Technology in the Verse After Miranda can be thought of in three primary levels. Not just a game construct, this is how technology is often discussed in-setting. This will affect all personal equipment and technology in general. Each category listed includes discussion of specific equipment affected by the level.
OLDTECH: In general, this is anything that could be duplicated or produced in the 19th and 20th Centuries, pre-1950. Any community capable of working metal or generating electricity can produce items or systems with "old-tech". This includes the "Old West" handmade items in use on bitty moons, pumps used as cheap replacement parts on ships, and firearms not reliant on batteries. This level of tech is most prevalent out on the frontier or on the margins of society. This sort of equipment is usually quite inexpensive, and often utterly reliable due to its simplicity and ruggedness. Items will often be made of wood, metal, and other natural materials, with relatively little in the way of synthetics.
Weapons and Armor - Traditional cased ammunition firearms and steel blades are definitely "Oldtech", as are medieval armors... which weirdly are still in limited use on some worlds. Traditional firearms have 1/2 the cost and 1/2 the shots of the firearms listed in the SFC p22, and weigh 1lb more. Ammunition is also half the price, however, and easily manufactured in a garage shop for nearly nothing. Kevlar armors of 20th century quality are "Oldtech", and still in wide use due to being so cheap.
BASELINE: The most common sort of technology on spacefaring worlds, "Baseline" technology includes 20th and 21st-century equipment of the sort found in the fiction of the "near-future" and "cyberpunk" genres. Baseline equipment makes extensive use of synthetic materials - ceramics, plastics, artificial alloys, and computerization. It all works on principles easily understood with 21st Century science. Most worlds with at least moderate populations and local industries can produce items and equipment at this level. Autonomous robotics are in common use at the "Baseline" level. In the 2525 setting, this is the standard by which other equipment is compared.
Weapons and Armor - Any ranged weapons using projectiles (slugthrowers, gyrocs, flak guns, etc) and lasers are considered "Baseline". Lasers remain uncommon in setting, but the technology is easily understood and duplicated. Thus, all lasers are x2 list price, and not available on many worlds. "Chain-" and "Stun-" melee weapons are "Baseline"; though not in wide use, they are easily manufactured in many worlds. Any non-powered armor in the SFC would qualify as "Baseline", and is usable at no modification. Powered armor is on the extreme upper end of what qualifies as "Baseline"... most such worlds can repair powered armor, but probably cannot manufacture it.
Medical Technology - Cybernetics and organ replacement are both Baseline technology, as are autodocs and many sophisticated medical drugs.
SHINETECH: Also called "Ultratech", Shinetech is the advanced technology of the setting. It makes heavy use of forcefields, gravitics, nanotechnology, manipulation of nuclear forces, and other things difficult to describe using 21st-century science. Shinetech is rare indeed, being available only in the White Sun system, and even then only on the oldest and wealthiest worlds. This includes the sort of things found in the "Space Opera" genre, such as grav cars, deflector screens, and energy pistols. Robotics has advanced to allow self-aware AI at the "Shinetech" level. Shinetech is often not available in quantity, and many times a Shinetech item might even be a unique prototype.
Weapons and Armor - In the SFC, energy weapons such as Disintegrators, Particle Accelerators, Plasma Weapons, and Stunners are all great examples of "Shinetech". So are Energy, Molecular, and Power melee weapons. If they can be purchased at all, they are x10 to price. Powered Armor and forcefield-based defensive tech are likewise "Shinetech".
Medical Technology - Nanotechnology, Lazurogenics, and radical genetic modifications are Shinetech, and are in wide use on high-population core worlds.
Additional Standard Equipment (by JR Herbert and others)
Item Cost
All Temperature Cloak…..…..……..250
Satcom…………………..……..…….50
Electronics Kit……………..….....…100
Filter Mask…………………………..40
Flashlight…………………………….20
Gravitic Martini Glass.................1000
Horse……..…………………………200
Hydrozopan (bottle)...………………200
Isoprobiline (bottle)………….…..…...20
Liquor (glass)……………….…………3
Liquor (bottle)……………….……….30
Mudder’s Milk(cup)……………...…...1
Mudder’s Milk (Bottle)……….……...10
Propoxyn (bottle)…………….……….80
Portable Scanners…..………….……450
Source Box (Off the shelf)……….…500
Source Box (high end)..……….…..2000
Data Cylinder (each)…………..……..20
Ration Pack (Protein)………….………5
Ration Brick……………………….1000
Rope(10”)……………………………25
Wobbly Headed Doll……..…………..4
Equipment Definitions:
All Temperature Cloak: a high tech variant of the all-weather poncho with a series of cooling bladders and a thermal layer designed to allow you to survive harsh climates giving you a +2 to all heat/cold based fatigue rolls.
Satcom: A portable satellite-based communicator that takes advantage of local communications satellites to allow you to get a message almost anywhere planetside. The device is about the size of a cell phone and can come with an optional hands-free headset.
Electronics Kit: This portable kit includes a diagnostic scanner as well as soldering iron, Programmable IRC chips, logic board assemblies and a collection of tools that will allow you to work on a myriad of high tech devices (from ship instrument panels to source boxes. and everything in between. Heroes who try to repair an electronic item without this kit incurs a –2 penalty.
Filter Mask: A protective garment that protects the wearer from noxious or toxic fumes. Wearers of this item will not have to make vigor checks from gaseous poison attacks airborne toxins, however, this does not offer an independent air supply and will not aid against asphyxiation.
Flashlight: A high impact metal all-weather light source, there is little that has changed in the last 500 years with this handy tool. Except perhaps the power source, which can last up to 1 month before replacing.
Gravitic Martini Glass: Martini glass that uses miniaturized gravitic screens in the stem to keep one's beverage from spilling no matter how it is tilted. As long as there is a charge in the battery, which lasts for 2d6 minutes of use, the user will have a +4 bonus to Agility to any roll to avoid spilling their martini. The Gravitic Martini Glass is custom made by "Ancien Regime" of Londinium, and is considered to mark the owner as a drinker of refinement and distinction.
Horse: again little has changed with the horse in 500 years, except perhaps that they are now found on many more planets.
Hydrozopan: A painkiller with the effectiveness of morphine with a lot lower risk. Injecting one's self with Hydrozopan a person can ignore wound penalties (but will still have wounds and take the same critical hit effects after he takes over 3 wounds).
Isoprobiline: an immunity booster that gives a +2 vigor roll against infections when the patient is dosed with this drug.
Mudder’s Milk: a noxious mix of proteins, vitamins and 15% pure alcohol a hearty if not cheap way to get both nutrients and sloshed. A very popular drink on Higgin’s moon.
Propoxin: An effective little sedative that is often used by triage units to stabilize people in shock. Players injected with this drug must make a vigor roll –2 not to fall unconscious for 1d4 hours.
Portable Scanner: a handheld device that can give readings on local weather patterns as well as global positioning data. On more civilized worlds the portable scanner can also access local news and information linkages from the cortex.
Source Box: A device used to access and send/receive data over the cortex network. In many ways, a source box is a souped-up personal computer that has been developed for network browsing and data processing while having been subsequently more standardized as a whole. It is a kind of hybrid of the console game systems and personal computers of today sacrificing the ability to modify components in favor of ease of use and universal connectivity. A high-end source box also offers a +2 to any general knowledge rolls while accessing information over the cortex.
Data Cylinder: a thin (5mm wide) polymer rod that employs molecular storage, to offer about 10 Terabytes of storage in a medium slightly larger than a toothpick.
Ration pack: a vacuum sealed parcel that contains one meal. Made mostly of single-celled organic proteins and flavored to give the diner the feel of real food, nowhere near as satisfying but nutritious none the less.
Ration Brick: a clever way to store more bang in a smaller package. An ingot sized brick packed with nutrients and vitamins enough to feed a family of four for a month. This is a popular supply for terraformers or colonists.
Wobbly headed doll: Hey what can I say people love these things. Despite their inherent cheesiness.