The rules in the GM's Screen allow players to assemble their own lightsaber hilts. There is a skill check involved, and it is possible to build a lightsaber hilt with more (on a good roll) or less (on a bad roll) hard points than usual.

Is it reasonable to allow this rule to be extended to other gear besides lightsabers? For example, could a Mechanic craft his own brass knuckles and try to get a hard point on them, or to do likewise for homemade handcrafted blasters?

I don't see why not. 1st and foremost its your game! But for game balance I would limit how many hp an item can have. Which I think is in the rules (book not in front of me) also would you just allow this for only force users or can anyone do it?

Yeah, until some crafting rules appears in whatever career book, I'd say using those rules as a general guideline makes a lot of sense.

The question becomes what kind of blaster are you making? Can you make one from a schematic that is already unusually customisable (like that one in Fly Casual) and make it even more customisable? What about crafting a weapon which comes with the superior quality on stock models, can we craft these from schematics?

So, schematics... brain fart:

Weapon type melee/ranged (OR weapon complexity? Like tech level, a club is basically a club and shouldn't be more than average diff to make, at most).

Base damage

Range

Crit

Enc

No qualities (minus 1, let's say every weapon can have one quality for "free")

HP

Summarise these and you get craft difficulty .... ? meeeeh....

The biggest thing to consider is the utility of making ANYTHING. Lightsaber construction, really, is simple. It's a power cell, energy channel and focus, crystal and mount, an on/off switch, an emitter, some wiring, and a cylinder to put it all in. Making a gun is going to require a LOT more machining, a lot more parts. It should take a lot more time to make a blaster pistol, as it has more moving parts and a non-simple shape.

Then you look at who can use the item. Lightsabers are powerful, but they're also only as useful as the skill fo the person using it. They're stupidly hard to make unless you have some instruction from some highly illegal sources (holocrons/Jedi archives). There's a mystic energy that's guiding your mind and hands in it's construction.

A blaster, for instance, is not only legal on most worlds but also a practical requirement for survival. Making one requires some instruction and familiarity with more legal manufacturing techniques. More folks in your party are going to want the "hot-tricked-out-chance-for-more-bennies-with-a-mechanics-check blaster" than one off the rack.

I would say that if you're going to let Technicians make items for the party, there needs to be a drawback. Give them a reason to buy the standard version over taking a chance to make the same item with an extra HP or other bonus. My first instinct is to say that the cost of making an item yourself is to charge 5 times the cost of the item. (maybe even ten times, but that could be excessive) This puts a blaster pistol or heavy blaster pistol into the price range of the Raider Arms blaster from Fly Casual, a weapon that's described as being hand-made and custom fitted. It puts the advantage of cost back into the hands of large scale manufacturers, which also fits most modern economies.

You need to have a reason not to make your own. Otherwise your players are going to be demanding all equipment gets made in-party, turns your mechanic into a crafter, and you as the GM loses the ability to reward PCs with gear instead of cash.

WHY CAN I NOT LIKE THIS MORE THAN ONCE!!!???

Be sure you're not making Intuitive Improvements pointless. The whole point of that 25 point talent at the bottom of Artisan is adding 2 hardpoints to things in an efficient manner.

Be sure you're not making Intuitive Improvements pointless. The whole point of that 25 point talent at the bottom of Artisan is adding 2 hardpoints to things in an efficient manner.

Actually, that would synergize with this nicely. Imagine rolling a Triumph and 4 Force Points on a check. I'm away from book right now (for the GM screen) but I believe those would stack to add 3 Hardpoints to the item. Intuative Improvements adds hardpoints at a much easier and more reliable manner than "shooting for the Triumph". But when you do roll well...GOLD.

Idk, probably I'd limit the extra HP from Triumphs to one, if it's not already limited. This would have a limit of +3 HP if you are an Artisan and roll a Triumph, which seems quite nice.

Idk, probably I'd limit the extra HP from Triumphs to one, if it's not already limited. This would have a limit of +3 HP if you are an Artisan and roll a Triumph, which seems quite nice.

Don't forget Tinkerer!

Idk, probably I'd limit the extra HP from Triumphs to one, if it's not already limited. This would have a limit of +3 HP if you are an Artisan and roll a Triumph, which seems quite nice.

Don't forget Tinkerer!

My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

I would say that if you're going to let Technicians make items for the party, there needs to be a drawback. Give them a reason to buy the standard version over taking a chance to make the same item with an extra HP or other bonus. My first instinct is to say that the cost of making an item yourself is to charge 5 times the cost of the item. (maybe even ten times, but that could be excessive) This puts a blaster pistol or heavy blaster pistol into the price range of the Raider Arms blaster from Fly Casual, a weapon that's described as being hand-made and custom fitted. It puts the advantage of cost back into the hands of large scale manufacturers, which also fits most modern economies.

You need to have a reason not to make your own. Otherwise your players are going to be demanding all equipment gets made in-party, turns your mechanic into a crafter, and you as the GM loses the ability to reward PCs with gear instead of cash.

I'm going to ignore the options of getting extra hard points, or creating an item that doesn't exist in the books.

When duplicating an item, the big thing that the crafter is providing is the transfer of a shopping roll (Negotiate or Streetwise) into a Mechanics roll, adding a dash of time. This negates the entire Rarity system, unless the GM decides that there are rare components required.

At a base, I would say the crafted item should cost less credits than the standard shop value. After all, you're taking out the middle-beings that want to make a profit. Maybe 75%? Then increase the difficulty and/or base crafting time for the rarity that is being avoided (not necessarily 1:1, just spitballing here). Crafting time variable would be determined by the roll results, but shouldn't be quick.

I would say that if you're going to let Technicians make items for the party, there needs to be a drawback. Give them a reason to buy the standard version over taking a chance to make the same item with an extra HP or other bonus. My first instinct is to say that the cost of making an item yourself is to charge 5 times the cost of the item. (maybe even ten times, but that could be excessive) This puts a blaster pistol or heavy blaster pistol into the price range of the Raider Arms blaster from Fly Casual, a weapon that's described as being hand-made and custom fitted. It puts the advantage of cost back into the hands of large scale manufacturers, which also fits most modern economies.

You need to have a reason not to make your own. Otherwise your players are going to be demanding all equipment gets made in-party, turns your mechanic into a crafter, and you as the GM loses the ability to reward PCs with gear instead of cash.

I'm going to ignore the options of getting extra hard points, or creating an item that doesn't exist in the books.

When duplicating an item, the big thing that the crafter is providing is the transfer of a shopping roll (Negotiate or Streetwise) into a Mechanics roll, adding a dash of time. This negates the entire Rarity system, unless the GM decides that there are rare components required.

At a base, I would say the crafted item should cost less credits than the standard shop value. After all, you're taking out the middle-beings that want to make a profit. Maybe 75%? Then increase the difficulty and/or base crafting time for the rarity that is being avoided (not necessarily 1:1, just spitballing here). Crafting time variable would be determined by the roll results, but shouldn't be quick.

Or you could require Negotiate and Streetwise checks to find the materials. if its a restricted item then certain materials, or tools required, are restricted. In the same way that Ibuprofen is only available in limited quantities, or all high end CNC milling machines have a built in accuracy limit to prevent the manufacturing precision required for Nukes getting into the wrong hands.

Or you could require Negotiate and Streetwise checks to find the materials. if its a restricted item then certain materials, or tools required, are restricted. In the same way that Ibuprofen is only available in limited quantities, or all high end CNC milling machines have a built in accuracy limit to prevent the manufacturing precision required for Nukes getting into the wrong hands.

In some cases, absolutely. But sometimes restricted is because of its legality, not its components rarity or complexity. I believe that's it's even pointed out that some things may not be restricted in all locations.

Knowing when which is which would be a case by case basis, and up to the GM. That's the only part that I can't figure out a good blanket rule for.

Or you could require Negotiate and Streetwise checks to find the materials. if its a restricted item then certain materials, or tools required, are restricted. In the same way that Ibuprofen is only available in limited quantities, or all high end CNC milling machines have a built in accuracy limit to prevent the manufacturing precision required for Nukes getting into the wrong hands.

In some cases, absolutely. But sometimes restricted is because of its legality, not its components rarity or complexity. I believe that's it's even pointed out that some things may not be restricted in all locations.

Knowing when which is which would be a case by case basis, and up to the GM. That's the only part that I can't figure out a good blanket rule for.

Or you could require Negotiate and Streetwise checks to find the materials. if its a restricted item then certain materials, or tools required, are restricted. In the same way that Ibuprofen is only available in limited quantities, or all high end CNC milling machines have a built in accuracy limit to prevent the manufacturing precision required for Nukes getting into the wrong hands.

In some cases, absolutely. But sometimes restricted is because of its legality, not its components rarity or complexity. I believe that's it's even pointed out that some things may not be restricted in all locations.

Knowing when which is which would be a case by case basis, and up to the GM. That's the only part that I can't figure out a good blanket rule for.

I agree, in some places a simple blaster rifle will be restricted, in others a simple license will let you own a LRB and use it for things like big game hunting.

And on the legality that's why I mentioned the drugs aspect, many illegal drugs are made with common cheap ingredients, it's just the knowledge and access to those chemicals that's restricted as a front line prevention method.

For a LRB in SW perhaps every part is easy to manufacture, except a single crucial component in the control circuit or firing mechanisms, so essentially to make a LRB 98% of the materials are simple and cheap to Aquire. But that last 2% both very hard to make, the knowledge of how to make it is rare (Neuclear Specialist have all their travels monitored for their entire life!)is highly restricted and getting one is as illegal as the LRB itself.

The point I'm trying to make is this:

Buy an LRB and it's illegal and stock standard

Make an LRB and it costs less, takes more time, is just as illegal, but has the potential to be much better than stock standard

Given the way that FaD/AoR/EotE are built, (ie, you're allowed to have nice things, and effects stack unless stated that they do not) I would find it hard to believe that these effects don't stack. Not to mention the fact that the combination of talents, skills and luck required to create a Lightsaber Hilt with +5 Hard Points from Triumphs, Intuitive Improvements, and Tinkerer is enormously costly. If you cough up the XP to acquire those disparate abilities and roll well enough to get the full +5 Hard Points and have an extra 5HP worth of mods worth installing in your precious master-crafted Lightsaber (or any other precious personal item, for that matter), you freaking deserve it.

I would say that if you're going to let Technicians make items for the party, there needs to be a drawback. Give them a reason to buy the standard version over taking a chance to make the same item with an extra HP or other bonus. My first instinct is to say that the cost of making an item yourself is to charge 5 times the cost of the item. (maybe even ten times, but that could be excessive) This puts a blaster pistol or heavy blaster pistol into the price range of the Raider Arms blaster from Fly Casual, a weapon that's described as being hand-made and custom fitted. It puts the advantage of cost back into the hands of large scale manufacturers, which also fits most modern economies.

You need to have a reason not to make your own. Otherwise your players are going to be demanding all equipment gets made in-party, turns your mechanic into a crafter, and you as the GM loses the ability to reward PCs with gear instead of cash.

I'm going to ignore the options of getting extra hard points, or creating an item that doesn't exist in the books.

When duplicating an item, the big thing that the crafter is providing is the transfer of a shopping roll (Negotiate or Streetwise) into a Mechanics roll, adding a dash of time. This negates the entire Rarity system, unless the GM decides that there are rare components required.

At a base, I would say the crafted item should cost less credits than the standard shop value. After all, you're taking out the middle-beings that want to make a profit. Maybe 75%? Then increase the difficulty and/or base crafting time for the rarity that is being avoided (not necessarily 1:1, just spitballing here). Crafting time variable would be determined by the roll results, but shouldn't be quick.

I think a good compromise is to say that the PC has some options.

1) He can attempt to make a standard model of a particular item and end up with a net credit savings at the expense of some time.

2) He can attempt to make a better model of a particular item for more than the base cost of the normal item.

So I could try to make a normal heavy blaster pistol and save 25% off the current going market rate OR I could try to make a superior heavy blaster pistol for 25% more, and the risk of instead making an inferior weapon.

So something like the following might be a good system.

Crafting Standard copies of items: If a PC wishes to craft an item himself, he must pay 75% of the base value of the item to acquire the necessary raw materials. He must also have access to appropriate tools and workshop space if applicable. To craft the item the PC must pass an Average Mechanics check. For every 2 points, or part thereof, the normal item's rarity is above 4, increase the difficulty of the roll by 1. IE: a Rarity 5 item would be a Hard mechanic check. If the item is normally Restricted, upgrade the difficulty of the check once. At GMs discretion the check may be upgraded more than once. Dispair may be spent to give the item the Inferior quality. Triumphs may be spent to give the item the Superior quality.

Crafting custom copies of items: If a PC wishes to craft a custom item, he must pay 125% of the base value of the item to acquire the necessary raw materials. He must also have access to appropriate tools and workshop space if applicable. To craft the item the PC must pass a Hard Mechanics check that is upgraded once. If the item is normally Restricted, upgrade the difficulty of the check once again. If the check is passed, the item is successfully crafted. The item has one additional Hard Point than a normal copy of that item. 3 success may be spent to give the item an additional Hard Point, point of damage(if the item is a weapon), or point of soak(if the item is armor). Triumphs may be spent to give the item the Superior quality. If the check is failed, the item is successfully created but has no additional hard points. If the check is failed by more than 3, the item has 1 less hard point than normal. If the check fails by more than 5, the item is not created and the material costs are not recovered. Dispair may be spent to give the item the Inferior quality.

Note: You cannot craft custom grenades.