The GURPS Meta-Tech Hype Thread

[dataweaver]

In simpler terms, does Meta-Tech have dials and switches for adjusting the price based on supply and demand?

(For the rest, I'd point you to the economy presented in After the End , where the standard of exchange is the bullet.)

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Lamp that summons a genie, who will grant one wish to each peron who rubs it, but no more than one wish per person, ever.

Djinn Lamp (TL2^)
Size: SM -6.
Type: Apparatus.
Origin: Enchanted (-0.1 BCM).
Cost: $1,163,920.
Weight: 2 lbs.

When the special phrase is uttered and the lamp is rubbed it summons a powerful djinn to do the bidding of its possessor. Treat this as a patron (p. B72) that allows for nearly anything the possessor wishes. The first time this is done there is no roll, each successive time within 24 hours requires a roll of 3d: if it’s already been used, it activates on a 16 or less, if it’s been used twice, this is a 14 or less, and so on. As soon as an activation roll is failed the djinn must rest for 24 hours. The djinn is also bound by the rules of its creation. The GM sets these and they can be different per lamp. A djinn might not be able to make another fall in love with you or raise the dead for example.
The possessor can also use it to make a wish once. Such a wishes scope can be anything the GM likes, but should cost no more than 100 IP (see GURPS Impulse Buys) no matter what. This takes a minute for the wish to be made and a further minute for its effects to occur. The possessor can also ask for more permanent abilities, in such a case they instantly gain 25 points of any trait they wish. Once used this can never be used again on the same character by the same djinn. This can be used on others, but the target must be willing or helpless.

Meta-Tech Statistics (+$1,163,900; 457 points at $2,575/point): Patron (Lamp Djinn; Constantly; Accessibility, Rules of the Lamp, -5%; Accessibility, Must rub lamp, -10%; Equipment, +100%; Nuisance Effect, Penalties for repeated uses in 24 hours, -20%; Special Abilities, +100%; Alternative Ability, ¥1/5 pts) [43] + Affliction (Accessibility, Target must be willing, -10%; Advantage, Wish*, +20,000%; Extended Duration, Permanent, Irreversible, +300%; Immediate Preparation Required, 1 minute, -30%; Malediction 1, +100%; Onset, 1 minute, -10%; One-Use, Reversed†, ¥1/5 pts) [409]. Has the modifiers Hardened, Cannot be disabled (+1 CF), Limited, Anyone who knows the activation phrase (-0.2 CF), No Extra Effort (-0.4 CF), Self-Powered (+4 CF), and Uncomplicated (+1 CF). The arts to making a lamp are lost and therefore 25x cost (see Scaling Costs for Item Ubiquity, GURPS Meta-Tech, p. 8).
Mundane Statistics (+$20, +2 lbs.): Oil Lamp ($20, 2 lbs.).
* “Wish” is effectively 100 points worth of Impulse Buys for 5 points per IP then modified with Cosmic (+300%) to allow them to be used to purchase permanent abilities as well.
† Instead of the power being one use, it’s one use ever per person and since the wish being granted means the lamp can no longer be used this is approximately balanced. Another lamp could be used, however.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by calmquist

If no one else has other ideas, there is always a Poké Ball or similar monster capturing device.

It is single use and can be thrown at a certain type of monster. If it hits, it has a chance to capture the monster and turn it into a summonable ally stored within the ball.

Monster Collecting Ball (TL8^)
Size: SM -9.
Type: Apparatus.
Origin: Superscience (+0 BCM).
Operating Skill: Electronics Operation to use. Use Throwing to hit a target.
Cost: $4,224.
Weight: 0.1 lbs.

This ball-like device allows for the user to capture monsters and then buy them as an ally! This requires the user to throw it (it has a range equal to x3.5 yards with no 1/2D) to hit the target. Success allows an immediate roll of 15 vs. the target’s current FP. Success means the target has been captured within the ball and remains there until released (a Ready maneuvers). Once released, the user can opt to purchase the captured monster as an ally. If they don’t it flees the area immediately, though the GM may allow it to stick around if they like. This device can only be used once.

Meta-Tech Statistics (+$4,224; 66 points at $64/point): Affliction 1 (Based on FP, +20%; Captured*, +300%; Malediction 2, Static Roll†, +150%; Throwing Range, +5%;) [48] + Dominance (Accessibility, Only on captured monsters, -30%; Cosmic, Any monster, +50%) [18]. Single-use (x1/5). Monster-catching balls are very common and therefore 0.04 x cost (see Scaling Costs for Item Ubiquity, GURPS Meta-Tech, p. 8).
* This is equivalent to banishment or petrification (GURPS Powers, p. 118).
† A static roll of 15 is a 0-point feature when used in this way.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by calmquist

Flying Chi Sword

• A very fine jian (Martial Arts, p. 217)
• A cultivator can stand on it and use it to fly
• It is limited to cultivators. Normal mortals cannot use it

Xianxia Flying Sword (TL3^)
Size: SM -4.
Type: Melee Weapon.
Origin: Chi (+0.05 BCM).
Operating Skill: Meditation.
Cost: $55,860.
Weight: 3 lbs.

This special sword allows a cultivator to use it to fly by standing on it. This requires a Meditation roll to activate it, the GM may also require a DX-based Meditation roll to stand on it, make maneuvers in the air, etc. Move is equal to the cultivator’s Will x 2 plus 10. Flying this way costs 1 FP or 1 ER (Chi) per hour of use.

Meta-Tech Statistics (+$39,060; 62 points at $630/point): Air Move +10 [20] + Flight (Accessibility, Must stand on sword, -10%; Accessibility, While conscious, -5%; Based on Will, Flight Speed, +20%; Costs Fatigue, 1 FP/hour, -0%) [42]. Has the Limited, Cultivators only (-0.2 CF) and Self-Powered modifiers (+4 CF).
Mundane Statistics (+$16,800, +3 lbs.): Very Fine Balanced Jian ($16,800, 3 lbs.).

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Khannis

I asked that question here in a thread some ten years ago, but I'm wondering if Meta-Tech would have a new angle on this:

Suppose you have an item, to use the original example, a suit of Advanced Power Armor from Fallout. This item isn't unique, there are hundreds in existence, but only a small organization (the Enclave), which mostly leads an existence hidden from the wasteland at large, has the resources to produce it. To make it worse, only a few organizations (the Brotherhood, its splinters, and other organizations descended from the pre-war military) even have the knowledge necessary to train its members in its operation, and are heavily invested in keeping this knowledge a secret.

Besides being rare and poorly understood by 95% of the setting, it's also both extremely useful, and virtually useless. If you know how to use it, you can become virtually invulnerable to most of the **** the wasteland can throw at you, if you don't, it's about as useful as a very heavy coffin, a bitch to carry around, and a target on your back. And good luck convincing the other guys in power armor to buy it from you, instead of just taking it back by force. The NCR has been known to strip power armor of virtually all systems except the protective layer, making it a sort of heavy plate armor made from advanced composites, generally assigned only to exceptionally strong soldiers defending choke-points and static positions. All this to say that they derive some value from it, but its in a specialized role and they throw a lot of what makes it valuable away (nightvision, enhanced strength, waste recycling, rad-sealing, targeting systems, drug injectors, etc.)

Figuring out the price of something that's incredibly rarely bought or sold is a bitch, and I ended up just winging it at the time. Just wondering if there was a better way to do it. Maybe I'm insane and there's no point in figuring out a cost for this, but it's aggravating that something that can have such a huge mechanical impact can't be properly quantified, if that makes sense.

Originally Posted by dataweaver

In simpler terms, does Meta-Tech have dials and switches for adjusting the price based on supply and demand?

(For the rest, I'd point you to the economy presented in After the End , where the standard of exchange is the bullet.)

Yes. There are switches to increase or decrease based on how many there are in the setting or if getting them is difficult. Not being able to use it properly is just lack of a skill for characters and the GM would set a Unusual Background in order to have it at all.

[Phantasm]

Today's the day of release into the wild, yes? Looking forward to it!

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Today's the day of release into the wild, yes? Looking forward to it!

As long as everything goes okay, yeah. Today is the 27th. I'm going to probably start a thread for examples so folks be on the look at for that.

[Been]

I have been refreshing the new release page since I woke up this morning

[Adelus]

So, I had a question regarding Meta-Tech for armor pieces which provide a benefit but only if all worn together.

I know most write-ups for things like battlesuits would probably be a single item to represent the armor, but I was thinking about the effects of removing pieces, or having a separate item that works in concert. Specifically in the scenario of having a battlesuit which can accept more than one type of helmet and, when both are worn, can provide a full pressure/environment seal.

Does this go on the rest of the armor, or the helmet, as some kind of conditional ability? Wearing just the helmet wouldn't cut it, nor just the suit, so I'm curious what the easiest solution to this is.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Adelus

So, I had a question regarding Meta-Tech for armor pieces which provide a benefit but only if all worn together.

I know most write-ups for things like battlesuits would probably be a single item to represent the armor, but I was thinking about the effects of removing pieces, or having a separate item that works in concert. Specifically in the scenario of having a battlesuit which can accept more than one type of helmet and, when both are worn, can provide a full pressure/environment seal.

Does this go on the rest of the armor, or the helmet, as some kind of conditional ability? Wearing just the helmet wouldn't cut it, nor just the suit, so I'm curious what the easiest solution to this is.

Theoretically, someone may have suggested a solution to this issue in the playtest, and it may have been well-received at the time. I don't know what sort of person would have done such a thing, but it's possible. Theoretically.
Kono Varyon da!
*cough*