Question Gadgeteer and Devisor Specialisations

I was wondering about how Gadgeteers and Devisors choose to specialise in something. Sometimes it seems like it's a natural part of the mutation (Like Shine) and other times it's an area they seem to choose. How does it work? Can they choose to focus on a specific area or is it chosen for them?

GrandiaKnight wrote: I was wondering about how Gadgeteers and Devisors choose to specialise in something. Sometimes it seems like it's a natural part of the mutation (Like Shine) and other times it's an area they seem to choose. How does it work? Can they choose to focus on a specific area or is it chosen for them?

If gadgeteering is a psi-related power, it's possible that the trait favors development of compatible interests from an early age (because ESP isn't limited to mutants, they're just better at it). The gadget may still fail because the techie didn't understand the technical data their ability was pulling down, or any of the usual reasons.

An avatar hosting a spirit may find it influencing which areas they're better at.

IIRC, devising is a warper-related power, tapping into the rules of some other Realm to make it possible for a devise to work, there might be some discordance between what the mutant can make happen and what they want to make happen. Most people would learn to like what they can do best. Others would fight it. The Realm might be metaphysically close, and easier on the user's mind, or, very much not. Diedrick's makes a whole lot more sense then.

I agree. Gadgeteering seems to follow individual interests, though their skills can certainly be applied outside of that, while devisors seem to be all over the map. Some drive their crazy to mirror what they like or enjoy, others just build what Inspiration gives them.

For the most part, they seem to end up enjoying the fields they focus on.

Big Ideas seem to be personal wish fulfillment though.

I really don't understand where the question comes from. It's like asking if someone tells an engineer whether she will specialize in bridges or skyscrapers, or a surgeon if whether he will specialize in kidney transplants or plastic surgery, or a chef if she will specialize in pastry or pasta...

People specialize in stuff they like and, hopefully, they are good at. You can advise them on whether it's a good idea to choose that particular area, but you can't really choose a specialization for another person.

Jobe at least partially was rebelling against his Dad's insistence that he be a techie, and also he likes spiders and crawly venomous things. Bunny thinks Eggs are cool, so she designs things along the egg motif, and has some bio-division experience with eggs - according to Jobe, when Aquerna as asking around.

So yeah, a lot of it is personal preference, some may be a form of Devisor-BIT, influencing the power to go along with the person's ideal field of choice? Although that hasn't been touched on as yet.

'Shine's specialty would have most likely been in moonshining / distillation or in things that go bang and knock down squirrels at 300 yards, mostly because that was what he grew up with and had the most interest in (besides Becky's ... lungs). If he had grown up in a different area, his interest could have taken a different turn. But then again, being an avatar and getting his moonshining grandpa's spirit pretty much cemented his interest. Not that he couldn't invent, for example, a moonshine-powered Jetson's flying belt, but it wouldn't be likely.

Put another way, how successful do you think you'd be getting a teenager interested in something new if they didn't want to be interested? About zero chance. So unless there's something about the mutation that stirs an interest in a particular area, they're apt to be more generalists, doing whatever their wandering teenage attention span focuses on for the moment.

elrodw wrote: But then again, being an avatar and getting his moonshining grandpa's spirit pretty much cemented his interest. Not that he couldn't invent, for example, a moonshine-powered Jetson's flying belt, but it wouldn't be likely.

Put another way, how successful do you think you'd be getting a teenager interested in something new if they didn't want to be interested?

The Rocketeer's jetpack runs on alcohol...

Maybe a collaborative effort with a devisor prone to liking art deco styling?