all we're looking to do is set up a system for determining how many gadgets an item can hold, with each gadget not only costing wealth but also a certain number of 'gadget points'.
just another idea that poped into my head......what if you did a slot system based on size, with bonus slots for each PL the item is behind the current PL. The idea there is that older stuff is usualy simpler and easyer to **** with, without screwing up its basic funtions. Still not perfect but something to toss around.
The problem with gadgets is that not all gadgets are really gadgets. The miniaturized gadget for instance. That is more of a design modification.
But the technical problem with using a slot mechanic is that each and every weapon or equipment would have to have either a size rating or a minimum slot allotment based upon how big it is or the universal ports available (though the thing about universal ports is that you can increase the number of ports with a universal port device, for instance, I have one that extends the number of ports to 7). So slotting works well for mecha, but not so much for tiny-sized items like rifles and pistoles. In reality, you have maybe 2 slots on a pistol, but possibly 10 for a rifle. Of course, a miniaturized pistol would be reduced to no slots.
I houserule for weapons the use of a picatinny rail system for most rifles as extra allowing for 4 gadgets around the barrel in the case of Assault Rifles and one above the chamber housing,,, pistols one underneath and above... shotguns three total to allow for implemtation of flashlights/ecetera.
In the realm of gadgetry I feel that as the PL increases certain advances i.e. a multi-spectrum scope capable of Infrared/night vision/ecetera could become available as well as minituazation/nano-scale of certain tech.
I'll review the gadgets from my books to get a better grasp on the topic of this post.
Items dont have to be big to have Gadgets.
Like the Improved Lightpower gadget (taken twice), the AlternateWeapon gadget, and Flashlight gadget
all go quite well to gadgetize a 4D Maglight
Ok so limit it to 3 gadgets per item. Or better yet more like 3 Mastercraft Mods. each gadget taks up one mastercrat spot. What im trying to say. for a matter of balance each gadget counts as an mastercrat modificaion.
Take a Cellular Telephone (Small or Tiny)
add Internet Gadget
add Flashlight Gadget
add GPS Gadget
add Gameboy Gadget
add Qwerty Keyboad Gadget
add Bluetooth Gadget
add Camera Gadget
The only one of those gadets my phone has is Flashlight.
It is very popular to have many of those cellphone add-on gadgets, most folks get phones with them added. Of course, I dont pay the high PDC for all those gadgets: I pay under$10/mo while other folks that like all the add-on gadgets pay $50-$100+ a month for their gadgety phones
The problem with the gadget system isn't how many gadgets an item can take. Its the gadgets themselves.
Compact, Pocket-sized, Extended Range M2HB machine gun 
!
Compact, Pocket-sized, Extended Range M2HB machine gun !
that is wrong on so many levels and yet completely allowed by RAW if not RAI....
Compact, Pocket-sized, Extended Range M2HB machine gun !
that is wrong on so many levels and yet completely allowed by RAW if not RAI....
You think thats bad? You can do the same thing with a Warpath Recoiless Rifle, and the main gun of an Abrams.
Actually, I was thinking of putting the AutofireModule and Miniaturize gadgets
on a Iowa Battleship.
Colossal drops down to Huge,
so it would be smaller than a PTboat with Burstfire 16" mk7's.
Crane it onto a flatbed trailler and drive it up to the BBeG's lair.
(add a Camoflage gadget and they wont even be able to see it)
Or use a Miniaturized 2" Steel Plate (20?Hardness)
as a bodyarmor insert pannel
It's a little known fact that d20 Future was initially called d20 Looney Tunes, but Wizards had to change the title due to copyright infringement.
It's a little known fact that d20 Future was initially called d20 Looney Tunes, but Wizards had to change the title due to copyright infringement.
True as that is, it doesn't really help the OP's goal. I think what we need to do is find the most ridiculous gadgets and deal with them first. Obviously the most well-cited is Miniaturized/Compact. Here's my proposed fix: compact lowers the size by one drops the weight by 50%, miniaturized adds +4 to SOH and acts like compact. The two don't stack. Autofire only works on guns with magazines of 10+ anyways (or 5+ for burstfire) so the ludicrousnes of the Iowa gun doesn't work- I'm fairly sure the Iowa gun has a magazine of 1 int (magazine in the gun meaning, not the naval meaning). The D20 Future Tech ludicrousness of gadgets with no cap (improved damage stuff, etc.) should just go outright. Adding gizmos isn't really a problem, I think- if you want to stick a cellphone on your shoe, It can probably be done. Just add the weight of all of the gadgets together and it should work fine, you could stick 2.4 berjillion things on your gun, but it will weigh a lot.
A few minor gadgets, inspired from weapons locker, can be added- things like bipods, collapsible stocks, etc. I think the Autoloader gadget should switch from what it does to making the gun semiautomatic- that is an autoloader gun. If you want more ammo, take the improved ammo capacity gadget. This is also useful for making those auto-only weapons selective fire.
After that, things start to balance out a lot.
I have a question about the Abrams gun. I don't really know anything about this sort of thing, but is it the sort of weapon that could be removed from the tank and used by infantry? (after being bolted to the ground etc. probably with a big crew. maybe like those big artillery thingies). If so, making it Huge is sort of okay because it will still be stupid heavy, take a loader to work properly, and a truck to carry it from place to place. Huge weapons need to be mounted to work anyways. (bipod or tripid, etc)
just another idea that poped into my head......what if you did a slot system based on size, with bonus slots for each PL the item is behind the current PL. The idea there is that older stuff is usualy simpler and easyer to **** with, without screwing up its basic funtions. Still not perfect but something to toss around.
This is already sort of built into the game, weapons from previous PLs get a wealth discount, and so do gadgets from previous PLs. So you can add stuff to an old style shotgun in the far future without it being a big deal.
Another major problem with the gadget system is redundancy and broken logic, not just the game mechanics. Already mentioned are things like bipods, picatinny rails and their various attachments, extended magazines, ect. These are all items, they're not "gadgets" as per the goal of the gadget system of d20 Future. You buy them separately and attach them to your gun, you don't necessarily have to buy them with the gun. There is no reason to go out and buy a gun with the "expanded ammo capacity" gadget when you can just buy a drum magazine for the gun you already have.
Plus, bipods and scopes are already in the core rule book.
Some of the damage increasing gadgets don't make any sense. "Increasing the bore size" of a 9mm means its no longer a 9mm, its a different caliber entirely and thus should be statted as a gun of that caliber.
The problem of shrinking tank and mecha weapons down to human size isn't just the carrying, its also it doesn't make any sense at all that shrinking a 180mm cannon, 15" Naval gun, or a Warpath Recoiless Rifle has absolutely no effect on the weapon's capabilities what-so-ever. It doesn't change the range or damage at all. This also completely shatters the verisimilitude of the campaign setting as you have to question why anyone should be bothering with that 3d10 plasma garbage when they can be working on making those 10d12 armor penetrating rifles cheaper.
Some of the damage increasing gadgets don't make any sense. "Increasing the bore size" of a 9mm means its no longer a 9mm, its a different caliber entirely and thus should be statted as a gun of that caliber.
The problem of shrinking tank and mecha weapons down to human size isn't just the carrying, its also it doesn't make any sense at all that shrinking a 180mm cannon, 15" Naval gun, or a Warpath Recoiless Rifle has absolutely no effect on the weapon's capabilities what-so-ever. It doesn't change the range or damage at all. This also completely shatters the verisimilitude of the campaign setting as you have to question why anyone should be bothering with that 3d10 plasma garbage when they can be working on making those 10d12 armor penetrating rifles cheaper.
First of all, I think it was mostly designed for lasers. Secondly, I already said we should kill the increased damage gadgets.
As for the shrinking one, it's not so totally far-fetched. Its not so much making it smaller but reducing things like recoil so it can be used in one hand, or be carried by a person, etc.. The p90 is smaller than the M16 but they're both Large. the D. Eagle is smaller than a longsword but both are medium- its because they are both one or two handed weapons. With my proposed "fix" you can only reduce the size of things by one which isn't such a huge deal. Also its not that hard to say that tank guns stay tank guns, you can't shrink theyre size. Or we can get rid of those gadgets altogether, make compact give a SoH bonus and leave it at that. The rest works more or less fine.
EDIT: okay, so the increased magazine should be an item instead of a gadget for most weapons- but not for things where that would be a drastic change (like a naval gun or something- basically anything with an int or cyl mag), or for energy weapons (energy weapon: more efficient laser, x2 ammo)