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Posted by: 2XS Sep 3 2015, 07:34 AM

How much do parts cost to manufacture an item? Doing this for hardware upgrades on a commlink, for example, is 50% of the cost of purchasing the item itself, while for chemicals the cost of ingredients is 10% of the cost of a dose of the compound to be made, and you can make more than one dose if you score enough hits. What if you want to build an entire vehicle, weapon, or even cyberware, using the Cybertechnology skill? How much do parts cost you then?

Also, how much might a newly produced item be sellable for? Standard rate for used stuff you "liberate" during a 'run is 30%, but what if you go all "Walter White" and produce your own drugs? Do you get full market value for those? What about selling a freshly-minted Panther Cannon (with no serial numbers!) or installing 'ware you put together yourself?

What skill(s) would you need to fabricate Bioware? Medicine seems most likely, maybe require a knowledge skill or something to go with it? How do you figure the cost for *that* stuff? I imagine amino acids and proteins would be pretty cheap, maybe fall under the cheaper umbrella of "chemicals" compared to the precision-manufactured and ESD sensitive components of a commlink Response upgrade, but I don't see anything that could provide a guideline for something like this.

And finally: how much would it cost me to manufacture the parts themselves? As an example: building a vehicle would require that you buy the parts and assemble them to produce the vehicle. Among those parts is a fuel injector. How much might a character save by producing the fuel injector, either from sub-assemblies or by fabricating the pieces from stocks of appropriate material, machined or otherwise processed with the correct tools?

Posted by: Tias Sep 3 2015, 08:27 AM

Assume a percentage of the sales price, and just roll with that.



Medicine, Bioware specialty. Augmentation does mention that you need proper equipment and training, cautioning that a "gutterpunk in a DIY bioware shop" could do "untold damage" to the end user. I'd argue that you at least need to buy a Bioware-specialized Shop or Facility.



The beauty of being a crimina entrepreneur, is that you decide how much your working hours are worth, and try to make that.

Again, you'd need a machining shop and fuel, which might mean that you're not saving money, because chop shops or black automotive facilities have the expensive equipment needed to churn out injectors on the cheap.

Posted by: Neraph Sep 3 2015, 09:37 PM

SR4A, page 138, Using Technical Skills to Build or Repair. Give it a once-over.

Posted by: 2XS Sep 4 2015, 12:00 AM

Still don't have SR4a (just SR4) but Using Technical Skills to Build or Repair in SR4 gives (vague) guidelines for thresholds and intervals but doesn't cover cost of parts. The only place it's mentioned (that I've found) in SR4 is page 240 under Building Your Own Hardware, regarding upgrading Response and signal, and states parts costs are always 50% of the cost of buying the Hardware upgrade. What's SR4a say about it? Flat percentage? Maybe a table factoring in availability, threshold, and/or interval?

This would be some good crap for my Gearhead I've been working on. It could also help save when upgrading my Street Samurai, if my son's TM can build some of the stuff I need.

Posted by: KnightAries Sep 4 2015, 09:02 PM

USING TECHNICAL SKILLS TO BUILD OR REPAIR
Using a skill to build or repair something is an Extended Test with a
threshold and interval based on the type of item being manufactured
or fixed, as noted on the Build/Repair Table. Apply any appropriate
modifiers from the table as well.
Note that “build” means putting together a new item/device from
scratch, assuming that the component parts are on hand. Technical
skills do not allow a character to create a new item/device from concept
alone—that requires something along the lines of an engineering
background and lots of collaborative effort.
SR4A Pg 138

Posted by: 2XS Sep 4 2015, 09:33 PM

Okay, so still nothing about the cost of parts, dammit. I think I'm going to have to house-rule this one.

Posted by: Neraph Sep 4 2015, 10:57 PM

I've never had it come up except for as a plot device. I'd rule between 10% and 50% of the total cost of the item, depending on complexity, further modified by availability tables. Or do a mix of that and plot-driven item acquisition - like you can build most of that, but for this component you'll need to go knock over X scrap yard, or steal the schematics for it a-la data steal.

Posted by: KnightAries Sep 4 2015, 11:17 PM

I remember there was a desktop manufacturing equipment that you had to have "purchase" stock for.
All you needed was a schematic and it could print it

Sadly I can't remember the book.

Posted by: Neraph Sep 5 2015, 02:04 AM

Augmentation, page 115. Nanofaxes.