_NANOTECH OVERVIEW

NANOAUGMENTORS

Nanotech augmentations (“nanoaugmentors”) follow most the cybernetic augmentation rules found in The Starfinder Roleplaying Game. Nanotech augmentations latch onto a specific biological system and provide consistent bonuses as long as the nanites remain active. Most nanoaugmentors are injected into a character or creature to permanently enhance performance and continue to function indefinitely. Nanoaugmentors are only removed by other nanites or by commanding the nanoaugmentors to end their program. When this occurs, nanoaugmentors are absorbed and recycled by the host body.

Unlike other augmentations, nanoaugmentors can share body systems with cybernetic or biotech augmentations.  However, you are limited to one active nanoaugmentor at a time and can only have one nanoaugmentor per body system.  Nanoaugmentors can be activated or inactivated as a move action.

Injecting a nanoaugmentor does not require a skill check.  Each nanoaugmentor takes one minute per level to become fully integrated into the host when it’s first injected.  Nanoaugmentors are the most expensive type of augmentation but make up for their expense with ease of use. 

Crafting new nanoaugmentations requires a character to have an Engineering skill equal to the nanoaugmentors’ level and an engineering lab.  Although crafting nanoaugmentors doesn’t save you any credits, creating your own might be the only way to obtain them in regions where nanotechnology is unavailable.  It takes one hour per level of the nanoaugmentors to manufacture a nanoaugmentor.

THE NANOVIRUS

A nanovirus is a group of nanites acting like a virus to enhance or alter a specific body function.   They move through the body and boost the efficiency of cells which they are programmed to affect.  Unlike nanoaugmentors a nanovirus is fast acting, taking only a single round to activate.  However, the effects of a nanovirus are temporary.  You can only have one active nanovirus at a time unless otherwise noted.  If you are exposed to two or more active nanoviruses you must make a END save (DC = 10 + the sum of active nanoviruses’ levels), or gain the nauseated condition for as long as you have more than one active nanovirus, plus 1d6 rounds.

There are designer nanoviruses that lay dormant after injection.  These designer nanoviruses are triggered by a circumstance or as a conscious action by the recipient.  A designer nanovirus can survive for up to a year after injection before it is destroyed by the body’s natural defense mechanisms.  You are limited to one dormant designer nanovirus at a time.  Injecting more than one dormant designer nanovirus simply causes the previously one to get flushed from your system.

Each nanovirus has a specific delivery mechanism like a pharmaceutical, most can be injected, some are ingested, and a few are even delivered by suppository.

NANO-ARMOR

The experience of wearing nano-armor compared to most common armor is like riding a high-performance hover bike juxtaposed to riding your grandmother’s tricycle.  Both modes of transportation get you there but one does it faster and in style.  In the case of armor, both armor types provide protection from energy and kinetic weapons but nano-armor generally out performs the rest because of its ability to adjust its protection according to the greatest need.

In many ways nano-armor is exactly like standard armor, both provide bonuses to EAC and KAC, possess a maximum Dexterity bonus, a potential armor check penalty, speed adjustment, upgrade slots, and a bulk rating.  Unlike standard armor many types of nano-armor provide flex AC bonus that can be applied to EAC, KAC, or divided across both armor class bonus types.  Donning nano-armor only takes 1 round regardless of whether it’s considered light or heavy armor.  When a character dons nano-armor you predetermine what the EAC/KAC split will be with the flex AC bonus.  A character can readjust the EAC/KAC bonus at the beginning of their turn as a swift action in any round.

Upgrades for nano-armor must be made of nanites and for this reason all armor upgrades for nano-armor cost 120% of their list price.

NANO-WEAPONS

Nano-weapons are specialized nanoviruses which in most cases cause harm to the subject rather than providing a benefit. Most nano-weapons, like other applications of nanotechnology, started with more altruistic goals before the idea of weaponizing them came to fruition.  Few nano-weapons were conceptualized as potential weapons from the start.  It’s usually near the end of the development life-cycle a scientist looking for additional research funds, or a scientist of questionable ethics has the eureka moment where they tell themselves, “Hey, wouldn’t this make an awesome weapon, and I bet a defense company would pay top dollar for the design specifications.”

Nano-weapons are stored in 1 ounce canisters and almost always delivered by injection.  The needler pistol, rifle and the retractable syringe, are the most common delivery devices.

All nano-weapons with the injection delivery mechanism can also be purchased as a nano-grenade by paying double the normal purchase price.  A nano-grenade consists of the typical nanite canister placed in a grenade-like container which deploys the nano-weapon as a 15-foot radius aerosol burst. This makes them twice as dangerous in public but much easier to defend against in military situations.  Any armor that provides breathing as an environmental protection automatically shields the wearer from the effects of a nano-grenade. The aerosol deployment method does not function in a vacuum. For additional information on grenades, see the "Weapon Descriptions" section in Chapter 7 of the Starfinder Core Rulebook. 

INDEPENDENT NANOCOLONIES

Although all the other categories of nanotechnology are by definition nanocolonies, the this section of the emporium is a catch all for independent nanocolonies that don’t fit into a specific category.  An independent nanocolony is one that is capable of functioning and surviving outside of a contained environment. Independent nanocolonies can take many forms and can be either airborne or part of another piece of technology. These nanocolonies usually perform independent tasks, such as creating, building, or destroying, without having to enhance or alter an existing object. In fact, most independent nanocolonies are designed to function as autonomous units once released into the environment, only altering their objectives when given new commands or new programming.

Independent nanocolonies are among the most dangerous because they can move about freely and cannot be reclaimed easily (if at all) should a malfunction occur. In some settings, independent nanocolonies are responsible for the fall of entire civilizations. Some independent nanocolonies are capable of wiping out entire planets, moving from one location to the next devouring and destroying anything that stands in their way.

HOLISTIC NANOMEDICINE

The use of nanotechnology in medicine offers almost limitless possibilities.  In a less advanced society, some of the applications of nanomedicine might even be misinterpreted as magic.  Science has taken the techniques involved in the application nanites to the limits of the imagination.

Nanotechnology in medicine involves the application of both nanocolonies and nanoparticles to make repairs to biological systems at the cellular and subcellular level.  Nanites have been designed in a way that allows them to work like antibodies capable of assisting with and boosting our natural healing processes.  Nanomedicines have been programmed to repair diseased cells, hunt and kill bacteria, remove toxins, eliminate damage from radiation, deliver pharma, and assist in the implantation of character augmentations.

Unlike the nanotech previously described in this emporium, the holistic nanomedicine which follows relies on the nanite working in a controlled or contained environment.  The procedures are too invasive to deliver by mere injection.  The devices which follow might even be perceived as fringe science or weird science.  Some devices might be banned all together depending on a societies ethical views or acceptance of nanotechnology