Engineer

Prerequisites:
Mathematics
(Applied) at TL5+, plus others as
noted.
This is the ability to design and
build technological devices and sys-
tems. A successful roll lets you design
a new system, diagnose a glitch, iden-
tify the purpose of a strange device, or
improvise a gadget to solve a problem.
Time required for each attempt is up
to the GM.
Note that engineers are designers
and inventors; they are not necessarily
skilled at the routine operation or
maintenance of the things they
design! For instance, Engineer (Small
Arms) lets you design a new assault
rifle, but you need Armoury skill to
maintain it and Guns skill to shoot it.
You must specialize. Possible fields
include:
Artillery: Designing whatever pass-
es for artillery at your TL, from tre-
buchets to smart missiles. Default:
Armoury (Heavy Weapons)-6.
Civil: Planning highways, aque-
ducts,
buildings,
etc.
Default:
Architecture-6.
Clockwork:
Designing wind-up
gadgetry – watches, mechanical men,
and the like. Default:
Mechanic
(Clockwork)-6.
Combat: Building or removing for-
tifications, trenches, etc. Default:
Explosives (Demolition)-6.
Electrical: Designing electrical sys-
tems, such as power cells and trans-
mission lines. Default: Electrician-6.
Electronics: Designing and building
electronic apparatus, from computers
to starship sensor arrays. (The specific
technologies involved – vacuum tubes,
transistors, photonics, etc. – will
depend on the tech level.) Default:
Electronics Repair (any)-6.
Materials: Concocting new struc-
tural
materials.
Prerequisites:
Chemistry or Metallurgy. Defaults:
Chemistry-6 or Metallurgy-6.
Microtechnology: Designing micro-
machines.
Default:
Mechanic
(Micromachines)-6.
Mining: Designing underground
structures.
Defaults:
Explosives
(Demolition)-6 or Geology (any)-6.
Nanotechnology:
Designing
nanomachines. Default:
Mechanic
(Nanomachines)-6.
Parachronic: Designing apparatus
for crossing dimensions or timelines.
Prerequisite:
Physics.
Default:
Electronics Operation (Parachronic)-
6, but there is no default if your socie-
ty has not discovered dimensional
travel.
Psychotronics: Designing psionic
technology, such as telepathic shields
and amplifiers. Default: Electronics
Operation
(Psychotronics)-6,
but
there is no default for individuals from
backgrounds where psionics do not
exist.
Robotics: Designing robotics and
cybernetics.
Default:
Mechanic
(Robotics)-6.
Small Arms: Designing personal
firearms, such as guns and portable
rocket launchers. Default: Armoury
(Small Arms)-6.
Temporal:
Designing
time
machines.
Prerequisite:
Physics.
Default:
Electronics
Operation
(Temporal)-6, but there is no default
for individuals from backgrounds
without time travel!
Vehicle Type: Designing a single,
broad class of vehicle. Examples
include
Engineer
(Automobiles),
Engineer (Ships), and Engineer
(Starships). Default: Mechanic (same
vehicle type)-6.
Engineer
specialties
normally
default to one another at -4; however,
the GM is free to rule that in his cam-
paign, there is no default between
exotic specialties (Nanotechnology,
Parachronic, Psychotronics, etc.) and
more mundane ones (Civil, Combat,
Mining, etc.).
Modifiers: Equipment modifiers
(p. 345). Up to +5 to build a gadget if
you can give the GM a good descrip-
tion of what you want it to do.