Stellar Swords
An OGL Resource for Space Fantasy Roleplaying

Equipment:
Sensors and Imaging

Item Cost Weight
Behavior analyzer 500 cr 10 lb.
Behavior analyzer, handheld 400 cr 2 lb.
Digital binoculars 750 cr 1 lb.
EM sensor 500 cr 1/2 lb.
Holocam 500 cr 2 lb.
Infrared goggles 200 cr 1 lb.
Infrared sensors 100 cr —
Integrated goggles 250 cr 1 lb.
   with EM/Layer/IO/IR/Nightvision/UV 1,550 cr 2 lb.
Low-light lantern 30 cr 1/2 lb.
Low-light tape (1,000 ft.) 10 cr 1/2 lb.
Multiscanner 2,500 cr 3 lb.
Nightvision goggles 250 cr 1 lb.
Nightvision sensor 150 cr —
Security scanner 1,000 cr 2 lb.
Sniffer 500 cr 3 lb.
Sonic scanner 1,500 cr 4 lb.
Surveillance laser 1,200 cr 5 lb.
Ultraviolet goggles 200 cr 1 lb.
Ultraviolet sensors 100 cr —.

Behavior Analyzer: This desktop device measures blood pressure, brainwave activity, galvanic skin response, and other physiological cues to determine the subject's overall emotional and mental state. You get a +4 circumstance bonus on Sense Motive checks if the subject is hooked up to a behavior analyzer.

Behavior Analyzer, Handheld: This is a portable version of the full-size device. It is less sophisticated and accurate, but it provides a +2 circumstance bonus on Sense Motive checks.

Digital Binoculars: These handheld devices offer up to 25x magnification, providing the user with a +2 circumstance bonus on distance-hampered Search and Spot checks. If the user selects the appropriate view mode, the binoculars can also process infrared, ultraviolet, and amplified light.

EM Sensor: About three inches long by half an inch wide, this is a sophisticated electromagnetic field sensor. It has an active and passive mode. In passive mode, it picks up fields that intersect with it. This is useful for passing through scanning equipment as well as detecting powered equipment. Even lamps and datapads produce rather distinct fields.

EM sensor Search and Spot skill checks have a DC based on the type of power source. Small devices, microelectronics, and the bioelectric field of living beings are DC 25. Larger items, such as visors and power systems, are DC 20. Weapons and other powerful, cyclic power systems are DC 15. Devices that produce strong electromagnetic fields, such as signal jammers, show up automatically.

The active mode is capable of picking up faint signals. Electronics with no power running through them still have faint fields and field potentials. Active mode grants a +20 circumstance bonus to Spot or Search skill checks for detecting electrically powered devices. The sensor itself, however, shows up brightly to anyone else using EM sensors. In addition, EMP damage to the sensor requires a Fortitude save (DC equal to the damage suffered) to avoid blinding the sensor.

The hardness and armor bonus of any obstructing material are added to the DC of any Search or Spot checks using the sensor. However, EM sensors can detect fields through cover, particularly in active mode.

Holocam: This handheld device records three-dimensional, full-motion images and audio for display on a holographic projector. A holocam has sufficient onboard storage for 100 hours of recording. It also features a datachip port for additional storage. A standard datachip can store 10 hours of holographic recordings.

Integrated Goggles: The abundance of eyewear available to the discriminating buyer creates a distinct need for packages. The common solution is a modular approach. Sensors are designed so that they can be easily installed into integrated goggles. Digital glasses, layer goggles, and IO glasses may also be installed. This system simplifies switching between modes. With IO glasses installed, vision type can be changed as a free action. Otherwise, the mode has to be changed manually, requiring a move action.

The cost listed is for the base unit. Other items can be added directly to the price, with a possible 10% service cost.

Infrared Goggles: This eyewear allows the user to see temperature variations at a normal range of vision. During the day, heat from the sun may cause a great deal of "glare," limiting the usefulness of this technology. At night, the heat of animals and many machines shows up clearly against plants and other objects that closely match the ambient temperature. It's possible to follow recently made footprints, as each print leaves a heat signature on the ground. In a vacuum, temperature variations can be extreme, but infrared still works fairly well in most roles.

Undead and many objects are difficult to spot using infrared technology, as they blend in with the background temperature. However, the goggles are very useful for penetrating spells and other magical effects intended to prevent visual detection and identification. In general, the same rules apply to thermal sensors as apply to the blindsight special ability.

Infrared Sensors: These sensors are oblong disks, three inches by one inch. Unlike nightvision, these sensors need a larger surface to properly detect and resolve thermal images. Two or more units provide normal visual range, while one sensor provides 1/4 normal range.

Low-Light Lantern: Two inches long, this device can provide illumination in a 60-foot radius, a 100-foot cone, or a long-range illumination mode. It can be carried or attached to equipment. This illumination is extremely dim: It provides no benefit to normal vision but functions like a flashlight for users of nightvision sensors or characters with natural lowlight vision. With binoculars or a low-light scope, targets show up brightly and clearly, even on clouded nights or underground. However, using a lantern in this way makes the user stand out quite clearly to others with low-light vision or darkvision. Its internal power source lasts 100 hours before requiring a recharge.

Low-Light Tape: This gray tape comes in a standard roll. The tape glows like a phosphorescent strip, though the light emitted is only visible to users of low-light vision or darkvision. The tape is very useful in roles where low-light vision is common. It is used to mark access corridors and hatches in starships operated by elves, gnomes, and other races with natural low-light vision. It is also frequently used as an improvised source of illumination by military forces.

Multiscanner: This useful handheld device is indispensable for field scientists and explorers in the frontier wilderness. It incorporates a number of functions useful for evaluating environmental conditions and identifying life forms. The multiscanner features the following sensor systems.

Nightvision Goggles: These devices amplify available light, granting the user all of the benefits of lowlight vision. The user can see twice as far as an unassisted human in starlight, moonlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.

Nightvision Sensor: This is a small device, shaped like a thick coin about an inch across. These sensors are typically used in pairs and provide the wearer with low-light vision, as the racial trait. These sensors are typically installed into integrated goggles or attached to a port. Nightvision sensors can also be linked to programs, robots, and security devices. Nightvision sensors can be combined into an integrated visor less visibly, as part of the overall unit. The listed cost is per unit, though two are needed for best results. Relying on one sensor imposes a –2 penalty on all actions relying on binocular vision (such as ranged combat or piloting, most Search and Spot checks, etc.).

Security Scanner: This handheld device monitors electrical currents and a broad radio spectrum and localizes low-power transmissions. It is capable of detecting microbugs and other electronic surveillance devices within 50 feet. The scanner has a small integrated electromagnetic pulse generator capable of frying such devices' electronic circuitry. The EMP unit also grants the user a +2 circumstance bonus on Disable Device checks to sabotage other electronics, from datapads to electronic door locks and security systems.

Sniffer: A common technology among law enforcement, sniffers are able to detect trace amounts of various chemical substances and compounds. Unlike the functions integrated into the multiscanner, sniffers are commonly programmed to recognize manufactured substances. Firearm propellant, blaster residue, drugs, and ozone from high-power devices are all targets for the sniffer. The range of a sniffer is more limited than a multiscanner, at 20 feet.

Sniffers are often set up at checkpoints, forcing would-be smugglers to pass by them. There are few good counteragents to sniffers. Armors may absorb sound, radiation, and other forces, but trace chemicals are difficult to contain. Most technologies and substances can be identified using these devices.

Using a sniffer to identify a range of strong, common chemicals requires a Use Device check (DC 10). These include chemicals such as gun propellant, armor gel, ozone from power systems, alcohol, and volatile or explosive chemicals. Unique chemical signatures based on race or species can be identified with a check DC of 20. Rare or hard to detect traces have a DC of 25. Even if detected, they may simply register as an “unknown trace.”

A character with appropriate tools can attempt to apply counteragents and binders to himself or his illicit cargo. These efforts require a Disable Device check. The character must have 2 or more ranks in Knowledge (chemistry) or Craft (alchemy) to attempt this deception. If successful, the Disable Device check result is used as the new Use Device DC for the sniffer (if it is higher than the normal DC).

Sonic Scanner: This device looks like a pistol with a flaring barrel. Using sound waves, the scanner can probe below the surface of an object and identify substances and composition. The device's scanning range is a ray five feet wide and 10 feet long. This range is reduced by one foot per point of the object's hardness. Objects with different hardnesses are calculated separately. For example, if a scanner were trained on a wooden table, a ghost image of the table would be displayed. However, the scanner would not penetrate the stone floor very deeply.

Objects with hardness 10 or greater have a scanning depth of 20 inches minus the object's hardness. For example, scan of an iron object (hardness 10) would have a maximum depth of 10 inches.

Use Device checks can reveal composition and other details of objects scanned. A DC 15 check reveals basic composition and produces a good schematic of the interior of an object. A DC 20 check provides more detailed composition and design. A check of DC 25 and above produces an incredibly detailed analysis. Such an analysis would allow a scanner to pick out and identify different crystals within granite.

The scanner can function as a crude sonar device, though the field of view is narrow. It will not function in a vacuum.

Multiscanners are better than sonic scanners in several respects. A multiscanner does not require an atmosphere and has better range. It can also identify materials much more easily. However, sonic scanners can probe deeper into materials. This use is particularly important for tasks such as security or geological surveying.

Surveillance Laser: This portable device generates a laser beam (invisible to unassisted sight) with a line-of-sight range of 10 miles. In application, the device's effective range in urban areas is about 500 feet. The laser is aimed at a window or similar thin surface. It is capable of recording, digitizing, and translating the vibrations of this surface to replicate nearby conversations. The device has a datachip port for storing recordings, and a single chip can store thousands of hours of recorded conversations. The surveillance laser can also be connected directly to a datapad or other computer via wireless network.

Ultraviolet Goggles: Similar to other goggles, this eyewear allows the wearer to see into the ultraviolet spectrum. The greatest benefits are gained underwater, where such goggles allow the user to see twice as far as an unaided human.

Ultraviolet Sensors: These are small disks less than an inch in diameter. Two installed in integrated goggles provide binocular UV vision. They can also be used as underwater sensors for robots or other devices.