Deception and Intrusion Gear

Basic Set

Bug, Audio (TL7). -7 to spot, 1/4-mile range, transmits for 1 week. $200.

Bug Stomper (TL7). Jams bugs in a 10-yard radius. $1,200, 2 lbs., 8 hrs.

Disguise Kit (TL5). +1 to Disguise skill. $200, 10 lbs.

Electronic "Lockpicks" (TL7). +2 to pick electronic locks. $1,500, 3 lbs.

Homing Beacon (TL7). Scanner tracks at 1-mile range. $40, 12 hrs.

Laser Microphone (TL8). Eavesdrop through glass. 300-yd. range. $500, 2 lbs.

Lockpicks (TL3). Basic equipment for Lockpicking skill. $50.

Nanobug (TL8). Pinhead-sized audio-visual bug (-10 to spot). $100.

Shotgun Mike (TL6). Gives (TL-5) levels of Parabolic Hearing. $250, 2 lbs.

High-Tech

Mule Pills

At TL8, the preferred method for carrying drugs across heavily enforced borders is to have the courier – sometimes called a "mule" – swallow a "mule pill." This is a packet constructed from the finger of a surgical glove sealed with paraffin. Each thumb-sized "pill" holds about half an ounce. Mules practice by swallowing grapes, eventually working up to 50, 100, or even 150 packets. After completing a run, the mule takes a laxative and passes the pellets over several hours. Nothing prevents smugglers from carrying cargoes other than drugs; indeed, counterterrorism experts fear that explosives could be carried onboard a plane this way.

A mule must make a HT roll at -1 per 50 pellets swallowed. Success means the ruse works and the mule survives the ordeal. Failure results in an incident, such as passing pills too quickly or throwing some of them up. On a critical failure, a packet bursts, exposing the mule to its contents – often a lethal dose of cocaine or heroin.

The pressure of the pills in the stomach causes cramps or more intense pain (see Afflictions). The mule's sweating and discomfort can tip off observers. To spot this, a screener must win a Quick Contest of Search or Observation against the mule's Acting skill. An X-ray machine is more reliable: a successful Electronics Operation (Medical or Security) roll allows a Search attempt to detect the pellets in the mule's digestive tract.

A mule pill is $0.1, neg.

The most important items in an adventurer's tool kit are sometimes those that let him get into places he shouldn't, grab items or information he isn't supposed to have, and then escape undetected. Commandos, spies, and thieves who face the technologies described in Security and Surveillance often deploy gadgetry of their own.

Burglary

Intruders will try to crack even the best security. With the right gear, they might just succeed!

"Burglar's tools" consist principally of hardware with legitimate applications. Hand Tools, Power Tools, Rescue Tools, and Conventional Explosives describe many handy items. An endoscope gives +2 on rolls to crack locks, safes, and anything else where seeing the normally hidden insides would be useful. A stethoscope is basic equipment for safecracking and – in a very quiet environment – good for +2 on rolls to defeat security devices where hearing the mechanism would help (including mechanical locks).

The gadgets below have fewer lawful uses...

Lockpicks (TL5)

Basic equipment for the Lockpicking skill includes a set of picks in dozens of different lengths and shapes, rakes for quickly defeating basic locks, and tension wrenches that provide the leverage to open the lock. Such hardware varies greatly in quality. The best picks are made of hardened steel, titanium, etc., and shaped by factory-trained locksmiths specifically to open certain types of locks. In a pinch, a couple of paperclips or hair clips will do. Use Equipment Modifiers for improvised and high-quality tools. A complete set of nigh-universal lockpicks in a wallet-sized package: $50, neg. LC3.

Electronic Lockpicking Kit (TL7)

At higher TLs, lockpicking gear resembles an electrician's tool kit, with various electrical components, testers, bypasses, and bridging devices, plus cutting and drilling tools for gaining access to a security system's innards. This kit is basic equipment for using Electronics Operation (Security) to circumvent electronic locks. $1,500, 3 lbs., 3×S/week. LC3.

Lockpick Gun (TL7)

A lockpick gun resembles a plastic toy gun with a squeeze handle. It grants +4 to Lockpicking against basic locks, for a total of +9! It gives an extra -5 to skill vs. good or fine locks, though, as its clumsy mechanism is too large to engage the lock or its methods are too simple to be effective. Each attempt takes five seconds. $50, 1 lb. LC3.

Electronic Stethoscope (TL8)

This is a sensitive contact mike attached to a digital amplifier, with headphones. It can detect human activity underground or behind massive walls; assume that it can hear sounds through three yards of loose stone or a yard of solid material. It gives +1 to Explosives (EOD) rolls to detect or defuse mechanical bombs, and can function as a regular stethoscope. $300, 0.4 lb., 4×T/week. LC4.

Forgery and Counterfeinting

Forgers make illicit copies of documents, while counterfeiters produce illegal currency. Criminals and honest heroes alike might need to pass fake IDs or bogus cash during an adventure. Spies often use forged papers. Nations have been known to engage in large-scale counterfeiting in an effort to destabilize enemy economies; in WWII, both sides did this.

Making fakes may require unusual inks, paper, etc., as well as the tools below. No price is given for such materials. Obtaining them is often its own covert op!

Counterfeinting Tools (TL5)

At TL5, a counterfeiter’s work is comparatively easy. Coins and paper money are handmade, or use handengraved printing plates; minor variations are common, even expected. It has been estimated that as much as two-thirds of the currency in England was counterfeit during the 1700s. This was largely the work of Irish and English silversmiths, who also did a brisk trade in copying and selling American bills – and the plates to print them – to criminal elements in the Thirteen Colonies. Boston papers often reported counterfeiting operations seized aboard ships in the harbor.

At TL6-8, high-volume printers and automatic coining machines let nations eliminate unintended variations; people are therefore more likely to spot imperfect fakes. At TL8, a surprising volume of counterfeit money is printed on desktop computer printers. The technology to track counterfeiting is equally advanced: many printer manufacturers use tiny dots, invisible to the naked eye, to mark each printed page with a serial number that can be tracked to the printer. Roll against Counterfeiting to avoid buying a model that does this!

Basic counterfeiting tools that allow the production of a few bills or coins per hour are $1,200, 20 lbs. LC4.

Fake Credit Cards (TL8)

At TL8, counterfeiting includes reproducing and modifying credit cards. This requires a computer running a credit card-number generator program (Complexity 1, but LC3 or less, and not for sale), plus some special equipment:

Card Printer (TL8). Required to create cards. $5,000, 30 lbs., external power. LC4.

Magnetic Strip Decoder/Encoder (TL8). Needed to modify or create cards. $600, 4 lbs., external power. LC4.

Forgery Tools (TL5)

Frank W. Abagnale went to prison in 1969 at 21 years of age, having "kited" over $2.5 million of forged Pan Am checks. He had traveled the world as an airline pilot, posed as a doctor, and acted as the assistant to an attorney general. His tools included boyish good looks, a photographic memory, and the ability to pass forgeries with ease. His most complicated piece of equipment was the decal from a model airplane kit.

Checks are easier to fake than ID, however. There are two steps to establishing false identity: duplicating the card, badge, or document, and ensuring that official records show the fake as valid. No matter how realistic the ID looks, it's worthless if a two-second computer check shows that the owner doesn't exist or died 20 years ago!

At TL5, forgery is mainly about replicating handwriting. All that's needed is stationery. See Office Technology.

At TL6, forgers must keep pace with photo-ID cards and high-tech bureaucracy, and need cameras, rubberstamps, and embossers. Basic forgery tools are $1,200, 20 lbs. LC4.

At TL7-8, forgers need a computer with a printer (see Computers) as well as basic tools. Counter-forgery technology grows even more sophisticated. To fake things like hologram-stamped ID cards, it might be easier to break into the issuer's office and use – or steal – their equipment.

Disguise and Smuggling

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Bio-Tech

TODO

Ultra-Tech

TODO