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Technology and equipment
Tweet Topic Started: Oct 28 2008, 02:09 PM (367 Views)
Vaultdweller Oct 28 2008, 02:09 PM Post #1
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The technology level of this world is complicated, at best.

Before the Last War, fusion power was the norm, and lasers and plasma weapons were the weapons of choice for military might. Even robotics had advanced to the point where many dangerous labor jobs were now done with specially programmed humanoid robots.

However, while a good amount of this technology remains there is little of the knowledge and resources to build more and barely enough to maintain what technology there is. For the most part, the world makes do with firearms from the previous age (think modern weapons of our world). Because ammunition is expensive in many parts of the waste, many people have gone back further and have redeveloped medieval technology to fill the gaps. Adventurers (player characters) can have any equipment that fits this description, but remember the limitations.

Also, where the character is from affects what equipment they would have. A wealthy character from the PUC (a technologically advanced region) would have the option of having a laser, but would probably rely more on a 9mm pistol or a large knife because of the expense of buying battery packs. On the other hand, a dirt-poor Texan character who grew up on a farm might only be effective with a club or sword, and his only experience with firearms comes from looking at his great-grandfather's rusted rifle above the fireplace and hearing stories about the good old days.

There is nothing stopping a character from acquiring new equipment during adventures. However, the world is very dangerous, and most characters don't have the time to learn how to use a new weapon when they've got perfectly good ones at hand. Just because your character found a laser rifle doesn't mean he knows how to use it properly, and he won't learn how to do so overnight.

Many an adventurer knows how to make and repair their own equipment. Home-made equipment often adds a personal touch to your character. Maybe he made a shield by reinforcing an old 'Stop' sign he found, or maybe she fashioned a makeshift scope for her rifle out of half a set of binoculars. A club made from various pieces of metal all welded together can be just as effective as a sword with gold filigree and polished to a mirror shine, and there are very few people in the waste who care more about the appearance of their equipment than how well it functions.
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Vaultdweller Oct 28 2008, 02:16 PM Post #2
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As far as medical technology is concerned, it is slightly worse than today's standards on average. The technologically advanced areas of the world are able to do great things and even have some sophisticated prosthetic limbs and artificial organs, but in many of the uncivilized areas the best one can hope for are home remedies and the meager abilities of a psi with healing abilities.

One thing that the technology-rich area export to the rest of the world is something called a healing stimulant. Healing stimulants have varying effects depending on the dose, and they are easy to mass produce so long as the right technology is available. They are expensive enough to make many adventurers think long and hard before purchase, but in tight spots they are worth their weight in gold.
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Vaultdweller Oct 30 2008, 07:17 AM Post #3
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Vehicles are mostly medieval as far as the world in general is concerned. Most people travel either on foot, on horseback, or in carts and wagons pulled by livestock.

Many of the world governments have tried to rebuild the railroads that run across their lands, and travel by rail is possible for those who can afford it.

Motor vehicles are not rare, but their expense is such that unless someone is able to find an old one and rebuild it themselves the average person isn't able to afford such transportation. Because of the state of the roads, all vehicles in the waste are either off-road to begin with or converted to off-road. Many also have had the luxury items removed and had armor implanted to reinforce the vehicle against attack. Few vehicles left in the waste run on gasoline. With much of the refining technology lost and the cost of rebuilding refineries so high, the world has turned to using ethanol and biodiesels, which can be produced almost anywhere.

Motorcycles and military vehicles are the norm for the personal vehicles in this world, though a few passenger cars and trucks still run. Motorcycles are plentiful, easier to maintain than a car, and can traverse paths that would be impassible for a car or truck. Military vehicles are highly prized, because of their durability and strength. They are also more easily converted to use biodiesel fuel.

Very rare are the vehicles produced just before the Last War. These cars ran on fusion power cells, and a single cell would power a vehicle and all its systems for a year before needing to be replaced. Because they are rare and the fusion cells are prized for their ability to power industrial machinery as well, the expense means that they are almost never seen in the hands of any but the very wealthy.
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Ivory Jan 5 2009, 04:39 PM Post #4
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Advanced Technology Erratum

Laser Technology

Laser is actually an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In a nutshell, lasers are simply the product of a light source being repeatedly bounced through a series of mirrors until a concentrated beam of energy is produced. The two most common applications in weapon technology are continuous wave operation and Q-switching operation.

A continuous wave laser emits a constant, controlled beam over a short distance and has been known to be applied in the construction of cutting torches and, on rare occasions, melee weapons. The once fictional and now fabled 'light saber' is a product of continuous wave operation lasers.

A Q-switching laser, when activated, builds up a pool of collective energy and when the desired level is reached, the energy is released as a controled pulse of laser fire. Q-switch laser technology is used for developing laser guns and is effective as either single burst firearms or fully automatic rifles. The latter type of firearm is obviously less effective in terms of range and destructive power since the power generator pools less amounts of energy between emissions.

Although there are some known exceptions for extremely high-output applications, nearly all laser devices are fueled by a electrical battery source, most commonly in the form of a replaceable cartridge. High output applications generally require electron charge packs (cannister-sized batteries packs) or microfusion cells, a coveted item worth ten times its weight in caps.

Plasma Technology

Firearms constructed using plasma technology fall under two categories: electricothermal accelerators (EA rifles) and condensed plasma emitters (CPE weapons).

EA rifles use plasma technology to fire conventional, superheated rounds at an extremely high velocity. EA rifles fire special copper cased rounds, so ammunition is considerably rare given the limited production of said ammunition. Because the rounds are superheated, EA rifle rounds are coveted for their armor piercing capability. EA rifles have a few different applications as various assault and precision rifles, but they always require a long barrel along with a large, cylinder-shaped chamber to accommodate the high current generator and condenser required for operation.

CPE weapons fire an actual controlled burst of superheated/ionized gas. CPE weapons use high current generators and condensers as well, but unlike EA rifles, they also contain volumetric expansion chambers to harness and project the mass of plasma as a controlled burst of energy. CPE weapons typically do not operate well at long ranges since the mass of plasma energy unravels and loses effectiveness over distance. As such, plasma pistols are the most common application of CPE technology, but sub-machine guns and other suppressive fire weapons are known to have been manufactured.

Due to the considerably massive amount of electrical output required operate the compact Tesla generators, all plasma weapons require microfusion cells to operate and larger variations of the weapons often require microfusion packs.

Solar Technology

Although well on the road of technological advancement in our time, solar power research lost momentum in the centuries to come. Solar power is still far more advanced in the post-war world, reaching high enough advancement to independently operate motor vehicles and other large machinery, but future scientists never managed to fully overcome the input vs. output barrier that has made solar power the second-choice of energy sources since its invention.

Solar power has replaced conventional electrical power in some places of the world, but it is considered unreliable and incompetent for the needs of most major cities, especially in the company of surviving fusion power generators. Although a militant application of solar power was researched in the time before the last war, such development never reached fruition. However, this has not stopped independant and clever minds from applying solar technology to weapon development.
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