She thrust and she thrust and she thrust again, each time her spear bouncing off his impenetrable scales. So she made a plan. Throwing her spear aside, to Dorgur's mockery, Aldra took out a long chain. Swiftly, she danced around the dragon, dodging swipes and evading claws, wrapping him round again and again, until he was tied from head to toe.
— An extract from the Balra myth Aldra and the Dragon.
Equipment in Ventures is used to mean any items or equipment you character owns and uses. An Augmentation is a piece of Equipment which is integrated into your body in some way, either by grafting on organic parts, or installing robotic components into you.
Purchasing Equipment or Body Augmentations uses a token-based system. Every character has 4 Tokens as a baseline (unless taking the “Poorly-Equipped” Quirk), with people taking the “Well-Equipped” Quirk gaining an additional 4 tokens. Note this Quirk can be taken up to two times, gaining 4 extra Tokens each time it is taken.
Each piece of Equipment has a Token cost, and can be given Modifiers increasing or reducing its cost to a minimum of 1. Having Tokens spent on a piece of Equipment doesn’t just mean you own it, but also that you are well-trained with it. Equipment can also be gained later on in the game using the “Procure Equipment” Goal Action, where you get 4 more tokens to spend on Equipment and/or Augmentations.
A maximum of 5 pieces of Equipment can be carried by a player at a time, though Augmentations, Vehicles, Robotic Companions, and Equipment with the Compact Modifier do not count towards this total. A Bulky piece of Equipment counts twice towards this total. This is not a limit on how much a player can own, just how much they can take with them on a particular turnsheet. The rest of the Equipment you own can be assumed to be back home, in storage, or otherwise inaccessible.
When writing Equipment into your character submission, or acquiring new Equipment in turnsheets, please write it in the following format:
Equipment (base cost→cost with modifiers), modifier 1 if relevant, modifier 2 if relevant; any additional flavour text that you want.
For example:
Modifiers are effects that can be applied to Equipment and Body Augmentations. When taking a Modifier, describe how and why it affects the Equipment in question, either positively or negatively. A single item can have at most 2 Modifiers, and has a minimum cost of 1 Token regardless of Modifiers.
Each character will be assumed to have a basic amount of standard Equipment for no cost, including those with the “Poorly Equipped” Quirk:
Simple and cheap things, such as rope, lighters, a torch, and rations, can be acquired relatively easily without needing to spend Equipment Tokens. If you're unsure whether you would have access to a particular item needed for your turnsheet, feel free to ask the GMs!
| Equipment | Description | Tokens |
|---|---|---|
| AI Assistant | In any control room, bridge, laboratory, or political office, a common sight is a small computer containing an Artificial Intelligence, used as an advisor. Whether in a PC tower, installed on a hand-held device, or inserted into an item of clothing or prosthetic, the AI will be accessible in turnsheets to assist you, and you will be able to roleplay as them in emails. The AI will be Class 3 (or Class 4 with the A Cut Above Modifier). The AI is a new NPC, with all the narrative consequences that may bring. For OC reasons, you can only have one of these. | 3 |
| Body Armour | With the widespread use of high-powered laser weapons, the best form of defence is reflection, dispersing as much of the laser energy as possible. As such, most effective body armours are composed of a series of interlocking plates, polished to a sheen, then painted for camouflage. Taking this reduces the chance of being seriously injured from small arms. | 2 |
| Datajack | A portable computer terminal, this enables you to access any computer system you can connect to. Also useful for hacking, can remotely jam communications and overload scanners, or can reprogram entire systems if directly connected to them. | 2 |
| Engineering Tools | No engineering bay would be complete without a suite of hammers, spanners, welding torches, and grease, which this set of tools contains in spades (Note: does not contains spades). | 1 |
| EVA Suit | Short for Extra-Vehicular Activity, an EVA suit is used to protect space-walkers from the vacuum of space. Using mechanical counterpressure, it allows you to retain full mobility while in use. This Equipment also functions as a HazMat suit. | 3 |
| Explosives | Through your job or through, ah, other means, you have the ability to procure large quantities of explosives. Gunpowder, nitroglycerin, plastic explosives. Office supplies, y'know? I'm sure these will come in useful somewhere. | 2 |
| Field Medic's Kit | Tools of the trade for any intergalactic first-aider, compacted to fit in one bag. It's not perfect, but will patch someone up long enough to get them to a proper medical bay. Reduces the chance of those around you receiving a serious, lasting injury. | 2 |
| HazMat Suit | Strict quarantine protocols are followed on most space vessels, but a few HazMats are kept in reserve, in case things go wrong. This can protect you from dangerous micro-organisms, toxic fumes, and radioactive materials. | 2 |
| Jetpack | A useful traversal option both in the vacuum of space, and in the low gravity of moons and small planets. Also good for showing off. What's not to love about a jetpack? [Note: Capable of limited flight in low-gravity environments only.] | 3 |
| Robotic Companion | You have a small robot who acts as a companion, personal assistant, and equipment repository. Equipment may be installed into this companion, paying its usual cost, including Modifiers. The robot is up to 1.5 metres tall as standard, though may be larger or smaller with the Bulky or Concealable Modifiers. | 2 |
| Scientific Equipment | Choose a field of study: geology, xenobiology, astrophysics, etc. This may be from the Academic Disciplines list, or it can be more specific. This will give you all the equipment you need to run a fully stocked laboratory for that discipline on a space ship or space station. Additionally, you can take some of this equipment in a bag when on a planet-side expedition to conduct field research. The Bulky/Concealable modifiers apply to this portable bag when taken for this equipment. | 3 |
| Video/Audio Recorder | Whilst most adventurers have small cameras, paying a tad extra will net you some professional camera gear. Footage of alien worlds is a highly sought-after commodity, after all. You can use this equipment to record and distribute footage. | 1 |
| Vehicle | From jeeps to helicopters, a wide variety of vehicles come in handy when exploring the galaxy. A vehicle has a variable cost of 2-8 tokens, plus Modifiers. Give a description of the type of vehicle you want (e.g. jeep, quadbike, helicopter), and the price you want to pay for it. | 2-8 |
| Weapon | Space exploration can be dangerous, and it pays to be prepared. Typically, military and private security firms use powerful, compact laser weapons. Ballistic weapons still have their place on colony worlds, however, for fending off local fauna. | 2 |
| Wingsuit | Slows your fall and adds extra mobility while in the air, allowing you to glide large distances. Can only be used in atmospheric environments. | 1 |
Many individuals choose to Augment their body in various ways. Cybernetic implants, biological modifications, the works. This is especially of use to those needing access to specialist equipment. Any time you gain Equipment Tokens, they may be spent on Body Augmentations and Modifiers instead of Equipment. Again, no Modifiers may take the cost of an Augmentation or piece of Equipment below 1 token. Whilst Androids are not biological, they may still have their body modified to the same effect as an organic Augmentation, so the same rules apply. For a Sailor, any Augmentations may be made to the Sailor themselves, or to their mechanical life-support suit. This must be selected when choosing the Augmentation. Biological Augmentations may still be taken on the suit, grafting it to a synth-skin covering in a similar way to Androids.
| Augmentation | Description | Tokens | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenal Overload | Some tinkering with various glands allow the ability to at will induce a state of adrenaline. [Warning: Doctors do not recommend this treatment.] | 3 | ||||||
| Amphibian Adaptations | Allows (limited) time underwater for Balra, Rissi, Xhuva, and Androids, or in methane-based atmosphere for Sailors. Does not allow you to stay submerged indefinitely, but preferable to asphyxiation. | 2 | ||||||
| Augmented Musculature | A complete biological overhaul, adding muscle mass, implanting servos, stimulating growth, until you're the apex of physical fitness. Stronger, faster, more durable. Following this procedure, many patients express discomfort in that the body they now have is so different to what they once were, whilst still being uncannily similar. | 3 | ||||||
| Bioluminescence | Lights your way in the dark, allows conversation in Sailor languages, and looks pretty! What's not to love? | 1 | ||||||
| Bionic Eye | Jokingly nicknamed “Laser-Eye Surgery”, bionic eyes are grafted directly onto the optic nerve, letting the user switch between different types of perception. The base cost of the eye is 0, but any of the Equipment listed here may be integrated into the eye, increasing its cost. | Night-vision (+1) | LiDAR (+2) | Laser Cutter (+1) | Camera (+1) | AI Assistant (+3) | Data Transmitter (+1) | Variable |
| Cybernetic Body Part | Choose a limb, or your torso. This body part has been replaced by robotics, increasing its strength and durability. (Note: Any Equipment purchased may be installed in the Cybernetic Limb for no extra cost. Please make a note to GMs when you purchase that Equipment.) | 2 | ||||||
| Extra Limb | Many complex tasks in space could use a helping hand or two. An organic limb or robotic arm grafted onto the spinal column should do the trick nicely. | 3 | ||||||
| Extremophile Metabolism | Complex subdermal cooling systems and artificial modifications to your metabolism allow you to induce a resistance to extreme temperatures, both hot and cold. | 2 | ||||||
| Hardened Carapace | Whether it's metal plates or insectoid chitin, your body is far tougher than the norm. | 3 | ||||||
| Integrated Weaponry | Acid glands, laser cutters, jaws, claws, and knives, any amount of weaponry can be placed in a cybernetic implant, or grafted onto your flesh by a bioengineer. Usually operating by the system of “I won't ask if you won't tell”. | 3 | ||||||
Any Augmentations taken with purely cosmetic effects do not require a Token cost, and may be taken freely (in the same way you do not have to spend Equipment Tokens so your character can have cool sunglasses or carry a walking cane). The list down below is not prescriptive, just a few examples of cosmetic Augmentations a character could have. Note that not all of these are for a cosmetic purpose, they're cosmetic in the sense that they have no mechanical in-game effect.