Speccing (no ontology)

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THIS PAGE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.

Speccing is the term referring to the generation of item and encounter specifications, hence the term "speccing". It is an important aspect of the GM's work (the real-life GM, and not the MazeWorld Game Masters).

Encounter speccing

Generally speaking, encounters speccing refers to the generation of a Physio code, and if needed, that encounter's full name, precision on the physio code's generated information (for example, a specific height within the range given by the 'height' physio code number), and more details that cannot be generated but have to be interpreted, such as personality, behavior, etc.

The encounters concerned are humans, and the majority of sapient youkai.

Item speccing

More specifically it refers to speccing weapons, as these are the items with the most variables attached to them. Since the game's inception, until the latest iteration of changes to the weapon speccing mechanics with version 2.6, the way weapons are generated and managed has deeply changed, being more and more detailed as time passes.

When rolling and speccing fully a weapon from scratch (i.e., manually), the GM must perform the steps of the following procedure:

Weapon determination

  • Either the weapon is known in advance, or it must be rolled at random, using one of MazeBot's commands, such as @wpn, @wpnc1, etc.
    • Example: I decide to roll for a random Class 1 weapon. I type @wpnc1. The bot returns the following:

<MazeBot> [Weapon] Class 1 - IZHMASH Kalashnikov RPK-74 light machine gun | 5.45x39mm - Semi/Full | Bipod(S) | AK-74 45-round mag, +1 | Weight: 22

Accessories

(This step is skipped if the weapon rolled is known for sure that it cannot receive any accessories, such as Class 4 and Class 5 weapons, as well as Handgear.)

Once the weapon is known, unless there are specific directives to not roll random accessories, they must also be generated at random. There are five different accessory categories that exist: Muzzle, Optics, Front mount, Light mounts, and Feeding system - more details about these can be found here, and what is compatible with what can be looked up on the ACL.

  • A generated weapon without rolling accessories is considered to be a stock weapon.
  • Before generating, the weapon's standard accessories must be looked up; here we notice the RPK-74 comes with a bipod, a Front mount accessory. This must be kept in mind, in case another Front accessory is rolled later. Standard accessories are noted (S).
    • Certain accessories are integrated, noted (I). An integrated accessory can never be removed or replaced; and only one exception to this rule exists.

Full list of possible equipment types that can be rolled, by category (incompatibilities not withstanding):

  • Muzzle: Muzzle brake (M.Brake), Silencer/Shotgun choke (Choke)
    • Silencers and shotgun chokes are treated as a single entity, because only shotguns can be equipped with chokes, and they can never be equipped with silencers. What will be looked up depends on whether the weapon is a shotgun or not.
  • Optics: Low power scope (1x-3x), Medium power scope (4-5x), High power scope (6-8x), Extreme power scope (9x and above), Reflex sight (R.Sight).
    • Amount of optics per type; Low power: 3. Medium power: 4. High power: 3. Extreme power: 3. Reflex sights: 4. (Total: 17)
    • Low power: L.Scope. Medium power: M.Scope. High power: H.Scope. Extreme power: X.Scope.
  • Front mount: Foregrip (Grip), Bipod, Underbarrel Grenade Launcher (UGL), Underbarrel Shotgun (USG)
  • Light mount: Laser sight (Laser), Flashlight (Light)
  • Feeding: The various types of magazine that can be attached to the weapon (up to 4 different types for a single weapon).

Laid out in a table, the various possibilities are these:

Category Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option 5 Option 6 Option 7
Muzzle None Standard M.Brake Silencer/Choke
Optics None Standard L.Scope M.Scope H.Scope X.Scope R.Sight
Front None Standard Foregrip Bipod UGL USG
Light None Laser Light
Feeding Standard Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4

Here, "None" means there is no accessory in that slot. If it was standard on a "stock" weapon and it is removable, it will not be found.
"Standard" simply means whatever is the standard accessory for that slot. In many cases, it may mean "no accessory".

In order to generate random accessories for a weapon, a @roll 5#1d10 must be rolled, each die corresponding to each category in order (Muzzle, Optics, Front, Light, Feeding). Though certain weapons can receive up to 2 different lights, only one will be rolled for random generation, for simplicity purposes.

Category/Roll 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Muzzle None Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Silcr/Choke Silcr/Choke M.Brake M.Brake
Optics None Standard Standard R.Sight R.Sight L.Scope L.Scope M.Scope H.Scope X.Scope
Front None 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Light None 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Feeding Standard 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rolling chances
  • Muzzle: 10% None, 50% Standard, 20% Silencer/choke, 20% Muzzle brake
  • Optics: 10% None, 20% Standard, 20% Reflex sight, 20% Low power, 10% Medium power, 10% High power, 10% Extreme power.
  • Front: 10% None, 0% Standard, 0% others
  • Light: 10% None, 0% others
  • Feeding: 10% Standard, 0% others

Compatibility

Once the dice roll has given a combination, the ACL must be looked up in order to ensure that the concerned weapon indeed can, or not, equip the requested items. There is no use trying to stick an ACOG on a Makarov, because that is clearly not going to happen. Oftentimes, the given combination may return accessory types that cannot be attached to the weapon. In that case, what to do?