Goods/Personal items
Equipment classification: U - Unique items and Valuata[edit]
Personal items are a collection of art works, games, clothing, and other items. Valuata or valuta translates as value, or something that has value. Specific for this category these are items that have value to someone but not to everyone or even anyone else. As such, they may be encountered in out of the way or unexpected places and may be easily overlooked but add character to each place the are found.
Auto-still
| Auto-still | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–9 |
| Cost | Cr450 |
| Size | 25cm3 |
| Weight | 750g |
An automated distillation apparatus, designed for use with an inhaler. Auto-stills consist of an automated distillation tank, with computerised recipe book, inbuilt mixing and grinding equipment, phial washer and steriliser, and phial-preparation kit. The device can be used to cook and distil glycol or water-based plant mixtures and fill re-usable phials with the distilled mixture. A set of twenty-four phials, plus power-cable and carrying case is included.
Autopop
| AutoPop | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Cost | 20 Cr |
| Size | 20 cm3 |
| Weight | 100g |
Autopops are hard to classify since they are allegedly a food product yet yield no nutrition and are not consumable. Imperial authorities often classify them as "curiosities" or entertainment devices.
Autopops are electronic lollypops. The device uses electro-gustometry to simulate flavours and scents.
The autopop consists of a spherical “flavour bulb”, about 25mm wide, attached, via a cord to a small control unit. The control unit features a small screen, an on/off toggle and a number pad. In use, the user chooses a flavour, by dialing up the number of the desired taste and sucks on the flavour bulb.
Flavour software for the autopop is purchased separately, as downloads. The flavours are purchased in groups, called “sweet suites”; these include such collections as “Fruit Fantasies”, “Candy Creations”, “Cocktails”, “Chocolate World” and the “Gross Collection”, designed for practical jokes.
A bioelectric device, which was originally built as a give-away, promotional device for the Better 'N Real billboard company, but became so popular that they went into permanent production.
- Author & Contributor: Morandir Armson
Autoserver
| Autoserver | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–8 |
| Cost | Variable |
| Size | 4m³ |
| Weight | 50kg |
A common device, used by busy people, the autoserver is a multi-function unit which delivers meals at pre-set times. The unit consists of a large refrigerated food storage unit, a heating unit and an arrangement of robot arms and conveyor tracks to deliver the food to the hatch.
Typically, autoservers are hired by individuals who take out a contract with the autoserver company to supply the machine. The autoserver will heat (or chill) and serve up to 5 pre-cooked meals a day at set times, chosen by the operator.
The menu choice is wider with more expensive models and narrower with cheaper models, but even the cheapest autoserver company will offer around 4 different morning meals, 10 different day-meals and 20 different evening meals, with 8 different snacks for other times. Autoservers are available with different storage capacities; the cheapest hold 1 week's meals for 4 people or 4 weeks meals for 1 person and must be refilled at the end of that time, more expensive models will hold up to a month's meals for 4 people or 4 months food for 1 person while the most expensive are connected to an in-house conveyor unit and are refilled daily. These expensive models will deliver meals for up to 10 people. To use an autoserver, the user chooses their week's menu from the computerised list and sets the timer. The CPU inside the unit will inform the delivery office of the required meals and a delivery unit will be dispatched to fill the machine. The autoserver will then sound a tone at the appropriate mealtimes. All the user must do is remove the food from the unit and close the hatch.
Autoservers run on contract, with cheaper models costing around CR10 per person per day. Most autoserver companies provide food for infants under 1 year old free with an adult's meals. Autoservers are built in, with the smaller models being around 4m³ in size and the largest being around 8m³ in size. This device appears at TL8.
A larger shipboard model of the autoserver is available for the use of ship's passengers and crew. These units do not run on contract but are usually refilled using pre-packed modules by a crew member. They hold and deliver up to 2 month's meals for up to 10 people.
Blanket
| Blanket | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–1 |
| Cost | Cr15 |
| Size | 2 liters |
| Weight | 2 kg |
Thick, warm sleeping blanket made from wool or the local equivalent.
- Douglas E. Berry. Ground Forces (Steve Jackson Games, 2000), 103.
Chagas Gem
| Chagas Gem | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr1000 |
| Size | 1 gram |
| Weight | 1 gram |
To make their way among the human worlds, Crenduthaar have learned that they need a medium of exchange. They have found that medium in Chagas Gems, a crystallized mineral salt from Ghatsokie's sunside Thaarlingst Plateau. Ranging in size from kernels of rice to a human fist, chagas gems are blood-red in color, deeply translucent, and appear to contain a pulsing inner light. Possessing a hardness of 9 (diamonds are 10) they are useful in certain industrial processes, but their greatest value lies in human appreciation of their beauty as gemstones. A small chagas might be worth Cr1,000, while a very large one might bring Cr100,000,000 or more. Crendu will offer such gems for perhaps ten percent of their market value.
The only known source of these valuable objects, at this time, is with the Crenduthaar on Ghatsokie (world).
A few merchants and traders have become wealthy hiring their ships in exchange for "chagas bloods" or star hearts". Anyone who owns a chagas gem is thought to have his soul linked to the destiny of Thaar. Thus, Crendu think it highly appropriate that traders or smugglers hired to run the Vargr blockade, be pair in these stones.
They also tend to be deeply disturbed by characters who take chagas gems for the promised action, then go back on that promise. The Crendu term for such creatures is Gnagash.
- Rob Caswell. "Races of the Domain: The Creduthaar." MegaTraveller Journal 3 (1992): 34-39.
- Robert Eaglestone. Deneb Sector (Mongoose Publishing, 2012), .
- Samuel Budak. Ol' Doris (608 Publishing, 2016), .
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science
Cropac
| Cropac | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–3 |
| Cost | |
| Size | |
| Weight | |
A popular board game, cropac is easy to learn, but hard to master. Games usually take from one to two hours and involves two persons
Evening Dress
| Evening Dress | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–6 |
| Cost | Cr200 |
| Size | 3 to 12 litres |
| Weight | 2 kg to 14 kg |
A set of clothing worn on very formal occasions. Evening dress is not standardised throughout the Imperium; common components of evening dress include coloured tunics, kilts, leotards, long embroidered vests, military-style coats with decorative additions, nudesuits, robes, sashes, ties, tights, trousers, and various kinds of dress accoutrements, such as dress cups, dress cutlery sets, dress hand computers, dress knives, dress pistols, dress swords, dress towels, dress umbrellas, and dress writing sets Evening dress must be fitted to a particular person.
Flash Cooker
| Flash Cooker | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Cost | Cr450 |
| Size | 50 cm3 |
| Weight | 2kg |
A Flash Cooker is a common home kitchen appliance found throughout the Third Imperium used in meal preparation and cooking.
Flash cookers resemble portable ovens, the usual size being around 60 litres, although smaller and larger models are available. Most flash cookers feature timers, CPU connectors, an irradiation unit, humidifiers, and direct heat browning units. These devices will boil one litre of water in two seconds and cook a two kilogram roast in six seconds.
The flash cooker is a progressive development of the microwave oven, a device known for thousands of years.
- Author & Contributor: Morandir Armson
Gilyr
| Gilyr | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–7 |
| Cost | |
| Size | |
| Weight | |
The Gilyr is a popular musical instrument. It consists of up to 128 laser sensors connected to a build-in synthesizer. The interruptions of the beams with a hand or bow produce sounds, with the duration and frequency depending upon the timing and location of the interruptions. [1]
- ↑ Jae Campbell. Signal-GK 07 (Signal-GK, 1993), 10.
Gnak'kak
| Gnak'kak | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–5 |
| Cost | |
| Size | |
| Weight | |
| Also see | Art |
Gnak'kak is a form of K'kree art. It is famed for having an olfactory component, something rare in the at of other major races.
Gnak'kak consists of a series of holographic projectors, which create a three-dimensional image of native plants from the grasslands of Kirur waving in the wind, a sound projector which produces about fifteen minutes worth of (to human ears) discordant cacophony, and a large number of waxy crescents. These crescents are the main part of the art, all the rest being roughly equivalent to the frame of a painting or the pedestal of a sculpture. To appreciate Gnak'kak, a K'kree sets up the pictures and sound, and places one of the crescents in the palm of his hand, seating it against the thumb and curling the fingers gently around it. The crescents are made from a mixture of waxes which melt as slightly different temperatures. As the K'kree's hand warms the wax, each different type melts in turn, releasing a series of odors. To a K'kree, these odors are the most important component of any form of artwork.
- J. Andrew Keith, Loren Wiseman. K'kree (Game Designers Workshop, 1984), .
- Loren Wiseman. "Amber Zone: Work of Art." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 11 (1982): 34.
Groat-meat Scrimshaw
| Groat-meat Scrimshaw | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–7 |
| Cost | Cr1000 |
| Size | 0.1 liters |
| Weight | 0.1 kg |
Groat-meat Scrimshaw is a scupltured art form using pickled and hardened groat meat as an art substrate.
Groats are a species of herd animal native to Fulacin (Spinward Marches 2613). During the 2nd to 4th Century, groatle, a fabric made from groat pelts, commanded fabulous prices back in the Imperial core. Hunting expeditions went to Fulacin for the sole purpose of catching groats and passing merchants would detour just to collect a few dozen pelts. Groat meat was inedible due to high contents of heavy metals, but an idle engineer figured out how to pickle the meat. The result was a material that could be carved into various knickknacks and, after a second pickling, became incredibly hard and durable as well as beautiful. Carving scrimshaw became a popular pastime with local spacers.
In 377, Mora (Spinward Marches 3124) scientists geneered a variant species of groat that could survive in environments lacking the high heavy metal content of Fulacin’s soil and atmosphere. The metal content of the pelt was maintained by concentrating what heavy metals the groats did ingest in the pelt, leaving the meat low enough on metal content to be edible (some Vargr actually developed a taste for it) but unsuitable for pickling and carving. Groat farms quickly made it unprofitable to hunt groats on Fulacin and with the source of material thus dried up, groat-meat scrimshaw soon became a lost art. Today a groat-meat napkin ring sells for hundreds of CrImp and a set of groat-meat utensils (knife, fork, spoon, tumbler, and toothpick) can reach five figures.
- Author & Contributor: Hans Rancke-Madsen
Holowood
| Holowood | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | |
| Size | 1 liter |
| Weight | 1.2 kg |
Holowood is a seaweed native to Gateway (Dagudashaag 1331) which has been fossilized into an amber state deep within the dark ocean depths of that world.
The Holowood crystals are extremely light receptive. Exposure to light under the correct circumstances allows the crystals to act as a natural holocrystal, retaining and projecting a holographic image. Holowood is mined and, occasionally, carved in total darkness then exposed to an image or scene. If the crystallized fragment is exposed correctly its possible for a holomovie of up to 5 seconds can be made.
Unexposed Holowood are exported throughout the Imperium but the purest exposures are made only on Gateway. Possibly the most famous Holowood carving is the "Teardrop" by Simeon Gradruula which shows the Princess Ciencia Iphegenia and Lady Isis, daughter of Archduke Dulinor smiling and giggling together at their seventeenth birthday celebration. The Holowood was carved into a gigantic teardrop in total darkness and took 3 months. The teardrop is on display at the Ducal palace museum on Medurma.
- Jae Campbell, Leighton Piper. "Port of Call: Gateway." Signal-GK 01 (1989): 30. via. HIWG
- Jae Campbell. Encyclopaedia Dagudashaag (Signal-GK, 2017), 151.
Identidisk
| Identidisk | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–14 |
| Cost | Cr5,000 |
| Size | |
| Weight | 0.2kg |
An Identidisk is a subminiaturized micro-circuitry, device, usually installed in a service-issued belt buckle, which positively identifies the individual to whom it was issued.
Among the most widely recognized of these in Beyond are the winged serpent of the Scout Service; the crossed spaceship and fouled anchor of the Merchant Service; the crossed lance and laser of the Imperial Marines; the Imperial Navy's famous ringed anchor on a stylized sunburst; and the battle helmet-surmounted crest of crossed lasers of the Imperial Army.
The specialized scout version of this object is known as Scout Service Insignia.
- Donald P. Rapp. Beyond (Paranoia Press, 1981), 23.
- Donald P. Rapp. Scouts & Assassins (Paranoia Press, 1981), 1.
Multichronometer
| Multichronometer | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Cost | Cr500 |
| Size | 0.2 liters |
| Weight | 0.1 kg |
A Multichronometer is an important survey sensor, but one easily overlooked by those who have never left their home planets, This timepiece sets itself, in one planetary rotation, to local zero meridian time, local solar time, and local sidereal time. A setting allows for automatic time zone corrections according to world size. The mulitchronometer also keeps Imperial standard time.
The sidereal and zero meridian times are of interest mainly to the astronomer and navigator, giving them the spin place of the world, its year length and other information. Worn on the wrist, hence the name wristwatch.
- Joe Fugate. Grand Survey (Digest Group Publications, 1986), 20.
- Geir Lanesskog. World Builder's Handbook (Mongoose Publishing, 2023), 27.Joe Fugate, J. Andrew Keith, Gary L. Thomas. World Builder's Handbook (Digest Group Publications, 1989), 27.
- Jon F. Zeigler. First In (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 27.
- Martin Dougherty, Hunter Gordon. The Traveller's Handbook (QuikLink Interactive, 2002), 212.
Nudesuit
| Nudesuit | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–9 |
| Cost | 300 Cr |
| Size | 500ml |
| Weight | 500g |
A bodysuit designed to resemble naked skin. These bodysuits are worn by members of cultures who practice public nudity. When on other planets, public nudity may not be appropriate, so these so-called "nudesuits" are employed. Nudesuits are very lifelike; often featuring artificial nipples and a subtle suggestion of genitalia. They will only be detectable with inspection at 3m or less. They are often tailored from Schirusz.
Pocket Magnet
| Pocket Magnet | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–7 |
| Cost | Cr20 |
| Size | 0.1 liter |
| Weight | 100 g |
A Pocket Magnet is a small alnico magnet with a mounted handle capable of lifting 1.0 kg against a 1G. ("AlNiCo" = Aluminum + Nickel + Cobalt, although other metals are sometimes utilized)
- Marc Miller. Shadows/Annic Nova (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 3.
- Martin Dougherty. Guns, Gadgets and Gear (Avenger Enterprises, 2007), 54.
- Matthew Sprange. Central Supply Catalogue (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 77.
Portable shower
| Portable shower | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Cost | Cr250 |
| Size | 5 liters |
| Weight | 8 kg |
A disk about 7 cm thick and 30 cm across. When a sophont stands on the disk and presses the activator, the Portable shower does a quick but thorough external sonic cleaning. The battery lasts for a dozen cleanings before needing to be recharged. The manufacturer recommends performing the cleaning in a small space which can be easily cleaned as the device generates a cloud of dirt, grime, skin cells, dander, dead hair, and fur. This can be a challenge to clean from some areas. There are larger versions of the portable shower for larger sophonts.
Pulmn
| Pulmn Incense | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–6 |
| Cost | Cr12 |
| Size | 12.0 mL |
| Weight | 10.0 grams |
| Manufacturer | Various |
Pulmn is an incense made from dried kelp grown on Ishkaa (Dagudashaag 2309) and forms the primary export for the world. It burns with a soft fruity aroma and has long been a traditional item used by the people of Ishkaa, and later became popular in Imperial space after Vilani traders began distributing the product.
- Jae Campbell. ""Library Data: Arnakhish." Signal-GK 10 (1995): 50. via HIWG
- Jae Campbell. Encyclopaedia Dagudashaag (Signal-GK, 2017), 285.
Sibilian Crystal
| Sibilian Crystal | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr1,300 |
| Size | 0.13 liters |
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
Sibilian Crystals are found only on Big Worlds with a chlorine atmosphere. In form they are a yellow-green crystal with five sides. The valuable ones are always of similar size, shape, and coloration. While some crystals are used for jewelry, the primary consumers are Psionic Institutes. Psionic users have a way tuning themselves to the crystals and apparently being able to boost their powers.
Because of their psionics connections many worlds ban the importation of the crystals.
- Herb Petro. "Small Cargoes." Imperium Staple 04 (1986): 13.
- Herb Petro. "Sibilian Crystals." Imperium Staple 05 (1986): 4.
Singing Crystal
| Singing Crystal | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr20 |
| Size | 0.13 liters |
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
A geological oddity found at the bottom of some oceans. When rubbed these crystals produce a harmonic sound, which is unique to each crystal. Some of them are flawed producing discordant sounds.
- Herb Petro. "Small Cargos." Imperium Staple 04 (1986): 13.
Slavers' Band
| Slavers' Band | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–12 |
| Cost | Cr40,000 - 82,000 |
| Size | 1 liter |
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
| Manufacturer | Tuablin |
A Slavers' Band is a technological device developed by Tuablin as an another means of mind control. It is also known as a Circlet of Joy or Zombie Crown; it looks like a circlet or headband.
The device contains control circuits inside the band that program the victim's mind once the device is placed on their head. Additional circuits work upon the pleasure centers (when a master is satisfied with the slave's behavior) and the pain centers (when the master is not pleased). So effective are these devices on the slave, that many slaves have willed themselves to death if the circlet is removed. Circuit can be controlled by the master's voice or by a remote-control unit.
The circlets have unfortunately become a fad with young Imperial nobles over the last decade.
- Author & Contributor: Michael J. Maley from High Tortuga
Stay-put
| Stay-put | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–10 |
| Cost | Cr 400 |
| Size | 1 liter |
| Weight | 1.5 kg |
Stay-put is a mildly volatile and non-toxic superlubricant. Anything coated with Stay-put is nearly frictionless, especially smooth surfaces like floors and walls. Without special hand and foot gear, it is nearly impossible to tightly grip an object or run, walk, or even stand on the stuff. While it inconveniences everyone in the area, it has the beneficial side effect of getting civilians on the floor and out of the line of fire. Security forces can move around in Stay-put coated areas by using electrically heated gloves and boots, which vaporize the Stay-put on contact, leaving them with a solid grip and footing wherever they go. Evaporating Stay-put fumes can induce headaches and prolonged exposure is not recommended.
Stay-put is not commercially used as a lubricant, as its volatility is not desirable in most applications. Under normal circumstances it will evaporate in a few hours, though leaving an identifiable residue.
Usually Stay-put is dispensed through a hand-held sprayer system or a one-shot gas generator cartridge-driven grenade.
- Greg Porter. Emperor's Arsenal (Imperium Games, 1997), 74.
Theiyat
| Theiyat | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–3 |
| Cost | Cr5 |
| Size | 0.5 liters |
| Weight | 0.5 kg |
A Theiyat is the head dress worn by Free Traders, corsairs, and by the Imperial Navy Border Patrol Squadrons.
Theiyat consists of a length of cloth (2-3 inches wide) wrapped once around the head and tied/fastened on the right side of the head, with the ends dangling in front of the right ear. With Free Traders & corsairs the ship badge (or personal device) is worn on the right side of the Theiyat, often as a fastener.
It originated somewhere in the Spinward Marches prior to the Third Imperium. First adopted during the Flag Emperor period, the Imperial Border patrol version is in Imperial Navy colors and carries the unit badge also on the right side. The loose ends of the theiyat displays the Imperial Navy sunburst on the most forward end with rank designation denoted on the trailing end. The Imperial Navy version is only worn with the dress uniform.
- Author & Contributor: Michael J. Maley - High Tortuga
Towel
| Towel | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr10 |
| Size | 0.4kg |
| Weight | 0.3 liters |
A simple sheet of woven cotton or other cloth, the Towel serves to absorb water or other liquids. For personal use towels come in many shapes and sizes, with a wide variety of colors and patterns many with commercial logos or colorful characters. Numerous uses for this simple construction have also been found.
A traveller is said to have to "Always know where his towel is"[1]...but just why is now a mystery.
- ↑ Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Stephen Fry, et al.
Window box
| Window box | |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal item |
| Tech Level | TL–8 |
| Cost | Cr1,000 |
| Size | 280 liters |
| Weight | 50 kg |
The window box or terrarium is a transparent sealed box used to grow a small quantity of fresh vegetables or herbs. It can also be used to house a small pet (up to 1 kg). It includes an under-pressure filter to prevent airborne contaminants from escaping into the general environment and a set of tunable lights for optimum plant growth.
Used on starships to provide an extra boost of fresh food, also popular in other sealed environments for the same reason.
- Thomas L. Bont, Robert Prior, Christopher Thrash. Starships (Steve Jackson Games, 2003), .
,
25 Personal item items[edit]
| Item | Type | TL | Size | Weight | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-still | Personal item | 9 | 25cm3 | 750g | Cr450 |
| Autopop | Personal item | 10 | 20 cm3 | 100g | 20 Cr |
| Autoserver | Personal item | 8 | 4m³ | 50kg | Variable |
| Blanket | Personal item | 1 | 2 liters | 2 kg | Cr15 |
| Chagas Gem | Personal item | 0 | 1 gram | 1 gram | Cr1000 |
| Cropac | Personal item | 3 | |||
| Evening Dress | Personal item | 6 | 3 to 12 litres | 2 kg to 14 kg | Cr200 |
| Flash Cooker | Personal item | 10 | 50 cm3 | 2kg | Cr450 |
| Gilyr | Personal item | 7 | |||
| Gnak'kak | Personal item | 5 | |||
| Groat-meat Scrimshaw | Personal item | 7 | 0.1 liters | 0.1 kg | Cr1000 |
| Holowood | Personal item | 0 | 1 liter | 1.2 kg | |
| Identidisk | Personal item | 14 | 0.2kg | Cr5,000 | |
| Multichronometer | Personal item | 10 | 0.2 liters | 0.1 kg | Cr500 |
| Nudesuit | Personal item | 9 | 500ml | 500g | 300 Cr |
| Pocket Magnet | Personal item | 7 | 0.1 liter | 100 g | Cr20 |
| Portable shower | Personal item | 10 | 5 liters | 8 kg | Cr250 |
| Pulmn | Personal item | 6 | 12.0 mL | 10.0 grams | Cr12 |
| Sibilian Crystal | Personal item | 0 | 0.13 liters | 0.5 kg | Cr1,300 |
| Singing Crystal | Personal item | 0 | 0.13 liters | 0.5 kg | Cr20 |
| Slavers' Band | Personal item | 12 | 1 liter | 0.5 kg | Cr40,000 - 82,000 |
| Stay-put | Personal item | 10 | 1 liter | 1.5 kg | Cr 400 |
| Theiyat | Personal item | 3 | 0.5 liters | 0.5 kg | Cr5 |
| Towel | Personal item | 0 | 0.4kg | 0.3 liters | Cr10 |
| Window box | Personal item | 8 | 280 liters | 50 kg | Cr1,000 |