Item Quality Modifiers

Quality

CP Cost

Effect

Crushing

Sharp

Long Reach

Holdout

Small enough to hide from a frisk

Zapp Carry

Small enough to hide it in your butt

Utility

Custom description

This item has a use beyond simply as a weapon.

Shield

When using the Guard Up minor action,

• Multiply added Defense by the degree of this stunt
• Add the degree of this stunt to your test penalty

Quality

CP Cost

Effect

Durable

Under normal conditions, it lasts twice as long and for tests involving damaging it, it has +2 Toughness.

Effective

The item works better than a regular item of its type, gaining a +1 bonus to one of its abilities

This could be damage, armor bonus, or some other ability used for outcome or effectiveness but not for tests (see Fine, following, for that quality) or a 50% improvement in overall output.

A Very Effective item has two qualities and provides a +2 bonus or a 100% improvement.

Fast

The item works fast. It takes half the usual time to use a regular item of its type. For something used during action time, the character gains a +2 bonus to initiative when using the item (see Initiative in Chapter 5).

Favored Stunt

The item is either especially well-suited for performing a particular stunt, granting a –1 SP modifier to its cost, or else the item grants access to a unique stunt the character can perform while wielding or using it.

Each favored stunt is a separate quality and an item can have more than one.

Fine

The item’s quality is such that the character gains a +1 bonus to tests for using or wielding it.

Very Fine items have two qualities and provide a +2 bonus.

Impressive

The item’s quality is clearly apparent, providing a +1 bonus to social and roleplaying tests where such things are noteworthy, such as trying to make a good impression while wearing an Impressive outfit or intimidating someone with an Impressive weapon.

Very Impressive items have two qualities and provide a +2 bonus.

Light

The item is lighter and more compact than normal, reducing any penalty to Dexterity and Speed it normally imposes by 1.

Very Light items have two qualities and reduce penalties by 2.

Armor Piercing

Reduce the Toughness bonus of targets' armor by 2.

For ranged weapons, a missed attack with one on a spaceship or station near an outside wall may cause a hull breach. Roll 1d6; on a roll of 1 or 2, a breach occurs and the air begins rushing out of the compartment. 

Quality

CP Cost

Effect

Fragile

A deliberate attempt to break it always succeeds.

Furthermore, when a test to use the item fails and the Drama Die is 3 or less, the item breaks.

Heavy

The item is heavier or bulkier than normal, imposing a –1 penalty to the Dexterity and Speed of a character carrying or wearing it.

Very Heavy items have two flaws and impose a –2 penalty to Dexterity and Speed.

Ineffective

The item can’t inflict damage as easily as a proper weapon, imposing a –1 or –2 penalty to damage rolls, with a minimum damage roll of 1.

Poor

The overall poor quality of the item imposes a –1 penalty to tests using or wielding it.

Very Poor items have two flaws and impose a –2 penalty.

Shoddy

The item’s flaws are glaringly apparent, imposing a –1 penalty to social and roleplaying tests where such things are noteworthy, such as trying to intimidate someone with a Shoddy weapon, or make a good first impression in a Shoddy outfit. The GM may adjust the penalty, depending on the circumstances, but it is always negative.

Slow

The item takes twice as much time to use as a regular item of its type. For something that can be used with a major action during action time, a Slow item requires a Ready action after it is used each time to prepare it to be used again.

Unreliable

When a test involving the item fails and the Drama Die is a 3 or less, the item stops working.

If the item does not require a test to use, the GM should roll 3d6 when the item needs to work. On a total roll of 10 or less where the Drama Die is a 3 or less, the item stops working.

Getting an Unreliable item working again takes either an interlude to fix it or, during action time, a TN 13 challenge test with a success threshold of 10 and a time increment of 1 round.

Quality

CP Cost

Effect

Automatic

The weapon reloads and fires automatically so long as its trigger is depressed. This makes the weapon capable of performing Stunts with the (Automatic) quality.

High Capacity

The weapon carries a substantial amount of ammunition. Ignore the first roll indicating the weapon has run out of ammo (see Weapon Capacity, following).

Long Range

The weapon’s effective ranges are doubled.

See Range under Making Attacks in Chapter 5 for details.

Spreading

The weapon fires a spreading cone of pellets, shot, or similar small ammunition, like a shotgun. It does one die less damage, but can hit all targets within a roughly 30-degree angle in front of the shooter.

Tracer

A tracer weapon allows the user to take the Aim action as a free action so long as the weapon was fired on the previous round (see Aim under Minor Actions in Chapter 5).

Tranquilizer

The dart won’t penetrate any armor, but if it hits an unarmored target, the character must make a TN 13 Constitution (Tolerance) test or become unconscious.

A successful test means the character is only fatigued.

Taser

One die less than normal damage, but Stunning & Penetrating damage (Ignore Toughness)

A target taken out by the damage from a stunning weapon cannot have the dying condition applied to them, since such weapons aren’t lethal.

Quality

CP Cost

Effect

Armor

+12 armor bonus with no armor penalty, so long as the armor is operational.

Physical Enhancement

+10 effective bonus to Strength and Strength (Might) tests.

Mobility Enhancement

+2 bonus to Speed and +4 bonus to Constitution (Endurance) tests.

Weaponry

An integral rifle doing 3d6 + Perception damage and capable of performing automatic weapon gun stunts.

May also have grenade or missile systems doing 3d6 damage in a 5 meter radius.

Camouflage Package

+2 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) tests compatible with the unit’s camouflage.

Sensors

+2 bonus to Perception tests where the armor’s sensor package applies.

Life Support

All of the benefits of a vac suit (see Vac Suits under Life Support, previously).