<Rhett> ok, so. Antoni studying SCP-385, the antigravity harness. his intent is to study it to see if he can find out what causes its effects, and if they can be replicated. the belt does not only block gravity, however, but it also completely halts the wearer's inertia, according to the article.
<Rhett> what i'm hoping to do with this, with actually rolling for it, would be to discover how to harness one of or both of those effects, but not to the same degree
<Rhett> this would be with the intent of eventually crafting an item related to those effects
<Heiden> If you're looking to convert that understanding into true R&D for implementation into an item that Heladris would be using, there would be an XP cost.
<Rhett> understood
<Rhett> but it would depend on whether or not he actually succeeds at that research
<Heiden> The XP cost wouldn't be incurred until the item itself was /made/, though, so you could RP the research out.
<Rhett> yeah
<Rhett> so more my question is, what would you suggest for determining his success or failure at making these discoveries?
<Rhett> rolls? preset TN's?
<Heiden> what's Heladris' Science skill?
<Rhett> 4
<Heiden> One of two options: just RP it out, ignoring checks entirely until you get to the item crafting stage, and use rolls there
<Heiden> alternatively, whenever he tries to do research, roll Science
<Heiden> above 14, he makes progress
<Heiden> below 14, he doesn't
<Rhett> ok
<Rhett> i do want to have the possibility of failure at making the discoveries
<Rhett> so i will go for option 2
<Rhett> i will actually plan it out for myself. i will have certain aspects that he researches, if he fails he fails in general. the combination of which aspects he succeeds at will determine what his discovery is at the end.
<Rhett> success at all of them will mean that he fully understands SCP-385 and could actually replicate the item if he so chose and improve upon its design so it was not inherently harmful to the user.
<Rhett> but i really dont expect that to be the end result as i would require 100% success rate and i'd do at least 6 rolls to get there
<Rhett> does that sound acceptable?
<Heiden> That sounds reasonable, yes.
<Heiden> Let me review 385 one more time to make sure.
<Heiden> Yep.
<Rhett> excellent. i will do my best with it.
<Rhett> this is the kind of idea i had in mind with doing research in general. not all things i have him research will be for the purpose of harnessing the abilities, but always the purpose is to properly understand the objects
<Rhett> and at the very least contain them better
<Heladris> here is my plan for it.
<Heladris> first test was to determine the source of the anti-gravity effect. second test determines how it is generated, and thus how to replicate it. third test determines the source of the cessation of inertia, fourth test determines how it is created, and again, how to replicate that.
<Heladris> fifth test is research into the compact system of the effects being in such a small harness. last test would be how those work as well
<Heladris> 3 pairs of experiments
<Heladris> the second test in each pair only happens if the first test succeeds
<Heladris> and yes, even if the first two pairs of tests failed, the third would still have merit, as it involves how the harness is self-powered and various aspects of controlling natural forces like this
<Heladris> which tests succeed and which fail will determine the end result and how i will try to use it in the future.
<Heiden> This sounds fantastic.
* Heiden is going to use you an example to the other researcher players.