Equipment
Equipment is a classification of Gear.
Contents
Armour
Generally, due to the prevalence of combat shields, armour is custom made.
However, what is widely made are helmets.
| POINTS | TYPE | COST |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | personnel | 5 |
| 10 | personnel | 10 |
| 20 | personnel | 20 |
| 1 | intermediate | 30 |
| 2 | intermediate | 100 |
| 3 | intermediate | 200 |
| * | shield helmet | 25 |
Helmets are simple robots, which both allow for a surprisingly wide array of fitment and effectively complete coverage of all vitals. Filtration, rebreathing, and limited life support functions enable wearers to be active in hostile environments (or lack of them) for short spans. Furthermore, helmets offer ready mounting for accessory gear, such as sensors for scanning or targeting, supplemental life support, small weapons, and augmenting shields¹.
Personnel scale helmets serve as a helpful buffer before the unpleasant effects of vital-placement hits.
Intermediate scale helmets have the additional helpful feature of shrugging off blasts that don't manage to inflict a full point of intermediate scale damage ².
Shield helmets are a control mechanism that a shield generator can be attached to for deploying as a helmet, and with all the usual benefits of a helmet built in as force-only equivalents. The shield generator should be a shell type (whatever size or scale), and is connected to the helmet control mechanism. This allows for an unobtrusive way to have helmet capabilities.
Helmets are often used to help anonymity, and can readily modify surface detail and markings with simple tampering.
¹ Whether the shield is deployed inside or outside the armour layer is a matter of tactical preference, established when the helmet is made.
² Armour-piercing/penetrating/eating weapons/ignoring weapons will still have some effect.
Clothing
Clothing in AIF is really simple. Anything you want for 1 credit.
Some reasonable boundaries must apply, of course. We wouldn't want those pesky rules-lawyers spending too much time arguing over vast storehouses of fabric that they can purchase for a single credit. Thus, we generally dictate that you can have one complete outfit/suit/ensemble or whatever for 1 credit. This is also restricted to items which are either affectations, or of limited environmental-tolerance benefit. Clearly, we don't mean to say that you have a complete set of equipment to survive indefinitely on a waterless vacuum planet that's 500°C. We mean a suit, or cloak, or full-body spandex - something to cover your character's modesty, if they have any.
Items that are worn and are of some functional benefit, like a parka for staying warm in cold climates, count as about a 1 credit item. More pedantic items, like comfortable boots, can easily be swept into the cost of the rest of the character's clothing.
The main point is, simply, not to waste too much time worrying about relatively inconsequential matters. Most of the games we play, the clothing gets turned into rags and tatters before very long anyway, so our combatant characters don't worry much about keeping appearances refined. On the other hand, spending more money on clothing can send a message: a 100-credit suit will look about 100 times more expensive than a 1-credit suit. Not much extra function can be added to simple clothing, but if you want to play with appearance, feel free.
Communicator
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | COST |
|---|---|---|
| pin | range = 1km | 1 |
| headset | range = 2km | 2 |
| handset | range = 50km | 4 |
| satchel | range = 10 000km | 10 |
| pack | range = 300 000km (2AU) | 20 |
| large | size related to antenna | 100/pc |
Communication in AIF is really complex.
The quick-and-dirty version is to just treat communicators like cell phones that actually work.
The pin is meant to be discrete, light, cheap, and appeal to fans of a certain, extremely-popular science-fiction television series. At 1-3 grams, their small size limits their power, hence their relatively short range.
UPDATE: pin-class communicators are automatically grown by beings with the usual array of nanoscopic robots, so only need to be purchased for remote connections or leaving a jam-resistent daisy-chain of line-of-sight communicators.
Headsets are designed for hands-free use, and are favoured by combatants. Other than leaving manipulating limbs free and superior range, headset communicators don't offer any other utility over simple pins and are much less subtle in appearance. A being with a headset communicator is quickly identified as an adventurer or other combatant.
Handset communicators are not as convenient as either pins or headsets, as they typically require being pulled out of a pocket or holster. They do offer greater range, and the ability to generate text messages independently. They also offer greater interface complexity, allowing technicians and scientists to more easily make whatever spontaneous modifications or tampers they wish.
Taking all the abilities of a handset, and adding enough power to communicate to anywhere on most inhabitable planets gets you a satchel-type communicator. They weigh about 3 kg, and have the additional ability to send and recieve visual signals directly.
yadda yadda yadda...
Computer
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | COST |
|---|---|---|
| simple | data storage and manipulation only | 10 |
| sentient | intelligence | 0 = 50 1 = 500 |
| willpower | 25/willpower | |
| awareness | 10^awareness |
Force Beam
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | COST |
|---|---|---|
| Newtonian | reciprocal force at emitter 10m range 250N | 15 |
| increase force | squeeze harder! | 20/ +100N |
| increase range | reach further! | 10/ +5m |
| non-Newtonian | for use by Takolees | cost X10 |
Grip Pad
1 credit each.
Create strong molecular bonds to any applied surface when activated. Two active grip pads destroy each other if they make contact. Super useful.
UPDATE: These are automatically grown by beings with the normal array of nanoscopic robots, so only need to be purchased for leaving something gripped away from themselves.
Life Supporter
8 credits each.
Artificial bio-integrity that prevents final death, but does not heal wounds and subject cannot be conscious. They work when stamina is less than zero.
Light Source
0.01 credits for a really bright one.
Produces light. Duh.
UPDATE: Beings with the usual array of nanoscopic robots automatically grow EM sensors and emitters which effectively negate the need for separate light sources.
Medical
patch
5 credits each, personnel scale. 50 credits intermediate scale.
1D6 healed one turn after applied. 1 use only.
patch-self deploying
45 credits each, personnel scale. 450 credits intermediate scale.
Automatically crawls to a wound and applies itself. Can be deployed on command or automatically if the user is knocked unconscious. Heals mortal wounds before any other damage.
kit
15 credits each.
Heals 1D6 / hour, weighs .1kg
pack
20 credits each.
Heals 2D6 / hour, weighs .3kg
cabinet
100/150/200 credits each.
Heals 3/4/5D6 / hour, weighs 200kg
patch robot
500 credits each.
Small robot that rides on user and applies patches. Each turn it can use two dice worth of actions. Each of the following requires one die - take out patch from med kit (or pack, etc), move to wound, apply patch, move back to med kit. So, the robot will be able to apply a patch every other turn. The robot masses 1.5 kg and has 2 stamina. Heals mortal wounds before any other damage.
stim patch
5 credits each
Allows a temporary transfer of 1 point of willpower into 1 bonus point of any single kind. Hit, duck, parry, damage, hide, sneak, locate, prestidigitate, assassination aquire, movement, or anything else the referee might allow. The duration is approximately 10 minutes. Every application of a stim patch has a 1 in 36 chance (roll of 12 on 2D6) of rendering the point of willpower useless, except for using another stim patch. A being with zero willpower becomes catatonic. A being with less than zero willpower dies.
Note that these patches are quite rare except in certain areas of the first galaxy.
Move Boots
25 credits per additional meter per 100kg
100 credits to double movement per 100kg
250 credits to triple movement per 100kg
700 credits to quadruple movement per 100kg
1500 credits to quintuple movement per 100kg
Force beam augmented apparatus worn on the legs to increase movement.
Move Pack
150 credits per point of thrust
Each point of thrust can be used for one of:
- lift 100 kg
- +1 simple flying movement (10m base)
- +1 maneuverability
Configuration of thrust points can be adjusted by technicians at a rate of (1 hour / stage).
Move packs start at 10 stamina. Armour can be purchased at 20 points / 10 credits as usual.
Non-Newtonian force drives that can be worn for flight.
Scanner
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | COST |
|---|---|---|
| scientific | satchel; analysis of chemical, energy and mass; best with computer attached; range 20km for coarse, 1km ideally, less with interference | 9 |
| scope | weapon mount; magnification, low-light, infrared; range = line of sight | 2 |
| targeting | +1 = 20 +2 = 40 | |
| bonus to locate | +1 = 22 +2 = 66 | |
| tactical | visor, goggles; magnification, low-light, infrared; range = line of sight | 11 |
| targeting | +1 = 22 +2 = 44 | |
| bonus to locate | +1 = 1 +2 = 4 +3 = 19 +4 = 53 +5 = 274 | |
| security | itty, bitty camera with 20 m. range | 1 |
UPDATE: Beings with the usual array of nanoscopic robots automatically grow basic EM and etheric sensors which allow for magnification, low-light, infrared and ultraviolet capability.
Shield
| TYPE | DUCK BUFFER | WEARER SIZE(kg) | COST/STAMINA |
|---|---|---|---|
| shell | ∞ | 100 200 300 500 1000 2000 | 10 12 13 15 20 30 |
| combat | 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 | 100 200 300 500 1000 2000 100 200 300 500 1000 2000 100 200 300 500 1000 2000 | 6 9 12 18 33 63 10 15 20 30 55 105 14 21 28 42 77 147 |
There are two basic types of shields used by personnel: shells and combat shields. All use the ubiquitous force-energy technology that absorbs both physical and energy damage. Shields regenerate at 1 point per turn normally. They can be reconfigured by a technician to recharge faster, but that rate becomes a divisor for the effective stamina of the shield. Thus, a normal shield with 10 points that recharges at 1 point per turn can be changed to recharge at 2 points per turn, but will have effectively only 5 points of stamina.
shell shields
Shell shields are force barriers in a simple enclosed shape. As such, they must be destroyed to be breached, and are purely defensive as attacks cannot pass through any direction. The shield generator need not be inside the enclosed shape, but the relationship of the shield generator to the shield is as fixed as the shape of the shield itself. Meaning, obliquely, that they can only be modified by a technician - while the shield is inactive.
The default shape is usually spherical. Even so, shell shields usually have some severe mobility issues.
Shields are rated for the size of entity (assuming typical density) being enclosed, usually with a bit of extra room for tolerance purposes. In the case of the shell, it is usually important to know what shape the shell expects the entity to conform to. A shell shield forming with the barrier intersecting a being will immobilize whatever part of that being is touched. This is bad for circulation, and can be quite unpleasant for biological beings. However, a being so intersected with a shield shell can cause the shell to fail (possibly short out entirely) by triggering nanoscopic robots in the intersection to cause etheric disruption.
combat shields
Combat shields are arrays of simple force barriers generated by shield generator nodes worn about the body. When activated, they form partially-overlapping plates of force energy. The degree of completeness in covering the body translates into a duck buffer - this is the number past the instantaneous duck or parry number achieved by the defending being that the shield can intercept the damage. If an attack beats the defender by more than the shield's duck buffer, then they are able to strike in a manner that bypasses or finds a gap in the shield.
The larger the being being protected, the more difficult it is to have an effective array of combat shield. A being trying to wear a combat shield that is too small will become partially immobilized when it is activated, rendering them semi-prone, and giving them a negative to defend equal to the duck buffer. A being using a combat shield that is too large will look goofy.
Tool
patch
5 credits each, personnel scale. 50 credits intermediate scale. 500 credits ship scale.
1D6 fixes one turn after applied. 1 use only.
patch-self deploying
45 credits each, personnel scale. 450 credits intermediate scale. 4 500 credits ship scale.
Automatically crawls to damage and applies itself. Can be deployed on command or automatically if the user is knocked unconscious.
kit
15 credits each.
Fixes 1D6 / hour, weighs .1kg
pack
20 credits each.
Fixes 2D6 / hour, weighs .3kg
cabinet
100/150/200 credits each.
Fixes 3/4/5D5 / hour, weighs 200kg
patch robot
500 credits each.
Small robot that rides on user and applies patches. Each turn it can use two dice worth of actions. Each of the following requires one die - take out patch from med kit (or pack, etc), move to damage, apply patch, move back to med kit. So, the robot will be able to apply a patch every other turn. The robot masses 1.5 kg and has 2 stamina.
