equipment that should be common, but isn't in the books

[glitterboy2098]

pretty much what it says on the cover.. what kind of equipment do you think should have been fairly common/widespread in Chaos Earth, but thus far hasn't appeared in the books? ideally, this would be primarily non-weapon gear, since we can be fairly certain we'll get more weapons eventually.

for my part, i would say "electronics"
Computers, portable and otherwise. i know that PB doesn't like to give hard performance stats, but some sort of general appearance, size, weight, and common features entry for PDA's, tablets, laptops, and desktops would be nice.
the same for Radios.. walkie talkies, headsets, portable and fixed military gear with some details on encryption/databurst ability.
how about just Night vision goggles? the current military capability versions should be fairly cheap and easy to get in the golden age (the way modern civilian sets are a few generations behind the military level), and the high end military grade stuff should really be impressive.

if nothing else, they could have reprinted the same couple pages of generic gear found in RMB/RUE and the GMG.

[drewkitty ~..~]

*pulls out my copy of HU2*
A bit dated but usable.

Actually I agree with you about all the tech settings. Lots and lots of things are missing. However, it would take a "equipment book" to cover them without eating into normal gamebooks.
*pokes @ KS* This is something you can hand off to someone (maybe a fan or freelancer) and have it NOT get in the way of the gamebooks you edit and expand on.
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In the anime series gate, there were agents that got into japan and one of the comments was that all of the tactical gear, excluding the firearms, was available on the open market.

[Warshield73]

Merc Ops has a great section of common military gear including optics fortification materials.

This would be a great series in the Rifter. Every issue for a year or two has 4 to 10 pages of basic gear. I have always wanted PB to create PDF only books that could be edited as things arise and updates made available on DriveThru. This would be perfect for that.

*pulls out my copy of HU2*
A bit dated but usable.

Actually I agree with you about all the tech settings. Lots and lots of things are missing. However, it would take a "equipment book" to cover them without eating into normal gamebooks.
*pokes @ KS* This is something you can hand off to someone (maybe a fan or freelancer) and have it NOT get in the way of the gamebooks you edit and expand on.
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In the anime series gate, there were agents that got into japan and one of the comments was that all of the tactical gear, excluding the firearms, was available on the open market.

Are you volunteering? Because that would be a great book for CE and Rifts.

[glitterboy2098]

well, IRL the civilian stuff tends to be a few generations out of date. which nowadays mainly just means a little heavier, bulkier, and/or shorter batterylife. but yeah, you can get a fairly complete tactical rig through civilian sources. there are even some hobbies (like airsoft) where the load bearing vests, belts, and pushes are in high demand, resulting in company's making high quality knockoffs. and right now Police Forces are a good market for tactical radios, bullet resistant armors, and so on, so there are a fair number of companies making products aimed at them too.
i can't imagine that the Golden Age would be much different. i could also see a market for low grade MDC armor vests and such, since even a couple MDC will stop most DC pistols and rifles cold. (they'd probably have an AR though, the way the improvised armors in rifts austrailia do. to reflect the chance of hitting somewhere not sufficiently covered.)

[Lt Gargoyle]

I could see a lot of civilians equipped really well with some of the basic war type gear. Purely because of the Service market catering to the Glamorous side of war. Like airsoft and paint guns. Also there is always those preppers out there who always assume the end days are upon them. Just this time they were right.

So i would say there would be schools out there that would teach people how to survive a Zombie Apocalypse, a limited nuke type war. If for nothing else, then a vacation resort for those who enjoy pretending.

I also could see Bows/crossbows being widely available and some prepper selling explosive tip arrows.

I like to think that the cybernetics which were highly prized would have some type of wi fi system which would allow people to link up and fight monsters. like in a virtual reality. only now they are doing it for real. which also means there is likely a black market for items that can be attached to existing cybernetics or bionics that give a person some basic weapons.

[Jason Richards]

At least SOME things that fall into this category are in the First Responders manuscript.

[glitterboy2098]

At least SOME things that fall into this category are in the First Responders manuscript.

glad to hear it. i wish that the game didn't require ownership of all the sourcebooks just to get the basics that should have been in the core book, but at least they are making it into the game.

[RockJock]

Jason, any word about First Responders hitting the printer?

A series of common equipment Rifter articles would be great. Even covering different games based on time periods or something. The 80s stuff is fairly well covered by PB, but nothing else is.

I use a lot of the common gear from Rift, especially the Merc books as it is, but would love to see more of it, and hopefully not the 1980s stuff reprinted.

I would love to see a Golden Age cellphone/database interface/Siri type setup. I know communication and all goes down when the skies light up, but I could see all sorts of stored information in a small unit for preppers etc. Everything from Foxfire books to interactive programs to identify plants, or whatever.

Things that are becoming more common in our world like networked/smart houses, and the components of such would be everywhere. So things like video/NV security cameras, or even dumb bots for perimeter home security would be common, and could be repurposed. I'm not talking combat/security units, but an sdc robo dog that calls the cops, or at least alerts the home computer of an intrusion.

I tend to see very low MDC equipment being fairly common on the Golden Age. Not combat grade stuff, but a high end hiker's tent having a point of MDC so that it lasts and lasts. Things like that. Same with things like light MDC cloth for bullet protection. Currently I use things like the Triax Plainclothes, or some of the armored jumpsuits as a base.

I would also love to see what a NG soldier, and the regular US Army were equipped with. I know we have the MDC vest in Chaos Earth as an old stock item, but it has always made sense for there to be something like a suit with the protection of a Plastic Man, but heavier weight as the last generation of combat armor, before the stuff NEMA has (or surviving groups like the New Navy, Republic of Japan, Tundra Rangers etc). The Gold Age Weapons M48, and Bradley don't count.

[Jason Richards]

Jason, any word about First Responders hitting the printer?

No inside info, here. You guys know what I know!

[glitterboy2098]

I would also love to see what a NG soldier, and the regular US Army were equipped with. I know we have the MDC vest in Chaos Earth as an old stock item, but it has always made sense for there to be something like a suit with the protection of a Plastic Man, but heavier weight as the last generation of combat armor, before the stuff NEMA has (or surviving groups like the New Navy, Republic of Japan, Tundra Rangers etc). The Gold Age Weapons M48, and Bradley don't count.

Mercops does address some of this. (note the names are GAW's labels. would be different pre-rifts)
it includes (under the GAW brand but explicitly said to be pre-rifts national guard gear) two sets of armor, the Mark I flight suit and the Mark II Battlefield armor. the armor isn't great (battle field armor is 25mdc main body, but -15% to physical skills, the flight suit armor is 10mdc but -10% to most physical skills.)
it also includes the GAW-21 (M-21L prerifts) laser assault rifle, basically a M-16/M-4 type 5.56mm sdc rifle that also had a 2D6md laser built in. uses a special combo magazine that combines an Eclip with the rifle magazine into one system.

that would at least get you started. i'd say that the M-20 assault rifle and LAWS-3 from WB7 (the new navy section) would also be found in the national guard units.. the M-20 is more of a battle rifle (no cartridge size specified, but it has to be bigger than 5.56mm given the damage) so it and the M-21L could coexist. and the LAWS-3 is a sort of transitional weapon between current manpack rockets and CE/Rifts minimissiles, so would fit as an older weapon still in use in the national guard.

as far as the frontline gear goes. i've generally used some of the 'classic' CS gear (C-10, C-18, CA-1 and CA-2) since it is fluffed as based on pre-rifts designs, and the NEMA gear is different enough i have a hard time seeing it evolving into the CS stuff. so making the CS stuff based on Army gear (which would be 'budget' or slightly older versions compared to NEMA's top of the line gear) seems reasonable to me. i also assume that the Army used versions of the IHA tanks.. those are also prerifts designs, and while they were found in canada, they could easily have been a joint development to eventually equip all three nations in the NAA with the same military gear, for easy interoperability.

[RockJock]

Thanks GB, I had forgotten about the GAW stuff in Merc Ops.

I can buy the IHA stuff being frontline military grade, especially if equipped with nuclear engines.

In the past I've used this:

NEMA-cutting edge, made for peace keeping and flexibility instead of being frontline combat.

Frontline Military-New Navy equipment, USA SAMAS, GB, some things from the Republic of Japan and maybe Triax. A few vehicles like the FQ Glitterboy transport to fill holes.

National Guard-IHA level equipment, especially electric versions, weapons like the older Northern Gun level equipment, basic EBA body armor. Things like the low powered Columbian laser rifle in SA would work as well.

I'm talking less exact equipment and more classes here. Just sort of the guideline I've used.

[glitterboy2098]

a lot of people forget them. probably because most of GAW's stuff is all even older gear from the late 20th to early 21st century, rather than mid to late 21st which would have been around in use in 2098. (one reason i maintain the idea that they are 'recovered' units is a lie they use to attract customers, and that they actually are manufacturing these vehicles based off examples they recovered from museums and such. Mercops at least confirms they are manufacturing stuff, like the armor and weapons listed above, though it leaves the vehicles ambigious)

that said, i do think that that we should get a proper treatment of the USArmy and National Guard, since there should be a fair number of people from them around, and they should have different OCC's and gear than NEMA. since the Army would have different approaches to things than NEMA, it could also give some options for tensions within the survivor groups too, especially if not all of the army units recognize NEMA as having any kind of authority over them. (which chain of command wise, they probably wouldn't.)

[Shamrock 'Slinger]

a lot of people forget them. probably because most of GAW's stuff is all even older gear from the late 20th to early 21st century, rather than mid to late 21st which would have been around in use in 2098. (one reason i maintain the idea that they are 'recovered' units is a lie they use to attract customers, and that they actually are manufacturing these vehicles based off examples they recovered from museums and such. Mercops at least confirms they are manufacturing stuff, like the armor and weapons listed above, though it leaves the vehicles ambigious)

that said, i do think that that we should get a proper treatment of the USArmy and National Guard, since there should be a fair number of people from them around, and they should have different OCC's and gear than NEMA. since the Army would have different approaches to things than NEMA, it could also give some options for tensions within the survivor groups too, especially if not all of the army units recognize NEMA as having any kind of authority over them. (which chain of command wise, they probably wouldn't.)

Rifter 47 sort of touches this although it is actually USAF gear and not US Army or NG. The USAF got the nice SAMAS and other MD equipment while the army and marines sorta wallowed due to reductions in funding and watched the Air force grow alongside NEMA.

[abe]

Mres!!!!!