Equipment & Kit

I went in to Leo's Armory the other day to pick up the new Asserik Mark Three - its a rifle that fires rounds made of ice at a target up to 500 yards. I was so excited until I saw the clerk stocking the shelves with the 'Mark Four. I asked him and he said the Mark Threes are no longer in production...its funny, it felt like they were "new" last week. ~Moth Greenpaw, wogan scout

  Perhaps one of the things that makes Zephyr - Tales from the Void most unique is its kit. Magic and science have collided in a spectacular explosion of new inventions - some for everyday, mundane purposes, and some with fantastic and unforeseen uses. Regardless of the design or intent, technology called aethertech has revolutionized the Commonwealth and Baennor as a whole - almost everyone would agree for the better.

Equipment & Kit

  EQUIPMENT INTRO  

Skill Checks

Most of the time acquiring equipment and kit is accomplished through a Procurement Check by rolling a d20 + your Affluence attribute bonus + your Proficiency bonus. The DC is listed on the Equipment table or as determined by the Mastermind. In some instances there are skills or contacts that may aid characters in their search. In those cases, the Contact's skill bonus would replace the character's Affluence.   Examples: Knowledge (Local) check or a successful Contact (Black Market)  

On-Hand Kit

  There are some things that are readily available and do not require much, if any, effort to acquire. For these items, if the character has a 9 (or higher) Affluence they may attempt an On-Hand check by making rolling a d20 + Affluence bonus for items with an Availability DC of 1/2 (or lower) their Affluence attribute. If successful, they already have access to the item - either they own it or can get it from a friend.   A character may attempt an On-Hand check once per point of Affluence bonus during a mission (minimum of 1).   Characters may not make On-Hand checks during character generation or between missions.   On-Hand checks may only be made with the permission of the Mastermind and there are certainly situations in which even readily available items might not be reasonably or immediately on-hand.   A successful On-Hand check does not affect a character's Wealth score, even if the item's value should be above their current Wealth score (see below). Characters with a 8 or lower Affluence must scrape together everything they can just to survive and are unable to make On-Hand checks.  

Equipment Properties

Restricted and Illegal Equipment

If there is one thing the Commonwealth is notorious for, it is the bureaucratic red-tape surrounding nearly all aspects of life in the city. This includes the purchasing of certain objects and equipment. When attempting to find kit, there are four availability categories for consideration. Those categories are: licensed, restricted, military, and illegal. Each successive category means it is more difficult for the agent to acquire the item.   Availability Categories
Necessities. These are things that may easily be acquired or found; things so ubiquitous a quick search around the average household or shop will turn it up.   Common. Equipment in this category are easy to find, but usually cost enough so as to not just be found lying around.   Luxury. Usually not related to kit or mission gear, these types of items are usually equated to   Licensed. The Commonwealth likes to keep track of things like lethal weapons, construction equipment, medical equipment, and the like. Legally obtaining this type of equipment requires an inexpensive, but required license. Equipment requiring a license incurs a +1 increase to Wealth cost that may be reduced through increased successes on an Affluence check.   The increase is indicated by the number in parenthesis and represents the legal hoops to jump through in order to acquire the license.   Restricted. Equipment in this category is usually limited to specially trained and qualified individuals. Certain types of weapons, complex medical equipment, large aeroships, and so on fall into this category. The path to ownership, however, is usually dependent upon time and money, not a character's actual need to own it. Restricted kit incurs a +2 increase to Wealth cost that may not be reduced through increased successes on an Affluence check. The exception to this is if the agent's profession allows them to operate or own that type of equipment (i.e. doctor, constabulary, military, construction, etc.). The increase to the Wealth cost is indicated by the number in parenthesis.   The additional cost is related to the red tape and licensure of the equipment. Once a character pays this additional cost they are legally allowed to possess the item.   Military. Similar to restricted equipment, military equipment is legally available to only law enforcement, licensed mercenary corps, syndicate security, and military personnel. While still available to characters who are persistent and who have the money, it is much more difficult to locate due to the tight restriction and monitoring on the equipment by the government. Authorizations on this equipment are normally very hard to come by or are often forged. Military grade equipment incurs a +4 increase to Wealth cost that may not be reduced through increased successes on an Affluence check, reflecting the often illegal means required to find it. The increased cost to Wealth is indicated by the number in parenthesis.   Paying the additional cost for Military equipment does not include the legal right to possess it. There are a few exceptions such as some soldiers being authorized to carry heavy weapons. While legally allowed, however, this does not override the constabulary's responsibility to detain and question those found carrying them.   Illegal. Sometimes kit is just outright illegal. This largely falls to overly inhumane weaponry, equipment that specifically focuses on criminal activity, and anything that puts Commonwealth citizens at extreme or excessive risk. No "licenses" are available for this type of kit, but Agents can acquire it through syndicate requisition or on the black market. Illegal equipment can only be found on the black market and incurs a +8 increase to Wealth cost that may not be reduced through increased successes on an Affluence check. The increase is indicated by the number in parenthesis.   Carrying around this type of kit always bears the risk of incarceration if caught and is never legal.  

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Buying on the Black Market

  Almost anything can be found on the black market. Whether it's illegal, the character just does not want to going through the trouble of getting a license, or they want it to be purchased "off the record", they can instead attempt to purchase it through less legal avenues. In addition to the standard availability category requirements, the Availability DC also increases based upon the Black Market table below.   An agent searching for equipment on the Black Market much have a Contact or fellow agent with those connections before they can even begin to track down the equipment. Black Market equipment increases the Availability DC by +2 and the Wealth cost by +2. Once found and purchased, kit purchased on the Black Market gains the Illegal equipment property. The Illegal property is applied after purchase and does not incur the +8 Wealth penalty. The Illegal property cannot be removed once purchased.    

Requisitioning Equipment

  Some Agents may work for syndicates or have a background that gives them access to special equipment on a case-by-case basis. In these situations, the character may attempt to requisition the necessary kit before heading out on their mission. Depending upon the source, this does not automatically make the acquired equipment legal. Requisitioned equipment also does not belong to the character and must be returned after the completion of the mission or set period of time.   Requisitioning equipment requires a Procurement Check through an available source (i.e. a syndicate, military unit, etc.) but does not include any Equipment Properties that increase the DC, nor does it usually incur a Wealth cost to the character.   Note: Requisitioning equipment could easily be abused and should be used on a limited basis. For example, if the agents are hired by a syndicate to eradicate fire elementals inside volcanic tubes below the city, they may be provided special fire resistant equipment for the job. However, upon completion, they would be required to return it.  

Buying Kit or Services

When a character wants to buy a piece of equipment or use a service, they roll a d20 + their Affluence bonus + their Proficiency bonus (and any other modifiers, such as the Scoundrel's Smuggler ability) against the Availability DC of the item they are looking for.

• If the roll exceeds the DC, they are able to find the item without issue, but must subtract the Wealth cost (if any) from their Wealth score
• For every 5 the roll exceeds the DC, they are able to find the item for which they are searching and it reduces the Wealth cost by 1 point
• If the Procurement roll succeeds, but the final DC itself is higher than the character's Affluence attribute, they may acquire the item only if they accept a point of Credit (see Credit below)
• If the roll succeeds, but they do not have the Wealth available to purchase it, they may still acquire it by accepting an equal amount of Credit (see Credit below)
• If the roll fails, the search for the item also fails. This usually does not lower the agent's Wealth score.
• Upon a successful roll, the character may choose not to receive the item or service. In doing so, they do not lose any Wealth

For more information on wealth, see Affluence and Wealth  

Bulk

In addition to the cost of purchasing equipment, character's must also be concerned with Bulk. Each item has an associated Bulk value which indicates generally how difficult it is to carry around. A character may easily carry around an amount of Bulk equal to 5 modified (+/-) by their Strength modifier. Certain kit such as belts and backpacks can increase this number by making things easier to carry around.  

Equipment & Services

Necessities are extremely common and can be found just about anywhere.  

Mechanicals

While magic has certainly held the lead on developing new devices and inventions, science and engineering has nevertheless kept pace in a variety of fields including transportation, infrastructure, and weaponry. Mechanicals is a term used to describe any piece of technology or system that is largely non-magical in nature.   Some examples of mechanicals are:   Gas Lamps. While largely obsolete in many large cities, some of the smaller towns across the Commonwealth still maintain a system of gas lit lamps in order to light their streets at night. As the name implies, tubes of propane gas are run throughout the town. When night falls, the lamplighters turn on the gas from a central location and then proceed to go about town, lighting the lamps.   Firearms. While syndicates have largely taken up the manufacturing of aethertech weapons, more traditional firearms do exist and continue to be manufactured as well. Non-magical firearms are far cheaper and easier to make, making them a common go-to weapon for those populations who cannot afford the more expensive, magical devices. As with aethertech firearms, the standard classifications for mechanical firearms are: hold-outs, pistols, shotguns, and longarms.   Gas-Piston Carriages. Sometimes simply referred to as GPs (geeps) or cars, these feats of modern engineering are most often two- or four-wheeled carriages with a motor to move it about without the need of a horse or mule. While less expensive than their aethertech counterparts, GPs do require fuel more often and it can be difficult to find, particularly outside of cities. There are several varieties of GPs on the market which include: Bandy, Shaw, Cabby, Coach, Wagon, or Lorry   Bandy - a single-wheeled vehicle where the driver sits in and steers the device from inside the wheel itself. While not capable of carrying a great deal of cargo, the bandy is very fast and often used by couriers to skirt through traffic quickly.    Shaw - this class usually refers to a single-seat, two-wheeled, and very fast gas-powered vehicle. Shaws are favored but those with a need to get around, but without the need to carry much. Street gangs and constables are well known for roaming the streets of Rynmark on shaws.    Cabby - These small, four-wheeled vehicles are usually for personal use, often owned by families or small businesses to shuttle people or small amounts of goods around town.   Coach - Another four-wheeled vehicle, coaches are larger than cabbies and do usually possess more storage space.   Wagon - Larger than cabbies, these vehicles also usually have four-wheels, but also possess a much larger carrying capacity. In many designs, this comes in the form of an open or flat bed for stacking boxes.   Lorry - Massive vehicles with three or four pairs of wheels and capable of pulling even larger trailers for moving huge amounts of goods both inter-city and between cities across the Commonwealth.  

Aethertech

  Runewrights and aetherists work tirelessly to create new and exciting inventions to sell to the highest bidder or out on the open market. Aethertech, while powered by magic is engineered and manufactured, often on a mass scale, in factories across the Commonwealth. Depending upon availability (and whether or not it is legal to possess), most items can be tracked down for sale at shops and stores in major Commonwealth cities. Illicit equipment may be more difficult to come by, however.   Some aethertech examples are:   Aeroship. Modern aethertech has taken travelers off the ground and into the skies above. Aeroships are vehicles powered by magic, enabling unbelievable leaps forward in the fields of commerce, transportation, colonization, and war. Aeroships come in five classes: tactical, light, medium, heavy, and capital - each increasing in size and capabilities.    Originally, many aeroships - as well as many other systems across the Commonwealth - were powered by indentured elementals. These elementals would agree to power the ship for a term of 99 years in exchange for elemental motes at the end of the contract. However, more modern aethertech is now tapped directly into the Void and powers itself off energy from the demi-plane.    Many aeroships are also imbued with a modicum of intelligence and awareness, very similar to that of a cog. This enables the vessel to communicate with the pilot and crew and even fly themselves with various degrees of proficiency.    Aethergraph. Very soon after the creation of the Void, several young inventors came up with a method of using it to communicate through the weaves on the demi-plane. This was very quickly industrialized and turned into what is today known as the aethergraph. The aethergraph is used by millions of people across the Commonwealth to communicate at a distance. Anyone may use this communication medium by visiting an aethergraph station. In most metropolises across the Commonwealth, there are dozens of aethergraph stations distributed throughout the city.   Each station services a specific district or geographic area. Additionally, most syndicates and many businesses have their own aethergraph stations embedded in their facilities. In rural areas, the population is usually serviced by a single aethergraph outpost connected to a switch in the nearest large city. The operators at each of these stations use their knowledge of the local area to connect the caller to the distant end. Depending upon the region or district the caller is attempting to reach, making the connection could take many minutes.   Most people register their name at their local aethergraph station at a cost of just a few knots per month. Once registered, the local station will take and hold messages for as long as the person holds the contract with them.   One of the downsides to aethergraph system is that, due to its use of the Void, the traffic can be seen or even intercepted by anyone with direct access to the demi-plane. Specialized aetherists are used to both steal and protect information that travels across the aethergraph system. It is for this reason that many distrust the use of it and will often encode their messages before sending them.   Sezka-Merx Firespray. A hand-held weapon that emits a bolt of molten flame at its targets; potentially catching fire to targets hit by it   Ferrosic Industries Shatter Vest. A sulphuriom-charged piece of armor that covers the chest and shoulders. It provides the wear with Prot 3 and an additional 20 temporary Edge. Temporary edge lost must be repaired by a runewright or at a repair facility.   Illumsticks. Ubiquitous, single use items that generate light in a 30' diameter. They are created by injecting tiny fragments of phlogiston and last roughly 2-hours once activated.   Distributed Aetheric Voxitron (Vox). "Voxes" are simple communication tools that allow people to talk with one another from a distance. These devices are less common and far more expensive than the ubiquitous aethergraph, but those of affluence find them readily available. These devices are interconnected through the Void, but are only able to communicate to other voxitrons with which they have previously connected. In order to connect two voxitrons, the two devices must simply be touching each other and the command word for each device uttered.   Slates. Common, if expensive devices used by syndicates and governments alike to interact with and through the Void. In the hands of certain magically active users, such as an aetherist, slates offer a wealth of ways to interact with the Void including creating their manifestations (or "spells"), communicating with and summoning radical spirits, and creating, manipulating, or destroying weaves.   When used as a communication tool, an aetherist (or someone with the Tools of the Void feat) can send a ghostly projection of themselves to a distant location and communicate with anyone present there. This communication is two-way and the sender can see and hear everything within a 20' radius at the distant end.   Sending the projection is not always successful, however the more familiar an aetherist is with the destination, the more likely it will succeed. An aetherist can continue the projection for as long as they maintain their Concentration.   Use the table below to determine whether or not the aetherist is successful in sending their projection:  

Magic Items vs. Aethertech

The biggest difference between traditional magic items - and there are still plenty of those around Baennor - and aethertech, is that magic items as we know them are enchantments put upon an object. Enchantments with a rigid laws that define it. A +1 sword is a sharp magical weapon because of the magic bound to it, it was not engineer to itself be incredibly sharp.   Aethertech, on the other hand, is a device engineered and scientifically crafted to produce a specific effect and then powered by magic to generate said effect. That power, usually in the form of aethergy or elemental motes, is exhaustible, but usually renewable. When a Wand of Fireballs runs out of charges, it may be destroyed, but a Volt Rifle that runs out of its ammo need only be reloaded with a new mote of ionia.

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So many people look at Weirds and see this exquisite physical specimens, wrought from an unexplained magical connection to the Void. Well I have discovered that 'mystical' connection and have replicated it. The power of the Gods is now in my hands. ~Dr. Alyssia Grimm

Grimware

While most aetherists were busy dreaming up ways to manipulate and harness magic for the betterment of the Commonwealth, at least one aetherist was looking inward into the physical and mental enhancement of the body. The result were devices that would enhance or completely replace existing parts of the body with magically-infused components. Dubbed "grimware" by those who use it, these enhanced parts and pieces were the brain-child Dr. Alyssia Grimm of Besmabel.   Dr. Grimm started with two pieces of information. The first being that runewrights could engineer just about anything they put their minds to - devices and inventions that could then be fused with magic to make incredibly versatile creations. Second, she had mercurials - people who, for whatever reason, were blessed (or cursed) with a raw connection to the Void that magically enhanced their bodies and minds. If both of these were true, then why could they not be combined?   Indeed within just a few years, Dr. Grimm successfully fused magically crafted eyes with a blind daonn in her lab, giving them sight for the very first time in their life. By the next year, she had crafted and successfully grafted appendages and even organs to other individuals in Besmabel. Today, grimware, while considered vile to many, is one of the fastest growing industries in the Commonwealth.  

Acquiring Grimware

While it is not difficult to find, particularly for those associate with a syndicate, it is expensive and has a price tag that goes beyond the notes required for payment. Grimware has a rating associated with it. Depending upon the strength of the device, the rating will be higher or lower. The stronger the device, the more taxing it is on the individual attaching it to themselves.   In game terms, this translates to a loss of edge. Each entry for a piece of grimware has an associated edge cost. When successfully attached, the user permanently loses the corresponding amount of edge.   Note: Only player-characters and dangerous or experienced NPCs normally possess edge. Those without edge are considered hirelings, henches, or minions and generally not a threat one-on-one against agents. Aside from being cost prohibitive, a low-level hench in an organized crime group is not likely to be running around fully decked with grimarms, legs, and a body sleeve. Since they have no edge, per the rules they technically could not graft grimware. However, the occasional hireling with enhanced strength might be OK - it is strongly encouraged to not over do it.   Examples of Grimware include:   Grimarms / Grimlegs. Meat and bone replaced with metal and magic. Grimarms and Grimlegs come in three tiers, each more expensive than the last. For each tier of Grimarms, the user's strength is increased by +2. For each tier of Grimlegs installed, the user's walking speed is increased by +5.   Body Sleeve. A thin layer of sulphuriom magically grafted under the skin. A body sleeve provides 2 Prot that stacks with other forms of armor. While highly sought after, it is very expensive for the average person.