LT Gadgeteer Ideas for a TL2 Monster Hunting Game

[phayman53]

I will be GMing a new campaign soon and the setting is basically a reworked Roma Arcana (with the supernatural hidden as opposed to openly practiced and observed by everyone) mixed with Monster Hunters. The characters will be a little less powerful too (about 300 points instead of 400). One of my players wants to play a gadgeteer/inventor, which I think is a good idea--I definitely will allow things like invention of oil based incendiaries (usually TL3). However, in thinking about this, I am unsure about what other kinds of fun toys he would be able to cook-up. I tend to think that manufacturing traps to help ambush monsters could be effective, as well as poisons and delivery systems that might be tailored to specific threats. However, there are no electronics, no guns, no steam power, etc., so what will he be building? I know this is really up to him and then I can okay it or not, but I am wondering if "gadgeteer" would really be a good way to go.

[pestigor]

I'd take inspiration from people like Archimedes. Maybe some primitive steam stuff wouldn't be out of line.

[ericthered]

I don't know if its a good option, but if he's roman you should probably give him TL3. They had access to an aweful lot of TL3 stuff.

[johndallman]

There's lots of stuff in GURPS Fantasy-Tech 1: The Edge of Reality that would be appropriate. Available from the mighty abacus of Warehouse 23.

[(E)]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I don't know if its a good option, but if he's roman you should probably give him TL3. They had access to an aweful lot of TL3 stuff.

I'll second that and add that you should look up more detail on Roman tech levels (there is a strong argument that Rome is higher than TL2, especially is some areas)

[whswhs]

There were Roman experiments with storing energy for catapults as compressed air. Maybe a gadgeteer could get a good enough seal to make them work.

You could also go for early invention of Greek fire.

[Kelly Pedersen]

A good tip for this sort of question is to just go through the relevant tech books, and pick a few things of one or two TLs higher. That should provide a lot of inspiration.

In this case, since he's TL 2, let's look at what Low Tech says for TL 3 and 4. In "Ages of Technology" (Low-Tech p. 6) it mentions that distillation, counterweight mechanical artillery, and early black powder weapons are TL 3, while early synthetic medications and cannon are TL 4. All of those sound like they could be super-useful for a Monster Hunters game - distillation lets you create easily-ignitable alcohol, for instance, not to mention one of the best disinfectants around at the time, while synthetic medication could prove greatly helpful in dealing with those pesky supernatural infections. I trust I don't need to explain how black powder or cannon could be helpful. :-)

Looking a little deeper into Low-Tech, here are some more things that could be useful to have:

• Sulfur (TL 3) or self-lighting (TL 4) matches (p. 35). Never underestimate the utility of being able to strike a flame quickly when fighting vampires!
• Fireworks (TL 3, p. 40). Again, fire good, both for burning undead and signalling.
• Ear trumpet or Spyglass (TL 4, p. 42). When your opponents are supernaturally stealthy, any benefit to your senses are handy.
• Microscope (TL 4, p. 42). Even without the germ theory of disease (which is TL 5), this can still be handy for examining samples and clues.
• Spring-Driven Clock (TL 4, p. 44). Everyone having an accurate time can be very helpful for tactical planning, and it also allows for doing things like really accurate timed triggers for traps, explosions, etc.
• Lantern balloons and signal flags (TL 3, p. 49). Communicate more effectively. Poor communication kills!
• Church bell (TL 3, p. 49). Some monsters (faeries, some undead) can't stand the sounds of these. Determine whether it's the material they're made from, their sound, or the fact that they're church bells that actually does the magic, because the last one isn't very helpful without churches.
• Positional numerals (TL 3, p. 50). Being able to count and figure much more effectively than with Roman numerals can be an enormous help to the more intellectual members of the group, enabling all kinds of new investigation techniques.
• Weapons! Pretty obvious, so I won't go into most of them. The crossbow is a standout, though, really coming into its own as a personal weapon at TL 3.
• Greek fire and naptha (TL 3, p. 84). Burn, vampires, burn!
• Black powder (TL 3) and explosives made from it (TL 3 and 4) (p. 85). Boom! 'Nuff said.
• Beekeeper's outfit (TL 3, p. 100). Given nasty monsters' propensity for turning into swarms of nasty insects, more useful than you might think!
• Fireproof clothing (TL 3, p. 100). All those techs I've mentioned that produce fire? This lets you set other things on fire with less chance of getting burned yourself.
• Armor! Like weapons, too numerous and too obvious to list it all, but consider rushing plate (TL 4, p. 108). It's actually lighter for the same level of protection as mail is, and can be buffed up more. The best chance a melee fighter has to go mano-a-mano with something like a vamp or a werebear, and end up as more than a heroic story people tell.
• Warded rotary locks (TL 3) and combination locks (TL 4) (p. 121). Keep your stuff safer, at least from things that can't just smash the door.
• Nightengale floors (TL 3, p. 124). Puts a serious crimp in the style of people who want to invade your sanctum sanctorum, at least if they have to walk across the floor.
• Cipher wheel (TL 4, p. 127). Encrypt messages so that the monsters can't read them.
• War saddle and stirrups (TL 3, p. 134). At this TL, you're going to be fighting monsters from horseback, probably. Why not do so with the maximum possible effectiveness?
• Diving boat (TL 4, p. 143). Probably the only way to effectively get at the evil merfolk in the Adriatic Sea, and a good way to sneak into places other monsters won't expect.
• Essential oils and tinctures (TL 3, p. 152). Make drugs and antidotes to monster toxins and diseases that keep for long periods of time. Important when you have only three hours before the lycanthropy takes hold, and no time to distil a new batch of wolfsbane on the spot.

Fantasy Tech 1 will also produce a lot of interesting things to build, though you may have to allow for a certain amount of "superscience" to allow some of it.

[Polydamas]

To add to Kelly Pedersen's wonderful post, there are classical sources on incendiaries which could be applied at night and caught fire as soon as the sun came up. That is cool enough for a Monster Hunters game whether or not its true!

There is at least one folding multitool from a Roman site.

[phayman53]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

snip

Wow, thank you for the ideas, this was really helpful stuff! I don't know why I did not simply think about TL3-4 stuff from LT (except for incendiaries), I guess I had my brain fixed on the weird sort of gadgets that the TL8 MH Techie makes. I definitely have a great direction to go now.

[phayman53]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

To add to Kelly Pedersen's wonderful post, there are classical sources on incendiaries which could be applied at night and caught fire as soon as the sun came up. That is cool enough for a Monster Hunters game whether or not its true!

There is at least one folding multitool from a Roman site.

Hehehe, that would be a fun trap to lay in a vampire lair while they are out and about at night...

This is, however, the sort of thing I have no idea how to handle with the gadget and invention rules. It is not something for which there is a list cost to use for the invention rules, so do I just estimate what I think it should be? I must confess though, gadgeteer was never a character concept that interested me personally, so I am barely familiar with the mechanics for inventing and building gadgets. Now that I will have a player running one, I guess I will need to get a lot more familiar with the rules.