Chapter 24 — Gear

This chapter covers the equipment a Wanderer carries — weapons, armor, and the tools of a life spent outside settled institutions — and how it interacts with the rules. It is both a reference (profiles, traits, and catalog tables) and a toolkit (a generator for rolling up gear at random). What credits are actually worth — cost of living, wages, passage, hiring help — belongs to the economy, covered in Chapter 28; here, prices are simply list prices in credits (Cr).

Throughout, TL is an item's Technology Level — the lowest tech level at which it's manufactured. TL never modifies a roll; it only tells you where a thing comes from. The full TL scale is in the back-matter reference.

Index§

• Weapon profile
  • Ammunition & reloading
  • Example weapon profiles
• Weapon traits
• Armor
  • Layering
  • Example armor profiles
  • Armor traits
• Equipment
• Trinkets
• The Gear Catalog
  • Primitive Gear — TL 0–4
  • Modern Gear — TL 5–9
  • Advanced Gear — TL 10–12
• Generating Random Gear
  • Step 1 — Technology Level
  • Step 2 — Item type
  • Step 3 — Base profile by TL
    • Weapons
    • Armor
  • Step 4 — Traits (weapons only)
    • The tech tiers
    • Trait fit
    • How many traits
    • Rolling traits
  • Step 5 — Grade
  • Step 6 — Final cost
  • Step 7 — Name it (optional)
  • Worked example

Weapon profile§

Every weapon is described by a short stat block. Beyond its name and any traits, a weapon lists:

Melee and single-shot weapons leave the magazine field blank. "D" always means a six-sided die.

Ammunition & reloading§

Wanderstar tracks reloads, not individual rounds. A loaded weapon keeps firing until the fiction or the GM says otherwise; the Magazine value is how much sustained or Auto fire it holds before you must spend a Significant Action (or whatever Reload specifies) to feed it again. When it matters, count spare magazines, not bullets — and a natural 2 on an attack is a fine cue for the GM to rule the weapon dry. Burst and Full Auto drain a magazine fast.

Example weapon profiles§

Weapon traits§

A trait is a tag attached to a weapon that changes how it behaves — how it interacts with armor, range, or the space around a target. A weapon can carry several at once, and a trait followed by a number (written X) uses that number as its rating. The table is a full D66, alphabetical — roll for a random trait or read it as reference. Several traits lean on combat concepts from Chapter 11 (range bands, aiming, reactions, cover, the Significant Action, and a roll's Effect).

Armor§

Armor doesn't absorb blows so much as raise the bar an attack must clear. Every character has a base armor of 3 — natural resilience (Chapter 10). A worn piece adds its Armor rating on top; the total is what damage must meet or beat to inflict trauma. A TL 7 flak jacket (+3) puts a person at armor 6: damage must reach 6 to wound, 12 to inflict 2 trauma.

Beyond its name, armor lists:

Layering§

Armor can be layered wherever it makes narrative sense — a vest under a coat, a helmet and respirator with a sealed suit. When pieces genuinely combine, add their Armor ratings, and add their Radiation ratings. The GM arbitrates what can be worn at once: you cannot stack three rigid shells, and bulk, heat, and mobility all limit combinations.

Example armor profiles§

Armor traits§

Armor never uses weapon traits, but may carry one or more armor traits — qualities describing how it's worn and what it's built for. They don't change the Armor or Radiation ratings; they shape everything around them. Roll 2D6 or choose. The common middle results are No Trait, and a rolled trait whose Min TL exceeds the armor's TL also counts as No Trait.

When designing or randomly generating armor, roll once at TL 0–6 or twice at TL 7+ (or pick up to that many). Each beneficial trait multiplies cost ×1.5; Cumbersome multiplies it ×0.75.

Equipment§

Not everything a Wanderer carries is a weapon. Equipment is the rest of the kit — tools, sensors, comms, and survival gear. Each lists a name, TL, and price. Roll D66 for a random piece or read it as a shopping list. (Branded makers are companies of the Shore; see Chapter 34.)

Trinkets§

A trinket is a small thing a character carries for reasons that have nothing to do with rules — a keepsake, an oddity, a mystery. No cost, no mechanical effect. Roll D66 (or pick) for a new character; the best trinkets are a hook to pull on later.

The Gear Catalog

Three D66 tables of ready-made equipment, sorted by era. Roll for loot, stock a vendor, or just pick what you need. Costs are list price; halve for resale, and let locale and condition move the number. Range is Melee, a distance in metres, or Worn (armor). Damage / Protection gives weapon damage in D6 or an armor's Armor +X (and Rad Y where it matters). Mag is magazine size (ranged only). Entries tagged Heavy use the Heavy Weapons skill and need bracing or a mount.

Primitive Gear — TL 0–4§

Muscle, edge, and black powder. The deep past, and the present on any world the Shore forgot.

Modern Gear — TL 5–9§

Cartridge firearms through early energy weapons — the working kit of most of the Shore's frontier.

Advanced Gear — TL 10–12§

Shore-standard hardware, branded by the firms that make it (Chapter 34). Reskin the maker to fit your region.

Generating Random Gear

To roll up a weapon or piece of armor at random — for loot, salvage, or a vendor's stock — use this generator. The single dial that drives everything is Technology Level: higher TL means a costlier item, tougher numbers, and access to more exotic traits. Every step here can be rolled or chosen: the TL bands set the envelope, and the build tables inside them give concrete values you can roll straight off — but this is a GM tool, so choose instead wherever you like and tune anything silly. Every entry in the catalog above is a legal output of this process.

Step 1 — Technology Level§

Set the TL directly, or roll for provenance (where the item came from) and then the exact TL within that band. (Provenance is also what the starting-gear package in Chapter 18 refers to.)

The Shore's common standard is TL 12, which is why two of six rolls land in the TL 10–12 band.

Step 2 — Item type§

Armor below TL 4 is hide, mail, and plate — use the TL 0–3 armor row.

Step 3 — Base profile by TL§

TL sets the bands the item is built within. A Light build is a cheap, light piece; Heavy is a serious one. Roll for the build below, or pick it outright.

Weapons§

The TL band sets the envelope — the floor and ceiling for everything:

A weapon class places the item inside that envelope and sets its handling. Roll 1D6 (or choose):

Cross the class with the TL band for the item's concrete damage / magazine / base cost. The class price difference is already folded into the base cost here — don't reapply a class multiplier at Step 6.

Magazine applies to ranged weapons only; melee ignores it. Nudge any value a rung if the fiction wants it — this is the typical build, not a cap.

Armor§

The TL band sets the envelope:

Armor has no class, but a build roll places it the same way. Roll 1D6 — 1–2 Light, 3–4 Standard, 5–6 Heavy — and read its concrete Armor / Radiation / base cost:

Radiation and sealing are design choices, paid for separately. A suit built for radiation, vacuum, or hazard work can carry a far higher Rad rating than this build suggests — a light TL 7 rad suit might be only Armor +1 but Rad 8: take the Sealed trait and raise Rad toward (or past) the band's ceiling, adjusting cost to match. For armor traits, roll 2D6 on the armor-traits table above — once at TL 0–6, twice at TL 7+.

Step 4 — Traits (weapons only)§

Traits are sorted into four tech tiers; the item's TL sets which tiers it can draw from and the cap on how many beneficial traits it may carry. The cap is a ceiling, not a target — most weapons carry fewer (see How many traits below). Drawbacks don't count against the cap — a weapon may carry any number, each one cheapening it.

The tech tiers§

(AP, Fire, and Reload sit in Tier A — a sharpened bodkin pierces, burning oil is incendiary, a muzzle-loader reloads. Tethered drops to Tier B with the early fuel- and power-fed weapons.)

Trait fit§

A trait also has to make sense on the weapon — no telescopic Scope on a club. A trait that doesn't fit is handled like an out-of-tier result: re-roll, or leave it off.

Heavy-only. Artillery, Destructive, and Suppressive belong on crew-served or shoulder-fired hardware — Standard or Heavy ranged weapons only, never Light. When in doubt, reskin a near-miss rather than dropping it (a melee Entangle is a whip or bola); re-roll if it isn't evocative.

How many traits§

The cap above is the most a weapon can carry, not how many it has — in the catalog, four out of five weapons carry zero, one, or two. Roll 1D6 for the number of beneficial traits, capped at the band's limit:

Or just choose. Tier-gating thins the low end further — a primitive weapon often loses a rolled trait as out-of-tier, which is why salvage runs sparse. Drawbacks are separate and unlimited (next), and a Masterwork grade (Step 5) adds one free beneficial trait on top of this count — the only way an item exceeds its cap.

Rolling traits§

For each beneficial trait the count gave you, roll D66 on the Weapon Traits table above, then:

1. Check tier and fit. If above your TL's tiers or it doesn't fit, spend a re-roll or leave the slot empty.
2. Drawbacks are free. A rolled (or chosen) drawback never uses a slot; keep as many as suit the weapon, each discounting cost.
3. Duplicates. Re-roll them, or for a rated trait let the second result raise its X by 1.
4. Set any X rating. A trait written with X (AP, Auto, Blast, Charge, Corrosive, Toxin) rolls X = 1D3 (+1 at TL 13+); set deliberately anywhere from 1 to 5.

Drawback traits: Bulky, Very Bulky, Dangerous, Very Dangerous, Reload, Slow, One Use, Loud, Tethered, Charge X. Each kept discounts the final cost.

Step 5 — Grade§

Both weapons and armor take one grade roll, for workmanship and condition. Roll 2D6; at TL 10+ re-roll once and keep the better.

Step 6 — Final cost§

Start from the base cost your build gave you in Step 3 (class is already priced into it — don't reapply a class multiplier), then apply the grade and trait modifiers: ×1.5 per beneficial trait, ×0.75 per drawback kept. Round to a clean, sellable number. Single-use ordnance (One Use) is priced like ammunition — grenades, charges, and rockets may fall well below their band's floor. Halve for a quick resale; let brand, rarity, and locale move the rest.

Step 7 — Name it (optional)§

A profile is a thing; a name is a story. Wanderstar's branded gear (Chapter 34) follows one house style — maker · "model" · type, as in Hakkō "Hornet" smartgun — and this step builds names in that shape. Roll, or pick what sings.

First, the model name. Roll D66 and read the column matching what you generated. Each entry is the evocative core — the word that goes in quotes.

Then dress it to its origin. The provenance you rolled in Step 1 sets the naming style — salvage doesn't carry a brand, military gear carries a designation:

Roll the maker-half on the table for your provenance below; provenance 4–5 uses the Chapter 34 corporate D66 (lean toward a maker whose trade fits — Drozdov for sidearms, Greaves for ordnance, Pale Verge for optics, Sabarmati or Cinderhall for armor, Helios Vanguard for anything heavy). Close the name with the item type (pistol, maul, carbine, plate — or just weapon / armor). A grade of Masterwork or a memorable history earns the bare model name on its own — relics outgrow their makers.

Provenance 1 — Salvage byname (D66)

A scavenger's tag bolted to the front of the model word: D66 = 21 with model Fang → Gravefang. On a 66, drop the prefix entirely — just the [model].

Provenance 2 — Industrial works (D66)

The foundry or town that stamped it: [works] "[model]" [type].

Provenance 3 — Frontier outfit (D66)

A backwater gunsmith or co-op: [outfit] "[model]" [type]. Add a service mark if you like — Mk 1D6 (e.g. Pelter Mk III).

Provenance 6 — Military designation

No brand — a serial designation in front of the model. Roll the designator (1D6) and a number (2D6): [designator]-[number] "[model]", as in Pattern-7 "Tally." Optionally prefix the issuing firm (Ch. 34 D66).

Worked example§

Rolling up a find on a Shore-standard world.

1. TL — Provenance 4 (Shore standard); 1D3 = 3 → TL 12.
2. Type — 1D6 = 3 → ranged weapon.
3. Build — class 1D6 = 6 → Heavy. TL 10–12 Heavy → damage 5D, magazine 40, base cost Cr50,000, Heavy Weapons.
4. Traits — TL 12 caps at 3, tiers A–D. Count 1D6 = 5 → two beneficial traits. D66 = 45 → Smart; D66 = 14 → Blast, X = 2 → Blast 2. Rolled and kept Dangerous (a drawback — free, shaves the price).
5. Grade — 2D6 = 9, re-roll at TL 12 → 11 → Fine: cost ×1.5, +1 damage → 5D+1.
6. Cost — Cr50,000 (Heavy base) × 1.5 (Fine) × 1.5 (Smart) × 1.5 (Blast) × 0.75 (Dangerous) ≈ Cr125,000.
7. Name — Heavy column, D66 = 11 → "Siege." Provenance 4 (Shore standard) → a branded firm; for ordnance the style points at Greaves Powder & Tool (Ch. 34). Type: micro-munition launcher.

Greaves "Siege" micro-munition launcher — TL 12, Heavy. Damage 5D+1, Cost Cr125,000, Magazine 40. Traits: Smart, Blast 2, Dangerous. Guided, devastating, and just unstable enough to keep the price down.