In a world made of bricks and studs, pretty much everything can be smashed, grabbed, and rebuilt. It’s basically the foundational principle of Brick reality! Though written expressly for Brick games, the rules for Smashing and Building are easily applied to any setting.

When a target takes enough Smash damage to break it, it explodes into pieces. Those pieces may then be recombined to form new objects. There are two steps in a proper smash and grab.

A target must be Smashed.

Smashing for bricks and studs is more than just damaging a target until it breaks. Smashing a target breaks it down into its component parts and ensures those parts can still be used to build things. No matter what tool is actually used against the target (blaster, wrench, Jawa…), the Smash skill is rolled in place of the damage die code. The difficulty to Smash a target is equal to the ordinary Damage Resistance total.

Smash damage is tracked separately from ordinary damage. When a target takes enough Smash damage to destroy it, it explodes into a shower of bricks and studs. Depending on the target and on the circumstances, it may provide a set number of bricks, a specialized piece, or a randomly determined number of bricks. Until a target takes enough Smash damage to destroy it, it will continue to function properly – though it may smoke, shoot off sparks and shake alarmingly.

The new device must be Built.

Even Master Builders need bricks with which to build. Building a new device is basically Smashing it in reverse. The Master Builder describes the device he wants to build and the GM sets a difficulty based the on the complexity of the device. The Build skill is then rolled against this difficulty.

Every result point yields 1 pip with which to build the new device and consumes 1 brick/stud from the stock. Pips are assigned to the new device in the regular manner and on a one-for-one basis. One pip may be spent for: 1 pip of a skill or attribute, 1 body point, 1 ability point, etc. When enough bricks have been spent to pay for all of the required attributes (plus body points, etc.), the device is complete and may be used.

No device may be used until it has been completely Built and paid for with bricks. After that, it may be used normally or Smashed and built into something completely new!

Building as a group check.

Any device may be Built using the regular rules for Related Skills. Each builder makes their skill roll independently, and the Master Builder then applies the result points and spends the bricks/pips. The final device has one stat block and is considered a single device.

When more than one character wants to act as the Master Builder on a device, they each make their Build rolls separately and apply their result points separately. When both characters are finished with their builds, the finished device is considered to consist of two separate but connected parts. Each part operates independently, but if either part is destroyed, the entire device comes apart.

Devices built under the direction of a single Master Builder are sturdier and more cohesive, but slower to complete. A multi-part device can be completed more quickly, but is more fragile and potentially contains duplicate systems.