Pezozhid Freighter-Overarm Claw-Sky Slicer-Pub Droid-The Hat-Hypermatter Conveyor During the course of several years of gamemastering SWRPG sessions, I've had to come up with several new devices and technologies not available in existing West End Games sources. This is a small selection of them. jSarek's Fantastic Technology
Pezozhid Freighter
If any corporation ever wants to
discover what shoddy workmanship and
corner cutting can do to a corporation, one need
only look at the now-defunct CarissaCorp and
their Pezozhid freighter.CarissaCorp was a young startup
company on the colony world of Carissa.
Believing local clientele wanted a
locally constructed, inexpensive, easily staffed
freighter capable of carrying a cargo greater
than that of the popular YT-1300, they created a
freighter with these attributes in mind . . . but
little else. They bought low-grade construction
materials, bottom-line drive systems, inferior
quality sensor arrays, and surplus light laser
cannons from Kuat, who had just introduced a
newer model with better fire control.CarissaCorp's marketing team worked
overtime, and as a result, many Pezozhids were
sold in the first few weeks. However, as owners
discovered the many flaws of the craft, and as
word spread among spacers about the total
inadequacy of the “Piece o’ Sith” freighter, sales
dropped dramatically. Unfortunately for
CarissaCorp, the early sales had encouraged
additional construction, and the company was
left with dozens of virtually unsellable starships,
and defaulted on a debt greater than the rest of
Carissa's nascent economy combined. Under
this weight, CarissaCorp dissolved and the many
Pezozhid freighters were sold at auction.The Pezozhid really is the worst of
many worlds. It is slow, clumsy, low on
consumables, under-armed, under-armored, with
insufficient navicomputer and sensors.
However, it does have one useful side. The
Pezozhid's cargo compartment is almost
perfectly sized for a Z-95 Headhunter or
X-Wing starfighter, and the existing cargo
loading system needs only minor modifications
to allow the vessel easy entry and exit, even in
space. For this reason, Pezozhids are often used
to transport these starfighters, especially since
one can usually find a Pezozhid for less than the
cost of installing a hyperdrive on a Z-95. The
Pezozhid was the first choice for the creation of
Luke Skywalker's Covert Shroud during the
Thrawn campaign, considering it was
inexpensive and would require minimal
modifications; but one could not be acquired in
time, so a Ghtroc 720 was used instead.Pezozhid Freighter
Craft: CarissaCorp 0-0-0 Pezozhid Freighter
Type: Stock Light Freighter
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 30 Meters
Skill: Space Transports: Pezozhid Freighter
Crew: 1
Passengers: 3
Cargo Capacity: 135 Metric Tons
Consumables: 3 Weeks
Cost: 10,000 (Used)
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x3
Hyperdrive Backup: x15
Nav Computer: Limited to 4 jumps
Maneuverability: 0D
Space: 3
Atmosphere: 206; 750 kmh
Hull: 2D
Shields: 0D
Sensors:
Passive: 10/0D
Scan: 25/+2
Search: 40/1D+1
Focus: 2/2D
Weapons:
Light Laser Cannon
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 1-5/10/17
Atmosphere Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5 km
Damage: 2D
Overarm Claw (As Seen in Francisco's Fantastic
Technology)
The Overarm Claw is an unusual
weapon. It consists of a black box strapped to
the user's arm, from which three blades, about
.3 meters long and curved only at the tips,
protrude. A depressable switch at the rear of the
box allows the user to retract and extend the
blades. Though unpowered, these three wicked
blades working in tandem can deal as much
damage as a vibroweapon As Crayd Weapons
Systems’ promotional material states:Elegant, yet dangerous, this weapon combines
finesse and deadliness, all in one swipe. The
triple blade downsizes the amateurs and
provides the wearer with a psychological
victory, sometimes ending the battle before it
has begun!*
Overarm Claw
Model: Crayd Weapons Systems Overarm
Claw
Type: Retractable assault claw
Skill: Melee Combat: Overarm Claw
Cost: 2,500
Availability: 4, F, R, or X
Difficulty: Moderate
Damage: STR+3D (Maximum 7D)
Sky Slicer
Growing on the success of their Sky
Striker 5000, Aratech developed a newer, more
compact model. By halving the length to a mere
1 meter, Aratech developed a skimmer capable
of being comfortably transported on one's back
and usable just about anywhere. It lost some of
its speed, altitude range, and its ability to
tractor-tow a drogue behind it, but the increase
in portability made up for it; additional sound
baffling meant the device could be used in many
urban locales unavailable to its predecessor due
to noise pollution ordinances.Sky Slicer
Craft: Aratech Sky Striker 7000
Type: Modified Swoop
Scale: Speeder
Length: 1m
Skill: Swoop Operations: Sky Slicer
Crew: 1
Altitude Range: Ground - 150m
Cover: None
Cost: 4,500 (new), 750 - 1,000 (used)
Availability: 2
Maneuverability: 3D
Move: 105; 300 kph
Body Strength: 1D
Game Notes: Sound Sensor Baffling: adds
+1D to the difficulty of detecting the vehicle by
sound
Pub Droid
Cybot Galactica's Robo-Bartender,
though not without its share of problems, could
be found in many bars through much of the
galaxy. However, Cybot Galactica felt the
overall premise of the Robo-Bartender could be
improved upon, so the Pub Droid was
developed.There were three primary complaints
regarding the Robo-Bartender. First, the
Robo-Bartender could handle customers on a
business level, but it couldn't live up to the
social functions expected of a bartender.
Second, the devices were all too easily
reprogrammed by those with a technical bent,
resulting in several incidents where people
deleted entire bar tabs or sent toxic drinks to
their enemies. The third complaint was limited
to pub operators, who expressed a desire for a
droid that could handle food orders in addition
to drinks.Cybot Galactica responded with the
MixRWaitR Pub Droid. The droid combined
many of the best features of the Robo-Bartender,
the 434-FPC Personal Chef Droid, and the 3P0
protocol unit. Like the Robo-Bartender, it could
mix literally millions of different drinks; like the
Personal Chef Droid, it is capable of creating
thousands of recipes; and like the 3P0, it has a
complex personality matrix capable of
interacting in meaningful ways with patrons.Though expensive, the droids caught
on. Though not nearly as common as their
Robo-Bartender predecessors, they can now be
found in many bars and pubs around the galaxy,
mixing drinks, cooking meals, and lending a
sympathetic ear to those who need it.Pub Droid
Name: Cybot Galactica MixRWaitR Pub Droid
DEXTERITY 1D
KNOWLEDGE 4D
Drink mixology 7D, alien species 5D, culinary
arts 6D, cultures 5D
MECHANICAL 1D
PERCEPTION 3D
STRENGTH 1D
TECHNICAL 1D
Equipped With:
- Humanoid upper body (two arms, torso, head)
- Repulsorlift unit (3m range)
- Retractable drink/credit tray
- Vocabulator speech/sound system
- AA1 Verbobrain
- Tranlang I Communications Module
- Anti-tamper protocols (+1D difficulty to
attempts to tamper with programming)
Move: 12
Size: 1.5m
Cost: 5,000
Availability: 3
Personality Matrix: Complex
The Hat
Alderaan Jones is known in the Rebel
Alliance for his crack team of commandos and
for his expert use of the whip, but he's also
known for his hat. The Hat, as it has come to be
known, is an impressive piece of technology.
No one knows where or how he got it; but
anyone who has seen Jones in action knows that
The Hat is an amazing tool. Inside its felt
exterior lie nearly as many tools as are stored in
an R2 astromech, from a comlink to a breathing
filter to a view masker. It's no wonder Alderaan
is willing to risk recovering it in even the most
dire of circumstances.The Hat
Model: The Hat
Type: Compact multipurpose headgear
Cost: Not available for sale
Availability: Unique
Game Notes: The Hat, in addition to being a
fashionable felt accessory, contains: comlink,
atmospheric/gravity/thermal sensor, razor brim
(uses thrown weapons skill, STR+1D+1,
2-7/10/15), retractable macromonocular (search
+3D at ranges greater than 100 meters),
breathing filter (good for 15 minutes), hidden
4x4x1cm compartment, view masker (creates 1
meter distortion field that makes audiovisual
scans nearly impossible; see Galladinium’s
Fantastic Technology, p. 63).
Hypermatter Conveyor
A truly ancient and unknown
technology, the hypermatter conveyor was an
installation on the planet Verinea. Rebel agents
were forced to destroy the facility in order to
prevent it from falling into Imperial hands, but
not before downloading fragmentary records
describing the conveyor.The hypermatter conveyor was a
massive device capable of sending ships in low
orbit of Verinea through hyperspace at speeds
nearly eight times that of a Class One
hyperdrive, to anywhere within a three sector
range. The subterranean facility that housed the
conveyor had roughly the internal volume of six
Imperial garrisons, and over half of that was
occupied by power generators. These were
apparently hypermatter generators, like those
aboard the Death Star; this supposition is borne
out by the size of the blast created by the
exploding installation, which devastated the
planet's surface, stripped away much of its
atmosphere, and severely damaged two orbiting
capital ships.Also within the facility were several
extremely large droids, which were nearly twice
as tall at an AT-AT; however, they apparently
had been non-operational for quite some time.
Three elevators, large enough to move the
oversized droids, provided access to the many
levels of the installation.Mysteriously, no other ruins were
apparent on the planet; either they were
destroyed long ago, or they were well hidden
underground. Either way, it would seem that
this world was not the only world inhabited by
the ancient race that built the conveyor, and so
the existence of other conveyors cannot be ruled
out.Hypermatter Conveyor
Model: Verinean Hypermatter Conveyor
Type: Ancient hyperspace transport system
Scale: Death Star
Skill: Astrogation
Crew: 3,000; Skeleton 200/+15
Body: 1D
Availability: Unique
Game Notes: In order to use the conveyor,
three rolls must be made. The first, to target a
ship in low orbit (within 1 Space unit of the
planet), is Easy for capital-scale starships,
Difficult for starfighter-scale starships; target
may roll a starship dodge as if being targeted by
weapons. The second roll, which sets a
destination for the targeted vessel, is made at
one difficulty level higher than for a normal
astrogation roll for the same trip if a hyperdrive
were used; the conveyor does have an integrated
navigation computer. The third roll, which
activates the conveyor, is Moderate difficulty. If
all rolls are successful, the ship will enter
hyperspace and travel to its destination with a
hyperdrive multiplier of 1/8. If the first roll
fails, nothing happens; the targeted ship merely
stays in orbit. If the second roll fails, determine
astrogation mishap normally, but since the
conveyor has no safety cutout, treat any
“hyperdrive cutout” results as a collision. If the
third roll fails, roll 1D and multiply travel time
by that amount. Destruction of the hypermatter
conveyor, either by concentrated assault or by
overriding the safety interlocks on the reactors,
will result in an 8D explosion; ships in orbit
over the conveyor will experience 13D of
capital-scale damage.
* Special thanks to Francisco De La Torre for the use of the "promotional material"
from Francisco's Fantastic Technology.