Quick Gadgeteering

Requires very little time or money to do their work, and can throw together a useful gadget in minutes, using only the contents of a random glove compartment. This talent is completely unrealistic.

Use the Gadgeteering rules, with the following modifications:

The material that is different from Gadgeteering is Bolded and Underlined.
Some Gadgeteering things have been taken out, as per Quick Gadgeteering.

Required Skill(s)
The "invention skill" is whatever makes sense, the relevant Engineer specialty for armor, vehicles, weapons, etc. or Alchemy for magic potions, Thaumatology for magic spells, Bioengineering for biotech, Computer Programming for software, etc. etc.

Complexity
Up to the GM, see Complexity table for reference.
Do not confuse the TLs with Complexity Levels.

Concept
After determining Required Skill(s), and Complexity the GM makes a secret "Concept roll" against the inventor's invention skill to see whether he comes up with a testable theory - this requires no special equipment except a tablecloth/napkin to sketch on and tons of coffee ;)
A Concept roll can be made every 1d minutes, on success proceed to the next step.
On Failure try again the next day.
On Critical Failure the inventor comes up with a flawed theory that will never work, but they don't realize it.
Blueprints make this step a moot point.

Prototype
At this stage is another secret roll made by the GM against the invention skill, see Prototype Modifiers.
On a success the theory is proven and a prototype is made.
On failure only the time and money is spent (see below).
On a critical failure, an explosion or accident occurs. This inflicts at least 2d damage to the inventor and each assistant - and destroys the facility.
If the inventor was working with a flawed theory they will never create a working prototype, but a critical success will let them realize the theory was off.
Time Required
Each Prototype roll requires 2d minutes (Simple), 1d-2 hours (Average, a 1 or 2 is only 30 minutes), 1d hours (Complex), or 4d hours (Amazing).
Physically huge items (Eg. Spaceships, military vehicles, etc.) can take longer as well.
Divide time required by number of skilled people working on the project.
Cost
If there are many sources for parts, the GM should allow a Scrounging roll to find usable components. If the resources are more limited, it might be a more specific roll (eg a wrecked car allows for Engineer (automobiles) or Mechanic (Automobiles)).
These rolls are at no modifier (Simple), -2 (Average), -6 (Complex), -10 (Amazing).
On a success the total cost for the project is only (1d-1) x 100, with a roll of 1 indicating no cost.
If the gadgeteer must buy the needed items calculate facilities and prototype costs for a regular gadgeteer then divide by 100.
A crit fail on the prototype roll ruins the parts - the gadgeteer must find new ones before construction can resume.

Testing & Bugs
Critical success on the Prototype means no bugs, success by three or more is no bugs, and any other success gives 1d/2 minor bugs.
Minor bugs are annoying but not critical.
To find bugs requires testing. Once per week of testing, roll vs operation skill (skill to use device) at -3.
Each success finds 1 bug, a critical success finds all bugs, a failure triggers a major bug if present (or finds nothing), a critical failure causes a problem similar to a minor bug without encountering any real bugs.
Bugs that remain after testing show up on any operation skill roll that fails by 5 or more - a minor bug always surfaces on a critical failure.
For every minor bug roll on the Gadget Bugs Table to find out what it is.

Production
Building a copy of the invention costs 20% of the retail price if you only need to buy parts, or full retail price if you must pay for parts and labor.
Time required to produce each copy is half the time required for a Prototype roll.
There are also rules for production lines but it seems unlikely that they will come up (B474).

Complexity	Req'd. Skill Level	Base Cost	TL Increment	Concept Modifiers
Simple	14 or less	50,000	100,000	0
Average	15-17	100,00	250,000	-2
Complex	18-20	250,000	500,000	-4
Amazing	21 or more	500,000	1,000,000	-8

More Complexity Modifiers:
+5 if you have a working model you are trying to copy.
+2 if the device exists but you don’t have a model.
+1 to +5 if the item is a variant on an existing one.
-5 per TL that it is above the inventor's

Reinventing the Wheel
Coming up with devices of a lower TL than their own reduces Complexity by one level per TL per TL lower than the inventor's to a minimum of Simple.
If research material is available use the higher of Research or invention skill for the Concept roll.

Prototype Modifiers
Include all Complexity Modifiers plus:
+1 per assistant with 20+ in one of the skills involved for the invention (max of +4)
-1 to -10 if the inventor must make do with anything less than the most advanced tools and facilities for his TL.

Funding
The cost to invent doesn't scale with TL (realistic, but wouldn't be much fun to play when low-tech.
Therefore, the optional rules:
Patrons:
if you have a Patron with +100% "Equipment" enhancement you may attempt a single roll of your Patron's frequency of appearance when you start a new invention.
On success your Patron foots the bill, however most Patrons will demand access to the invention, if you refuse, you are likely to lose your Patron!
Professional Inventors:
You can pay the costs by gradually building up the required costs yourself.
You still must pay at least 10% up front.
Divide the remainder by monthly income and add that many months to the time required.
You earn no money during this time, and still need a place to live, and food to eat.
Investors:
Make a Finance roll with the same modifiers as your Concept roll, on a success you receive funding.
Note: your investors own shares of your invention and profits.

Gadget Bugs Table
The GM should roll on the table, or pick something appropriate.

3	Roll 3d per use or hour of use. On a 6 or less, the gadget attracts the unwelcome attention of aliens, time travelers, Men in Black, Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, etc.
4	It is huge! If it would normally be hand-held it is so large that it needs a vehicle to move, etc.
5	Each use, or hour of constant use consumes 250 worth of important resources.
6	The device has 1d+1 side effects, see Random Side Effects Table (B479)
7	Anyone carrying it is so inconvenienced that they have -2 to DEX. Vehicles also get -2 to vehicle Control Rolls.
8	The gadget has 1d-2 (min. 1) side effects.
9	A powered device requires a very large power supply. If unpowered treat as a 10.
10	It is 2x as large, heavy and uses 2x as much power. If it’s a weapon it has 1/2 range, damage, and accuracy instead.
11	It gets too hot to handle after being used and must cool down for 10 minutes before it can be used again. (inflicting 1d10 burning damage if used before time).
12	Each use, or hour of use consumes 25 worth of resources.
13	It is unreliable and fails on any operation skill roll of 14 or more.
14	It requires minor repairs after every use and does not work until repaired.
15	It recoils like a heavy projectile weapon: must make a DEX roll when used or be knocked down.
16	Very unreliable and fails on an operation roll of 10 or more.
17	Overly complicated, it takes 5 seconds to ready if a weapon, otherwise 2 hours of prep time.
18	On any crit failure, it self-destructs…spectacularly. The user must make a DEX roll at -2 or suffer 2d injury. The gadget is gone - it cannot be repaired or have parts taken from it.

Gadgeteering During Adventures
Analysis
To figure out a mysterious piece of equipment they roll as if making a Concept roll to invent the item from scratch, using the same skills and modifiers.
This takes 1d minutes for a quick gadgeteer
Modification
After successfully analyzing a gadget the gadgeteer may attempt to modify it.
The roll is made as if making a Prototype roll, using the same skills and modifiers. This takes 1d10 minutes for a quick gadgeteer.