Deadlands: Weird Science: Adding Trappings/Effects to Gizmo Powers

[Will Tomorrow]

Hey all,

Getting prepared for my first Savage Worlds: Deadlands session tomorrow. I'm beyond excited with the flexibility/ease of the RP ruleset and the vibe of Deadlands in general. Everything was going smoothly until someone decided to be go the Weird Science route. Now we're making powers for them, dragging from the SW player's guide and manually adding the damage rolls, but we're having trouble adding effects. A lot of the powers have the option to add "trappings" that enhance the power functionally. None of the trapping modifiers seem to be drag and drop though, and simply writing "corrosion" (for instance), doesn't seem to kick in any additional effects on a success that would trigger it.

Is there a way to create powers in such a way that the additional effect is part of the success? I'd like the heat ray gun to be able to account for the fact that is has a chance to set the target on fire, etc. I'm really hoping there is a way to create these entries so that it is handled under the hood, as I'm already going to be spinning a lot of plates, and don't want to have to cross reference what a particular trapping adds to each gizmo or power.

I'm about 1,000% certain this question has been answered somewhere already, and that my search game is just incredibly weak. Apologies and thanks in advance.

[damned]

Im no Savage expert but I dont think it has this ability.
As much as possible put the responsibility for understanding a characters full abilities back on the player.
There gun has a 1 in 6 chance of setting the target on fire - they need to tell you and then (when you are ready) do the required roll or similar.
In many cases the rulesets cant handle every part of the automation - there are too many edge cases and exceptions.

Its very possible some Savage will come along and tell us that XYZ is really possible.

[Mask_of_winter]

This can't be added to the power but in certain cases you could use effects. Savage Worlds is a game made for "on the fly" rulings.
After 8 years of running Savage Worlds both in person and on FG I can tell you that in many situations, setting up the automation into FG is way more complicated and takes more time than just rolling the dice and moving on. Example:
Real life: Gunslinger walks out of the saloon, banditos seeking revenge goes on a tirade. Gunslinger pulls out his six-shooter and shoots the banditos. GM hadn't prepared the NPC stat block. But no biggie, GM comes up with stats on the fly. This guy is average, d6 Vigor and wears no armor so his Toughness is 5. TN is 4, gunslinger rolls 6 on his shooting, it's a hit. Rolls 2d6+1 damage for 10 damage. The bandito Extra is down.
FG: Gunslinger walks out of the saloon, banditos seeking revenge goes on a tirade. Gunslinger pulls out his six-shooter and shoots the banditos. GM hadn't prepared the NPC stat block. Here's where it gets complicated. Since everybody wants to take advantage of the amazing power of FG the GM clicks on NPC, create new, enters Banditos in the name field, enters d6 for Vigor, drags the NPC over to the combat tracker, PC drags shooting dice and drops it on CT, it's a hit, does same for damage, FG says one wound.
See how something so simple got more complicated and took more time?
Savage Worlds was designed for fast play. Now, I know that's not what you wanted to hear but I just want to assure you that SW has very little bookkeeping. It's a liberating experience. My advice to you is don't get too bogged down on these details at first and concentrate on the narrative. Overtime you'll get familiar with the system and FG ruleset and then start implementing more advanced tricks. Some of them are in my YouTube channel. You'll find a link in my signature.

[Ikael]

There is no automated approach to add trappings to powers in the current version. If your trapping alters how damage or armir piercing is applied, you can manually setup those for powers by creating sub-attacks and altering those aspects

[Will Tomorrow]

Thank you, everyone!

I've been tooling around with sub-powers all morning, and can't seem to wrap my head around how they tick. Like do you throw the sub power as well? Is it taken into account in the initial roll? Why do the trappings all have drag and drop icons but not drag into any of the fields other than the chat window?

I will have to redouble my search efforts, but I get the sense that sub-powers do exactly what I'm looking to be able to do, and it's my own ignorance keeping me from success.

Thanks again, and if any of you have any relevant links on creating/modifying/using sub-powers, I wouldn't mind seeing 'em here either!

[Mask_of_winter]

Powers are just mechanics. Trappings gives the power a shape.
Bolt + acid trapping = Acid arrow
Entangle + cold = ice field
Burst + fire = weird science flame thrower
Havoc = air = tornado spell

[Will Tomorrow]

Right, I get that, and appreciate it being reinforced.

What I don't get is how to have Bolt + acid trapping have any of the effects of the acid modifier. It's great to say that it is an acid arrow, but the trapping "acid" seems to have some pretty specific effect implications (ie corrosion and burn, for acid).

I am hoping to find a way to use the system to track and proc those trapping effects, specifically. As opposed to having to remember what corrosion does when it is applied. If there is no way to do it, that's fine, I can just keep it open and memorize them as they come up. With all the functionality built into creating custom powers though, it seems like a glaring omission to the thing. That could just be me coming from a lack of information though, as well.

[Mask_of_winter]

This is how I handle it in my games:

[Lonewolf]

Mask has pretty my nailed the correct answer here

I am none the less just in the right state of mind to give unnecessary elaboration here. Please forgive me.

The way to look at it in terms of a VTT. Is to think about how difficult it is to program anything without an exact mechanical definition. None of the trappings in SW are "hard coded" within the original books. Those pages are essentially just a bunch of suggestions. Trappings let you add color and flavor to an otherwise generic power. In fact trappings can really just be color changes.. Good guys get light powers that glow blue and bad guys get powers that glow red. So nothing happens code wise and it all in the players imagination. Most trappings are like this. Narrative descriptions that make characters sound different. When they are all using exactly the same power in terms of a VTT function.

Or they can be something that makes generic Bolt number 1 different generic Bolt number 2...... and changes the game mechanics. Which is something difficult to code. None the less at his point your allowed to make things up and add cool stuff into the narration. Here we can have a whole list of stuff we can add on and there is really good example of made up stuff. Bolt + Trapping gets https://www.pegforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=40009

Coding a mechanics suggestion is tough and right now more trouble that it is worth. In fact adding it into a VTT is likely to stop some players and GMs being creative. Trappings can be anything and have be source of great gaming stories. The weekly savage worlds GM hangout did a whole episode on how to play around with them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as-3lNBmfYM

So when setting this up. Put a one word reminder on the power list in the character sheet. The click that red button and add in specific trappings into the description. So long as an agreement has be reached and it gets recorded here. Pretty much anything goes. As a GM it might be difficult to remember all these little notes but I guarantee the player will remember.

Also note that is some cases it is possible to add in game mechanics in the form of sub power entry. This when a spell or device has a sub entry typed into the same line on the character sheet. So a power appears more that once with a perk or disadvantage. Here this characters blunderbus shotgun is either:

Short range: +2 to hit , 3d6 dam
Medium range: 2d6 dam
Long range:-2 to hit, 1d6 dam

This has be entered like this : Attachment 17568

This weapon was made for someone that was terrible at shooting. It explodes buck shot in a wide arc from an very open barrel. It is very powerful if the target is closer that 10 yards. Beyond that is just becomes weaker that every other gun in the campaign. Here the trappings that makes this gun different has be included into the VTT automation.

[Lonewolf]

Right, I get that, and appreciate it being reinforced.

What I don't get is how to have Bolt + acid trapping have any of the effects of the acid modifier. It's great to say that it is an acid arrow, but the trapping "acid" seems to have some pretty specific effect implications (ie corrosion and burn, for acid).

I am hoping to find a way to use the system to track and proc those trapping effects, specifically. As opposed to having to remember what corrosion does when it is applied. If there is no way to do it, that's fine, I can just keep it open and memorize them as they come up. With all the functionality built into creating custom powers though, it seems like a glaring omission to the thing. That could just be me coming from a lack of information though, as well.

Also note here that Bolt (Acid Arrow). Could cause the targets armor to weaken. By clicking on the Effect button and adding Acid Burn [Armor -1]. Marks the combat tracker and does change the game mechanics automatically. Toughness will be reduced here when the dice are rolled.

This effect can either be a temporary effect that lasts a few rounds. The whole combat. Or if you really want it can permanently effect the character for the whole game. Here clicking on Derived Stats tab on the character sheet. Lets you add a modifier onto a character sheet instead of the combat tracker to make it last the whole game. Attachment 17570