TECH NOTES FOR
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF
ELECTRIC SHEEP? TRIBUTE

APEX AMMUNITION
APEX (Armor-Piercing EXplosive)rounds are, by the mid-2070's, the standard round used by police and security forces. Instead of the discarding sabot used by APDS rounds, APEX rounds get their armor piercing capability from a sharp-tipped, rigid cone made of a very dense synthetic material. This "nose cone" punches through the armor by counteracting the armor's attempt to spread the force of the bullet's impact over a larger area. A thousandth of a second or so later, as the shockwave of the impact moves through the bullet, the portion behind the rigid "nose cone" shatters and fragments, increasing the size and severity of the wound. The principle is similar to that used in many late 20th century anti-tank missiles. In game terms, add 1 to the power of the weapon, and reduce the rating of any ballistic armor worn by the target by 2. Needless to say, when a round like this is loaded into the already-deadly Ruger Thunderbolt II (game stats identical to the Ruger Thunderbolt), it makes for an exceedingly lethal combination favored by bounty hunters who often have to face opponents much tougher than themselves.

ARES MP LASER VII
The other standard weapon of bounty hunters, the MP Laser VII is the first model of man-portable laser weapon that does not require large hip-mounted battery packs. The battery pack for this weapon fits into the bottom of the grip like an ammo clip on a standard firearm. The unit masses like a heavy pistol, with no loss of power or firing capacity over previous models. Damage, range, and power loss over distance or through smoke are identical to the Ares MP Laser II. The beam itself is invisible, but you will see a trail of sparks as the high-power beam ionizes the air through which it passes. For the same reason, the weapon is not silent. There is a loud, sharp CRACK! as air rushes back into the space vacated by the ionized air. The sound is hard to localize, though, since it originates along the entire length of the beam. This, of course, also makes it quite impossible to silence or suppress. Battery packs are rechargeable.

EICHIRO KANAGA
The Kanaga is a Gauss needler. The weapon uses an electromagnetic pulse to fire sharp, magnetized needles. Unlike flechettes, which are designed to rip and tear at targets, Gauss needles are designed to penetrate. Military grade electromagnetic weapons fire actual slugs instead of needles, and at incredibly high firing rates. Street versions like the Kanaga have small top-mounted battery packs and grip-mounted needle clips. The Kanaga is capable of dual firing modes--semi-automatic or burst fire--and two firing velocities. High velocity does more damage, but eats up battery charge and is not silent--there is a crack as the needles break the sound barrier. Low velocity does less damage but makes no more noise than a buzzing mosquito. The needles can not penetrate armor greater than impact rating 2. Gauss weapons have no recoil.

MOUNTEBANK APOLLO (OR DIANA) LEAD CODPIECE
This piece of equipment has no game stats, and its use should not affect this adventure at all. Residents of San Francisco wear them, as they wear the breathers, to protect against the radioactivity still falling out from the explosion of the Ryumyo (see the Timeline Page). Since the explosion more and more SF residents want to emigrate to the off-world colonies, but no one whose gametes have been genetically damaged by the radiation is permitted to emigrate. So the residents wear the codpieces to protect themselves. Again, it should have no effect on this adventure. I include it only as a nod to Phillip K. Dick's novel, in which everyone on earth had to wear similar protection because of a global nuclear holocaust.

RENRAKU VOIGT-KAMPFF TESTING KIT
If you remember the testing kit used by the blade runners in the movie, then you know what this device is like. The entire kit fits into a large-ish briefcase. In game terms, have the bounty hunter administering the test make an Unopposed Interrogation(Machine-Aided) test with a target number of the subject's Willpower. Any success will allow the hunter to correctly interpret the results of the test. Additional successes increase the hunter's level of certainty. If the hunter rolls no successes, the results are not conclusive enough for the hunter to be able to interpret them, and further testing will be required.

SQUIDS
A SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Detector) is a device for detecting electromagnetic emanations on an incredibly small scale--say, a billionth or so of the Earth's magnetic field. Similar devices are used in cyberware scanners. SQUIDs can be used for reading any information stored in a computer's memory without actually accessing the computer. That includes any encryption algorithms, by the way. SQUIDs are highly illegal on the street, and even police and security forces are restricted in their ability to use them.

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