Characters are assumed to have clothes and other personal items. They also have a place to live, tools, maybe a vehicle, and basic necessities as befit the setting. The starting funds of 500 credits are for “adventuring gear” in addition to these personal items.
Weapons that use energy cells or power packs typically don’t need to track ammunition. Some weapons use unique forms of ammunition or have special rules where ammunition needs to be tracked. Unless a weapon specifically says it must be replaced after use, you don’t need to track shots. However, if you get a critical failure on your attack roll, your ammunition has run out and needs to be replaced.
This is the amount of Armor provided by the equipment, listed in parentheses beside the wearer’s total Toughness. Unless an attacker states otherwise, hits are always directed at the victim’s torso.
Worn Armor stacks with natural Armor (such as scaly skin) at its full value. Worn Armor also stacks with one other layer. The lesser armor adds half its value (rounded down) to the total and increases the heavier armor’s Minimum Strength penalty a die type. Wearing a flight suit (+2) beneath an armored spacesuit (+6), adds +1 to the wearer’s armor value, for a total of +7, and increases the Minimum Strength requirement to d10.
The weapon or round ignores this many points of Armor. A weapon with an AP value of 4, for instance, ignores 4 points of Armor. Excess AP is simply lost.
Autofire weapons require a bipod, tripod, or vehicle mount to fire, which eliminates any Strength requirements and the Recoil penalty. If a weapon has a Minimum Strength listed, it may be fired from the hip with the Snapfire and Recoil penalties. They have a minimum ROF of 2 unless otherwise noted, and have Reload 2.
Damage is listed in terms of dice. Projectile weapons have fixed damage (such as 2d6). Melee weapons have damage based on the wielder’s Strength die plus another die, as listed under individual weapon entries. A dagger, for instance, inflicts Str+d4 damage.
Most of the time you don’t need to worry about how much weight a character is carrying. If it becomes important to track, use your Strength die type as the amount of Bulk you can carry (d4 you can carry 4 bulk, d10 you can carry 10 bulk). Each +1 over a d12 adds 1 bulk you can carry. Any items marked L are light bulk. 10 light bulk items equal 1 bulk.
If a character carries more than their Strength die allows, they are Encumbered. Encumbered characters subtract 2 from Pace (minimum 1”), running rolls, Agility and all linked skills, and Vigor rolls made to resist Fatigue.
At three times the bulk allowed or more, they can move at a Pace of 1” for a number of rounds equal to their Vigor. Every round thereafter, they must succeed at a Vigor roll or take a level of Fatigue.
The maximum weight a character can lift or carry is four times the bulk allowed.
Bulky Items: Carrying a bulky, awkward, or unbalanced item, such as a large box, chest, a person, and so on, may make a character Encumbered despite its actual weight (GM’s call).
The weapon can affect vehicles or other devices with Heavy Armor.
Impenetrable armor is extremely tough and difficult to bypass. An impenetrable armor can only lose up to half its armor bonus to Armor Piercing weapons. For example, if a suit of armor provides 4 armor, a weapon that has 6 AP can only reduce the armor value to 2 (half the armor bonus).
If the weapon is an Ion weapon, it is listed in the Notes section. After a successful Shooting attack, the target must make a Vigor roll (at -2 with a Raise) or be Stunned. This weapon can only be used to Stun droids or disable electronic devices.
Certain items have a “Minimum Strength” required to use without penalty. Note that some items list a d4 since it is possible to have a Strength lower than d4.
ARMOR/WORN GEAR: Each die type difference between the character’s Strength and the item’s Minimum Strength inflicts a -1 penalty to Pace (minimum of 1″), Agility, and Agility-related skill rolls. This is cumulative for those weak but determined adventurers who wear or use multiple items too heavy for their build.
MELEE/THROWN WEAPONS: A thrown or melee weapon’s damage die is limited by the user’s Strength die. If a scrawny kid (Strength d4) picks up a long sword (Str+d8), he rolls d4 + d4 damage instead of d4 + d8. Also, if the user’s Strength is less than its Minimum Strength, he doesn’t benefit from any of the weapon’s positive abilities such as Reach or Parry bonuses. He still retains any penalties, however.
RANGED WEAPONS: The user suffers a -1 attack penalty for each die step difference between his Strength and the weapon’s minimum.
The weapon adds the bonus to the character’s Parry score. If a character wields a weapon in each hand, penalties to Parry stack but bonuses do not (unless she has the Ambidextrous Edge).
This lists the weapon’s Short, Medium, and Long Range. Extreme Range is up to 4 × its Long Range.
Ranges are listed in inches so you can use a ruler to move, shoot, and fight on the tabletop with miniatures. If you’re not using miniatures, each inch is equal to two yards. Weapon ranges are “effective” ranges for the table-top.
This is the number of shots that may be fired by this weapon in a single action.
Weapons with “Reach” allow their user to make Fighting attacks at the listed range. A Reach of 1, for example, allows a character to strike a target 1″ distant. Weapons without a Reach value can only strike targets at arm’s length (adjacent).
Firing a ROF greater than 1 in one action causes Recoil, a -2 penalty to Shooting rolls. Recoil isn’t cumulative between actions (a second action to fire a single shot would ignore the Recoil penalty).
Some weapons, such as a saberdart launcher, are slower to reload. Once fired, the number after the word Reload is how many actions of reloading it takes before it can be fired again.
Certain weapons, such as heavy sniper rifles, are very inaccurate if fired from the hip rather than using their sights, scopes, bipod, or tripod. If a character moves in the round he fires a Snapfire weapon, he suffers a -2 Shooting penalty.
If the weapon does Stun damage or has a Stun setting, it is listed in the Notes section. Ranged weapons set to Stun have a maximum range of 2/4/8, unless noted otherwise. After a successful Shooting attack, the target must make a Vigor roll (at -2 with a Raise) or be Stunned. This weapon can only be used to Stun living creatures.
A two-handed weapon can be used with one hand at a -4 penalty. He counts his full Strength for damage but loses all other advantages such as Reach or Parry bonuses.