BX Space – Equipment

This is the second article in the BX Space series and resumes with Equipment.

Science Fantasy Equipment List

This author cannot possibly cover all the tropes of potential gadgetry in science fiction. The primitive and the futuristic are to be found in curious juxtaposition for our Medieval Future is a curious place indeed. Torches and lanterns are to be found side by side in use with more sophisticated forms of illumination. The following articles of equipment cover essentials that no space fantasy adventure should be without and the Space Master is encouraged to develop their own gizmos!

Weapon Cost & Weight

Item	Cost in gp	Weight in Coins
Bomb	N/A	50
Bullet, Firearm (1)	1	1
Disintegrating Ray Gun, “Blaster”	55	10
Firearm	45	20
Grenade, Damaging or Paralysing (1)	40	10
Magazine, Firearm	10	2
Paralysing Ray Gun*, “Stunner”	50	10

*These Weapons may be used by a Cleric

Blasters and Stunners

Blasters and Stunners are pistols. A Character may choose to fire a single shot, spray, or burst. Disintegrating Ray Guns cause damage. Paralysing Ray Guns cause Paralysis with a successful attack paralyzing any creature of ogre-size or smaller that they hit successfully (except Elves and Robots) unless the victim saves vs. Paralysis. The Paralysis is the normal type lasting 2-8 turns unless removed by a Cure Light Wounds spell.

Recharging a Blaster or Stunner requires 1 Turn per 5 Charges. The recharging station is located at the cannon in a Rocket Ship and a functioning Rocket Motor is required on a Rocket Ship. Up to six weapons in total may be recharged at a time per cannon.

Recharge time is doubled, and the number of weapons that may be recharged halved, when a Rocket Motor is Damaged. Blasters and Stunners may not be recharged when a Rocket Motor is inoperative.

Firearms

Firearms in this Space Fantasy theme are meant as primitive weapons which are fashioned on worlds incapable of creating ray guns. A harmful projectile is propelled which causes damage when it strikes a Character or Item. A Character may choose to fire a single shot, spray, or burst depending upon the description of the weapon. These weapons are of a scale portable by a single Man-sized Character. Examples:

Firearm Mechanical Description	Firing Mode Descriptions1
Single	Single
Repeating	Single, Burst
Automatically Repeating	May: Single, Burst and Spray, or Burst and Spray, or Spray

Note 1 – The modes of firing, Burst and Spray, may not be used to target multiple Characters.

Reloading Firearms

No attack may be made while reloading a firearm. An empty magazine may be replaced with a pre-loaded full one in 1 round. Five bullets may be individually loaded in a magazine in 1 round. Some Firearms may permit direct loading from a clip of 5 bullets in 1 round.

Use of Firearms in a Vacuum

Firearms may be used in a vacuum but they cannot be used to damage a Rocket Ship, Space Mine, etc.

Bombs and Grenades

Bombs have a timer which may be set in Days, Turns, or Rounds. When the timer elapses the bomb detonates. Bombs cannot be thrown very far.

Grenades are a small bomb which may be thrown by hand in the same manner as a flask of oil. A Grenade must be activated, and then released, in order to detonate.

Weapon Type	Short(+5% [+1])	Medium (0) [0]	Long (-5% [-1])
Bomb	1-5	6-10	11-15
Grenade’	5-10	11-30	31-50

Bombs and Grenades typically cause Blast damage; a character is entitled to a save vs. Blast. Systems are entitled to a save vs. Blast or they become inoperative.

Weapon Type	Blast Radius
Grenade	3 x 3 x 3” Cube
Bomb	5 x 5 x 5” Cube

Paralysing Grenades cause Paralysis with a successful attack paralyzing any creature of ogre-size or smaller that they hit successfully (except Elves and Robots) unless the victim saves vs. Paralysis. The Paralysis is the normal type lasting 2-8 (2d4) turns unless removed by a Cure Light Wounds spell.

Bombs may not be purchased but they may be found as Treasure during the game.

Armour Cost & Weight

Item	AC	Cost in gp	Weight in Coins
AC Force Field1	5	60	10
Space Suit 72	7	40	200
Space Suit 53	5	80	400
Space Suit 33	3	120	500

Note 1 – The AC Force Field is usable by all Classes.

Note 2 – Space Suit 7 is usable by all Characters.

Note 3 – Space Suits 5 and 3 are not usable by Magic User’s and Thieves.

AC Force Field

AC Force Fields are a device created by the Ancients in such numbers they are commonly found. The exact principles which make them work have not been discovered but this does not make them any less useful. They never need to be recharged. The Armour Class Force Field creates a moderately protective barrier of force which surrounds a Character when it is worn and activated.

Ship Cost

Item	Cost in gp
Player Rocket Ship	20,000
Merchant Rocket Ship	40,000

Note – Other forms of Rocket Ships are not available to Player Characters for purchase.

Equipment Cost

Item	Cost in gp	Weight in coins
Beamtorch	20	1
Goggles, Darkvision	65	1
Jump Harness	60	1
Lung, Artificial	300	20
Packet, Extinguisher	10	1
Packet, Firestart	10	1
Perimeter Ward (1)	20	1
Rocket Pack	60	100
Rocket Pack Fuel	30	30
Stasis Chamber	500	250
Tele-Radio, Personal	60	1
Tele-Radio, Station	500	100
Timepiece	30	1

Beamtorch

A Beamtorch is a handheld device which projects a narrow beam of light 5’ wide capable of illuminating up to 50’ distant. A Beamtorch may also be set to illuminate a 30’ area in the same fashion as a lantern. The light of a Beamtorch does not adversely affect monsters in the same way as natural light or magical light. It does however interfere with abilities which grant a capability to see in complete darkness in the same manner as other light.

Goggles, Darkvision

Darkvision Goggles permit a character to see in the dark up to 60’ but adjacent lights limit their effectiveness to the area of illumination.

Jump Harness

A Jump Harness contains Trillium and it enables a character to defy gravity and jump vertically or leap gaps up to their full movement and is limited by the character’s encumbrance. It does not otherwise affect normal movement and running. Falling damage is reduced to 1d4 per 10’ while the Jump Harness is worn.

Lung, Artificial

Artificial Lungs allow a character to breathe underwater or in atmospheres (not the vacuum of space) where it would be otherwise impossible to breathe.

Packet, Extinguisher

A small packet, which when broken in half and tossed into an adjacent square extinguishes fires in a 10’ by 10’ area in the next round.

Packet, Firestart

A small packet, which when broken in half and tossed into an adjacent square starts fires in a 10’ by 10’ area, providing there is combustible material present to burn, in the next round.

Perimeter Ward

Perimeter Wards are designed to resemble small stones and are approximately 1.5” in diameter and 1 inch thick with a simple on/off switch. At least two are required and when activated they link together to create an area of detection between them best described as an undetectable fence, 5’ thick, 10’ in length, and 10’ high, which when crossed from any direction then sounds an audible alarm harsh enough to wake a sleeper. The perimeter wards at the point where the barrier is crossed flash repeatedly. Note that the perimeter ward alarm does not sound if the barrier is circumvented by climbing over its area of detection. A perimeter ward does not therefore detect flying creatures which circumvent its area of detection.

A Thief may use their ability to move silently and penetrate a perimeter ward without setting it off and may even create a hole in the barrier by first successfully approaching a perimeter ward and then finding and removing traps to deactivate it.

Rocket Pack

A Rocket Pack allows a Medium or Small Character to fly permitting movement in any direction and at any speed up to 120’ per round. It will also allow the person to stop at any point (as a levitate spell). The flight time of a rocket pack is variable and depends upon encumbrance. When the rocket pack runs out of fuel a Character will fall, unless of course they are in zero gravity.

Rocket Pack Movement

Character Encumbrance:	(per round) Movement	Flight Time
400 coins or less OR unarmored	120’/round	6 Turns
401-600 coins OR leather armored	90’/round	4 Turns
601—800 coins OR metal armored	60’/round	2 Turns
801—1600 coins OR metal armored and carrying treasure	30’/round	1 Turn

A rocket pack may be attacked from a character’s rear facing. A rocket pack that is attacked is damaged and will be rendered inoperative if it fails a System Saving Throw. The movement and flight time of damaged rocket packs are reduced by ½. Operating a damaged rocket pack risks an explosion; a successful System Saving Throw is required or it explodes causing blast damage equivalent to that of a bomb. Inoperative rocket packs simply do not work.

It takes 1 Turn to refuel a rocket pack and this cannot be done in-flight.

Stasis Chamber

A Stasis Chamber may incorruptibly preserve the body of a Small or Medium character indefinitely. Within the Stasis Chamber a character cannot move or take actions and the mind of the character typically enters a deep dreamless sleep 95% of the time. Stasis temporarily halts the progress of poisons or other death effects which resume immediately when the character emerges from the Stasis Chamber. Stasis Chambers often, but not always, have their own independent power source and the capability to enable a character to remain in stasis for hundreds of years providing the power supply lasts. If a Stasis Chamber is damaged a system saving throw is required to automatically wake the one within or they will fail to wake and die.

Before the development of Hyperdrive stasis was used to enable characters to make journeys the span of many lifetimes to other solar systems. Characters would remain in stasis for hundreds of years providing the rocket motors of their ships remained in operation long enough to supply the necessary power. Many failed to make the long journeys and now drift through space as graveyards.

Tele-Radio

Tele-Radios permit communication between two Tele-Radio. The ability to communicate successfully is affected by the type of the Tele-Radio and distance. There are several forms of the Tele-Radio, Personal, Robot, Rocket Ship, Space Helmet, and Station.

• A personal Tele-Radio is a hand held device.
• A Robot Tele-Radio is a robot system.
• A Tele-Radio on a Rocket Ship is a system.
• A Tele-Radio in a Space Suit is part of the helmet.
• A Tele-Radio Station is a permanent installation which permits communication. If they are located underground they must have a direct connection via a cable to a surface antenna or they cannot be used for communication.

The following table gives the Test Numbers used for communication check rolls. If a check roll fails no communication is possible. Note that some forms of a Tele-Radio may not be used to communicate between all locations.

Tele-Radio Test Numbers

Tele-Radio Type	Surface to Dungeon, or Dungeon to Surface	Within a Dungeon	Surface to Surface	Surface to Space	To Asteroid, Moon, or Planet in the same Solar System	To Other Solar System
Personal	N/A	4	9	7	N/A	N/A
Robot	N/A	4	9	8	N/A	N/A
Rocket Ship	N/A	N/A	9	9	Use the RN	Use the RN
Space Helmet	N/A	4	9	7	N/A	N/A
Station	4	N/A	9	9	Use the RN	Use the RN

Note – N/A, Not Applicable, the Tele-Radio cannot be used for communication.

Timepiece

A Timepiece is an instrument for measuring time. This device may show minutes, hours, days and years, and occasionally astronomical or calendar data.

Timepieces purchased locally are typically specific to a particular planet, solar system or the known galaxy whereas those purchased initially by space traveling player characters will be generic in nature. The player may set the timepiece to a universal time standard or adjust it to local time.

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Next Article – The Rocket Ship