Wherever adventurers go, whatever their mission is, and
whatever their occupation happens to be, they will certainly find that some type
of equipment is necessary to enable them to complete their objectives. The
following is a list of equipment that is generally available on human worlds.
Armor
In
some occupations, body armor may be
useful at times. The following
examples of body armor are available for
characters who expect to need it in
their line of work. Several
different items may be worn at one time
(for instance, a helmet and a vest), to
give protection to different areas of
the body.
Armor
Materials
There
are three different types of body
armor: non-rigid armor is made of
flexible material which is tough and
resists puncture by a bullet. It
doesn't inhibit the wearer's movements
as much as rigid armor does. Rigid
armor is made of solid pieces.
Inertial armor is flexible like
non-rigid armor but becomes rigid when
struck by a projectile (such as a bullet
or piece of shrapnel). The
differences among non-rigid, rigid and
inertial armor are only important when
resolving blunt trauma injuries.
-
Armor,
Full-Body, Combat (canon)
-
Armor,
Full-Body, Inertial (canon)
-
Armor,
Full-body, Non-Rigid (canon)
-
Breastplate,
Rigid (canon)
-
Combat
Walker, BH-21 (canon)
-
Combat
Walker, Kz-7 (canon)
-
Helmet
(canon)
-
Helmet,
High-Threat Combat (canon)
-
Helmet,
Steel (canon)
-
Vedette
Half-Armor (canon)
-
Vest,
Inertial (canon)
-
Vest,
Chainmail (canon)
-
Vest,
Non-Rigid (canon)
Computers Computers make up a part of daily life for
citizens of the Core worlds in the 24th century, and they are an essential part
of nearly any mission group as well. The two most commonly encountered
configurations are detailed here.
Explosives The
most prevalent non-combat explosives in
the 24th century are
industrially-produced blocks of plastic
explosive. These plastic explosive
blocks are all of a uniform weight (one
kilogram) but their explosive power
depends upon the rating they hold.
The most commonly used rating for
plastic explosive blocks is
Plastique-9. Multiple blocks of
this explosive can be used together to
create larger explosions, or a single
block can be broken down to a fragment
of its size for smaller blasts.
Medical
Equipment When a job is being performed, it is not at
all uncommon for people to receive injuries, either minor or serious. In
the 24th century, high-quality medical aid is generally very close at hand.
Miscellaneous Other common equipment in the 24th century
includes the following.
-
Burrowvarg
(canon)
-
Makeup Kit
(canon)
-
SofStuf
(canon)
Pentapod
Products Pentapod analogs exist for much of the
equipment listed here but aren't widespread. If an analog is available (up
to the referee), it costs at least twice as much as normal equipment but will
last nearly forever — as a living creature, it self-repairs. Rough
treatment will kill a Pentapod analog but would as easily break human equipment.
-
Biocontacts
(canon)
-
Biosampler
(canon)
-
Direction Finder
(canon)
-
Earplugs
(canon)
-
Packing Seed
(canon)
-
Pod Plants
(canon)
-
Stabilizer
(canon)
-
Water Breather
(canon)
Personal Power The most common portable power generator is
described here.
Satellites Satellites are generally placed in orbit by
ships already in orbit around a world. Survey and exploratory ships
routinely use satellites to augment information gained by ground parties.
-
Communication Satellite
(canon)
-
Down-Link Navigation Receiver
(canon)
-
Navigation Satellite
(canon)
-
Surveillance Satellite
(canon)
-
Survey Satellite
(canon)
Scientific Equipment A variety of equipment is generally available
to aid scientific teams in their work. The most common pieces are listed
here.
Sensors Sensors run the gamut from simple sense
enhancers to computer watchdogs. All have a basic purpose of either
actively or passively making environmental information more easily gained.
Several examples are listed below.
-
Basecamp Security Sensor
(canon)
-
Binoculars
(canon)
-
FarSeer
(canon)
-
Large Life Form Detector
(canon)
-
Remote Piloted Drone
(canon)
Special
Equipment Major expeditions and military teams are often
able to acquire equipment that is state-of-the-art — equipment unavailable to
the general populace of most worlds. Often, however, this special
equipment can be found for sale at the Core worlds — available to those who
are able to pay the price.
-
Mul-T-tool
(canon)
-
Stik-kit
(canon)
Tools The listing which follows includes the tools
which are commonly available for use in the 24th century.
-
Autograpnel (canon)
-
Basic
Tool Kit (canon)
-
Climbing Kit (canon)
-
Construction Tools (canon)
-
Electronic Repair Tools (canon)
-
Electronic Security System Kit (canon)
-
Excavating Tools (canon)
-
Locksmith Kit (canon)
-
Power
Hand Tools (canon)
-
Vehicle Maintenance Tools (canon)
Vehicles
Wilderness Survival Gear Wilderness survival gear includes equipment
which is usually used by exploratory teams, but this equipment might be stored
in a starship's escape pod or used by a military mission team as well.
Weapons: Autoguns
Autoguns provide a fireteam with more range and power than
rifles provide, yet the rifles remain more portable than the autoguns.
The following listing includes a few examples of these autoguns.
Weapons: Civilian Hunting Weapons
Of the numerous civilian rifles available in
the 24th century, some of the most common are listed here.
- Guiscard FC-68 (Fusil Chasseur 2268) (canon)
- Guiscard FC-70 (Fusil Chasseur 2270) (canon)
- Rockwell
"Twelve-Eighty-One Magnum" (canon)
- Stracher SS-7 (Scharfshutzen Model 7) (canon)
Weapons: Current Service Rifles
Weapons: Grenade Launchers
A variety of 30mm grenade launchers are currently found mounted
integral to combat rifles. All of these grenade launchers have roughly
similar performance. In addition, a few older magazine-loading grenade
launchers are also available, although they are seldom used now by
first-line troops. Below are listed grenade launchers and propelled
grenades which are currently in use.
Weapons: Guided Ordnance
Two general types of guided ordnance are in use: these are free-fall
and powered. An un-powered ordnance is referred to as a bomb, a
powered ordnance as a missile. Both types of ordnance obey the same
rules except that bombs may only be launched from aircraft relatively close
to the target and glide to it rather than fly to it under their own power.
Virtually every major power produces a
variety of guided ordnance. These weapons incorporate various means to
make mid-course changes while on the way to their targets (for example:
movable fins and vectored thrust). A representative selection from the
arsenals of France and Germany are presented in the list below.
- 200-Kilogram High-Explosive Bomb (canon)
- 200-Kilogram WASP Bomb (canon)
- Guiscard Aero-12 (canon)
- Guiscard Aero-27 (canon)
- Guiscard Blindicide-3 (canon)
- Guiscard Blindicide-9 (canon)
- Guiscard Manta-1 (canon)
- Guiscard Martel (canon)
- Hornisse (canon)
- Luchs (canon)
- Ohu (canon)
- Panzerfaust 93 (canon)
Weapons: Hand Grenades
The following examples are representative of the common range of
grenade types which are available.
- Concealment Grenade (canon)
- Concussion Grenade (canon)
- High Explosive Fragmentation Grenade (canon)
Weapons: Handguns
The principle types of handguns are revolvers and
automatics. Revolvers are fed from a revolving cylinder, which
automatics are clip-fed. Automatics are more efficient, but revolvers
are more safe (a revolver is carried with the firing pin resting on any empty
chamber, which is not possible for automatics unless the pistol is carried
without a round in the chamber, in which case, it must have the slide worked
to chamber a round from the magazine before firing).
All handguns listed in this chapter fire conventional
fixed-cartridge ammunition. Although some experimental work has been
done with binary propellant and Gauss pistols, the expense was not deemed
worth the results, and no large-scale production has been undertaken.
Because of their short range and limited
stopping power, pistols are not generally issued to combat troops.
Officers often carry a pistol as a badge of rank more than an actual weapon; a
combat rifle is generally carried as well. Some troops buy heavy pistols
and value them for their handiness at close range, their low bulk often
enabling the firer to get off the critical first round
Weapons: Lasers
In combat it is very difficult to maintain a laser on a
target for one second, and in any event, a five-megawatt beam lasting one
second requires more power than a man can carry with him. However, a
short-duration, high-energy beam produces such a rapid temperature change in a
target's surface that it explosively vaporizes, causing shock damage to a
target.
Lasers are powered by high-efficiency liquid metallic
suspension (LMS) battery packs. Since a battery's discharge rate is
insufficient to directly power a strong beam, the battery "pumps" a
fast-discharge homopolar generator, which comprises most of the laser
mechanism. The generator stores energy in a rapidly spinning flywheel
(about 50,000 rpm) until it has enough for a pulse.
Lasers are generally referred to by their output power (in
megawatts) and their pulse duration (in hundredths of a second). Thus a
40-01 laser would have an output of 40 megawatts for one one-hundredth of a
second. Actual beam energy is a function of the power output multiplied
by the pulse duration. Since one watt for one second produces on joule,
a 40-megawatt pulse for one one-hundredth of a second would produce
four-tenths of a megajoule.
A number of laser weapons are available in the 24th century.
Several are listed here.
Weapons: Melee Melee weapons can come in handy in 2300AD
combat. The most common are listed below:
Plasma Guns
The ammunition for the weapon consists of
photonic core plaser cells, each containing a fast-discharge battery to pump
the weapon's laser ignition and pathfinder beam, and the fuel pellet for the
plasma bolt. After firing, the spent cells are ejected and are not
reusable. Some care must be exercised in the selection of the location
of the plasma gunner as the ejected cells are extremely hot, with semi-molten
centers, and can cause minor burn injuries to other troops in the way.
Weapons: Plasma Guns, Heavy
Although less mobile, the following
provide heavy firepower in more fixed locations.
-
CLP-1A
- Jaschonek Fabrikant A-4T Sturmgewehr
Weapons: Plasma Guns, Man-Portable Some of the most powerful man-portable
weapons in the 24th century are plasma guns.
Weapons: Propelled Grenades
Weapons: Shotguns
Weapons:
Sonic Stunners
Weapons: Surplus Service Rifles
Technical Architecture
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