Bodycomps are by far the most popular and widely used computer type. The development of the modular system of computer snap-on program units (progits) and hardware that is completely compaticle with all bodycomp models brought the personal computer out of the home and onto the waist.
The best way to picture what a bodycomp looks like is to imagine a wide belt made of extremely durable plastic bonded over solid state computer circuitry. One the belt are two wallet-sized white plastic units: one is the power source, the other is the processor. At intervals along the belt there are twelve 5-cm square plastic plugs. These plugs can be removed to revel an open circuit ready for a progit to be plugged in. The bodycomp comes in different styles for different races but they all have identical access ports and use identical power packs, processors, and progits.
Most people on the Frontier wear a bodycomp for such diverse needs as astronavigation, communications, business matters, etc. The maximum number of progits on a bodycomp belt as any one time is twelve. This is in addition to the required power pack and processor pack. However, the number of progits that can be used at any one time depends on the types of power and processor packs.
Both the progit and the hardware requried for its use are listed unde the progit descriptions. The osts for progits are separate from any hardware costs, and both are listed on the Equipment Tables. The cost of connector cords, adaptors, etc. is included in the progit cost.
Vehicular computers (VCs) control various functions of Frontier vehicles and have many similarities to body comps. VCs are discussed in the Vehicles section later in this book.
BODYCOMP POWER PACK
A bodycomp requires a powwer pack, which is similar to a high-power, long-life battery, to power all of its functions. The differences in the following power packs are in their duration and amount of progits they can handle at any one time. A computer power pack's duration is listed below. It can be recharged for the cost shown below. It can never be used to power anything else.
Sixpack: The least powerful and cheapest computer poewr pack. It can provide power for any of the following: a) one processor pack Type A or B andsix progits, or b) one processor Type C and four progits. The sixpack lasts for one month and costs 50 Cr to recharge.
Tenpack: The most commonly used computer power pack. It can provide power for any of the following: a) one processor pack Type A or B and ten progits, b) one processor pack Type C and eight progits, or c) one processor pack Type D and four progits. The tenpack lasts for three months and costs 125 Cr to recharge.
Fullpack: The computer power pack most popular with spcaers, scispecs, and techexes. It can provide power for any of the following: a) one processor pack Type A or B and twelve progits, b) one processor pack Type C and then progits, or c) one processor pack Type D and six progits. The fullpack lasts for six months and costs 275 Cr to recharge.
Kingpack: The top-of-the-line computer power pack used bythevery rich, very important, or very busy. It can provide power for one processor pack of any type and twelve progits. The kingpack lasts for one year and costs 450 Cr to recharge.
BODYCOMP PROCESSOR PACKS
The bodycomp's processor pack is the organizer, brain, and interpreter for the entire system. There are four types of processor packs (all the same size).
Processor Pack Type A: Handles Type A progits only.
Processor Pack Type B: Handles Type A and B progits.
Processor Pack Type C: Handles Type A, B, and C progits.
Processor Pack Type D: Handles all progits.
BODYCOMP PROGRAM UNITS (PROGITS)
A progit is a 10-cm square that is 5 cm thick. Its shell is made of extremely durable plastic. It has a blunt plug on one side that plugs into the belt and raised letters on the other side to identify it. Some progits have lights, switches, or indicator windows built in to them. The shell surrounds a Johnson Energy Field that holds gigabytes of information. This field is the most stable known to the technicians of the Frontier and only an antimatter field can disrupt the information contained therein.
Progits are classified from A to D, the latter being the most complex and energy consuming. When purchasing progits, player characters must consider their bodycomp's power and processing packs so that the whole system is compatible (i.e., a sixpack and a processor pack type C cannot handle type D progits).
While the common Type A progits can be found in a number of retail outlets, the Type B progits are a bit more difficult to find, Type C progits are rarer still, and Type D progits are seldom found outside of specialty shops. This should give the referee greater control over their acquisition to prevent improper escalation of computer power within the game. Progit resale values are usually only 40 to 50% of their original costs because ofthe inability to determine theirage. Most progits last for three to five years of constant use.
PROGITS--TYPE A
Audio-Act: This progit controls a microphone that is used to voice activate the bodycomp. The wearer simply speaks into his throat mike and starts whatever progit he desires. This is used as an alternative to the normal method of pushing buttons on a bodycomp belt to activate progits.
Calc-All: This progit has many tiny buttons on its face. It can be operated manually but is fastest when operated with an Audio-Act progit. It functions as a highspeed calculator. Even though it is only a Type A progit, Mini-Calc fulfills the computational needs for all but the most complex of problems (for those problems a Type D progit, Calc-Boost, is needed). No character who deals with any complex computers, robots, or machinery would be without it.
CAS-Interface: (Must be used with a CAS computer and the Comp-Talk progit. May also use with Audio-Act.) This progit acts as an interface between CASs and teh bodycomp. With this the CAS pipes its information right to the user's ear through the bodycomp.
With an Audio-Act progit the user can keep his CAS hanging at his side and occasionally ask it to turn on and scan. This is important if the character's hands are full at the time. (Notice the male Human on the cover of the Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn game. He is wearing a bodycomp with attached CAS.)
Chrono-Calc: This progit has a continuing time tracking field for all of the Frontier's systems, planets, and major cities. Therefore the character can know what time and date it is anywhere in the Frontier. It also has two stopwatch capabilities so a character can time two different occurrences simultaneously. It has four alarm settings for each day. Readouts are either through a Comp-Talk progit or through the small display screen on top of the Chrono-Calc progit.
Comp-Talk: This progit allows the body-comp to verbally answer when it needs to reply, as with Map-Cal readouts, Chrono-Calc readouts, and so forth. The progit comes with a tiny device that is safely inserted in the ear of the character or affixed inside his helmet. It can even be surgically implanted into the user's head. Thus, Comp-Talk conversations are kept confidential between the character and his bodycomp. Comp-Talk can be programmed in any known languages.
Dis-Vis: This progit activates a tiny, harmless laser inside a special helmet visor that can display computer readouts, diagrams, etc. from a progit. Special helmets even have omnocular capabilities built-in and that information can also be displayed inside a helmet by a Dis-Viz progit. The latter helmet is extremely expensive. Through the use of a Dis-Viz progit, a character can have full visual readouts from his bodycomp without having to open his helmet; maps, file copies, holographic images, and so forth an be displayed for the user's eyes only.
For those who wish to have an open helm, half-visors that just cover the eyes are available. Other Dis-Viz display options:
Progit -- On the progit itself, though detail would be hard to see.
Wrist Screen -- A 10-cm long arm bracelet that contains a screeen. The arm would have to be raised to the face to read the display.
Helm-Link: This progit allows a bodycomp to be lined directly to the helmet. This enables several additions to the bodycomp that can be used through the helmet:
Audio-Act
Brain-Scan
Comp-Talk
Death-Wish
Dis-Viz
These progits are actually attached to the helmet. The number of helmet progits that can be attached depends on the helmet type, but is usually limited to three. While the progits attached to the helmet are kooked to the bodycomp belt through the Helm-Link progit (thus occupying only one progit space on the bodycomp belt) they still count as three normal progits for the purposes of maximum amount supported by a power pack.
Help-Beam: This progit must be subprogrammed when purchased. Its function is to send out an emergency beam on a specific wavelength (specified by the wearer) when a condition is met. This condition can either be a direct-effect command, such as "If the bodycomp starts deteriorating due to excessive physical damage, transmit beam," or a coordinated-effect program, such as "When the Brain-Scan progit indicates that I am dead, transmit beam." The subprogram is stated at the time of purchase by the player, with the assistance of the referee, and should be written on the player character sheet. The Help-Beam progit can also be manually activated.
Help-Call: This progit activates in the same manner as the Help-Beam, but emits a loud wailing sound rather than an invisible beam. A Help-Call linked to a Body-Scan and programmed to go off when the wearer is unconscious is a favorite system used by security chiefs. A guard so equipped would immediately start blaring a warning if he fell asleep or was knocked unconscious.
Map-Calc: (Must be used with Audio-Act.) This progit plots and maps according to the character's verbal instructions. In this manner a character or party can map as it moves. Maximum map memory is 20 maps. Map information can be retrieved by use of either a Dis-Viz progit, a Comp-Talk progit, opr a readout screen tha can be attached to a jack in the Map-Calc progit.
Since the information being fed into Map-Calc is verbally provided by the cahracter, a player should actually map the land or structure his character is passing through, but the referee should check for inaccuracies and correct them.
Trans-Comp I: (Must be used with Comp-Talk.) This progit translates verbal communications in five languages. The languages are specified when purchased or can be entered later by a poly-vox. The outside of the progit has a voice-receiving grid. When the progit is activated the user can unnderstand anyone within hearing distance who is speaking any one of the five programmed languages. The progit does not translate replies from the user (that is the function of a Type B Trans-Comp II progit).
PROGITS--TYPE B
Bio-Center: This progit is only for use with bionic parts that have been attached to a character. Bionic legs, arms, hands, etc. work smoother than most people might expect, but they are still not completely natural in their actions or in the user's control. This progit receives transmission from a surgically implanted transmitter in the user's brain and instantly relays the transmission to the bionic part. With a little practice and this progit, no one can tell if a limb, eye, or other bionic part is real or not. Each Bio-Center progit can control similar bionic parts: one for legs, one for arms, one for senses, one for up to four internal artifical organs, etc.
Body-Scan: This progit is a small bioscanner that is attuned upon purchase to the user's normal body functions (excluding that of the brain). It has a small readout window that automatically lists pulse, respiration, blood pressure, etc. It can also list any physical damage the body has taken, if infection is present, etc. Anyone with the Medical Diagnosis skill can look at this readout and instantly diagnose the medical condition of the wearer. This progit can also be linked up to other progits like Help-Beam or Med-Inject in the same manner as a Brain-Scan.
Brain-Scan: (Must be attached to a helmet and be used wityh Helm-Link.) This progit is a small bio-scanner that monitors the character's brain functions. This is an absolute necessity when using some progits (such as Death-Wish).
Brain-Scan progits have a small window that shows the brain waves and can easily be read by a charater with the Medical Diagnosis skill to tell if the user is unconscious, comatose, brain-damaged, or dead. Brain-Scan and Body-Scan progits can be used to trigger another progit by defining a condition. For example, a Help-Beam progit is set to broadcast when a character is rendered unconscious. A Brain-Scan progit picks up the user's Delta Waves, which it has been programmed to recognize as a deep sleep. Thus, it tells the Help-Beam progit that the unconscious condition has been met.
Comm-Link: (Must be used with Audio-Act and Comp-Talk.) This progit allows Audio-Act and Comp-Talk progits to be linked to communications devices such as chronocoms, subspace radios, and radiophones. Every Comm-Link has a separate frequency and those frequencies are like phone number (except the numbers are much longer). The Comm-Link has three separate functions:
a) Helm-to-helm communications. This can be accomplished if the other Comm-Link number is known. A character can then speak quietly with another character in a private conversation. The range is 10 kilometers.
b) Helm-to-chronocom communications. The Comm-Link progit can also be set to broadcast to any chronocom in a 5-kilometer range (if the frequency is known) or to all chronocoms in that same range on a general frequency broadcast. A character with this can communicate with a group of characters, broadcast a warning, etc.
c) Helm-to-radiophone link-up. This progit can also patch a character through to a radiophone whose frequency numbers are known. The range from helm to radiophone cannot exceed two kilometers; the range for a call from the radiophone is the normal 1000 km. In addition, the Comm-Link also has a jack and cable for direct hookup with subspace radios. Thus, a character carrying a subspace radio on his back can be directly linked to it through his helmet. This is a must for character exploring planets with unbreathable atmosphere.
Med-Inject: This is an interpreter progit. It interprets information provided by a Brain-Scan or Body-Scan. If the information is a prerequisite for na injection, it broadcasts a short range signal (a few meters at most) to a small injection unit that is inserted under the user's skin. The injection unit holds one hypo dose of any drug the player has selected and placed in the inject unit. Thus the Med-Inject progit can immediately treat the wearer.
The Med-Inject progit can also be manually triggered by switching a microswitch on the progit itself, thus avoiding searching for a hypo dose. This action is so fast that a character thus equipped can inject himself in a turn and still perform any normal action. The injection unit itself can be removed, sterilized, and reused again with a new dose after its use. Only one injection unit responds to each Med-Inject progit but up to twelve Med-Injects can be attached to a bodycomp.
Prog-Lock: This progit comes equipped with four Security Level 2 locks of any type the player desires; door locks, vehicle locks, drawer locks, gun locks, etc. These four locks, after they have been installed, will resist opening unless they receive a beam emitted by the progit. This beam is a sonic code of great complexity. The probability of any other Prog-Lock or sonic sender matching the code is 1 in 1,000,000,000. The maximum activation range from the Prog-Lock to these locks is 10 meters.
Prog-Switch: This progit comes equipped with 10 switches of any type the player desires: trigger switches, light switches, microswitches, push buttons, etc. All are a little thicker than their normal counterparts because they are all capable of being activated not only manually but by the Prog-Switch as well. They are activated by a beam transmission from the progit. This is especially effective when combined with an Audio-Act progit. A player can then turn one one of these switches by identifying it through his bodycomp.
For example, Star Lawman Ward has been expecting trouble from fleem dealers ever since he smashed their local operations. Therefore he affixed special Prog-Switch to key areas in his office.
One night, after gettin a strange call from an informant to meet at his office, he strolls into a room full of highly confident hitmen. Anticipating this he has turned on his bodycomp, Audio-Act, and Prog-Switch progits in advance.
Before anyone can move he speaks into his throat microphone, "One, four, five, nine!" This immediately activates those switches in the order they were spoken. Switch one turns off the lights, switch four activates the flash grenade hung above the door, switch five sets off his office alarm for the local constabulary, and switch nine activates the doze grenade taped to the bottom of his desk.
As the stunned hitmen pass out in the darkened, he smiles to himself and is glad he did not have to say "Ten!" which would have set off the detonator attached to the TD-19 in the bottom drawer. Maximum activation range from the Prog-Switch to the switches is 30 meters.
Robo-Link: (Must be used with Audio-Act.) This progit is somewhat like a Comm-Link progit but instead of a two-way control function it is a one-way control function through which the user verbally controls a robot. The robot must be equipped with a device that can receive transmissions from only one Robo-Link and can override the robot's normal missions and functions as long as contact is maintained. Only a character who successfully peformms all of the following skills can attached this device to a robot:
Robotics: Activate/Deactivate
Robotics: Alter Functions
Robotics: Alter Mission
Robotics: List Functions
Robotics: Remove Security Locks
This will only work on the lower forms of robots such as service, maintenance, or hevy-duty robots. Robots equiped with these devices can beverbally controlled by Robo-Linked characters for other functions outside of their normal programming.
Trans-Comp II: (Must be used with Comp-Talk, Trans-Comp I, and Audio-Act.) This progit allows for outgoing translation capabilities in five languages. The languages are specified when purchased or can be entered later by a poly-vox. Its appearance is identical to the Trans-Comp I progit. Unlike the Trans-Comp I progit, however, Trans-Comp II translates from the wearer's language into one of the five languages programmed. Thus, with both Trans-Comp progits, a two-way dialogue can occur, though the user cannot really speak the language. The advantages this has over the poly-vox is that there is a smaller chance of bad translation.
PROGITS--TYPE C
Ani-Link: (Must be used with two Brain-Links.) This progit connects to two Brain-Links by a tight transmission beam. One Brain-Link is in the user, the other is in a bioform mount or pet beloning to the user. The Ani-Link allows a basic communication between the two and gives the higher intelligence life form, usually the user, controll over the lesser intelligence life form, if he desires. The user of an Ani-Link betweeen two members of an intelligent race is strictly forbidden and illegal on all Frontier planets. Some cases of spies using them have been recorded, and the UPF is almost certain the Sathar uses them.
Brain-Link: This progit comes with a miniature cortex corrdinator that must be surgically implanted in the brain. Once implanted, it can transmit and receive simple messages straight from the brain. This progit, when linked to certain other progits, can perform acts at incredible speeds (i.e., using a Prog-Switch progit and mentally switching devices on and off). A maximum of four progits can be linked through a Brain-Link progit.
Comp-Sight I: This popular progit comes with a floating gyroscopic system that is attached to any ranged weapon that is long pistol size or larger (excluding medium- or heavy-ordinance weapons). This gyroscope contains complex transmission and receiving circuitry plus an autogyro for stabilizing.
The progit and harware stabilize the attached weapon for the user. The result of this is that a character using this progited weapon never sufferes a Combat Modifier for range. The range maximums for weapons are not altered by this device.
Comp-Sight II: (Must be used with Helm-Link.) This progit is similar to Comp-Sight I, and has the same weapon size requirements, but this autogyro package is more movement oriented than range oriented. It moves the weapon in the direction the character's helmet moves and eliminates any movement Combat Modifiers for the character using the progited weapon.
Comp-Sight III: (Must be used with both Comp-Sight I and Comp-Sight II.) This progit is a coordinator and booster for the first two Comp-Sight progits. It comes with a thick disc that fits over the top of the weapon. No scope can be used with a weapon that has Comp-Sight III attached. It reduces any kick or weave the weapon may normally produce when firing. When all three Comp-Sights are in place, the user is not affected by movement, range, or smaller than man-size target Combat Modifiers.
It is said that one of the most frightening sights for a criminal is to look down the barrel of a Star Lawman's weapon and see it weave bak and forth in front like a living creature. Death-Wish: (Must be used with Brain-Scan.) This progit is very similar to the Prog-Switch progit. It comes equipped with three switches of any type. These switches are designed to activate immediately upon the death of the character wearing the Death-Wish progit on his bodycomp.
In this manner a player who dies (defined, for the purposes of this progit, as when the character's Stamina drops below -10 for more than three minutes of game time) may activate a Med-Inject unit, freeze field, pack of Kaboomite, or whatever he has programmed.
Since this is such an important progit, it cannot easily be removed from the bodycomp. To do so takes at least 10 minutes. The activation signal for these devices has a maximum range of 10 meters.
Enviro-Comp: (Must be used with Body-Scan.) This progit is essential for coordinating the various life support systems found in power armor or deep space suits. It monitors, evaluates, regulates, and updates all equipment controlling the respiratory, heating, cooling, waste disposal, and nutritional systems. Without this progit the character would be constantly checking and adjusting his life support systems. This progit can also be linked to a small craft's life support systems for the same functions. Because of the importance of this progit, removal time is 10 minutes.
Fast-Scan: (Must be used with Brain-Scan.) The Fast-Scan progit comes equipped witha 30-cm square scan board that is connected, by cable, to the progit. The user then places any printed material, including pictures and maps, on the board, face down, and it is instantly recorded.
This is the ultimate in speed reading and photographic memory. Time required for insrting information into the user's memory is roughly five seconds perpage of material. The amount of material that can be retained by a Fast-Scan process is no more than 100 pages, maps, or pictures.
Hear-All: When activated this progit scans all known transmission frequencies. It will pick up an unprotected transmission and give its type (Radiophone, Help-Beam, etc.), its direction from the user, the range of the transmission source from the user (up to two kilometers), and the frequency being used. A jack in the progit allows it to be hooked up to an earplug (or headphones if the character is so equipped) so the wearer can listen to the transmission.
Natur-Act: (Must be used with Brain-Link.) This progit contains the culture and customs of a single race or tribe. There are thousands of these available for most of the cultiures existing on the frontier. But Natur-Act does not just inform the character about the customs, it has him perform these customs at the proper time.
A character using this progit can pass as a native if his appearance also matches that of the culture. This progit is extensively used by Star Law both for maintaining harmony with the various peoples they protect and for undercover work.
Prog-Motors: This progit is primarily an enhanced-response progit. It comes equipped with three micromotors that can be activated either manually or through the Prog-Motors progit. See Prog-Locks for the details on the tight beam and sonic coding used to activate these motors.
The motors must be mounted and fitted by a techex to whatever device the character wants to control. The most common uses for these motors are in the hinge mountings of a helmet's visor and gas mask. If a character suspects dangerous gases in the atmosphere, he touches the buttons on the progit that snap down his visor while swinging his gas mask in place.
An Audio-Act progit gives even faster control. "Down visor, up mask" is all it would take to seal himself from breathijng the gas. Maximum activation range from the Prog-Motors progit to the micromotors is 10 meters.
Stop-Hear: This progit protects all transmissions used through the bodycomp by ultrafocusing them then tight beams. It is a scrambler that uses an erratic pattern and frequency that the Hear-All progit cannot pick up.
The receiving end of this scrambled transmission must have an identical Stop-Hear progit or computerized communications program to unscramble it. While a Hear-All cannot discern what is being transmitted or what its exact direction is, it can show that something is being transmitted at a certain range from the wearer.
Truth-Tell: (Only works on Humans, Yazirians, Ifshnits, and Humma.) This progit must be located in the front of the bodycomp belt. It sends out a directional sonic echo in a very tight cone. This echo can monitor the physical functions of the nearest intelligent bioform and, if the bioform is one of the susceptible races listed above, indicate whether it is giving false replies to queries.
The range of the cone is four meters and it cannot pass through any sonic defenses. The process is 90% accurate (referee rolls for whether NPCs give accurate or misleading answers). It is not known whether this process will work on SAthar, but it definitely does not work on Mechanons. There is an indicator light on the progit that blinks when a falsehood is told, unless it is bypassed by using a Comp-Tell progit that sounds a beep in the user's ear instead.
PROGITS--TYPE D
Beam-Boost: This progit provides a fosucing circuit for all beams used by other progits on the user's bodycomp belt. All beams emitted by the user's progits have triple their normal range.
Calc-Boost: (Must be used with Calc-All.) This booster progit greatly improves the bodycomp's ability to work out mathematical probabilities. Using Calc-Boost gives a character a +1 Column Shift to the following skills' success rates:
Acoustics
Bionics
Chemistry
Cryptography
Cybernetics
Engineering: Alternative Energy
Engineering: Nuclear
Finance
Optics
Physics
Robotics: Modifications
A character using the Calc-All, Calc-Boost and Master-Comp progits together, and with the proper type and amount of data, can work out the probabilities of many events.
For example, given the approximate compisition of a wall of hull, an approximate thickness, etc., the character could calculate the best place to strike the wall and how much damage would have to be inflicted to it before it would go down, with a 90% accuracy.
The extent of the probability calculations in the game and their accuracy is, of course, up to the referee but it can be fun to have a character who is logical and heavily dependent upon scientific data and complex calculations for his actions.
Comp-Link: (Must be used with Brain-Link.) This progit allows the user to attempt direct brain-tocomputer communications with any computer he can plus his comp-Link progit cable into. Thereafter, the character can attempt any computer skill he possesses directly on the computer with a +1 Column Shift added to his chance of success.
The user has only one chance at initiating contact through this progit. If he misses it the computer identifies him as a "bug" in the system and ignores him. If the character establishes contact with the computer in the normal method and then plugs into it, he may continue trying his other computer skills at leisure. Any character who has no computer skills and attempts this will automatically fail.
Comp-Sight IV: (Must be used with Comp-Sight I, II, and III.) This progit comes with two cables, an expensive goggle apparatus, and a thick forearm bracelet.
The goggles fit tightly against the user's head and contain tiny lasers taht can the eyes. The movement and focusing fof the eyes is tied into the first three Comp-Sight components that have been attached to the pistol or rifle.
The bracelet, attached tothe forearm of the limb that is not primarily used, is connected by the cables to the goggles and to the other three attachments. This fine tuning allows the character to ignore the Combat Modifier for using the wrong hand (as well as the beneifts for the other three Comp-Sights).
The referee should be careful not to allow too many completely Comp-Sighted weapons in his campaign at any one time, as it has a tremendous influence on the balance of the game.
Master-Comp: (Must be used with Audio-Act and Comp-Talk or Brain-Link.) This progit is a necessity for any character who is serious about bodycomps. It is the grand master of progits and ties all of them together into a unified whole. The biggest advantage is its ability to receive conditional orders from all other progits. A player can make a list of up to and including 20 conditions and functions he wishes his bodycomp to follow for standard operating procedure, such as:
a) Scan with the Atmospheric-CAS every twenty minutes and inform me of any unusual conditions.
b) Let me sleep for six hours unless a bioform approaches within 20 meters.
c) Three minutes after you wake me, patch me into planet HQ for the morning report.
d) Set the Death-Wish progit to activate the Help-Beam progit, the Med-Inject progit with the staydose, and detonate the Doze Grenade by my side.
The preceding examines all assume the character has the necessary progits to perform the indicated actions.
The Master-Comp progit is so complete that you can instruct it in simple terms and if it has nay questions it will ask you. The drawbacks to this wonderful progit are that a) only 20 commands can be programmed in at any one time, b) it takes the place of two progits on the bodycomp, and c) if over 15 commands are programmed in, it uses an enormous amount of energy. A kingpack could conceivably be drained in one month (at the referee's discretion) if the bodycomp is constantly on and performing numerous functions. This is why environmental suits, deep space suits, and powered assault armor are so expensive to operate.
Mind-Drive: (Must be used with Brain-Link.) This progit is used with vehicles that the character has the skill to use. It comes with a set of cables that are permanently attached to it and that can be plugged into the guidance control of various vehicles. Once plugged into the vehicle the character can drive it with his mind, thus his reactions are much, much faster and the chance of avoiding accidents are much better.
While the character still uses his normal skill level for oeprating a vehicle, he adds a +15 to his Reaction Speed Check for keeping the vehicle under control during Emergency Stopping, Skid Turn, Bumping, and Stunt Maneuvers. See the Vehivle Computer section for more progits used in vehicles.
Mind-Mount: (Must be used with Brain-Link.) This progit is an advanced form of Prog-Motor. It comes with one minimotor specially designed for an ordinance weapons mount (laser Ke-5000, rafflur M-10, sonic devastator, or mounted MLTC). When physically aiming this weapon, with which the charater must already have a skill, the normal modifiers for range, movement, and size are ignored; only the character's skill level is used.
Mind-Teach: (Must be used with Brain-Link.) This progit comes in a variety of types: languages, skills, histories, and so forth. When this one-shot progit is inserted and activated, the character can do nothing for two days but stare as if in a trance. If anyone turns off the user's bodycomp at this time the lesson has not been learned and the progit is useless as it erases itself as it teaches.
There are two different kinds of Mind-Teach progits. The most common type conveys temporary knowledge that might be forgotten in weeks, days, or even hours. The duration is left to the referee, as is the content. This progit is most useful is emergency situations were the character must have a member who can perform a task, pass as another character, etc.
The second kind of Mind-Teach progit is much rarer. Its knowledge is gained by the character permanently. The only time a referee would want to introduce this into a campaign is as a major reward for accomplishing a goal.
It is impossible to tell these two Mind-Teach progits apart.
FINAL COMMENTS CONCERNING BODYCOMPS
The personalize computer can vastly expand a character's identity and abilities, if used properly. Avoid bogging the game down the overuse or over-concentration of technical items, but allow the players to experience some of these new items. A wise referee will introduce only the lesser versions of the bodycomps at first: sixpacks, Type A or B progits, and Type A or B type processor packs.
Break the players in slowly to this new concept so that, by the time the campaign is ready for the more powerful progits, the players' use of the basics is second nature. This will save both the referee and the players a lot of time continually referring to the equipment section for even the simplest progit explanations.
PROGIT ACCESSORIES
Progit Reprogrammer: This device allows a character with the Computers: Bodycomp Programs skill to alter or purge a progit. See this skill description for further explanations.
Battle Bodycomp Belt: This synthsteel overly completely surounds the bodycomp and attached progits, making them relatively invulnerable to everything except nuclear or anti-matter attacks. Referees should let common sense prevail here. If a character wishes to remove a dead NPC's bodycomp that is encased in a battle bodycomp belt, he can either try to unlock it (Security Lock Level 6) or blast it open.
Fake Progits: These progits look like the real thing but are actually empty and weighted to feel normal. They can be used for securing small items or information, fitted with explosives as a booby trap for anyone trying to steal the belt or progits, or just occupy space on the bodycomp, giving the impression of a powerful individual.