We're continuing on with more personal devices, nothing too exciting. The inertial locator just tells you how far away you are from where you started; it's like a homing beacon for your home base. It's expensive, at 1200 Cr, and heavy at about three pounds.
The metal detector and Geiger counter are next; they're pretty much as advertised. So is the bull-horn, and it's noted that it's awkward and bulky. I especially like the 'hand calculator,' which has only one of the features of your own cell phone. Oh, and there's a 'hand computer' as well, which has most of the rest of the cell phone's functions. Here's a funny one: The hand computer is tech level 11. Yes, starships come before hand computers. That didn't age well at all, did it?
Ooh, a psionic shield helmet. I wonder if it's primarily made of aluminum foil. It's expensive, at 4,000 Cr, but you can get it at tech level 8. Yes, a psionic shield helmet is available in places hand computers aren't. Man, they were definitely not on the cutting edge of technology when they wrote this.
Handcuffs and wristwatches round out the personal devices. I have to think that this list got updated in one of the future editions of the game, because this stuff was available by the late 80s (except the hand computer, which has been around for about twenty years now).
Next up are Vision Aids, including binoculars, IR goggles, light-intensifying goggles, torches, electric torches, gas or oil lamps, and a cold-light lantern. That would be an LED, most likely. Nothing unusual or exciting here.
Next up are Tools, most of which you could find in your local hardware store. Carpentry tools, metalwork tools, chainsaw, mechanical tools, electronic tools...Oh, there's a lock pick set and a disguise kit, which probably won't be found at the local hardware store. Again, there's nothing special here.
Since this page is already done, I'm going to add a bit more to my subsector here. Let's take a quick peek at the E-port at 0101, which has no charted jump routes even though it's right next to a D-port world. It's profile is E6285694, which means a 6000-mile diameter world (a bit smaller than Earth), a very thin, tainted atmosphere, 80% water, a low population of 100,000, a captive government, no weapons allowed whatsoever, and tech-level 4, or roughly equal to the early 20th-century, say World War I era.
So, who's running the show? It's a colony or a conquered world, but there's no jump route here. Maybe it's a forgotten colony? That works; it's a colony that was run by a political entity that doesn't exist any longer, but there are still some holdouts from that polity (or its sycophants) who run things here as they used to be. The population is held in virtual bondage, unable to use any weapons against their oppressive overlords.
Sounds like a place ripe for liberation, if PCs are interested in that sort of thing. I'm going to call it Dreyvan IV, just because. The reason for the name is lost to scholars, again, just because.
Next up, let's go down to its nearest neighbor at 0102. This world is called...Scartatile. I know, it's a weird name. I do that sometimes. Its profile is D4346693. Small world (Mars-sized), a very thin atmosphere, 40% water, population around 1,000,000, and another captive government that restricts all weapons. Interesting...
Okay, so Scartatile is part of the same ancient polity as Dreyvan IV. Like its neighbor to the north, it's a non-industrial world. But unlike Dreyvan IV, there's a jump route to a nearby world, a C-port. This jump route links to the hub of A-worlds in the middle, so this is going to be a part of that polity now. Which means that Scartatile was part of the ancient polity, but was conquered by the new guys on the block at some point. But why haven't they moved on to Dreyvan IV yet? Good question. Maybe because there's been some instability in the jump points in Dreyvan's system. Is that a thing in this game? It's about to be, anyway. Perhaps the Hub worlds are looking for a safe way to get to Dreyvan IV from Scartatile (the only world within a single hex).
But as for Scartatile itself, it's a conquered world. Maybe these people were exceptionally fierce fighters, and are now recruited as mercenaries. Possible PC origin world! Even with its very thin atmosphere, it's a decent little planet with a lot of land surface. The natives are slowly being assimilated into the Hub's society.
Okay, so that's a bit more on the Hub. Tune in next time when we look at more equipment and come up with a couple more worlds.
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