[d20 Modern] Operating equipment: skill check?

[The Shaman]

Around the three adventurers is an array of valves and switches. In seconds the poisoned reservoir water will enter the city's water supply system, turning the unsuspecting citizens into brain-sucking zombies. The leader of the intrepid adventurers, the Strong hero, turns to the others and says, "We've got to turn on these pumps!"

The three heroes stare at each other blankly. "Uh, I've got ranks in Craft (mechanical) and Repair," says the Smart hero, "but I don't have a clue on how to make something WORK." "Me, neither," says the Fast Hero. "I've got Disable Device."

The pumps remain silent, and into a hundred-thousand taps the tainted water flows...

- / -​

What kind of skill check would you use in this circumstance? The Craft skill? The Repair skill? Disable Device? A straight Int check? How do you make unfamiliar technology work the way it's supposed to?

 

[Brad Hindman]

How do you make unfamiliar technology work the way it's supposed to?

Perhaps Knowledge (technology)?

 

[Fate Lawson]

Any of the above with a -4 penalty.

 

[Aussiegamer]

remember all knowledge check untrained can be done to a max of DC 10. Thus if the GM thinks it is easy to understand to use the pumps then they can do it without having the skill as a trained skill.

I would agree a knowledge (tech) or if i uses computers then a computer use skill check.

So if the pumps has a big button that says on/ off then I would say it is a DC0 or max 5

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Knowledge (Tech) for me, Profession (if they're a plumber and you're playing Mario Bros. D20).

I'd also go with an Int. check or, my favorite check, the Charisma check.

My players get used to alot of straight ability checks.

Intuition: Wisdom Check (great for investigative games)
Luck: Charisma Check (get alot of mileage out of this one)

Most other things are covered by skills. I'd almost make these two a save-sort of progression ... I don't think new skills would work, and I don't like a flat level bonus. I've been giving people 1/2 their level as an additional bonus on those checks.

I use the Luck check for odd On Stage Objects and the like. "Is there a wrench I could use in this tool box?", "Did the trucker leave his keys in the visor?", stuff like that. "I turn a few random valves and pull some levers, that help?" Would fall under the Luck check, I think. Intuiting that there's probably an instruction sheet glued on or next to or on the wall behind something would be my Wisdom check, either letting them do it without a further check or giving a +2 Circumstance bonus on a flat Int/Know. check to turn the pumps on.

--fje

 

[Ranger REG]

What kind of skill check would you use in this circumstance? The Craft skill? The Repair skill? Disable Device? A straight Int check? How do you make unfamiliar technology work the way it's supposed to?

If the local system can be operated by computer control, use Computer Use skill (you might have to hack since most advanced water supply system have security). If the local system is primitive, then turn all the wheels and levers, unless they are rusted and require muscle to loosen them.

If you really need to turn all of the pumps in that area and really do not care how messy it gets, use an explosive device.

 

[Turanil]

Around the three adventurers is an array of valves and switches. In seconds the poisoned reservoir water will enter the city's water supply system, turning the unsuspecting citizens into brain-sucking zombies.

What kind of skill check would you use in this circumstance? The Craft skill? The Repair skill? Disable Device? A straight Int check? How do you make unfamiliar technology work the way it's supposed to?

Well, I would not use one single skill check but several. I would also provide several possible solutions, and an array of consequences between "pollution totally averted" and "all water polluted". Here is what I would do:

1) Profession (Engineer or Technician) to easily figure out how to correctly maneuver the valves and switches.

2) Spot and Search checks to find clues, manuals, or what not that may help the adventurers understand how to operate the valves and switches. Then an Intelligence check to correctly maneuver the valves and switches. A check failed with a small margin may result in only a portion of the tainted water entering the water supply system.

3) Intelligence check to determine where the tainted water comes from (through what pipes), so the adventurers may at least destroy them if they don't figure how to correctly maneuver the valves and switches.

4) Wisdom check enable for a lucky roll if the adventurers try to operate the valves and switches at random. Then, a Listen check to determine if the tainted water doesn't seem to rush into the pipes into the water supply system. Of course, if they fail, they are entitled to maneuver again the valves and switches. But each failed attempt incurs a 10% pollution (meaning 10% of the citizen turned into brain-sucking zombies).

 

[The Shaman]

1) Profession (Engineer or Technician) to easily figure out how to correctly maneuver the valves and switches.

Turanil, I believe you're thinking of D&D Profession - that's not how it works in d20 Modern.

In the past I've ruled that a straight Intelligence check with a synergy bonus from Knowledge (technology) or an appropriate Craft skill is necessary to operate machinery or devices not covered by another skill like Computer Use. The way Knowledge skills are framed in d20 Modern, Knowledge (technology) by itself doesn't seem appropriate to me - one could make the leap from identifying the technology to operating it perhaps, but it could also impinge on the skills Disable Device or Repair if a player can make a Knowledge check to get the same results.

It is tempting to use Knowledge (technology) however - in the old Top Secret game, it would come under the mechanical engineering AOK ("area of knowledge," for those of you who don't speak TS).

I'm considering expanding Disable Device to cover checks like this - in theory some understanding of how something works is necessary to figure out how to prevent it from working, short of hitting it with a stick or something. Of couse the same argument could be made for Repair as well.

Funny how we have plenty of rules for breaking things and fixing things, but nothng specific for figuring out how to make them work as intended.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

What fun is making it work as intended?

I've now revised my position: They should use Disable Device to break it, then Repair to fix it again. That should get it working.

--fje

 

[Peterson]

I actually had a scene fairly similar to this come up in one of my past games.

The PCs were trying to stop a slightly mad ex-employee of a Wastewater Treatment Plant from mixing some highly volatile chemicals together.

Well, the first stage was shutting off the flow to the outside pipes, so that everyone outside the plant wouldn't be affected. Since the valves were computerized, they needed a Computer Use check (DC 10 normally, +2 since they were unfamiliar with the Operating System).

The second stage was to manually close the seperate chemical-flow valves. I considered making it a Repair check, but that didn't have the cinematic flavor I wanted. So, I made it cost a simple Action Point (or Intelligence check with a DC 10), but I didn't tell the players that. They had to figure out what to do on their own.

In the end, it worked out. The players ended up burning the Action Point (they came up with that suggestion all on their own, and I made them think that I never considered it - they were so proud!), and stopped it all just in time.

Of course, they still had the slightly mad ex-employee armed with a shotgun atop one of the catwalks with a hostage, but that's another story (and a whole set of other skill checks)...

Peterson