Gizmos #2
Submitted by Dimitris Lymperakis of Lefkada, Greece
Sciences Needed: Chemistry
Poker Hand to create Blueprint: 3 of a Kind
Construction TN: 7 for 10 shells
Construction Time: 5 hours for 10 shells, 10 mins per shell after that
Most Pinkertons tend not to rely on heavy firepower to get what they want - that's more the Texas Ranger way of doing things ("If bullets won't put it down, get a bigger gun!"), but a half Greek Pinkerton Scientist by the name of "Demis" thought he'd invent these explosive shotgun shells for his own personal use. The shells aren't entirely stable and malfunctions are common but if the shells hit a target then the victim is liable to be blown into next week as the tiny led shot are actually miniature contact explosives, detonating when they hit a target and punching holes through most armour. Most Pinkertons prefer not to use this dangerous ammunition and so far Prof. Demis is only "field testing" the unreliable shells, but then again the Greek Scientist never was the sharpest tool in the box...
Ammunition Damage Reliability Cost .20 Explosive Shotgun Rounds 2d10+4d10 16 $5 per round
Note - The shells work in much the same way as normal shotgun rounds, doing a base of 2 dice damage with more dice at a closer range, but if used at point blank range the user also takes 4d6 damage due to the blast given off from the explosive shot (each wound applied to a random location). Similarly rounds that miss their target but strike a wall right next to them may also take 4d6 blast damage. Vehicles and Automatons are also susceptible to the damage caused by explosive rounds as the penetration is quite high
Sciences Needed: Engineering & Physics
Poker Hand to create Blueprint: Three of a Kind
Construction TN: 7
Construction Time: 18 hours total
One of my Mad Scientist/Pinkerton players thought this one up - evidently after playing Goldeneye on my N64 one too many times, but here goes anyway...
The Silenced Sidearm PP7 ("PP" meaning "Pinkerton Product"...hmmmm) is a self loading pistol with a silencer attachment, hopefully muffling the noise of the gunpowder explosion down to a pathetic "piff" sort of sound. The weapon can be reloaded quickly and easily by taking out the "clip" from the handle of the pistol and replacing it with a new one containing up to seven .44 pistol rounds, the whole process taking 2 actions. Unfortunately the silenced attachment will only fit on the PP7 issue pistol and cannot be fastened to any other weapon.
Weapon Damage Shots Range Ammo Speed Reliability Cost SSPP7 3d6 7 +1/10 .44 1 19 $200
Malfunctions. Roll for reliability every time the weapon is fired, if failed consult below malfunctions table:
Minor Malfunction: The silencer fails and the weapon goes "BANG!" just like an ordinary pistol, apart from this the weapon functions fine
Major Malfunction: As above but the shot also misses and the pistol jams, taking an action and a Tinkerin'(3) check to un-jam
Catastrophy: The silencer attachment explodes under the pressure of the round. The shot misses, the silencer is destroyed, and the firer takes 3d6 damage to a random location from flying shrapnel. The pistol itself is damaged and can be repaired in 10 minutes on a Tinkerin'(7) pass
Submitted by Andy "Isaac Einstein" Jones of Norwich, UK
Sciences Needed: Engineering & Physics
Poker Hand to create Blueprints: Flush
Construction TN: 11
Construction Time: 60 hours in total
Darkness has a habit of helping bad people get on with their bad deeds undetected. Well, that's no longer the case with the invention of these "Heat Sensitive" head-mounted binoculars courtesy of one Isaac Einstein. When asked how they worked the mad German testily replied: "Very complex, ja? You vouldn't understand even if I vas to tell you!". It's our understanding, however, that the binoculars fit around the head and, when switched on, a Ghost Rock/Quartz composite lense falls into place and somehow only allows heat waves to pass through. Light waves are completely blocked though so normal visibility is impossible. Objects and backgrounds of more than 20 degrees C appear as a pale green glow, objects of Human temperature and above appear bright green, whereas campfires and the like emit a bright white light, almost obscuring vision totally. "Cold" objects (less than 20 degrees) are undetectable and appear black. Experience has shown that wearing the goggles and attemting to fire a weapon straight is inadvisable as the goggles won't pick up a cold rifle barrel, making aiming a weapon difficult (-4 to hit when wearing them, although darkness modifiers are ignored)
GIZMO RELIABILITY COST
Heat Vision Goggles 16 $2000
Game Notes - The goggles are also useful for detecting whether a person is human or not, bearing in mind a corpse gives off little or no heat, although "Harrowed" are as warm as normal humans owing to the Manitou's energy. Vampires (as realised in "Night Train"), Walkin' Dead, Mandrakes, certain Abominations and the like all appear black through the goggles as they give off insufficient heat.
Smart people may decide for a single ocular vision aid so only one eye looks through them, the other seeing as normal. This allows the gizmo to be used at only -2 penalty to all vision related action rolls instead of -4
Reliability Make a test every time they are put on, failure simply means everything appears black, as the sensitive ghostrock/quartz lens has come out of place/is at the wrong temperature - requiring a Tinkerin' 7 check and 1 minute to put right
Submitted by Andy "Isaac Einstein" Jones of Norwich, UK
Sciences needed: Engineering
Poker Hand to create Blueprint: Straight
Construction TN: 9
Construction Time: 24 hours in total
This advancement on the original Gatling pistol was recently brought to the attention of the public by a German inventor by the name of Isaac Einstein. The weapon is actually a smaller calibred double barreled Gatling pistol which derives it's "Hexa-Shooter" name from the amount of rounds fired off in a single burst, six to be exact
The weapon has two barrels and two cylinders of ammunition, each holding nine .36 calibre rounds each. This weapon automatically rotates the two cylinders when the trigger(s) are depressed through a complex series of springs and whirring cogs, three rounds are loosed from each cannon, which can create quite a recoil I can tell you! Unlike the Gatling pistol this version is available with speedload cylinders, at the sacrifice of a little reliability, as it is double barrelled, rather than multi barreled (like the original Gatling pistol) and the ammo is contained in the two cylinders, which are separate to the rifled barrels.
WEAPON SPEED SHOTS ROF AMMO DAMAGE RANGE RELIABILITY COST Hexa-Shooter 1 18 3 .36 2d6 +1/10 17(16) $950($1050)
Game Notes
This weapon operates like the Gatling pistol when determining how many shots hit a target (ie one per success and raise) but owing to the smaller calibre does less damage, although if all six shots hit this isn't going to matter a great deal! The second values (in brackets) refer to a Hexa-Shooter with speedload cylinder capabilities. New cylinders cost $10, but bear in mind that you need two for full firepower
The weapon has a tendancey to jump about when fired and consequently, if the firer does not have both hands on the handle, there is a +2 TN modifyer to hit.
Reliability
If the gun fails it's reliability check roll on the same Malfunctions table as for the Gatling Pistol, as the two weapons fail in much the same way - although the Hexa-Shooter may only have one of it's barrels jam in some situations and the other barrel may continue to fire as normal. ROF becomes 3 in this circumstance...
Submitted by Lon Teal of New Zealand
Sciences needed:Engineering
Poker Hand to create Blueprint:3 of a Kind
Construction TN:9
Construction Time:24 hours
The Harmonica Pistol was invented by Mr F.Schoop in the 1860's and used a long, thin, metal block with holes bored through it that moved sideways through the action of the gun. As each hole moved past the hammer a trigget pull fired the cartridge within. As the gun was fired the block moves through the weapon, eventually being spat out empty when it reached the end. Of course, as science has now progressed Mr Schoop was just aching to redesign his pistol...
The Harmonica Carbine is different from the pistol in several respects: It's bigger for a start, needing 2 hands to fire. Also the ammo blocks are longer and hold more bullets. It can now be fired in two ways; In the first the carbine is treated as a double action pistol, in the second however things heat up a bit, a collapsable handle is unfolded from the front of the carbine and while the trigger is held it is rapidly turned - Voila! Automatic fire!
WEAPON SPEED SHOTS DAMAGE ROF RANGE RELIABILITY COST
Harmonica Carbine 1 30 3d6 1/3 +1/10 17 $550
Game notes - To fire the weapon use Shootin':Automatics or Shootin':Rifle depending upon which method of fire is used (Automatic or Double Action). The weapon is classed as a carbine (Short rifle) but actually takes .45 pistol ammo. Note that it is too bulky to Quickdraw and cannot be speedloaded in the normal way. New ammo blocks can be purchased for $15 complete with ammo, they can then be jammed into the side of the gun using 2 actions when the first block is empty.
Reliabilty - If failed then roll on the Moving Mechanical Parts Malfunctions table in the Deadlands rulebook
Submitted by Lon Teal of New Zealand
Sciences needed:Engineering
Poker Hand to create Blueprint:Straight
Construction TN:9
Construction Time:18 hours
Although most cowpokes "pick" locks with the aid of their boot or a .45, this little gadget will help those who need a little quiet. The Lock Opener resembles an old geared hand drill but instead of bits has a wallet of strange looking picks of various sizes. It is operated by simply affixing the desired pick ontothe Lock Opener and inserting it into the lock, the handle is slowly turned and hopefully the door/padlock will be unlocked. Couldn't be simpler...
GIZMO SPEED RELIABILITY COST Lock Opener 1 round 18 $125
Game notes - To change picks on the Lock Opener takes 2 actions, turning the handle slowly takes a full turn but the gizmo is not without it's faults - when used roll a D20 (this is not a reliabilty test!)
1-11 "Hey Presto!" the lock opens
12-16 Nope. Try a different sized pick, pardner
17-20 You don't seem to have the correct pick for this lock
Reliabilty - When used roll reliabilty, if failed then consult the Moving Mechanical Parts Malfunction table in the Deadlands rulebook
Submitted by Lon Teal of New Zealand
Sciences needed:Physics
Poker Hand to create Blueprint:3 of a kind
Construction TN:7
Construction Time:8 hours
Although Dougal MacPherson was an inventor in Her Majesty's Navy (God save the Queen) he never could get the hang of swimming. Consequently one of his first creations was the Inflatable Trousers. For some reason only ever made in "safety plaid" the trousers resemble slightly baggy plus-fours and when a cord is pulled a small oxygen tank in the left hand pocket expands the trousers as a large flotation bladder is inflated around the waist.
In the right hand pocket attached to peices of string are a whistle to attract passing ships, a compass, and a bottle of patented Shark Repellant Tablets. These tablets are a strong chlorine compound and could have any number of uses, who knows if they repel sharks?!
GIZMO SPEED RELIABILITY COST Inflatable Trousers 1 round 17 $95
Game notes - To pull the cord takes one action, upon which the trousers take one round to fully inflate. The trousers will keep even obese (size 8) people afloat, and the wearer of the trousers may even carry a "passenger". They will stay afloat for up to a full week if need be.
Reliability - Make a test when the cord is pulled, if failed then consult the following Malfunctions table:
Minor Malfunction: The trousers spring a slow leak and will deflate slowly over the next hour, the hole ay be plugged on a Cognition (3) check to notice the leak and a Tinkerin (5) to patch the leak. The trousers, however, will lose some of their effectiveness and a "passenger" may not be carried
Major Malfunction:The oxygen tank fails and the cord needs to be reset, this takes d6 rounds and a Tinkerin' (7) check. In the meantime the trousers are useless and the wearer will sink if in water
Catrastrophie!: The small oxygen tank explodes! This causes 4d8 damage on the wearers left leg and the trousers are now unusable.
Sciences needed:Engineering & Physics
Poker Hand to create Blueprint:Straight
Construction TN:9
Construction Time:24 hours
The Grenadiers of the British Army have recently had an upgrade to their hand held explosives courtesy of the Mechanical Engineering wizards back in Old Blighty. The device is a hand held brass sphere the size of a cricketball with a clockwork key on top. When the key is wound it begins winding cogs, springs, and magnets inside the gizmo to "prime" a detonation delay. When the clockwork key is depressed into the mechanism it begins unwinding and the internal gears tick away until all the magnets are affixed in the correct position to set off the small amount of nitro at the core of the sphere. When it explodes shards of brass and twisted metal are hurled in all directions like jagged bullets, ripping apart anything too close to the blast.
If the handbomb is wound to its limit this will provide a delay of about 1 minute between depressing the key and the device detonating
The Clockwork Handbombs are now available through Smith & Robards and it is rumoured that the British and Confederate armies are working on a much larger device that has an extended delay time and delivers much more damage. Such a gizmo would be huge and would probably need to be transported in a wagon
WEAPON SPEED RANGE DAMAGE RELIABILITY COST Handbomb 2 -1die/5yds 5d10 17 $150
Game notes - Every action spent winding the key gives a 5 second delay (1 round) before detonation up to a maximum of 1 minute (12 rounds), or 12 actions of winding. The cogs and gears do not begin unwinding until the key is depressed into the sphere which begins the countdown. On the round in which the bomb is due to go off draw a card from your action deck to determine at what point the handbomb detonates (only the Marshal should see this card). The Clockwork Handbomb is usually thrown at the enemy with a short delay, or can be left in front of a locked door on a longer delay. When throwing the device it takes 2 actions to depress the key (start the cogs) then throw. Use the Throwin' aptitude for this. Damage is applied to all exposed targets within range, wounds are allocated to random locations, as in the Dynamite rules, every 5 yards from the blast the damage lessens by 1 die
De-activation - Once the key begins to unwind all one has to do to prevent detonation is to stop the key from turning, a Deftness (7) check and one action is enough to do this - it is small and fiddley after all! After that a Tinkerin' (5) check can take apart and disarm the bomb.
Reliabilty - Make a check as soon as the key is depressed, if the device fails then consult the below Malfunctions table:
Minor Malfunction:An internal cog slips and when the key finishes unwinding the bomb fails to go off, a Tinkerin' (5) check and 1 minute is enough to fix the problem
Major Malfunction:When the key is depressed an internal cog breaks with a small crunching sound. It will take 30 mins and a Tinkerin' (7) test to fix
Catastrophie!:When the key is depressed the bomb explodes as the Nitro's protective casing fails! The device goes off in the users hands and damage is applied to all around as appropiate!
Submitted by Jay "Gambit" Anstiss of Middlesex
Sciences needed:Chemistry
Poker Hand to create Blueprint:Straight
Construction TN:11
Construction Time:12 hours
This nasty chemical weapon was devised by the Scientist Sebastian "Seth" Llnorse who claimed it was particularly useful at dealing with "Walking Dead", whatever the hell that's supposed to mean! The device is made up of a small glass globe, about the size of a child's ball, and is weighted for throwing. It contains, in separate compartments, Gunpowder & Nitro, Ghost Rock granules, and a sticky Molasses Kerosene type flammable liquid. When the globe is thrown at a target (be it a person or a wall near the person) it smashes and they are covered in the volatile sticky chemical goo which ignites itself - the idea being that the force will set off the Nitro + Gunpowder which in turn ignites the "Kerosene Molasses" that has covered the target and the Ghost Rock granules mix with the liquid to ensure a longer burning time and increased damage. "Seth" Llnorse didn't intend the globe for use against "living" targets, as the damage and pain would be horendous, and so was disturbed to find that the Confederate army has begun altering his Globes for use on the battlefield. The Globes are now no longer available from Smith & Robards and can only be purchased from the black market
WEAPON SPEED DAMAGE RANGE RELIABILITY COST Cocktail Globe 1 3d12 +1/5 when thrown 18 $125
Game notes - The globes ignite when smashed, either by shooting them from afar or, for better "spread", throwing them at a target (using Throwin' aptitude). When a target is hit roll d4+1 to see how many different locations are covered by the burning chemicals, then roll d20 to see which locations are affected. Then apply the 3d12 damage to each location. The fire will continue to burn until put out, doing 3d12 damage to each affected location at the end of every turn thereafter.
Puttin' out the flames - The target (or one of his friends) must spend an action and make a Nimbleness (7) check to put out the flames, each succes and raise on this test reduces the next damage roll by one dice, if 3 success and raises are achieved the fire is put out immediately, if only a success is gained then the damage is lessened to 2d12 henceforth and the target (or friends) may try again next action, bear in mind the target must roll around or be covered in a blanket to represent him attempting to quell the fire! Note that water will not extinguish the flames, it burns underwater y'see, only denying the fire oxygen has any effect!
Panic! - You may wish to have targets consumed by flames make a Panic test (Smarts (5)) to keep calm enough to deal with the flames rather than run around like a headless chicken! The choice, Marshals, is yours!
Throwing near a target - You can always aim at the wall or floor and still hit the target(s) with the subsequent splash of chemicals, in this eventuality all targets within 5 yards of the exploding globe are hit on one random location each with the above effects, but the Nimbleness TN becomes 5 not 7 and the whole floor/wall is set up in flames
Reliability - If the globe is thrown then make a reliability check, if the device is shot then also make a check and if failed consult the below table.
Minor Malfunction: The Globe simply smashes and the Nitro does not go off. The Globe is wasted.
Major Malfunction:The globe hits the intended target but does not break! The opponent/target now has the Globe and may use it as desired. (If the globe has been shot at it rolls to the nearest unfriendly character) Failing this the globe cracks and will explode if touched
Catastrophie!: The Globe explodes in the hands of the thrower and does damage on him as if he were the intended target! If the Globe is shot at it explodes and glass is thrown everywhere doing 2d10 damage on all within 20 yards, the person who set it off will be hit, even if out of range, so long as this is conceivable!
Sciences needed:Chemistry & Biology
Poker Hand to create Formulae:Full House
Construction TN:13
Construction Time:1 hour
An intriguing "invention" which the Union Scientists discovered quite by mistake and sold to the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The "Truth Juice" is a thick blue liquid which is injected into the brain and shuts down any functions which allow a subject to lie or tell untruths. In most cases the chemical does it's job, but on some occasions it simply won't work or may even induce brain disorders or death. The Pinkertons think they have the formulae firmly under wraps but sometimes the temptation to sell blueprints to shady customers with a lot of money is too much for greedy agents and so it is possible to get hold of small amounts of "Truth Juice" on the black market...although this is higly illegal!
CHEMICAL USES DURATION RELIABILITY COST Truth Juice one syringe=3 doses 1 minute 16 $150 per syringe
Game notes - To inject the Juice a syringe is needed and one must pass a Medicine:Anything (5) check to be successful, a failure means a roll on the Malfunctions table as the wrong part of the brain is affected! The subject must be restrained and relatively calm for the juice to work, if this is the case then he begins to feel sleepy and may be questioned on anything he knows, answering all questions completely truthfuly. He may, however, try to keep his mouth shut but this requires a Spirit (5) check for every 5 seconds of keeping schtum - the temptation to talk being almost unbearable! After one minute his brain will have had enough and puts him to sleep to sort itself out. The victim will be asleep for d6 hours by which time the Juice will have worn off totally.
Reliability - Make a check when the "Truth Juice" is administered, if failed (or if the original Medecine test is failed) then roll on the below Malfunctions table:
Minor Malfunction: The juice shuts down a different part of the brain, one that the subject never uses (common sense probably!) - and they may answer questions as they see fit, telling the truth or lying, it's up to them. Nobody else may know this of course! The subject falls asleep as normal after one minute, the brain still needs to rid itself of the juice after all
Major Malfunction:The Juice enters a sensitive part of the brain and does 4d6 damage to the victims head, he screams a lot and passes out for d6 hours
Catastrophie!: The "patient" has a violent allergic reaction and must pass a Vigour (11) check to avoid taking 2 dementias (roll twice on the Dementias table), if the patient goes bust then, unfortunatley, they die!