Last time, I talked about how technology’s feel compares to the flavor of other similar classes. This week, I’m going to focus more on mechanics, and how a technological character works from the perspective of a player.

Balancing technology is tricky work. On the one hand, it doesn’t have to be a limited resource like magic: in the real world, we use technology all the time, and its power is seemingly unlimited. This is a far cry from the wizard who begins his career being able to throw magic missile two or three times a day. However, allowing technology this sort of free reign would rapidly throw the balance of the game out of whack.

Fortunately, there was a rather simple solution. Technology as presented in SteamWorks is not ubiquitous – it is either relatively new or recently rediscovered. As such, only the knowledgeable can make use of technology, and even then, the devices the technological character makes use of are not always guaranteed to work. Even if technology in your setting is everywhere, the small chance of failure for technology makes sense: not everything works perfectly every time.

To use their devices, technological characters must ready them; a readied device has a set number of charges, which can be used freely. Each time a device is used, it has a chance to fail; a malfunctioned device must be repaired before it can be used again (even if it has charges remaining), while a device that functions has a slightly higher chance to malfunction the next time it is used. The resources a technological character uses to ready devices are also used to repair and recharge them, leading to a bit of a balancing act on the part of the player in the event of an extended adventure: repairing and recharging devices means that you have less available firepower for that day.

The resources to use their devices that a technological character uses are usable only once a day, much like a wizard’s preparation of spells. Like a wizard, not all of the character’s resources have to be spent in one go, meaning that you can hold resources in reserve to repair or recharge devices after a major fight.

In playtesting, the technologist (one of the technological classes presented in SteamWorks) has proven to be quite useful, effectively able to replace a wizard but with a feel of its own, throwing grenades instead of magic missiles.

Technology as per SteamWorks takes a little getting used to, not only in terms of feel, but also in terms of game mechanics. However, the end result is a mechanical system for technology that reinforces the idea that it is not magic, while retaining balance with existing "caster" classes.