Rig

When you RIG mechanisms, you alter how an existing mechanism works or create a new one. You might disable a trap. You might repair a damaged ship system. You might crack a safe. You might overdrive an engine. You might program a bomb to detonate later. You might force a door open (though HACK might be better).

GM QUESTIONS

• What do you RIG with? What tools are usually required?
• What are you trying to make it do?
• What do you hope to accomplish?

When you RIG, you take apart a device, wire up new connections, add hydraulics, and replace parts. It covers the mechanical and physical parts of a device. You RIG to rewire electrical systems, but you HACK to alter software. When a device is damaged, you usually use RIG to work around the problem, or repair it.
Use RIG to physically make a device do what it’s supposed to, but outside of expected parameters. You can hot-wire systems and force them to run when they should be shut down, or shut down when they’re supposed to be running. You might overdrive an engine, or push all the power in your blaster out in one big burst.
You can also use RIG to disable or destroy a device, causing it to malfunction or simply make it impossible to fix. Planting explosives is done with RIG, though tossing them as weapons in combat might be SCRAP. You can also RIG a bomb or other planted explosive to be detonated remotely. Almost all traps are RIGGED into place.
In order to RIG, you need physical access to something, and at least a plausible facsimile of the tools required. You might be able to short a circuit with a hairpin instead of a wire, but you can’t cut through a wall without a saw, beam weapon, or explosives of some sort.
Consequences of RIG vary, from additional parts frying, fires and shocks causing harm, or complications from security systems and additional time or tools required. Often long-term projects in downtime use RIG. If you can get access to the right materials and put in the effort, RIG can be used to make almost any physical device you might want, though you may need to STUDY a schematic first (see Crafting, page 282). Just as common is using RIG to fix gear that gets broken while on a job.