Tinkering (sage ability)

Tinkering is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Logistics that enables the character to repair, jury rig and strengthen ordinary items made of virtually any material, including cloth, hide, paper goods, ceramics, glass, wood, stone or metal. Such items cannot be made from scratch, but must have once existed as a functioning object, the repair of which therefore requires less skill than its manufacture would have taken.

To repair items and make them effective requires a workshop and materials equal to half the weight of those in the item being repaired. This workshop must be a sheltered space no smaller than 10 feet by 20, including a work table that's 4 feet by 7, a brazier, two sets of tongs, hammer, anvil, pliers and a 10 gallon tub for water. The shop need have only two walls, so long as the roof is otherwise supported by pillars. Objects require one hour per 2 lbs. of weight to repair. Thus, a six-pound sword would require three hours.

Good sense should be used in determining the weight of a given object. For example, a cart wheel weighs 55 lbs., but the total amount of probable damage is likely only 10-15% of that amount. So, for example, a cart wheel would count as 6-9 lbs. with regards to the time needed for its repair.

Jury Rigging

This assumes the character has no direct means of actually fixing the object, such as the broken axle or wheel for a wagon, a sword or axe without a proper handle, a suit of armour missing a strap, a crossbow unable to fire and so on. Objects may be jury rigged so that they work temporarily, requiring one hour per 4 lbs. of weight to be rigged. Materials are assumed to be scrounged for.

Once an object is rigged, it will endure for 2-5 times the number of hours needed to rig it. Any hard knock or impact demands an immediate saving throw vs. normal blow, or perhaps crushing blow if applicable. A save of this kind would increase the amount of weight to be jury rigged in future by +50% of its former damage.

Strengthening

If the character desires, objects can be systematically "strengthened" in a workshop to award them with a better saving throw. Strengthening an object requires +10% of its original materials, plus one hour per lb. of object to be strengthened. Strengthening an object gives it a +2 saving throw against possible damage.

Some items, such as artworks, paper, foods, glass, ceramics, musical instruments or magic items cannot be strengthened without destroying their inherent effectiveness or value.

Repairing Magic Items

Provided the tinkerer has access to some means to reproduce the powers that were originally inherent in the object's abilities, and is of expert-status as a tinkerer, then a magic item can be repaired. This requires 1 hour per ounce of object to be repaired.