Professional Gear

Some folk are professionals whose particular field requires specialized gear. Such gear can generally be effectively used by those who have the training to appreciate it. Specialty equipment can be either very expensive and hard to come by, such as a cryo chamber, or may be fairly common, like lockpicks. Those who are professionals in their chosen field will know where and how to obtain the equipment they need.

Blastomere Organs
Cloning and growing organs for those needing transplants has become a viable practice in the Core, but Blastomeres - a recent Newtech creation - could make this practice obsolete. Designed to be acceptable by any human body, the synthetic organs could eliminate the need to grow a cloned organ. Blastomeres are longer-lasting and more durable than normal human organs, potentially improving the body and extending the lifespan of the recipient. Needless to say, they are mind-bogglingly expensive and, since they're still undergoing testing, not yet available to the public.

Cryo Chamber
Designed originally to put patients in stasis until they can be properly treated (or a cloned organ can be grown), cryogenic freezing chambers have a number of other, less savory, uses. Slavers sometimes transport their victims in cryo, though this is expensive and can pose a problem if the people handling the cryo unit don't know how to use it properly. Putting a body in cryo requires giving the person a carefully measured set of injections, depending on how long the stasis is supposed to last. Removing a person from cryo requires a careful "warm-up" procedure. Not following these procedures doesn't necessarily mean the subject will die, but it can happen if the user bungles it badly.

Dermal Mender
Another fancy medical innovation, this is for those who don't like stitches and can pay to avoid scarring. Through a combination of regenerative stimulation and the application of artificial skin, the dermal mender can close almost any wound in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, while the mender works well for tissue bond, it can't fix bone, cartilage, or organs. It'll patch up your skin, and maybe even help put an ear or nose back on, but that's it. After surgery, the dermal mender can close the incision and prevent infection. The GM is the final arbiter as to what Wounds inflicted on a character can be healed with a dermal mender.

Doctor's Bag
A collection of basic medicines, antibiotics, scalpels, extractors, and everything else a doctor needs to perform minimally in house-call environment, though far from enough to treat everything they might encounter. Out on the Rim, this might be the best there is. A doctor's bag counts as basic supplies for Healing rolls.

Doctor's Bag, MedAcad

A doctor who graduates from one of the major Medical Academies (on Osiris, Londinum, or Sihnon) will almost certainly have one of these. Technically, they are available to any licensed practitioner in the Core (as are most medical supplies, if the buyer can pay), but that means the doc must have attended one of the major MedAcads or has their training certified by one, which is no mean feat. These more advanced doctor's kits include the best in portable instrumentation, the latest in commonly needed medicines (in small amounts), and so forth. Most Healing rolls made with a MedAcad doctor's bag are made at +1, though some things, such as open-heart surgery, require more than is available here.

First-Aid Kit
A standard first-aid kit containing pain killers, weaves, smelling salts, and other minor but useful items. A first-aid kit reduces the penalty for lack of proper tools on Healing rolls to -1.

Immunization Packet
These little foil packets contain several hypos of medicine and a couple of chewable tablets. Using a packet will help prevent the user from being infected by almost any known disease for 48 hours. While in effect, Vigor rolls to resist disease are made at +2.

MedComp
While a bit big to carry by hand (being a little bigger than a Cortex terminal), the medcomp combines most necessary medical scanners with a set of diagnostic progs. Most of the sensors operate via a plastic-cased finger sleeve attached to the medcomp by a wire; someone hooked up can have their heart rate, body temperature, blood chem levels, and so forth monitored by the computer. Use of a medcomp gives a doctor a +2 bonus on Healing rolls to diagnose a problem or disease, and the monitors may allow a doctor extra time to react to and treat emergency situations (such as if a patient's heart stops).

Medical Supplies, Emergency
The doctor who pays the monthly cost for keeing these on hand should be equipped to deal with most major medical situations they could reasonably expect to encounter, including gunshot wounds, major infections, massive blood loss, and the like. Being well-stocked with emergency supplies grants a +2 bonus on Healing rolls to treat both major and minor medical problems. This bonus stacks with that of standard medical supplies, when applicable. Constant use may require that the supply be restocked more often than once a month.

Medical Supplies, Standard
Paying the monthly cost to keep an infirmary stocked with the basics allows the doc to make rolls without penalty to treat most common or mild problems, such as a cold or a bullet in the leg. These supplies grant a +1 on Healing rolls to treat minor issues (up to 1 Wound).

Operating Theatre, Modular
Developed during the war so that base camp hospitals could be set up quickly almost anywhere, a modular operating theater is as close to hospital conditions that most can hope for. Since many ships were equipped with them during the war, most ships use a similar model for their infirmary.

Debugger
A palm-sized signal scrambler, these generally won't interfere with high power transmissions, such as the Cortex, but they play merry hell with most electronic bugs in a 15' radius.

Disguise Kit
A suitcase filled with makeup, hair dye, wigs, fake beards, plasticskin, noses, ears, etc. Basically everything a professional spy might need, including several bottles of pills designed to alter the user's skin tone and a few sets of "John Doe" artificial fingerprints that adhere seamlessly and remain good for 24 hours.

Eavesdrops
If you want to know what people are saying behind your back, this is the way to find out. The pinhead-sized microphones can be hidden anywhere within 30 feet of the transmission hub. The hub collects the audio dat and stores up to 48 hours of it from each eavesdrop or transmits it all in one burst. It can also transmit constantly at a range of up to half a mile.

Fake IdentCard
Alliance IdentCards are extremely hard to actually fake, since they are embedded with hardwired microchips containing important data about the holder. As a result, it's easier to steal someone else's card and apply your face to the picture, even though this means the card will likely get you caught if anyone puts it through a card-reader. A truly useable fake IdentCard can be obtained only at obscenely high cost, and even then it won't match Cortex records, meaning careful examination will reveal the fraud.

Laserlight Mist
This small can of mildly reflective aerosol mist will reveal security alarms and barrier fields, laser trip wires, and so on without setting off alarms. The mist dissipates within two turns.

Lock Picks
An assortment of small picks and wrenches for opening locks rolled up in a piece of cloth. Not worth much, since old-fashioned mechanical locks are rarely used where there's anything worth stealing.

Lock Picks, Electronic
Especially in the Core, most locks are electronic in nature and require either overriding a keypad or transmitting a code before they'll open. This little pack of gadgets can help accomplish both.

Mag Charge
A short-range, electromagnetic pulse charge, about the size of a large battery. Unless the electrical equipment is hardened against EMP (which is extremely difficult, if not impossible to do fully), all electrical equipment in a Small Burst Template will short out and stop working until repaired. Most ships possess enough redundancies so that one of these will not cause fatal problems, but using them aboard a space vessel or atmospheric craft is not advised.

Optical Bomb
A bundle of LEDs and fiber-optic cabling around a capacitor, optical bombs are designed to temporarily blind an opponent (and possibly nearby security cameras), making it easier to disable said opponent. To be truly effetive, the bomb must go off within a Small Burst Template of people or cameras and must be within the line of sight of the target. An NBC mask will protect a person's eyes from this, while some more expensive security devices have an auto-reactive coating to protect cameras from such attacks.

Poison, Kortine
If a dose (usually about two milliliters) of this poison enters a person's bloodstream, they must make an immediate Vigor roll at -2 or be knocked out (Incapacitated and unconscious) for 2d6 hours. A Critical Failure puts the victim into a coma that lasts for 2d6 days. If ingested, the effects are the same, but the Vigor roll is made without the -2 penalty. A Healing roll at -2 can revive the victim.

Poison, Cyanol
Equally lethal by ingestion or injection, a milliliter of this poison forces the victim to roll a Vigor check at -2. If the Vigor roll fails, the victim is Stunned, takes a Wound, and dies of a heart attack in 2d6 rounds, unless a successful Healing roll at -2 is made before the victim expires. A critical failure on the Vigor roll means the victim dies immediately.

CAD Board
About the size of a dinner tray, this device operates much like a databook. The large screen is meant to aid engineers and architects in the creation of plans and schematics, and allows in-depth examination of building plans, ship layouts, and the like.

Cutting Torch
Whether you're working on your ship or cutting your way into someone's vault, this is the tool of choice for most folk. The small energy pack can be worn at your hip, and the device includes a face mask to help you keep your eyebrows. Requires atmo to work.

Gravcart
A six-inch thick platform, two yards long and one yard wide, the gravcart uses a small grav-drive to float and carry up to one ton. It does not supply its own lateral motion, requiring it to be pulled or towed.

Scrapware
Salvagers sell crates of good condition materials such as wire, metal sheeting, springs, etc., at junkyards and spaceports. Scrapware won't help you all that much if a catalyzer or some other complex part busts, but it can allow a good mechanic to perform basic repairs on the fly, so you can make it back to port.

"Sticky" Scrapper's Gel
When you're cutting your way into derelict ships, sometimes you have to do it with no atmo around - and then your trusty cutting torch won't work. The solution is Scrapper's Gel. The device lays down a line of goo that has a conductor embedded inside. When a small surge of energy is applied, the goo turns into a powerful acid that can eat its way through most metal. Since it doesn't work in atmo, someone bent on cutting a hole in the hull with gel will have to go outside to do it.

Tool Kit
Hammers, wrenches, saws, screwdrivers, and the like (and their powered equivalents) can be used by most folk and are good to have around. A carpenter, mason, metalworker, or similar will find that these are the right tool for the job. If you want a big workshop with table-saws, sandblasters, and powered arc-welders, you'll need one of the bigger tool sets.

Tool Set, Electronic
A full set of equipment for working with modern electronics in the 'Verse. If you're a computer designer, a holo-set repairman, or something along those lines, this is what you need. Most of the tools will probably fit in a utility belt, but there are one or two bigger pieces that are a bit more difficult to carry around.

Tool Set, Mechanic's
A full set of mechanic's tools used by ship's mechanics, engineers, and those working in garages. You need this setup to do any real repair work on a vehicle of any sort from a mule to a full boat.