Chapter 12: Weapons, Armor, Equipment, and Loot

Welcome to our equipment section. This section was compiled using the wonderful Unisystem, as well as many of our own creations, tinkerings, and rewrites over the years, to bring players and gamemasters a variety of interesting pieces of equipment to bring into play. This section conveniently organizes and coordinates the effects of the various things one might make use of for nonviolent and violent purposes, as well as some handy descriptions and suggestions for how to best make use of them.

• Medieval Outfitting
• Modern Outfitting
• Futuristic and Superscience Outfitting
• Fantastic and Magical Outfitting
• Magitech Outfitting
• Resource Points

Some special notations are provided. None of these are mandatory, but GMs may use them to help make rulings if there's an argument afoot:

• Balanced: When used as directed, the weapon is considered Balanced and can be used with maneuvers that require such, like Whirling Sword.
• Unbalanced: As one might expect, these weapons are unbalanced. They cannot be used with maneuvers that require Balanced weaponry (although see Chainsaw Ballet for an example of how an unbalanced weapon can be used in a manner similar to a balanced weapon.
• Throwable: A throwable weapon can be thrown (at -1 to Getting Medieval skill) normally, as per the Throw Weapon maneuver.) Weapons that are Balanced and Throwable suffer no penalty to skill when thrown; instead, they suffer a -1 when used as a Melee Weapon.) Weapons without Throwable, if thrown anyhow, suffer an extra -1 to hit if Short, -2 to hit if Medium, -4 to hit if Long, and typically inflict one multiplier less than normal for their weapon type.
• Short: This weapon can only be used at short range; this is typically reserved for unarmed combat, knives, and similar short weapons. In order to attack someone with a larger weapon successfully, one must Close Ranks first (Dexterity + Acrobatics contested by Dexterity + Acrobatics or Getting Medieval); an unarmed opponent attacking an armed opponent can have their Close Ranks parried (which is typically quite painful.)
• Medium: This weapon is a standard melee weapon; it can be used against melee combatants without tussling over such things as 'am I near enough to hit you now.'
• Long: This weapon is exceptionally long, and typically must be used two-handed; more importantly, long-range weapons can essentially prevent a person from attacking unless they successfully Close Ranks.
• Short Range: This weapon has a short range, such as a slingshot.
• Medium Range: This weapon has a medium range, such as a pistol.
• Long Range: This weapon has a long range, such as that of a typical rifle.
• Special Range: This weapon uses special range modifiers, listed in the weapon description.
• Two-Handed: A weapon marked with Two-Handed must be used with both hands in order to inflict damage. Weapons used two-handed add +1 to the effective strength of the user for purposes of calculating damage; this is typically included in the damage listing for weapons that can only be used two-handed.

Some applications of skills require that you have access to appropriate tools in order to perform them (for example, in order to build your own explosives a la Demolitions, you're going to need some explosive material). In such cases, lacking the necessary materials may assess a penalty depending on the complexity of the task (-2, -4, -10, or worse…) depending on how readily the character can improvise. (Trying to hack Citibank with a stick and the Computer skill… not likely. Hacking it with a rewired DS and a copy of Elite Beat Agents? Very unlikely, but possible.)

In cases where having better tools is more helpful, a bonus may be assessed based on the quality of the available materials. Likewise, in situations where a penalty is assessed, this penalty may be lowered or negated by high-quality supplies.

The following makes reference to 'standard' and 'difficult' uses of skills. In short, a 'standard' use is something that would normally assess no penalty (or grant a bonus) to a competent user with a standard set of tools - repairing a bicycle, given a proper toolset, would be a 'standard' use of Mr. Fix-It. 'Difficult' uses would be anything that involves a substantial penalty (we're going with -4 for demonstration purposes) - hard even with proper tools, and extremely difficult without; performing surgery to extract bullets would be a 'difficult' use of Doctor.

Here are some basic levels of tools, and their effects on both types of skill rolls:

None: You are missing all forms of tools related to this class, and you honestly need them. This gives you a -4 for standard uses of the skill, and -10 for difficult uses of the skill, if the GM lets you try it at all. You could theoretically assemble a bicycle without a wrench, but it would be awfully slow and painful work. If you can come up with a reasonable improvised tool (a sharp piece of flint for a knife for surgery, for example), use Improvised instead.

Improvised: You have managed to improvise a tool or tools for the purpose of this skill - how long it remains useful is up to the GM (an improvised wrench made from sticks is likely to break in short order, while a knife isn't apt to go dull just because you've used it to perform surgery.) Improvised tools provide a -2 for standard uses of the skill, and -6 for difficult uses of the skill. A merciful GM might modify the penalty based on the skill at coming up with improvised tools, but this should never provide better than Basic tools.

Single: You have one good tool - it doesn't exactly provide you the diversity you need to solve every problem, but it's much better than nothing. A Single tool provides no penalty to one standard skill roll, or -1 to all standard skill rolls, depending on GM verdict. Difficult uses of the skill are still at -6. For example, a box of bandages (would provide no penalty to Doctor rolls when used to bandage, but would otherwise be mostly unhelpful (or count as Improvised); a sterile roll of bandages would provide a -1 penalty to Doctor rolls in multiple circumstances - it could be used to bandage, to bind things in place, to help splint, etc.

Basic: You have a basic series of tools that one might expect to need for your use of this skill (bandages and something to clean a wound, for Doctor rolls; an appropriate toolkit for Mr. Fix-It; a typical home computer for Computers; and so forth.) This provides no penalty to standard skill rolls; difficult skill rolls are at between -1 and -4 in most cases, depending on the complexity of the task. A pocket-sized first aid kit would be considered a Basic tool set for Doctor skill rolls; a small toolset (screwdriver with multiple socket types) would count as a Basic tool set for Mr. Fix-It skill rolls.

Good: You have a good set of tools to work with - typically five times the amount in a basic set, with significant diversity involved. A Good set of tools provides some items necessary for difficult uses of the skill without penalty (for example, a Good first aid kit would include a set of tweezers that might come in handly for extracting bullets or shrapnel). This provides a +1 to skill rolls (before penalties) using the skill, as long as you have at least 1 point of skill. A medikit such as found in most offices or the trunks of most cars would count as a Good set of tools for Doctor.

Very Good: You have a very good set of tools at hand - in most cases, this is the size of a large backpack or trunk, although the precise size (and cost) varies based on the skill. An EMT pack would be a Very Good kit for Doctor skills. A Very Good toolset provides sufficient materials to give a +2 to skill rolls before penalties (or double the user's skill ranks, whichever is lower.)

Excellent: You have an excellent set of tools handy - this is likely to take up an entire closet if stuffed into a confined space, or can fill a small room if organized for accessibility. An ambulance's supplies would count as an Excellent tool set for Doctor rolls; an electrician's truck would count as an Excellent tool set for Mr. Fix-It rolls. An Excellent toolset provides sufficient materials to give a +3 to skill rolls before penalties (or double the user's skill ranks, whichever is lower.)

Superb: You have a superb set of tools, likely enough to fill a large room dedicated for the purpose. An emergency room or ship's medical bay would serve as a Superb toolset for Doctor rolls if properly stocked; likewise, similarly sized areas devoted to a particular skill area can be considered a Superb toolset. A Superb toolset provides sufficient materials to give a +4 to skill rolls before penalties (or double the user's skill ranks, whichever is lower.)

Complete: You have a complete set of tools handy for your chosen skill - any tool that isn't particularly rare can be found in your tool set somewhere. Need a circular saw to cut through bone? You've got it. Need to stitch together a wound? You've got that. Need to bandage a wound? You've got bandages, gauze, antiseptic, and sealant spray. A Complete toolset effectively takes up an entire small building, or may fill much of a large building. An entire hospital effectively counts as a Complete toolset for Doctor skill rolls; an aircraft hangar would count as a Complete toolset for Mr. Fixit; and so on. A Complete toolset provides sufficient materials to give a +5 to skill rolls before penalties (or double the user's skill ranks, whichever is lower.)

Footnotes:

1) Does Life Points damage, unless Endurance damage rules are used.

2) Indicates a stabbing/slashing weapon. Damage is calculated normally, and then armor protection is subtracted. Remaining penetrating damage is doubled.

3) Weapon may be used two-handed, raising the character’s effective Strength by 1 when calculating damage. For example, the Spear does D6(3) x Strength one-handed, and D6(3) x (Strength + 1) two-handed.

4) Weapon must be used two-handed. Damage modifiers have already been accounted for in the formula.

For all ranged weapons statistics, ballpark figures have been used. Weapons experts should feel free to pencil in any more accurate ranges, or plug in the latest Guns and Ammo statistics, depending on the specific weapon employed. Note that bullet type modifies damage.

Footnotes: * Single shot or semi-automatic. @ Capable of burst and automatic fire. # EV includes bipod (1/1) and ammo (6/3). & EV includes tripod (40/20) making this exclusively a vehicle or stationary weapon.

Range: These numbers are expressed in yards (meters) and reflect point-blank, short, medium, long and extreme range. The ranges listed are the limits: anything below the limit is considered to be in that range, anything beyond it goes to the next range level. Note that bullets may continue to travel some distance after going past extreme range and may still be lethal, but the chance of hitting the designated target is basically nil.

Damage: The damage imposed by the most popular bullets for a given type of gun are given.

Capacity: The magazine capacity indicates how many bullets are contained in a fully loaded gun. There is a lot of variation out there, however. At almost any given caliber, for example, a rifle can be a single-shot bolt action or break-open action, or a semi-automatic with a 30-bullet clip. Revolvers have 5-6 shots, while semi-automatics can have as many as 15 to 17 rounds (recent laws in the U.S. restricting magazine size to 10 rounds are in effect, but are easily avoided). A range is given, from the smaller magazines and revolvers to the biggest available in the market.