Prime Directive General Equipment

This section covers the gear specific to the Star Fleet Universe; other gear is available per the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook.

[bar]General Equipment[/bar]

[h=3]Clothing[/h]Under routine circumstances, most characters in Prime Directive can just have clothing replicated for them aboard the ship. For an undercover team on a less advanced planet, this may prove worthy of mention in an RPG; the table in the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook may be consulted. Fatigues (or "battle dress uniforms") are worn by Star Fleet Marines (and wannabees). Other Star Fleet personnel wear uniforms.

[h=3]Communicators[/h]Communicators are used by most species at Progress Level 7 and higher; virtually anyone from a PL 5 planet could figure out how to use one. They can be linked to tricorders to transmit and receive data. All have encryption allowing private conversations which can, sometimes, be decoded by powerful computers. All have sufficient range to reach from a planetary surface to a ship in orbit; the range listed is between two communicators on a planetary surface and assumes no relay or signal boost systems are involved. Individual communicators are “broadcast” types which send a signal in all directions; additional equipment allows “tight beam” signals that are harder to detect or intercept. Starships in orbit can send their transmissions in a relatively narrow beam (perhaps a mile across at the surface).

Skill rolls are not needed for normal operations.

[bar]Communicators[/bar]
[h=3]Tricorders[/h]A tricorder is a handheld device that becomes available at PL 7; specialized tricorders become available at PL 8. Tricorders are a combination of computer and sensors used for a virtually unlimited number of different applications and uses. General use requires a Computer Use skill check.
[h=5]PADDs[/h]A Personal Access Display Device (or PADD) is the most basic form, and is sometimes referred to as a “monocorder”. They are PL 7 devices that are an outgrowth of PL 5 “Advanced Personal Digital Assistants” available in the early 21st century. They have built-in data storage and processing capabilities equal to those of a PL 6 supercomputer, and have a communications tie-in to available library computer networks. In some cases, the PADD will operate in a stand-alone mode; in others, it operates as a display terminal or interface to the library computer serving it. At higher progress levels, the interfacing and modality become less and less apparent to the user. PADDs have no sensor capabilities.

[h=5]Tricorders[/h]A tricorder is a PL 7 device that has all of the functions of a PADD and adds built-in sensors and scanners. The sensor package on a tricorder can sense, display, and analyze any form of energy or matter known to your progress level. PL 7 tricorders weigh four pounds and scan biosigns at 30 feet, physical objects at 300 feet, and can analyze energy emissions at one mile. PL 8 tricorders weigh two pounds and can scan biosigns at 60 feet, physical objects at 600 feet, and energy emissions at two miles. PL 9 tricorders weigh one pound and can scan biosigns at 300 feet, physical objects at 1500 feet, and can analyze energy emissions at ten miles. At PL 8, tricorders became available that were specialized for various tasks. This specialization is reflected as bonuses or modifiers to various skill rolls. Some of these specialized tricorders are:

• Science Tricorder: +4 to any Knowledge (earth and life sciences, physical sciences) skill rolls
• Geology Tricorder: +4 to any Knowledge (earth and life sciences) skill check pertaining specifically to earth sciences. It has enhanced range capabilities which allow it to penetrate/sense minerals or rocks at ten times the normal range but loses the ability to scan for living beings, organic tissue, etc.
• Data Tricorder: Functions as a non-specialized tricorder, with one exception: it can use up to three IRD chips (below) and has a Purchase DC of 23. The number of IRD chips that may be active at any time depends on the PL of the data tricorder. At PL 7, only one chip may be active; at PL 8, two chips may be active; and all three may be active simultaneously at PL 9.
• Medical Tricorder: +4 to all medical-related skill rolls, +4 to Treat Injury skill rolls; if programmed in advance with the data on a given species, that Treat Injury bonus becomes +8 for that species. The hand-held attachment must be within one foot of the patient for these bonuses.
• Engineering Tricorder: +4 on all Repair skill rolls; has additional built-in filters which prevent overloading or damage when scanning intense energy fields.
• Tactical Tricorder: +4 to detect and identify life forms, weapons, armor, etc. Includes a comprehensive database on all of the above. Carried by Marine officers.

[h=5]IRD Chips[/h]Interactive Relational Database (IRD) chips do not become available until PL 7. IRD chips are computer memory chips that (in terms of gameplay) make a skill available to characters via their data tricorder. E.g., Knowledge (earth and life sciences) +10 chip would be the equivalent of Knowledge (earth and life sciences) with 10 skill ranks. Any given chip may contain data on only one skill.

An IRD chip’s skill level is set by the progress level that the author had at that time. At PL 7 the skill level of a chip is +8 or less to the skill roll, +12 or less at PL 8, +16 or less at PL 9, etc. An IRD more than a year or two old may contain out-of-date or even obsolete information, so the effective skill level may be less than the maximum possible. There are also “black market” IRD chips which were not created with the care necessary (i.e., cheap copies) and may give incorrect results — in this case, the GM should secretly apply a penalty to the skill roll, and on a critical failure the chip gives disastrously incorrect information! The characters will not have any chance to determine this, as the skill needed to do this — which is being provided by the IRD chip — is the one they are lacking.

The purchase DC is 10 plus an additional +1/skill level. While “skill” IRD chips are the most common ones, there are many other types of IRD chips that may contain maps, complex computer programs, or other forms of data.

Using an IRD chip takes the normal amount of time that the Knowledge skill check would routinely take. It allows the user with the tricorder to make a skill roll as though he had 10 ranks in the Knowledge in question.

[h=5]Universal Translator[/h]First appearing at PL 10, this is a small wand-shaped computer dedicated to translating new languages. It analyzes a new language and compares it with a library database of known examples. The input of the new language must be fairly varied speech — a single word looped over and over is not good enough (not even a couple of dozen words).

Nonverbal languages are handled if appropriate sensors are hooked up. Whenever the character encounters a new language, he makes a check to see how quickly the universal translator understands the language. The universal translator will always succeed in translating the language; the only question is how long it will take. This is determined by making multiple checks for comprehension. The DC for the check depends on the situation: DC 5 if the language is a common language or in the same language group as a language already in the translator; DC 10 if the language is unrelated to any other languages the translator knows; and DC 15 if the language is ancient or unique.

A character with the Linguist talent (d20 Modern Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook) may add in applicable bonuses. A single check covers roughly one minute of a spoken language. After 5 successful checks are made, it is assumed that the translator has learned enough of the language for casual conversation; after 10 successful checks, it can translate complex and unique topics in the new language.