Spacecraft and Accessories
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Background
Wars Since 2000The Central Asian War (2282 to 2287)
Character Generation
CareersConversions
The average attribute for 2300AD characters is 10; the average attribute for characters under the House Rules System is six. Multiply the appropriate 2300AD characteristic by 0.6 and round to the nearest whole number.
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Divide the character's Coolness Under Fire by two to get the character's Initiative (INI).
Determine the appropriate conversion for each 2300AD skill by consulting the table below. If more than one skill is indicated, the player may elect to break up his skill points among the listed skills, or put them all into a single skill. To determine the skill level in the House Rules System, subtract one from the 2300AD skill level.
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Change references in FF&S stutterwarp design sequence from parsecs/day to light years/day. To determine parsecs/day, divide light years/day by 3.26.
Converting tasks is fairly straightforward:
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In the Star Cruiser Technical Manual, the formula for stutterwarp speed is:
S = Variable × (MW ÷ M)0.33
Where Variable is 14.5 for Old Commercial, 16.05 for Old Military or New Commercial, and 17.5 for New Military.
In FF&S, the formula for stutterwarp speed is:
S = Tlm × (MW ÷ 10D)0.33
Where the Tlm is equal to tech level + 4.
As can be seen, both formulas are identical, and the Variable in Star Cruiser is equal to the Tlm in FF&S. Because of this, we can determine the range of tech levels covered by 2300AD:
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However, 2320AD lists tech levels as follows:
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Equipment
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.
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 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.
Computer Station (canon)
Language Cracker (canon)
Portacomp (canon)
Portacomp Program Memory Chips (canon)
Reference Guide (canon)
Translation Chip (canon)
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.
Plastique-9 (canon)
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.
Automed, Lightweight (canon)
Automed, Static (canon)
Medkit (canon)
Other common equipment in the 24th century includes the following.
Burrowvarg (canon)
Makeup Kit (canon)
SofStuf (canon)
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)
The most common portable power generator is described here.
Fuel Station (canon)
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)
A variety of equipment is generally available to aid scientific teams in their work. The most common pieces are listed here.
Autoinjector Gun (canon)
Imagers (canon)
Remote Meteorological Station (canon)
Sampling Kit (canon)
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)
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)
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)
Kangaroo IV (canon)
M9A1 Gage (non-canon)
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.
Backpack (canon)
Biomonitor (canon)
Clothing, Cold Climate (canon)
Diving Gear (canon)
Flares (canon)
Goggles (canon)
Hostile Environment Suit (canon)
P-Suit (canon)
Rations, Compact (canon)
Respirator (canon)
Tent, Pressure (canon)
Water Purifier (canon)
Autoguns are a category of crew-served light automatic weapons fed from large-capacity drums or flexible cassettes, and fired from mounts. They are similar to rifles, but heavier construction enables them to sustain a higher rate of fire over time.
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.
Weapons: Current Service Rifles
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.
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.
The following examples are representative of the common range of grenade types which are available.
As with civilian rifles, a plethora of handgun types can be found in the 24th century. The weapons which are listed below represent some of the range of capabilities in 24th century 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
Lasers emit a beam of coherent light which can cause damage to a target. A kilogram of TNT produces five million joules of energy (five megajoules). Since one watt for one second equals one joule, a one-second, five-megawatt beam produces the energy equivalent of one kilogram of TNT.
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.
Melee weapons can come in handy in 2300AD combat. The most common are listed below:
The plasma gun contains a laser ignition system in the weapon which super-heats a hydrogen fuel pellet to a plasma state. The plasma is contained in the ignition chamber briefly and then allowed to escape through a magnetically-focused field along the weapon's barrel. The high-velocity plasma bolt is initially about two millimeters in diameter but tends to begin to dissipate at once. Dissipation is minimized by having the bolt ride a "tunnel" of heated air generated by a laser beam from the weapon. Because the plasma bolt rides a laser beam to its target, plasma guns are also sometimes referred to as plasers.
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.
Weapons: Plasma Guns, Man-Portable
Some of the most powerful man-portable weapons in the 24th century are plasma guns.
Weapons: Surplus Service Rifles
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Spacecraft and Accessories |
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The following propelled grenades are suitable for use with the grenade launchers which are listed above.
There are three general types of rifles in use in the 24th century: conventional rifles, binary propellant rifles and Gauss rifles.
Conventional rifles [1] fire fixed cartridge rounds which consist of a bullet embedded in a solid rectangular block of propellant. The bullet is generally constructed of a dense metallic core and a nonmetallic composite sheath. The bullet itself is smaller than the caliber of the rifle and is encased in a low-friction ablative sabot. The bore of the rifle constricts toward the muzzle and the sabot abrades away as the round approaches the muzzle. The remains of the sabot fall away from the round as it emerges from the barrel. Virtually all civilian rifles are conventional rifles, but they have mostly been replaced in military service by Gauss and binary propellant rifles.
Binary propellant rifles [2] fire a bullet identical in design to that fired from a conventional rifle, but there is no propellant directly associated with the round. Much of the bulk of the propellant in a conventional round is a stabilizer which makes the ammunition safe to store and use in the field. The binary propellant rifle eliminates this bulk and instead uses two gasses (a variety of types are used) which separately are stable, but when combined are volatile. Stored apart they are safe and are not combined until injected into the ignition chamber.
Gauss rifles are linear magnetic accelerators which fire fin-stabilized flechettes. Usually the magazine for the gauss rifle also contains a battery pack which powers the gun.
Virtually all rifles incorporate optic sights to assist in aimed fire. Also, as muzzle velocities have increased, weapons have incorporated more elaborate recoil-absorbing features, such as telescoping stocks. Most combat weapons capable of automatic fire have gyrostabilization to assist the soldier in keeping the weapon on target. Most long-range rifles also have a gunner-activated laser range finder.
[1] For FF&S purposes,
conventional bullets are considered caseless discarding sabot (DS) rounds.
[2] For FF&S purposes, binary propellant
bullets are considered ETC discarding sabot (DS) rounds.
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The following rifles are currently being used by major military forces in the 24th century.
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The surplus service rifles described below
are no longer the primary small arms of their countries' military forces.
Nonetheless, the weapons are still in widespread use by a number of smaller
forces.
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Two examples of shotguns, one pump and one automatic, are listed below.
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Sonic stunners project focused sound energy, usually in the ultrahigh frequency range, with sufficient energy to stun the target. They are only effective in atmospheres and against targets not wearing heavy armor (particularly airtight armored helmets). As a result of these limitations and the fact that sonic bursts merely stun an opponent, they are of limited combat value. However, they are highly effective, non-lethal control weapons and are used extensively by police and security forces.