we can comfortably round to $46,121.3.

This is FAR more the the book's claimed amount of $2,883. what am I missing? am I just being stupid? Please help!

05-28-2017, 03:43 PM	#1
deathbyflossing Join Date: Mar 2016	[P3.66] Thoroughly Modern Magic math error? I've had Pyramid 3.66 since it came out, and I enjoyed it. but I've recently been examining the industrial enchantment rules in Thoroughly Modern Magic more, well, thoroughly and I'm either not understanding it or making serious errors. It started when I decided I wanted to have a TL 4 world with no gunpowder and extremely common magic, and decided to peg its TL as 4+2^, or TL 6 for the purposes of industrial enchantment. But then I decided I wanted to increase the efficiency rating of industrial enchantment to 40, to reflect both extreme research in the field and the fact that the setting uses symbol magic. Here's where we get into trouble. According to Thoroughly Modern Magic on page 26, one calculates the manufacturing cost of a product by determining to total daily cost to operate the line, dividing by 0.9547, dividing again by the efficiency of the line, and then multiplying by the energy cost of the item. The daily operational cost is determined by multiplying the daily wage of a line wizard by the number of wizards on the line, and adding the operational expenses which are 0.833% of starting wealth per hex the production line occupies. so, to use the book's example of the Redd Up Cleaning Wand on p. 26, "The Redd Up Cleaning Wand production line is a 16-hex TL 8 industrial enchantment line, requiring a total of $2,665.60 per day in operational expenses. Each line mage earns $163.64 per day. The manufacturing cost of each Redd Up wand is $2,883." The problem with that is that the math does not work out that way, as far as I can tell. Starting Wealth at TL 8 is $20,000. 0.833% of 20,000 is 166.6, which matches the book. 166.6 times 16 is 2,665.6. Again, so far so good. According to Thoroughly Modern Magic, a TL 8 line mage earns $163.64 daily; 16 of them would earn $2,618.24. 2,618.24 + 2,665.6 = 5,283.84; divided by 0.9547 this is 5,534.55536; divide THAT by 12 (the efficiency of a TL 8 production line) and you get 461.212946, times 100 (the energy cost of a Clean wand) is $46,121.2946, which we can comfortably round to $46,121.3. This is FAR more the the book's claimed amount of $2,883. what am I missing? am I just being stupid? Please help!