Acquiring Gear

Rather than detailed shopping expeditions, Eclipse Phase offers several options for handling gear.

• During character creation, you receive two gear packs based on the type of campaign and the profession you chose. This represents your starting gear.
• When new missions arise, the GM assigns Gear Points you use to pick and choose equipment you need, based on the mission’s available resources.
• During the mission itself, you can acquire needed gear on the fly using Resources trait, rep favors, or nanofabricating it yourself.

Missions and Gear Points

Gear Points (GP) work similarly to Morph Points — the GM provides a set number of GP to each character for each mission, which can then be used to acquire gear. The GP value of gear is based on its complexity, as noted on the Gear Point Value table.

Mission Gear Points are an abstraction based upon the assets available to the team for that particular mission. This is particularly relevant to scenarios where the PCs must egocast in, and thus cannot bring their gear with them. There are several factors the GM must consider here. Is the team relying on their own resources, or do they have an organization or patron that is backing the operation? Do they have time to prep and assemble what they need, or are they operating on an urgent timeframe? Is the type of equipment they need abundant and easy to get wherever they are going, or is it heavily controlled and restricted?

We recommend assigning 20 GP for each mission. GMs should raise or lower this as they see fit for the situation. Are the PCs rushed or on their own? Reduce the GP to 15 or 10. Are they backed by an oligarch or have plenty of lead time? Increase the GP to 25 or 30. Is their mission in the same location as their last, meaning they just need to replenish a few things? Give them 2 or 4.

Each of the gear packs detailed in Gear Packs is built with 10 GP, so the default 20 GP is equal to two gear packs. As with character creation, gear packs may be acquired whole or you can switch items out for equipment of a similar complexity.

GMs can also restrict the type of gear that can be acquired with GP. Are the PCs entering a police state polity? Then no GP can be spent on weapons or anything Restricted. Are they egocasting to a remote brinker outpost? They can only spend GP on Minor complexity items. Are they entering a bioconservative habitat? No spending GP on ALIs, smart animals, or nanotech.

With the GM’s approval, PCs can pool their GP and share with each other.

GP should only be spent in the early prep phase of each mission. Unspent GP is lost; it cannot be banked up. If you need to acquire gear during an op, use the rules for acquiring gear during missions.

Ware: Note that cyberware, bioware, nanoware, etc., can be bought with either Morph Points or Gear Points.

Gear Point Value

Gear Complexity	Gear Point Cost
Minor	1
Moderate	2
Major	3
Rare	5+

Increasing GP

There are two ways to increase your available GP:

• Resources Trait: If you have the Resources trait, you may add your level in this trait to the amount of GP you acquire (i.e., Resources Level 2 gets you +2 GP). Resources may be of no use in some areas, however, particularly autonomist habitats that decry money, exoplanets, and other remote isolated outposts.
• Rep Favors: You can expend rep favors to acquire gear. A minor favor gets you 1 GP, a moderate favor gets you 2 GP, and a major favor gets you 3 GP. No test is required, but you must have a rep score of at least 40 in a network applicable to the situation. A researcher’s r-rep is unlikely to help you on a bioconservative hab, for example. Rep used this way counts towards the rep favors available to you on your first week on the mission.

Acquiring Gear During Missions

No mission survives contact with the enemy, and no logistics plan can anticipate everything. Eventually, your PCs will need to acquire gear while they are in the middle of an op:

• Use Rep: Succeed in a Rep Test and use an appropriate favor. The favor is Minor for Minor complexity items, Moderate for Moderate items, and Major for Major items (Networking).
• Use Resources Trait: Spend currency to buy it (Resources).
• Use a Nanofabricator: Make it yourself. This requires blueprints (or Program skill to DIY) and access to a capable nanofabber (Nanofabrication).

Acquisition Timeframe

If the test (if any) is successful, you acquire/purchase/make the gear once the appropriate timeframe passes:

Acquisition Time

Complexity	Timeframe
(Digital Only)	1 minute
Minor	2 hours
Moderate	8 hours
Major	24 hours
Rare/Restricted	GM Choice

Physical vs. Blueprints

When using rep or Resources to acquire gear, you choose between a physical item or a single-use blueprint accessed via a digital distribution platform (Getting Blueprints). Single-use blueprints have a much quicker timeframe (1 minute). If the GM allows it, you may acquire a limited-use blueprint instead of single-use. Multi-use blueprints are also available, but are harder to get; increase the complexity by one step (i.e., Minor becomes Moderate). For simplicity, multi-use blueprints are assumed to come with one physical copy of the item.

When acquiring software or similar digital-only goods, the 1-minute timeframe also applies.

Multiple Gear Items at Once

If PCs seek to get their hands on multiple items at once, simply combine the timeframes. If using rep for multiple items, make a single Rep Test (modified as per the highest level favor) but mark off all of the favors used. Note that if you are nanofabricating multiple items and have access to multiple fabbers, you can reduce the timeframe accordingly.

Impeding Factors

GMs should always keep the local situation in mind when PCs acquire gear. Some physical gear is not accessible on small or isolated habitats. Or it may be available from a nearby habitat, but it will take a day or two to be shipped over. Even digital goods can be hard to acquire via the mesh thanks to light-speed lag, communication disruption due to solar flares, or the local polity’s censorship filters. GMs have final say on what gear is available and when.

Other Gear Considerations

There are several additional factors GMs should keep in mind when assigning Gear Points and handling equipment during missions.

Ongoing Locations/Campaigns

The mission Gear Point system is ideal for episodic styles of play and PCs who egocast around. For longer campaigns, particularly ones where the PCs stick around the same location, restocking all of the gear is not as necessary. In situations like this, it is better to use the rules for acquiring gear during missions, perhaps assigning a small amount of GP to characters that pursue new equipment during downtime.

When and where?

While this system makes gear acquisition an abstract process, it can still be incorporated into the story. It may also be important to know exactly how, when, and where you get your hands on your new toys. If you egocast to a new hab, you might have an agent waiting for you at the body bank, or you may have to wait a few days for a meeting with a local fixer to pick up the goods. Firewall may have given you the details on a secret scratch-space cache, but it’s located in a part of the habitat now run by a gang that hates outsiders. Or maybe your patron expects a show of loyalty before they follow through, or perhaps the local anarchists don't trust you enough to share all their resources right away. Maybe a rival group knows you are coming, and decides to ambush you before you're equipped or breaks into your supply cache. While GMs and players can decide on the logistical elements together, this is also a good opportunity for roleplaying, introducing new NPCs, or throwing in some surprises.

Blueprint Libraries

As noted in (Gear Packs), the equipment you start with includes a multi-use blueprint for that item, in case you want to nanofabricate it again. This is not necessarily the case with gear you acquire with GP, unless you splurge for the multi-use blueprint at a higher complexity. However, it is likely that you will accumulate a small library of multi-use blueprints over the course of many missions.

Thrifty players will note these in order to take advantage of them later. This is acceptable, but GMs should keep in mind that good intentions do not always work out as intended over time. Files might get lost, stolen, corrupted, or misplaced. PCs who wish to resurrect long-forgotten blueprints in a moment of need may have to make an Interface or Research Test to find them. Alternatively, a Flex point can be spent to recall where that print was cleverly stashed away.

After the Mission

Take a moment to address what happens to the gear when the mission is over — or at least the gear that is still left intact. If the PCs stick around, they will likely want to hang on to it. However, some people may come looking for equipment that was borrowed or acquired via questionable means. If the PCs are egocasting away, they have the choice of stashing it, destroying it, selling it, or giving it someone else. Apps, of course, can go with you, and some service subscriptions may last you through the next mission.

Firewall maintains scratch-space caches in many habitats for holding on to gear that may be useful in the future, and other clandestine groups do the same. If the PCs take the time to sell their gear or pass it on to others (thus gaining some credits or rep), keep this in mind when assigning GP for the next mission. Then again, if they came out of the scenario with less resources than they went in with, perhaps the leftover gear just helps to pay off accumulated debts and favors owed.

Don’t Sweat the Gear…

The rules provided for acquiring gear assume the PCs are operating on a schedule, the gear may have an impact on their success/failure, and/or that the GM needs to rein in the amount of gear they are accumulating. For situations where the PCs are unhurried and/or only pursuing gear in moderation, or the gear is incidental, handwave the tests and timeframes involved (while still noting rep favors used) and assume the PCs get what they need at the next pause in the story. In other words, don’t let the book-keeping involved with gear shopping be a drag on gameplay or distract from the plot.

…But Don’t Let It Take Over

In fitting with the limited scarcity nature of the setting, Eclipse Phase does not put a lot of limitations on acquiring gear. Some players may see this as an opportunity to load up on overwhelming amounts of gadgets. While it can be useful to have gear on hand for every contingency, it’s important to keep this under control. GMs have many options for applying limitations as needed: social pressures (others get annoyed when you hog the public fabbers, hoard habitat assets, or constantly pester them for gear), strict scenario timeframes (no time to fab, gotta rescue the hab!), and unwanted attention (security takes an interest in people hauling loads of tech, thieves are keen on pilfering stockpiles). The point, of course, is not to punish players, but to enforce the realism and logistical restraints that rules can not always emulate.