Equipment Modifiers

The quality of your equipment modifies your skill rolls for tasks that normally require equipment:

• No equipment: -10 for technological skills, -5 for other skills. Note that many skills cannot be used at all without equipment!

• Improvised equipment: -5 for technological skills, -2 for other skills.

• Basic equipment: No modifier. This is the case most of the time.

• Good-quality equipment: +1. Costs about 5x basic price.

• Fine-quality equipment: +2. Costs about 20 x basic price.

• Best equipment possible at your TL: +TL/2, round down (minimum +2). Not usually for sale!

If you have “basic” or better equipment that is not in perfect condition, the following modifiers apply in addition to quality modifiers:

• Missing important items: -1 per item. 

• Damaged equipment: -1 to -3.

Equipment modifiers reflect the quality of:

• Special “tools of the trade,” for criminal, military, and espionage skills such as Disguise, Explosives, Forgery, Forward Observer, Holdout, and Lockpicking. 

• The contents of your backpack, for outdoor skills like Fishing and Survival.

• Your instruments or lab, for scientific and medical skills such as Alchemy, Diagnosis, Meteorology, Navigation, and Surgery.

• Your shop or toolkit, for Armoury, Carpentry, Electrician, Electronics Repair, Engineer, Machinist, Masonry, Mechanic, Smith, and other skills used to build or repair things.

• Your studio, for artistic skills – Artist, Jeweler, Photography, etc.

Example:  For First Aid skill:  

• “improvised” might mean leaves and clean mud; 

• “basic,” sterile bandages; 

• “good,” a standard first-aid kit; 

• “fine,” a crash kit (found in most ambulances); and 

• “best,” an entire hospital. 

Missing antiseptic would give -1, while a first-aid kit salvaged from a wrecked vehicle might give -1 or worse for damaged equipment.