After the rise of optical processors, the term “electronics” expanded to include any type of data-processing device. The electronics in a vehicle include any devices or hardwired programs that manipulate information, including the input and output systems. Statlines that fall under electronics are Pilot and Sensor. Other non-statline items included are the input/output systems for camouflage, communications, defense, and stealth.
These systems integrate the skin of the vehicle into the electronic systems and provide either a sensor input or an electromagnetic output. Most of these modifications are only possible with standard or totally enclosed construction forms. Open form construction usually does not provide enough skin (or skin enough covering the riders) to make these modifications effective. A zapper tied into an anti-theft system is one notable exception, but the creative applications of others are also possible.
Employing advanced sensors and high-tech ruthenium polymers, this mod can make a vehicle or drone very hard to spot by visual means. When the system is active, the polymers display the environment on the other side of the encased vehicle.
This grants the Invisible (Improved) status with a value equal to the rating of the mod. However, fast movement overwhelms even the most advanced processors and, as speed increases, the quality of the illusion degrades, ultimately becoming eye-catching static.
The Invisible (Improved) status is lost if the vehicle enters its second speed interval. It takes a Minor Action to enable or disable the system.
Mod Slots: 2
Rating: 1 - 4
Availability: 8 (Illegal)
Cost: Rating x ¥4,500
This duplicates the Electrochromic Feature for a vehicle or drone’s exterior.
It cannot be employed to provide convincing camouflage, but changing the color or livery is as simple as a Minor Action to command the system!
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 2
Cost: ¥1,500
A variety of features such as shape, coloration, and emissions baffles can be combined to make a vehicle or drone more difficult to physically detect by visual or auditory means. With these features, the threshold for an observer to detect it is increased by one. If a Stealth test is instead performed in an Opposed test format, the defender must discard one hit before tallying their total.
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 3
Cost: ¥1,000
This allows the vehicle to generate all the power it needs when it’s out in the sun under a clear sky. It can produce either electric or liquid fuel.
If the vehicle has an internal combustion engine, the suncell powers a converter that pulls CO2 and water vapor out of the air and converts it to a synthetic hydrocarbon liquid fuel.
Vehicles with a suncell system do not count any time operating under a bright sun against their operating time; only nighttime and cloudy conditions drain the fuel reserve. (This mod may use either Powertrain or Electronic mod slots)
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 2
Cost: ¥9,500
This modification directs an electrical discharge across the skin of a vehicle with the intent of knocking out an unauthorized individual in contact with it. The system can be actively controlled by the pilot or linked to the anti-theft system (if its rating is 3 or better). It does 6S(e) damage to anyone in contact with the skin of the vehicle; those who do not resist the damage suffer the Zapped status for a number of rounds equal to the unresisted damage value.
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 4 (Legal)
Cost: ¥6,000
The Acceleration attribute of a stock vehicle applies equally to increasing speed and decreasing it safely.
A C3 unit is a system designed to manage a huge number of communications channels simultaneously, coordinated by simple artificial intelligence to allow a lone metahuman operator to manage the network effectively. When a PAN includes a C3 unit, that PAN can protect any number of devices, subject to gamemaster discretion.
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 4
Cost: ¥7,000
Almost every modern vehicle can be piloted in person or remotely with just its electronic controls. In fact, mechanical manual controls are usually considered an emergency backup. If you want to make sure those electronic controls are totally hacker proof, you can install a switch that locks out all of the electronic controls so manual controls are the only option. In order to prevent the switch from being remotely deactivated, it is always mechanical in nature with a physical button or switch making or breaking the connections. With the electronic controls locked out, piloting a vehicle via AR, VR, jumping in, GridGuide control, or using an autosoft is not possible. The system can only be activated or deactivated by someone physically in the vehicle within reach of the switch - usually that means sitting in the driver’s seat.
Mod Slots: 0.5
Rating: -
Availability: 3
Cost: ¥1,500
This equips the vehicle with an electronic countermeasures (ECM) suite. This modification allows the vehicle to function as either an area or directional jammer with double the range of the matching handheld device. It takes a Minor Action to start or stop the jamming, or to switch between area and directional mode.
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: 1 - 6
Availability: 4 (Legal)
Cost: Rating x ¥500
Adds a commlink, cyberdeck, RCC, M-TOC, satellite link, or other communications device to the vehicle’s electronics. An integrated device provides all of the benefits of a standard device of its type, except it is physically integrated into the vehicle’s systems. This mod can also be purchased as a device port, or set of ports, allowing a standard device to be physically integrated into the vehicle systems, but still easily removable when desired. Devices can also be wirelessly added to the vehicle’s PAN without any additional modifications, but docked or integrated devices do not count against the limit on the number of devices in the PAN.
Mod Slots: -
Rating: -
Availability: 2
Cost: ¥800 + Device
The nanomaintenance system installs a series of specialized nanobot hives around the body of the vehicle to repair and maintain the vehicle’s body and systems. This includes reshaping body panels, filling holes, cleaning critical systems, and even re- building/reshaping parts on a small scale. Nanomaintenance systems come in ratings 1 to 4.
When repairing damage done to a vehicle, an owner can let the nanomaintenance system attempt its job autonomously or make repairs in conjunction with the system. If repairing autonomously, roll the rating of the nanomaintenance system.
Each hit repairs one box of vehicle damage, with the whole process taking one hour.
Alternatively, the owner can repair the damage with the assistance of the system. In this case, the owner makes a standard Repair test, with the nanomaintenance system giving a bonus equal to its rating. Either one option or the other must be chosen for each instance of damage to be repaired - the two cannot be combined on the same damages.
Mod Slots: 1 per Rating
Rating: 1 - 4
Availability: Rating x 2 (Legal)
Cost: Rating x ¥9,000
Using a specialized system of signal capture and algorithmic reconstruction, the retrans unit rebuilds and rebroadcasts a specific signal, eliminating all the noise that accumulated on the signal up to that point. Thus, the signal behaves as if it had originated at the point of the retrans unit.
A vehicle equipped with a retrans unit that is part of a network of other devices can be used to rebroadcast all signal communications on the network.
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 3
Cost: ¥7,000
The rigger interface is what allows a rigger to jump in and actually feel as if they become the vehicle. All drones include a rigger interface, but it is not an automatic feature of passenger vehicles. Without the rigger interface, a rigger can still operate a vehicle manually or remotely without Jumping In.
Mod Slots: -
Rating: -
Availability: 2
Cost: ¥1,000
The anti-theft system mod provides a variety of protection options and, depending on the rating, may be much better than those universally employed by modern vehicles.
This is the default level of security that every vehicle with a Pilot rating has. If the vehicle’s sensors detect an unauthorized intrusion, the pilot alerts the owner with an electronic message and attempts to draw attention to the theft with lights and sounds.
A rating 1 system may be installed on a vehicle without a pilot (such as a trailer); this is the highest-rating system such vehicles can use.
Mod Slots: -
Availability: -
Cost: ¥500 (Free with any Pilot program)
In addition to the simple notice to the owner, this rating incorporates a broadcast of the GPS location of the vehicle and imagery of the vehicle’s interior and exterior, as captured by the vehicle sensors. This broadcast can also be transmitted directly to local law enforcement.
This rating also includes the ability for the owner to remotely lockdown the vehicle, making it physically impossible to drive until the release code is sent by the owner (or that aspect of security is bypassed).
Mod Slots: -
Availability: 3
Cost: ¥2,000
This level includes all of the previous features and adds the activation of other vehicle systems such as a gas dispersal system equipped with a toxin of choice or a zapper installed on the vehicle.
Mod Slots: 4 (Legal)
Availability: 1
Cost: ¥3,500
This is the final word in vehicle protection. It includes all of the features of lower ratings and adds a remote triggered self-destruct option with enough plastic explosives (a rating equal to the vehicle’s Armor rating) to reduce the vehicle to medium-to-small component parts.
Mod Slots: 2
Availability: 6 (Illegal)
Cost: ¥9,000
The Acceleration attribute of a stock vehicle applies equally to increasing speed and decreasing it safely.
A vehicle equipped with this mod changes how it communicates with the central xGuide system. When activated, the vehicle appears to be interacting with the system normally, but the driver retains independent control for things like exceeding the speed limit or driving in the wrong lane.
Additionally, the vehicle can no longer be remotely shut down. The xGuide override also randomly rotates the vehicle’s identifier, so that it cannot be tracked over any length of time. The vehicle will still draw its operational power from the GridLink system for as long as that part of the system is available.
Mod Slots: 1
Rating: -
Availability: 4 (Illegal)
Cost: ¥5,000
Vehicle pilots incorporate the most sophisticated mobile hardware and software available; some even approach the level of a basic AI. Improving a vehicle’s Pilot rating takes more than just loading a new program.
Hardware is replaced and upgraded, communication channels are enhanced, and the vehicle control systems are upgraded.
Pilots may have an attribute rating from 1 to 9.
Mod Slots: 1 x Rating
Rating: 1 - 9
Availability: Rating
Cost: Rating x ¥5,000
This provides something that a lot of riggers have been wanting for years. This cutting-edge tech, based on the old hitcher jack concept, allows for a rigged vehicle to share its network as if it were a mobile host. The persona of the primary rigger or “captain” of the network in question defines the attributes of the host. This allows the captain to assign different functions of the vehicle as subsystems to have shared control as if they were individual devices. The rating of the NSE is the total number of riggers that can be operating within the system. The modification does not allow for more than one individual to actually jump-in to a single device/vehicle at the same time, but with this enhancement, a team operating a larger vehicle or facility can have one person piloting while other people are using weapons, sensors, or other integrated modifications. The captain rigger determines what vehicle functions may be controlled by other teammates. Other participants in the system are able to assume control of designated subsystems as if they were individual devices and participate in teamwork tests with the captain.
Mod Slots: 4
Rating: -
Availability: 9 (Legal)
Cost: ¥85,000
A vehicle’s sensor net is a complicated and highly integrated part of its electronic systems. For this mod, additional types of sensory devices are added and existing ones are replaced with better quality components. The Sensor attribute doubles as a Sensor Array (see p. 276, SR6) with a capacity allowance equal to the Sensor attribute. Note that the maximum value of gear sensors that may be installed in a housing is based on the size of the vehicle or drone (see p. 277, SR6). Sensors may have an rating from 1 to 9.
Mod Slots: 1 x Rating
Rating: 1 - 9
Availability: Rating
Cost: Rating x ¥5,000
