This section details weapons, protective gear, and oter items used in combat. These have additional rules beyond being treated as equipment traits.
The RFI Universe is a dangerous place. While living in the middle of the League space you might be able to live day to day without having to worry about being armed, in most placed in the galaxy it's more common to have a firearm than not.
Weapons and other forms of attack, as well as the damage caused by hazards, have a few common elements determining the specifics of how they function. The key elements of a weapon of a weapon include:
The following qualities alter the way the weapon functions: some in positive ways, others by applying restrictions:
Nearly every sentient species has developed weapons capable of breaking limbs or cutting flesh. In the modern era, few have uses for larger melee weapons, though knives continue to be useful for military personnel to learn to fight with. However, over the last few centuries, bladed weapons (such as sword and rapiers) have become popular with privateers and pirates as they are far less likely to do collatoral damage while bording a space ship.
These are some common examples of weapons found in the RFI Universe. These are by no means the only weapons, but even the weapons from this list with a high credit rating wouldn't be considered strange or out of place in the universe, simply concerning or rare.
This is, by no means, an exhaustive list of weapons and gamemasters are encouraged to work with their players to create more tailored weapons for their groups.
| Name | Type | Injury | Severity | Size | Qualities | Credit Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unarmed Strike | Melee | Stun | 2 | 1H | — | — |
| Anesthetic Needle | Melee | Stun | 3 | 1H | Cumbersome, Intense | CR 1 |
| Knife / Dagger | Melee | Deadly | 2 | 1H | Hidden 1 | CR 0 |
| Blade / Sword | Melee | Deadly | 3 | 1H | — | CR 2 |
| Cutlass | Melee | Deadly | 3 | 1H | Accurate | CR 2 |
| Rapier | Melee | Deadly | 2 | 1H | Accurate, Intense | CR 2 |
| Heavy Blade / Sword | Melee | Deadly | 3 | 2H | Intense | CR 2 |
| Bludgeon | Melee | Stun, Deadly | 3 | 1H | — | CR 1 |
| Slug Thrower (Handgun) | Ranged | Deadly | 2 | 1H | Ammo, Hidden 1 | CR 2 |
| Slug Thrower (Rifle) | Ranged | Deadly | 3 | 2H | Ammo | CR 2 |
| Assault Rifle | Ranged | Deadly | 3 | 2H | Ammo, Accurate, Area | CR 2 |
| Shotgun | Ranged | Deadly | 3 | 2H | Ammo, Innaccurate, Knockdown | CR 2 |
| Cartridge Railgun (Handgun) | Ranged | Deadly | 4 | 1H | Ammo, Hidden 1, Piercing 1 | CR 1 |
| IA Gladius 88 | Ranged | Deadly | 4 | 1H | Accurate, Ammo, Hidden 1 | CR 1 |
| Cartridge Railgun (Rifle) | Ranged | Deadly | 5 | 2H | Ammo, Piercing 1 | CR 1 |
| EDS Bravo Mk6 Sniper | Ranged | Deadly | 5 | 2H | Accurate, Ammo, Cumbersome, Intense | CR 2 |
| EDS Delta Mk3 Rifle | Ranged | Deadly | 5 | 2H | Accurate, Ammo, Charge | CR 1 |
| Plasma Gun (PEP) | Ranged | Stun, Deadly | 4 | 1H | Hidden 1 | CR 0 |
| IA Ibis 7 | Ranged | Stun, Deadly | 4 | 1H | Charge, Hidden 1 | CR 1 |
| IA Legate 27 | Ranged | Stun, Deadly | 4 | 1H | Hidden 1, Intense | CR 1 |
| Plasma Rifle (PEP) | Ranged | Stun, Deadly | 5 | 2H | Area, Innaccurate | CR 1 |
| Coaxial Plasma Gun | Ranged | Deadly | 4 | 1H | Charge | CR 2 |
| IA Ibis 9 | Ranged | Stun, Deadly | 4 | 1H | Charge, Debilitating | CR 2 |
| Coaxial Plasma Rifle | Ranged | Deadly | 5 | 2H | Cumbersome, Intense, Piercing 2 | CR 2 |
Firearms are one of the consistent inventions across the majorty of sentient life. Every sentient race that has engaged in the killing other sentient life has, eventually, invented things that could be considered "firearms".
A firearm is defined as any weapon that is readily carried and used by an individual that fires ranged projectiles. In the RFI universe, firearms fall into one of several categories. Each has their own strength and weaknesses.
Conventional Projectile Weapons (CPWs) are, simply put, weapons that accellerate a projectile of some form (generally metal) at high velocities. CPWs are simple, reliable, predictable, and generally safe to operate. They are still the bread and butter of planetary defense forces, and other civilian oriented uses.
These old-school "slug throwers" are still some of the most prolific, reliable, and cheap weapons around. They might not have the armor penetration of other weapon types, but they aren't designed for that. On the other hand, if you're looking to make something made from flesh not alive anymore, they'll do the job just as well as anything else.
Railguns are considered by some the ultimate form of CPWs. They have most of the benefits of Directed Energy Weapons, as well as their cartridge brotheren. A railgun works by accellerating a metal projectile to ridiculous speeds in a very short amount of time. This acceleration is often achieved by machnetic means, however gravitic railguns are equally possible; they just require significantly more energy.
Railguns have a very interesting property that their damage is proportional to the amount of power put into the shot. The upper bound of this is generally the point when the atmosphere is turned into a plasma, or the destructive force is such that the one firing the weapon is caught in the resulting explosion.
Note: Take even the most basic, low power railgun and modify it with access to external power, and you can generally get a single shot of immense damage potential. Generally this comes at the cost of destroying to weapon, but it's been used by many a desperate individual.
Railguns represent the vast majority of light to medium duty firearms. They dominate the civilian market, and have made their way into paramilitary use as well. They are one of the weapons prefered for shipboard action as they can have their power dialed back enough to avoid puncturing the hull with a stray shot, while remaining fairly lethal.
These are traditional railguns, but their ammunition seeks to solve the 'power and ammunition' problem. The look like cartridge bullets, however instead of the body being filled with a checmical accelerant, it's an individual, per-shot powercell. While this limits the weapon to just the maximum output of the cartridge (though an external powersource can always be used to increase available power) it greatly reduces the awkwardness of maintaining both power and ammunition.
In most CRGs, the spent cartridges are collected back in the same clip or magazine as the fresh ammunition. This allows for them to be reused rather easily. Often, military versions will have battlefield ammunition reloading stations that can, in a few minutes, replenish the power for the cartridges, and reload ready-made projectiles.
Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) are firearms that do not fire a projectile in a traditional sense. Instead, they use their own power systems to cause damage in other ways.
All DEWs are considered complex weapons to manufacture. They require intricate control systems and power management. While it's possible to make "dumb fire" CPW, all DEWs are "smart" weapons, integrating targeting, power control and other features. Since they require such complex control systems already, adding other smart features was simple.
DEWs are rarely used by civilians, with Puled Energy Projectile (PEP) weapons being the primary exception. Simple, non-lethal versions are sold for 'personal defense'.
Plasma weapons are devastatingly destructive. They bring the one-two-three punch of thermal and kinetic damage followed by electromagnetic radiation that can damage or disable electronics. They are incredibly power hungry, however. For the same amount of power, a railgun will generally get twice as many shots.
Pulsed Energy Projectile (PEP) is a type of weapon that fires an infrared lazer at an abaltive taget, generating a plasma projectile. Originally concieved of as a non-lethal weapon, PEPs can be scaled up to devistating levels.
Because PEPs are driven by a laster ablating a special material, PEPs are much more energy efficient than their larger, more destructive brotheren. A single weapon can have a non-lethal setting, as well as more destructive settings. They can be scaled down to be appropriate for ship-board action, as well as used to deliver impressive single-shot damage, with a PEP handgun able to deliver one or two shots at the same damage output as much larger heavy weapons.
It should be noted that since PEPs require ablation, they do need to be properly maintained, with their ablative plate replaced on a semi-regular basis.
Coaxial Plasma (CP) weapons generates toroids of plasma and fire them at hypervelocities. These toroids are self-reinforcing, keeping the plasma coherent over a longer distance than other plasma weapons. CPs use massively more energy than other weapon types, as the plasma needs to be generated (either from atmosphere, or an internal fuel source) and then it needs to be accellerated at a significant fraction the speed of light. This means that the damage potential of CPs over energy required is logarithmic. Normally, that would be a negative, but CPs are so devistating, they're almost never operated in the upper range, and are actually reasonably efficient in the lower power bands.
Note: Since CPs require a fuel to ionize, most military grade CPs have reserve hydrogen canisters, or reserve atmosphere tanks where they collect air when not surrounded by vacuum, and store it for use, if needed.
The main problem with CPs is the simply fact that they are the most complex firearm type. Many consider them unreliable; this isn't stricktly true, they just have to be maintained well and poorly designed weapons might be more sensitive to environmental hazards that other weapons.
CPs are used heavily in military actions where ungodly amounts of power in a small package is required. However, CPs are less desirable for use onboard a ship, because while they technically can be scaled down to the same ranges (and effects) as PEPs, it add complexity, so most firearm manufacturers simply don't design for it.
Most basic armor consists of metal or ceramic plates to provide extra protection. However, some use more advanced gravitics to provide more advanced protections.
Armor provides a character with Protection, which reduces the cost of avoiding injuries inflicted against that character. A character may only wear a single form of protective gear at a time.
| Name | Protection | Credit Rating | Special Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVA Suit | 1 | CR 0 | — |
| Armored Clothes | 1 | CR 1 | — |
| Body Armor | 2 | CR 2 | — |
| Power Armor | 3 | CR 3, Restricted | See description below |
| Active Armor | 3 | CR 4, Restricted | See description below |
Body Armor has been common for nearly a millenia, it relatively easy to come by, but wearing it signals to everyone that you're expecting trouble.
More subtle, Armored Clothes are a more modern solution that provides a more subtle form of protection, however, it isn't quite as good.
Extra Vehicular Activities suits, or EVA suits are used for dealing with harsh or deadly environments, like hard vacuum. They have their own propulsion and air supply, as well as some armoring. The opportunity cost may be ignored if in a location that would reasonably have suits on hand (such as a space station or starship).
Note: Power armor is generally restricted to military use and may be illegal to own without some sort of permit.
Power armor has been a topic of speculative fiction for centuries. Only in the last few hundred years has it been viable. Power armor gives you incredible strength, armor protection, emergency medical attention, and the benefits of an EVA suit. (For game purposes, Power Armor should be treated the same as an EVA suit and a medkit.)
Note: For Fitness based skill checks, the 'Power Armor' trait should reduce the difficulty or outright success, depending.
A character with power armor gains the listed Protection, but it may also be sacrificed when you avoid an injury. When sacrificed, the type of injury is changed to a stun injury, and then the power armor burns out and provides no further protection.
Note: Active armor is generally restricted to military use. If you have it, it is assumed stolen.
Active armor combines Body Armor and advanced electronics to control gravity or magnetic fields to help provide more protection. The systems are highly experimental, expensive to build, and they do not last very long; the Gamemaster may have it run out of power as a complication. When disabled (or turned off) they operate the same as normal body armor.
A character with active armor gains the listed Protection, but it may also be sacrificed when you avoid an injury. When sacrificed, the type of injury is changed to a stun injury, and then the active armor burns out and provides the same protection as normal body armor.
A combination scanner, portable diagnostic unit, welder, soldering iron, gravity manipulator and haptic feedback interface, the humble multitool look one look at the swiss army knife of previous generations and modernized the hell out of it. It's often not the best tool for the job, but it's the only tool that can do so many jobs.
The venerable medkit, packed with pain killers, tourniquets, and everything you need to patch someone up in the field. If it's useful, it can be assumed to be included. You can't do surgury with it, but you can get close and you'd rather have one than not.
Computing technology has continued to evolve, miniaturize and become more powerful. Modern computers are small enough to be fit into most devices, almost everything is a 'computer' of one form or another. But, most of these "smart" devices are designed with very specialized computing in mind. Other, more general computers are also used by most races, but those tend to take the form of a pad or phone, or similar device.
A data drive, or a 'drive' or a 'disk' is just a general storage device. Roughly like a USB drive of today, these thend to have massive capacities and be wireless; they often don't have their own power, but when places near a terminal, they can be powered and used with high bandwidth wireless transfer.
The term 'phone' has survived 700 years at this point, though a "phone" in RFI:Freelancers is a very different device than a current era cellphone. All phones are designed to link to local networks, while most ships (including just shuttles) are designed to operate as small broadcasting or relay stations, When infrastructure like a space station exists, the phone will connect to that, though bandwidth can be limited based on how the station has things set up.
In the case where there's no relay to connect to, phones will build a peer to peer network with each other, allowing local communication of about a kilometer or so. In situations like this, latency can be an issue.
In terms of form factors, there's two default ones: small, wrist-based phones, or more traditional retangular devices. All phones are capable of connecting to screen, keyboard and other systems to function as the 'brains', with the screens being 'dumb' pass throughs.
All phones have a basic security mode limiting sound to just the owner of the phone, and obscuring the screen. More advanced models have more active privacy measures.
A "pad" is a tablet style device. It's functionally the same as a phone, however many are produces in sort of 'disposable' mode where they're treaded more like pieces of paper or note pads than costly devices. You can buy them in ten packs for almost nothing.
Basic models would have no privacy modes like a normal phone would, but are otherwise capable.
Basically, these are just like current era devices with built in screens and keyboards, but often people just connect their phones up and use that as their primary device and just have a dumb clamshell with a screen and keyboard for when they want this formfactor.
A NavKey is a form of Data Drive, but in a physical form factor that allows for physical connections, encryption, and all kinds of creativity in a creating these against a standardized interface. They are designed so each and every NavKey is a unique thing that can only be unlocked and opened by those who know the secret.
Most NavKeys contain instructions to locations that are hidden or secured somehow, but they can also include security codes, instructions, and any other data. Sometimes they're just used as ultra secure (and over the top) data drives.