Mechanisms

Mechanisms represents the knowledge and skill to assemble and disassemble mechanical devices, such as traps. The skill of Mechanisms generally involves the creation of delicate contraptions with small working parts, as opposed to Engineering, which deals with massive constructions. It is a distinct discipline from Lockpicking and cannot be interchanged with that skill.

The time taken to deal with a mechanism depends entirely on its scale and complexity. Repairing a large cartwheel might take half an hour; whilst building a poison needle trapped lock might take an entire week. As a rule of thumb, Mechanism rolls take a minimum of 1d3x10 minutes, but this is for the simplest and most straightforward of mechanical challeenges. The timeframe may very well extend to months.

On a critical success the chracter achieves success in half the usual time, and with flawless results. Any future rolls attempting to disable or circumvent the Mechanisms are one grade harder.

A failure results in a device which is tempermental and prone to breaking down; attempts to bypass or render it inoperative are one grade easier.

On a fumble, the mechanism is utterly broken, and has to be thrown away and started again from scratch.

Professional Skill Base Skill Value: DEX + INT