TECHNOLOGY
OVERVIEW
Mirai City’s technology is well ahead of the rest of the world, ranging from advanced AI and cyberware to energy weapons and tech inspired by the powers of its Psi students.
Basic technology is available to anyone with money, but most advanced and experimental tech is unavailable without the research and development connections and contacts. This is described in game as an Access Level.
Robots are a regular part of everyday life in Mirai City. However, with a higher Access Level, there are much larger (mechs) and much smaller (nanobots) robotic options available.
Cyberware is generally available, but requires surgical implantation. Biomods are a newer technology that harnesses genetic manipulation to modify the body, but obviously is not so easily changed once that modification is made. Various pharmaceutical enhancements are also available.
Neural net AI to assist in various tasks is not uncommon. General AI does exist, but is more restricted in use.
TECH ACCESS LEVEL
Determines what tech you have access to. Resource rolls not required for items at or below character’s Access Level, only spending the time to acquire the items through contacts or existing resource avenues.
0: Commonly available for purchase in the world. No roll. Acquisition time 1 hr.
1: Commonly available for purchase in Mirai City; Normal Resource roll. Acquisition time 2 hrs.
2: Available for purchase, but expensive or hard to obtain. Hard Resource roll. Acquisition time 4 hrs.
3: Available for purchase but very expensive. Very Hard Resource roll. Acquisition time 8 hrs.
4: Not available for purchase. Acquisition time 1 day.
5: Not available for purchase. Acquisition time 3 days.
Many technologies are ‘Restricted’, requiring a permit or other form of permission for access. Some are ‘Illegal’ and any public use will be come down on by the authorities. Characters may begin the game with these items still, but will need to be more circumspect when using them.
Restricted and Illegal items of Access Level 0 to 2 can be acquired through a variety of channels: gangs, thieves, low level lab workers looking to make a buck on the side. Access Level 3 to 5 items are generally only available through military or research channels, including through influential figures in Mirai City’s Dark Side.
TECH POINTS
Tech Points should be considered a measure of how much gear the character has on them at any given time, through those same resources and connections or perhaps even personal knowhow and invention. Players may ‘purchase’ tech at or below their Tech Access Level with their Tech Points. Replacing lost or damaged equipment only requires the Acquisition time period, and swapping one set of equipment for another likewise only requires the Acquisition time period.When creating new tech items, point cost should reflect the amount of physical material or effort involved in creating the object -- often higher Tech Access Level means a higher Tech Point cost, but not always.
For creating new tech items that mimic psi powers, the Tech Level should be 4-5 and point cost estimated by the psi power/10%, minimum 1 point. Note that not all psi powers are appropriate for conversion to tech.
I HAD IT IN MY PACK THIS WHOLE TIME!
Characters with unspent Tech Points may use them to pull out any item without purchasing it in advance (within situational reason – no one is pulling out a mech from a backpack!). These items cost double their normal value when brought into the scene, and must be either discarded/destroyed to regain the free points or wait the usual acquisition time for their point cost to return to normal.ACQUIRING ITEMS IN-GAME
Tech items can be acquired in-game from NPCs or other means – these are not subject to Tech Access Level restrictions or use Tech Points, but when lost, they are gone permanently.HACKING
Basic roll against static defences, or Opposed roll against AI defences. Against static defences, you can take more time to increase your chance of success (+10%/hour) but increase the chance of the intrusion being detected (variable).Some highly secured systems have Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics (ICE) . ICE-secured systems have a chance of tracing or destroying the device being used for the hack.
System classes – Roll difficulty if unopposed.
S: Board of Directors – Very Difficult, +10% Detection
A: Military, Police – Difficult, +5% Detection
B: Administrators – Difficult, +2% Detection
C: General purpose security – Normal, +1% Detection
D: Basic computers – Normal.
E: No security
VEHICLES/ROBOTS
Each ‘base’ type has a number of slots which can be occupied by different options for sensors, power, movement, and so on. Additional slots cost 1 Tech Point and are available by increasing the Tech Access Level of the base by 1 for every 2 slots. Nanobots/Nanobot Swarms cannot get additional slots.
CYBERWARE
Cyberware has existed in Mirai City for some time and is common for prosthetic purposes, generally designed to be subtle. Some people who choose more obvious mods are ‘Oni” or “Gargoyles” (slightly derogatory).A person can accommodate up to their maximum Health Points in cyberware/biomod slots.
Cyberware implants interfere with magic, reducing the rate of mana generation to the default (1 per 8 hours) and increasing the base rate of backlash to 15%.
BIOMODS
Biomods are newer tech that uses genetic modification and is currently restricted for all but the most trivial aesthetic aspects. Anyone under 21 requires parental permission. As one might expect, aesthetic mods are highly sought-after by ‘furry/kemono’ enthusiasts. Mod that are obvious and not prosthetic seen like piercings/tattoos; won’t find people at ‘respectable’ places with visible ones. Most though not all cyberware has a biomod equivalent.A person can accommodate up to their maximum Health Points in cyberware/biomod slots.
However, unlike cyberware, biomods do not interfere with magic and mana generation and the subtle ones are more difficult to detect, since there are no metal components.
Changing into and out of Biomods requires twice the normal acquisition time, to account for gene editing and grafting being a time-consuming process.