Newtech

All men might be created equal, but their gear sure ain't. Sometimes your rusty old six-shooter looks mighty shabby next to the shiny new piece the Alliance just issued to the Feds. Both do about the same thing - put a hole in a man - and yours has sentimental value, but while you're having a sentimental gun jam, the Feds have slapped you in cuffs and hauled you off to the clink.

It'd be too cumbersome to list all the brands, makes, and models of each and every bit of equipment in the 'Verse, so the gear tables give the average stats for most things. If you need a pistol with a little more kick to it, a computer with a bit more power, or a med kit with the latest in boo-boo relief technology, you might be able to find a Newtech version of what you'd normally use.

While it's all well and good to design custom equipment, it can get pretty complicated. Technological developments require experimentation, and things usually don't go too smooth when you're trying to invent a newfangled shooting iron. So, to keep things simple, the basic Newtech system breaks technological development time into three levels based on how much the object costs, which will be 2x, 4x, and 10x the normal price.

Of course, these levels can fluctuate. Unique or truly dangerous items may cost considerably more. Basically, the crew decides what they're looking for, and the GM will let them know if it exists and, if so, how much it'll cost 'em. The guidelines below should serve to work out the price, thoguh there's sure to be add-ons and gadgetry that aren't listed, so don't feel limited by what's here.

Newtech Design
When you're trying to put together Newtech equipment, first try to find something - either in the gear tables or from Earth-That-Was - on which to base your invention. If you can't think of just the perfect thing, try to come up with some basis and work out the particulars with your GM.

That done, decide how much more advanced you want this new item to be. If you see something in the descriptions below that matches, that's shiny. If not, tell the GM what you want the gadget to do and let them set the cost multiplier.

Then work out exactly what makes that item special: does it shoot farther, last longer, or weigh less than its standard counterpart? There are a lot of possibilities at each level, but don't go hounding your GM to cram every single bonus onto one piece of gear. In other words, don't be greedy. Not to mention that there's plenty of fancy Newtech gadgets out there that are worse in one area or another than their standard counterpart. For instance, a Newtech heavy pistol might be a massive hand cannon that does a load more damage than a regular heavy pistol, but it weighs more and the cylinder only holds five rounds, though each of 'em might be the size of your thumb.

Of course, the GM can modify these lists however they see fit, and that includes disallowing anything they find might throw a monkey wrench into their game.

Cost x2
Items at this level of Newtech aren't all that hard to find, they're just a little too expensive to be the standard of the day. Most Alliance military gear is at this level (and also tagged and tracked).

Suggestions: +1 damage, Shots increased by 50%, range increased by 50%, durability doubled, usable lifetime increased by 50%. Modifications to equipment might include: silencers, computerized scopes, automatic firing action, fancy ammo, computers, miniaturized down to half the normal weight, experimental medicines, holographic technology.

Example - Executive Decision "Defender" holdout pistol: This little pistol is on offer from Executive Decision, a company who sells discreet protective clothing to paranoid corporate executives on the Core. Not much bigger than a derringer, the Defender packs quite the punch and is respectably accurate for something so small. A laser sight built into the grip helps even the untrained and shaky-handed to keep a tight grouping on their target, and its caseless ammo means that it can hold more rounds than other weapons of its size without sacrificing firepower.

To create this gun, take a normal medium pistol and drop its weight by half, give it a +1 to Shooting rolls within short range for the laser sight, slap on a -2 to Notice rolls to find it, and top everything off with some fancy ammo. It costs ₡36, but hopefully it'll keep its owner safe from a particularly hostile takeover.

Cost x4
This level of Newtech is the high end of what retailers in the Core might be able to find. The particularly moneyed can get their hands on it to show off to their equally snooty buddies, or to give themselves an edge on their opponents. All in all, not something you're just going to find lying around.

Suggestions: +1 die step to damage, Shots doubled, range doubled, almost impossible to break, usable lifetime doubled. Modifications to equipment might include: autotarget "smart" tracking, miniaturization down to 1/10 normal weight, biotechnology (clones or genetically improved replacement organs, body-enhancing gene therapy, etc.), cybernetics (robotic prosthetics and the like). The item may also integrate the features of more than one item or possess capabilities generally beyond its scope.

Note: Cybernetics and biotechnology are both developing sciences in the 'Verse. While they can make a person's body better than it might be, they aren't perfect. They're also hard to find, especially outside the Core. Even on Londinium and Sihnon, cybernetic limbs, better hearts, and muscle-boosting gene therapy are usually reserved for the military and the very wealthy.

Example - Eyetap Computer: This shiny little gizmo looks like a standard set of nondescript reading or sunglasses that come in a bulky case. The eyetap allows the wearer to view what might almost be considered a new level of reality. Any flat surface can be turned into a "screen" in the wearer's vision, or a "screen" could be conjured up in the middle of empty space. Anything the wearer sees can be downloaded and recorded. The information can then be called up at any time, so long as the glasses are being worn. Essentially, this mimics a photographic memory, though some folks may wonder why the wearer is staring blankly before speaking!

Casual observers will not be able to detect the fact that the eyetap computer user is accessing data, for the screen and its contents are visible only to the person wearing the glasses. Commands can be entered through a keypad on the inside of the glasses' case or via a small touchpad device that can be palmed or kept in a pocket.

To make this nifty little device, take a databook and miniaturize it down to 1/10 the weight, add some holographic tech as part of the display, and incorporate the features of a video camera. It'll cost 300 platinum, but it might escape notice, and allow those folk who bought it to make good on their investment.

Cost x10
Anything this advanced will be extremely rare. Perhaps the base technology is widely used, but this Newtech level represents the cutting edge of achievement. Equipment at this level, especially weapons, might be worth a lot more than just ten times their old value.

Suggestions: +2 die steps to damage, Shots tripled, range tripled, almost never wears out, never runs down. Extremely dangerous ammo (armor-piercing, high-explosive rounds, etc.), miniaturization down to 1/100 normal weight, force field technology, laser technology, gravitic technology (other than for shipboard artificial gravity).

Example - Zero-G Thruster Cane: Not everything at this level is deadly dangerous. Conceived of by an eccentric ship's mechanic, the ZgTC appears to be a gentleman's fancy dress cane, metallic black with a white tip and a silver handle. Unlike most canes, however, the ZgTC has a small compressed air thruster built into one end (the tip of the cane acts as the jet) and a magnetic grapple in the other (the cane's handle can be sent shooting out to up to 50 feet, attached to a thin cable). The cane is used for dramatic entrances, quick getaways, and impressive party tricks.

To make it, you have to combine two items. Assume the GM rules that the actual cane costs basically nothing, with the thruster and the grapple costing as much as a vacuum suit, this would ordinarily be a x4 cost item. However, because of the miniaturized machinery involved, that bumps it up to a x10 cost item. So add the miniaturization and combine two items, and you've spent ₡670 for a walking stick - but a very nifty one, all told.