Some classes have attributes that allow them to research new items or abilities, and teach recipes. These attributes are only available to those classes, and cannot be purchased with skill points.
Engineering and Medicae
In order to research an item, you must complete a crafting form and the required roleplay and then go to the Games Organisation Desk to drop off the form and any required resources. The crafting opening times will be displayed on a noticeboard outside the Games Organisation Desk.
Research (Class Attribute)
Classes with the Engineering Research attribute are able to use a crafted Workbench to research Engineering projects, and classes with the Medical Research attribute are able to use a crafted Laboratory to research Medical projects. This process allows characters to create items for which there is no pre-existing knowledge.
Research will take a different amount of time and Work Points (WP) depending on the complexity of the item being made.
Example: A simple project, such as upgrading a bionic arm to give it +1 armour, would cost 10- 20 EWP to research. A complex project, such as upgrading a bionic arm so that it speeds up hacking, and can do three Knockdown calls per day, would cost 40+ EWP.
Occasionally, research projects will require you to seek out information on an item in-play, and bring to the crafting referee. You will be informed whenever you spend Work Points if this is applicable to you.
Before you start researching, you must fill in a research form with details about your proposed project, and email it to crafting@greencloaks.co.uk.
Once your research proposal has been approved, you can start putting Work Points into it by completing a crafting form on-site, and handing it in to the Games Organisation Desk. You may have as many open research projects as you want, and are not required to finish them.
Once your project is approved, you will receive:
- Confirmation of the WP target for your project.
- Confirmation of the materials required for the researched item itself.
- Confirmation of any unique ingredients or research material needed. Please note, these will not be required for repeat manufacture of an item, simply for the research project.
Once a Research project is completed, and you hand in the required materials, you will receive:
- The Knowledge lammie for the item.
- One set of Blueprints/Formulae (see Blueprints and Formulae below).
- One item lammie for the item you have just learnt (item lammies must be attached to player- provided physreps at all times where appropriate).
Researching in a Team
Any character of a class able to perform Engineering or Medicae Research may have up to two Assistants to help with their project. These Assistants must have the relevant crafting skill and the Research class attribute.
The Lead Researcher and Assistants, once designated, may not normally change for the duration of the project – in the case of losses to the team through character death, replacement researchers may be added to the team at a cost to the progress of the project.
Only the Lead Researcher is required for progress to be made, and both Assistant slots do not have to be filled initially. The Lead Crafter is responsible for completing the research paperwork and acting as liaison with the Games Organisation Desk to register progress on the project as it is made. If the Lead Researcher contributes at least 50% of the WP towards the research goal, they will receive a set of Blueprints/Formulae and a Knowledge lammie (see Blueprints and Formulae below). If any researcher on the team contributes at least 25% of the WP towards the research goal, they will receive a copy of the Knowledge lammie.
If a researcher contributes less than 25% of the WP towards the research goal, they get a 50% discount in WP on learning the Knowledge for this project from a Teacher or a set of Blueprints/ Formulae in future.
Reverse Engineering and Deformulation
A less efficient way to learn how to craft an item is through Reverse Engineering or Deformulation, which is a specialised form of Research.
By spending 75% of the research WP cost of an item and destroying it, a character may be able to gain a knowledge card from a crafted item. However, some items may not give up their secrets and instead return usable resources or research insights.