Post by Rodimus Prime on Oct 30, 2007 10:52:00 GMT -5
Replicators are useful and not particularly canon devices that allow for the synthesis of new repair parts for characters. Because repair RP can get tedious after a time, they are included as part of the Deadzone setting (along with 'off panel repairs') as a means of providing a shortcut to getting damaged characters not so damaged. However, they should not be viewed as magical cure-all devices, and there are some limitations that should at least be kept in the back of the players' minds during role-play.
1) They have to be 'fed.' It takes a lot of energy to make something from nothing, so they have to be provided with matter for conversion instead. Because we loves our touch-of-the-morbid here on Deadzone, converting old Cybertronian parts to new Cybertronian parts is the most energy efficient method of all. However, converting local metals and materials is doable.
2) Even then, they take up a lot of energy, so logically, most characters will be supplementing with scrounged-parts supplies. The scrounging, like much repair roleplay itself, can be accomplished off-panel at the players' descretion, but it should be kept in mind that it's still going on, and leaves scavenge-runs open as RP outlets for people who are low on ideas.
3) There are limitations to what can be made. These mostly add up to, "If it's better for the plot not to have a part available, it can't be replicated, or can't be easily replicated." Have a special ability that you want knocked off-line for awhile? That part can't be replicated easily, and has to be hand built. There's also the possibility of 'parts quests' (think the G1 episode, "Divide and Conquer").
Now, for day to day repair drudgery, most things can be handled by combinations of replicator, scrounging, and off-panel RP. Like many plot devices, 'replicators' are best used to short-circuit the dull stuff, not prevent the interesting.
Game on.
1) They have to be 'fed.' It takes a lot of energy to make something from nothing, so they have to be provided with matter for conversion instead. Because we loves our touch-of-the-morbid here on Deadzone, converting old Cybertronian parts to new Cybertronian parts is the most energy efficient method of all. However, converting local metals and materials is doable.
2) Even then, they take up a lot of energy, so logically, most characters will be supplementing with scrounged-parts supplies. The scrounging, like much repair roleplay itself, can be accomplished off-panel at the players' descretion, but it should be kept in mind that it's still going on, and leaves scavenge-runs open as RP outlets for people who are low on ideas.
3) There are limitations to what can be made. These mostly add up to, "If it's better for the plot not to have a part available, it can't be replicated, or can't be easily replicated." Have a special ability that you want knocked off-line for awhile? That part can't be replicated easily, and has to be hand built. There's also the possibility of 'parts quests' (think the G1 episode, "Divide and Conquer").
Now, for day to day repair drudgery, most things can be handled by combinations of replicator, scrounging, and off-panel RP. Like many plot devices, 'replicators' are best used to short-circuit the dull stuff, not prevent the interesting.
Game on.