Powder, Gears, and Blessed Steam - A WHF Engineering Quest

Core Mechanics
Our quest will function off a system using pools of d6s. Standard success on a die will be 5+ (some high end traits later on may adjust this for very specific cases) and the total number of successes rolled in that pool will be compared to the Difficulty of the test. Every test performed can have a result of Failure, Success, or Critical Success.

A Failure is any time your total successes do not meet the Difficulty of an action or test. Failing a test doesn't necessarily mean no progress, depending on how close you were I may lower the Difficulty for the next attempt!

A Success is any time your total successes meet or exceed the Difficulty of an action or test. Success means you complete the project as intended, succeed at whatever contest you're in, learn something new, etc. etc.

A Critical Success is any time your total successes are greater than the Difficulty x 2. Critical Successes will net you whatever you were trying to achieve and then something extra depending on the situation. In combat it could be extra wounds dealt to an enemy, for an action to say run a store it might be a large profit, etc. (Critical Successes for Inventing and Crafting will have special rules listed below.)

Contested tests will fairly similar with opposing dice pools rolled and the total successes compared to see who comes out on top.

Attributes and Skills
In this game there are three core Attributes that represent broad aspects of a character: Body, Mind, and Soul. Body is not just a measure of endurance or bodily durability but also dexterity, strength, coordination, and more. Mind is a measure of intelligence, knowledge, charisma, and insight into others and how to bring all of those together for the most benefit. Soul is a measure of willpower, belief, and resolve that quite literally in the world of Warhammer Fantasy represents the strength of your actual soul.

Skills are facets of each Attribute that have been refined beyond your base capabilities. Engineering for instance is a refined understanding of mathematics, alchemy, industry, smithing, carpentry, and a dozen more fields refined for the singular purpose of creating marvels of technology from the humble pulley crane to the awe inspiring Steam Tanks. Dice pools for tests are typically formed of the value of one of the three Attributes and the Skill (or skills) associated with that test.

Advancing your Attributes or learning new Skills are a long term process that involve earning experience towards the next step, each step up requiring two points more than the last.

Ex: Two experience to learn a skill, four to increase it from 1 to 2, six to increase it from 2 to 3, etc.

Engineering and You
Engineering, especially in the world of Warhammer Fantasy, covers a very broad range of topics from firearms to facility construction to infrastructure creation or even industrialization itself. It is the beating heart of this Quest and the over all focus, creating ever more advanced or bizarre wonders of technology in a fantasy world. While warfare and combat are near unavoidable in this setting it does not have to be the thing which you all choose to revolve around for you can be an engineer of the people creating tools to improve their lives, and your own.

What this means mechanically are three systems: Crafting, Inventing, and Technology Tiers.

Crafting is the act of creating known pieces of engineering and involves the systems outlined above with a few modifications. Success during the process of crafting is a bit more granular as the total successes don't simply determine success but the Quality of what you end up making. Higher Quality means a better, more effective end products such a more accurate flintlock or a more efficient steam boiler. Quality tiers can be seen below!

Quality Tiers
Terrible - Successes = Half the Difficulty
Normal - Successes = The Difficulty or greater
Uncommon - Successes = 2 x the Difficulty
Rare - Successes = 3 x the Difficulty
Epic - Successes = 5 x the Difficulty
Legendary - Successes = 10 x the Difficulty
Mythical - Successes = 15 x the Difficulty

In the process of crafting the various items you discover you will eventually acquire Expertise and eventually even Mastery with them. Each time you craft something you'll get one Experience with that item.

Expertise is gained by by gaining Experience with an item equal to its Difficulty times two and provides an bonus die when crafting it in the future. Mastery is gained by gaining that amount of Experience again after achieving Expertise and will lower the success threshold to 4+ when creating it as well as give two bonus dice.

Inventing is the act of bringing into existence a creatable or producible concept. It is the art of piecing together fragmented knowledge to figure out how to make a rifle better, to create a liquid that can burn on water, to turn a steam boiler to the task of driving a wagon, and a million other ideas. To invent is not to research a topic but to pin down a goal and to create a possible solution. Inventing is one of the few forms of actions that can and will pull from more than just an Attribute and one Skill.

Whenever you decide on an Invention you wish to create it will be given a hidden Technology Tier which will determine how difficult it is to create the simple idea of it. Afterwards you will then spend actions rolling to theorize, experiment, blueprint, and prototype an end product. Every degree of Success will provide 1 Progress to completing an invention. Once half the progress or more is achieved the total needed will be revealed!

Example: An invention has a Difficulty of 2 and you have a dice pool of 8 of which five roll successes. 5 Successes / Difficulty 2 = 2.5, round down and you end up with two progress towards the invention!

Completing the process of Invention not only brings it to life as a repeatable thing you can make via Crafting but grants you a Prototype of whatever you've invented, a unique variation of it that represents your process of making that item. Every success towards advancing an Invention will impart its final prototype with a boon and every failure, setback, or accident will impart it with a penalty resulting in something truly unique.

Finally, we'll discuss Technology Tiers which is a rough estimate of how advanced an invention or engineering work is. Each tier represents something harder to envision and build than the last as the needed knowledge as well as complexity grows. Below you'll find a list of the current Tiers, examples of what fit within them, and the progress required to create an invention of that tier.

Technology Tiers
Tier One: Invention Progress [0/5], Examples: Matchlocks, Pulley Elevators, Hand Pumps, Aeolipiles, Gliders, Basic Architecture, etc.
Tier Two: Invention Progress [0/10], Examples: Flintlocks, Gunpowder (Yes, remember in the WHFverse the secrets of Gunpowder were basically given to the Empire instead of self discovered), Flare Guns, Early Cannons, Water/Windmill powered infrastructure, Sewer Creation, etc.
Tier Three: Invention Progress [0/15], Examples: Repeater Firearms, Pigeon Bombs, Steam Boilers, Empire Fortress Creation, Hot Air Balloons, Clockwork, etc.
Tier Four: Invention Progress [0/25], Examples: Breach Loading Firearms, Empire Grenade Launching Blunderbusses, Empire Great Cannons, Canal Creation, the Printing Press, etc.
Tier Five: Invention Progress [0/40], Examples: Helblaster Volley Cannons, Steam Engines, Mechanized Textile Machinery, advanced sewage system creation, etc.
Tier Six: Invention Progress [0/60], Examples: Steam Tanks, Helstrom Rocket Batteries, Ferrara's Drilling Machines, the beginnings of Industrialization proper with Factory Creation, etc.
... Other Tiers Omitted for Now
Tier Ten: Invention Progress [???], Examples: The Elixir of Life, the Skaven Space Program, the formation of Dawi Runecraft, AKA the realm of the nigh impossible.

Racial Attributes
Humans
Body - 3
Mind - 3
Soul - 3

Dawi
Body - 5
Mind - 6
Soul - 8

Elves
Body - 5
Mind - 6
Soul - 6

Beastmen
Body - 3
Mind - 1
Soul - 2

Skaven (Prone to more attribute variance than most races)
Body - 1
Mind - 2
Soul - 2

Goblins
Body - 2
Mind - 1
Soul - 1

Orcs
Body - 4
Mind - 1
Soul - 2


Racial Attributes are listed as the stats your average adult is going to have and also a sort of soft cap. Breaching past these attribute levels is something typically out of the ordinary and achieving double or more of what the baseline is for your race sets you in the category of some major characters in their canonical peaks like Felix, Khazak One-Eye, Skarsnik, etc.

These stats are the baseline I use to build characters off of as well as part of figuring out dice pools and Wounds for enemies. I'll update it as we go with any new races that become at least relevant to the quest.

Skill Levels
1-2 is for beginners. Entry level students, trained militias, apprentices.
3-4 is for skilled folks. Graduates of universities, professional soldiers, craftsmen, etc.
5-6 is for those of some renown. Established scholars, knights, journeymen, etc.
7-8 is for those of great skill and competence. Champions, questing knights, master craftsmen, renowned inventors, etc.
9-10 is for grandmasters. Grail Knights, Longbeards, Runelords, etc.
11+ is for those who transcend mortal limits, a realm almost impossible to achieve without divine, magical, or supernatural aid.


Skill levels are a way to grasp what the numbers beside your skills entail and also the other half of how I figure out what a dice pool for someone besides you is. The Road Walkers for instance hover between beginners and skilled so I use 1 to 4 for their skill levels if its something that should be their area of expertise.

Relationships and Favor
Relationships can refer both to your ties to individuals and organizations or even much larger groups such as the entire Empire. Relationships are tracked on a scale of -10 to 10. Lower means a worse impression with -10 implying they would willingly go to any length to ruin you while higher means a more favorable impression with 10 being held in a nearly legendary status. It is meant to be a simple representation rather than a hard stat, but it will influence the bit more mechanical Favor.

Favor is a measure of how far someone or some group is willing to go to repay what they see as a debt (be it literal or simply one of gratitude) to you. Depending on your relationship with a group Favor can be spent for everything from assistance in certain actions (occurring as additional dice you can buy for those tests) to calling on them to acquire rare ingredients, hunt down monsters or enemies of yours, and much more.

Name: Margaret
Age: 16

Wealth: 2
Inspiration: 0

Favor:

• Road Walkers - 3

Attributes and Skills:
Body - 3

• Athletics 2

Mind - 2 [2/6]

• Engineering 3
• Alchemy 2
• Inventing 2
• Construction 1
• Diplomacy 1
• Wayfinding 1

Soul - 2

• Oration 1

Traits:
Believer of Steam - Gain two bonus dice on any project involving the creation or use of steam power. Lose two dice when working with alternative power sources for what could compare to the marvel of a boiler? You are deeply unsettled by the absence of steam powered machinery and have a desire to explain to anyone who will listen the greatness of steam.
Student of Innovation - Gain an additional die when working on any engineering that is odd, experimental, or cutting edge.
Accidents Happen - On failing an engineering test with something new or experimental there is a 50% chance of an accident occurring.
Brilliant Mind - Provides an additional die when learning any new skill, halves chance of accidents.

Possessions:
Engineer's tools of the trade
Several sets of clothes
3 Matchlocks (Prone to misfires, Unreliable in even wet conditions, Godri would disapprove)
Gromdottir (+4 bonus dice when used for combat, ???, ???, Limited amount of ammo)
Raven Amulet (???, ???, ???)
Bottle of Kislevite Vodka

Size: Large, an old warehouse now for your personal use.
Tools and Equipment: Basic Engineering Tools (Allows for work on Tech Tiers 1 to 3)
Security: Simple Locks crafted by Dawi hands, windows ten feet up, wooden bars across the warehouse doors
Facilities
Large Scale Dawi Smelter - A large smelter meant for the processing of ores before transport that hasn't seen use in months at the very least now in your hands. It will certainly make the process of refining metals much easier. Gain 1 Bonus Die when working with metal refining or alloying.
An Aeolipile - Setup at the heart of the workshop is your Aeolipile. The crowning jewel of your workshop as its first ever steam powered machine and a monument to what can be. You find its presence calming and run it once or twice a week simply to watch the spherical engine spin.
Your Bed - A mat of straw with a few blankets thrown over it in a corner of the space. Better than sleeping under the elements.

Road Walkers
Assistance on an Action - 1 Favor per Die on applicable actions.
Bodyguards - 2 Favor and 1 Wealth per month required, gives you six Road Walker bodyguards during the duration. (Unlocked from Relationship 2)
Request Investment - 1 Favor per Wealth requested. Can potentially harm your relationship with the group. (Unlocked from Relationship 2)

Individuals
Godri, Gramps, Dawi Engineer of the Imperial Engineers School (???)
Alric, Commander of the Road Walkers (3)
Ori, Owner of the Rickety Wagon? (1)

Groups
Ostland Road Walkers, Mercenary group running from Wolfenburg (3)

Technology Tier One
Matchlocks (Mechanical, Difficulty 2, Cost 1, Creates three) [1/4 to Expertise] - Matchlocks are the earliest form of firearms created by the Empire shortly after the Dawi taught them the wonders of black powder and though they've since been largely phased out they still find use in more rural reaches. They utilize flammable cords attached to triggers to set off the powder needed to propel lead at lethal velocity.

Aeolipile (Mechanical, Difficulty 3, Cost 1) [1/6 to Expertise] - An incredible rudimentary form of boiler that utilizes the generated steam from the boiler to spin a radial engine of sorts thus creating small amounts of power. You doubt it could pull even a child with the created force, but... Some tweaks here, refinements there. Experiments are coiling endlessly in your mind.

Simple Architecture (Mechanical, Difficulty Variable, Cost Variable) - In the process of learning engineering you have learned how to properly build single story houses, simple shops, drainage trenches, shallow basements, and much more. You certainly won't create marvels of the world like the Imperial Palace but you could oversee the creation of hamlets and small towns at the very least.

Technology Tier Two
Gunpowder (Alchemical, Difficulty 3, Cost 1, Dangerous, Creates a barrel) - Gunpowder. The lifeblood of Imperial regiments. One of humanity's greatest weapons handed to them by the Dwarfs and since spread across almost the entirety of the Old World. It is the product of alchemy, at least by human hands, made by mixing saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur in a process that is likely to destroy the room its in by unskilled hands. 'Treat it with respect and you'll live to see your twenties' Godri had said.

Flintlocks (Mechanical, Expertise, Difficulty 3, Cost 1, Creates three) [1/6 to Mastery] - Flintlocks are the next step in the advancement of firearms. While the modifications are fairly extensive over matchlocks the core change between the two is the use of flint as an ignition source providing far greater reliability, making them easier to deploy in various forms of weather, and simply faster to use in an emergency.

Basic Sewage Architecture (Mechanical, Difficulty Variable, Cost Variable) - One of the things the College teaches extensively to those willing to learn is the creation and maintenance of complex sewer systems, a necessary feat to keep a city as expansive as Altdorf from being a disease ridden hell scape. You know only a portion of that knowledge: Various methods for digging drainage trenches, the use of stone to line them to create more permanent infrastructure, the occasional use of reinforced tunnels to allow passage beneath roads, and more.

Note: Mechanical means the project uses Engineering as the main skill and Alchemical means the project uses Alchemy as the main skill.

Seeing Farther - You've seen some great overwrought examples of your idea upon Hochland Rifles back in the college, and have proof of their effectiveness both from it and the simple magnifying lens used by some of the colleges older professors. While a flintlock or matchlock wouldn't properly benefit from it just the ability to more accurately see at a distance could be quite handy in many situations.
Difficulty 3, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]

A Better Crossbow - For all the power of firearms and cannons you have also looked to the more uncommon ranged companion of the flintlock and found it rather poorly tended to. Surely hidden in all the knowledge of engineering you have theres a path forward for this humble weapon?
Difficulty 3, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]

Steam Force Application - While the actual output of this truly simple device is minimal it could perhaps be used for small, repetitive movements. Clothes lines, hauling up fishing lines, perhaps even to move a small platform carrying light goods like coins across gaps?
Difficulty 4, Progress [0/???], Requires an existing Aeolipile to work on

Steamed Potions - Alchemists create a great many concoctions many of which are capable of some astounding effects ranging from the healing of small wounds to revitalizing tired soldiers and more. As you watched an alchemist at the Engineers School concocting one such tonic your mind wondered if the self same liquid could not be converted into steam for widespread use.
Difficulty 5, Cost 2, Progress [0/???], Requires an Alchemy Lab

Voice Enloudening - You have been to more than one sermon in the various cathedrals, chapels, and temples spread throughout Altdorf and there you've witnessed clergy screaming to be heard even as the very buildings are designed to carry their words to the crowd. You listened to Godri grumble about how much you could learn from a room just by the way your voice carried through it... Could something not be made to help a speaker be heard louder and clearer?
Difficulty 2, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]

Bigger, Grander Structures - In all you've learned over the years and through beholding the widespread architecture of Altdorf you are certain you can figure out how to build even better buildings. Two or even three story homes?
Difficulty 4, Cost 2, Progress [0/???], Requires an entire crew to assist with construction

Oh, the Wonders of Soap - Your former colleagues might look down upon you for the act, but you're certain with your grasp of alchemy the creation of passable soaps should be simple enough if you can find the trick. Black listed or not, rich folk are always in need of fine smelling soaps to clean themselves with and it is a surefire way of lining your pockets at the end of the day.
Difficulty 2, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]

A Better Flintlock - You've witnessed a great beast take something close to a dozen shots from conventional firearms and keep charging. You've watched near forty handgunners fire in a great volley and only two thirds of their shots rang true. That cannot be the peak of what they can achieve. Surely they can be made better? More accurate, more deadly... You will find out.
Difficulty 4, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]

Shot to Kill - A desire to give the common flintlock even more power than it already provides has turned your eye towards the simple lead ball that each and every single one of them fire. It is the height of simplicity, lead poured into a mold and cooled before being fired at absurd speeds to inflict lethal damage... And yet, it could be more.
Difficulty 3, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]

Something of a Replacement - Your first acquaintances after leaving the scho- No, your first friends... You saw first hand how limbs were severed with ease on the battlefield. Seen how much that loss pressures them even away from battle. You doubt you can make them limbs wholesale again, but you can try. Even one step towards it should help give you an idea of where you need to go. Something to grasp with... Something to stand on... Yeah, that'll work.
Difficulty 2, Cost 1, Progress [0/???]