Showing posts with label robotic enhancements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label robotic enhancements. Show all posts

Monday, March 27, 2017

Solar Panels

Sunward, and in some exoplanets, solar power is a fairly reliable method to generate electricity. While not always potent, the sun shines bright enough to generate power on Mars, the Lunar surface and other locations scattered around the inner system region. Solar power can also be artificially stimulated for chargers and other devices, though obviously, simple witricity charging or self-charging batteries are often better. The portability of this is found in the Solar Recharger (p. 155 Gatecrashing) a backpack unit with an extendible photonic film/smart material panel which can generate power at a similar rate to nuclear batteries - though with slightly less rare materials and no effective limit on lifespan. While a backpack unit is useful for many things, like other tech there is no reason such devices cannot be installed in certain morphs.

Solar Panels: Based on the Solar Recharger, this simple augmentation embeds collapsible solar panels into the synthmorph, which can be extended as a Quick Action to begin drawing power. The augmentation uses a pair of slightly shorter (about 1 meter) panels instead of a single longer panel, having an appearance a bit like wings when unfurled. These panels generate power in sunlight similar to the recharger or a nuclear battery and can top off internal batteries or small devices connected via PAN in short amounts of time - or allow a morph with an implant such as Eelware to charge larger devices they are connected too. [Trivial]

Solar Panels are common in Martian synthmorphs who wish to live "off the grid" but don't want to carry an external charging device with them, or in a couple of space-based Synthmorphs (such as the Courier) as an add-on for those who might be catching enough light to charge internal power. Gatecrashing synths have also started investing in them, as a way to reliably generate battery power in terrestrial environments, with the low cost usually being worth it even if they end up in a locale not with solar power.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Self-Destruct

As noted under False Death, sometimes you need to secure your physical body to prevent capture of your Ego, or some other vital intelligence. Maybe you must actually delete the copy, or you just need to fake your death for a second. But, in the case of some uses, you may also just need to ensure physical destruction of yourself and anything in your immediate area. In this case, Synthmorphs may be armed with a Self-Destruct.

Self-Destruct: This robotic enhancement embeds an explosive charge into the synthmorph, which can be remotely detonated at any time, or is also enabled to go off if the morph ceases to function. When activated, it completely destroys the morph (deal damage equal to DR) and deals 6d10+12 DV with an AP of -4 with normal Area weapon rules. This device mimics an enlarged fragmentation grenade, with the morph itself forming the shrapnel. In addition to trigger by the morph itself, Self-Destruct can also be activated via a Puppet-Sock or Ghostrider with the appropriate permissions, and some are even set with timers. Not compatible with Hidden Compartment. [Expensive]

Self-Destruct devices are illegal in almost all habitats, and even those without such regulations tend to be distrustful or wary of a person carrying a live bomb inside their body. Bots and drones armed with Self-Destructs are common for covert operations - but prominently Cases or Griefer morphs armed with these enhancements have been seen in acts of terrorism by those protesting oppression of Synthmorphs or Indentures on Mars and Luna. Detecting these devices can be done with Gamma or X-Ray screening, or a Electrical Sense check, and may also be detected with a powerful Chem Sniffer system. At GM's discretion, a Critical Success on a combat check against the Self-Destruct morph can cause the device to detonate prematurely, or be damaged so as to be inoperable. If installed into a Large or Very Large morph/vehicle/bot, GM may also double DV or AP at their discretion.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Electrogravitics System

Electrogravitics is a bit of a misnomer, in that it is a system to counteract the natural effects of gravity utilizing electrical discharge - not generating gravity through electricity (though many Argonaut research papers are being written on this perspective). Normally, this comes in the form of the Electrogravitics Net (p. 332 EP), or "safety net", a web of electrical generators designed to catch a person who is falling and negate the effects of falling at a height. However, as an external device, the safety net requires some preparation to use, and requires access to external power to recharge - which may not be optimal in a safety situation. To this end, technicians have designed a variant of the technology which can be installed directly in Synthmorphs.

Electrogravitics System: This augmentation for synthmorphs embeds an electrical discharge system which can produce massive charge to counteract the effects of gravity, just like the Electrogravitics Net. The capability is roughly matched with that system, able to reduce all damage from a fall of ~50m in 1 G of gravity. Like the Net, this system requires a lot of energy to utilize, and after it is used, it is depleted and must recharge over one hour using the internal power supply of the Synthmorph. Unlike the net, however, the EGS can also be utilized by a Synthmorph for quick bursts of lateral movement. This can grant a +30 to an appropriate Freerunning or Free Fall test to bypass obstacles or reach locations, or in structured time allow the user to quickly burst to move up to 6 meters in a single quick action. The EGS is not usually equipped on flying frames, and cannot be equipped to a Swarmanoid morph. [Moderate]

(Why yes, I do own Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Why do you ask?)