Gadgeteer, High TL, & Invention Rules

[Azulan47]

So how does the High TL advantage affect the invention rules? In the concept and prototyping phase there are modifiers for inventions above the inventor's TL, not the society's. As I read it, High TL appears to be a background advantage that affects the character's starting gear and skill choices. It would seem rather cheap to also remove a significant penalty in the invention rules.

Are the invention rules assumed to start at any particular TL or at the costs uniform regardless of the inventor's TL? It seems expensive to invent something at lower TL and almost cheap at the higher TL. The charts in the basic set look as if they assume invention is taking place at TL 7/8.

Besides After the End and Mars Attacks, are there any other supplements that address the Gadgeteer advantage and invention rules?

Thanks ahead of time!

[weby]

It clearly says that that high TL changes the characters personal TL and that it is the personal TL not campaign TL that is used in the invention.

So, yes it helps a lot.

But as being too cheap, you should also note that high TL is simply not advantageous, as you also get penalties for doing things at the lower TL that everyone else uses in the campaign.

[Ulzgoroth]

Honestly, I don't think a bonus to invention rolls is considered to be a high-value character trait for the typical campaign.

You could have campaigns where it would be enormously valuable, to be sure. But...not the baseline, that.

Originally Posted by weby

But as being too cheap, you should also note that high TL is simply not advantageous, as you also get penalties for doing things at the lower TL that everyone else uses in the campaign.

No, you don't actually.

You get penalties for using any higher-TL technological skills you have with lower-tech equipment. But there's nothing stopping you from having skills matching the TL of the setting.

[weby]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

No, you don't actually.

You get penalties for using any higher-TL technological skills you have with lower-tech equipment. But there's nothing stopping you from having skills matching the TL of the setting.

Correct, but then you need two versions of the skills to use your higher Tl inventions and that gets fast more expensive than taking the penalty.

[Anthony]

Note that high TL may require an unusual background on top of its base cost; it's priced based on there being entire cultures out there that are higher TL, just not the primary campaign culture, so if you're actually unique it's going to cost more.