Steam Engine Era Gadgets

Abrasive Oil Contaminant

Industrial, Pocket Slick

This contaminant is used to sabotage bearings, rings and sleeves in internal combustion engines and other oil-lubricated machines. It adds an extra penalty dice to any use of the machine, and appears as poor maintenance to cursory inspection. Adding more oil will not alleviate the problem, the device must be disassembled and cleaned (if it has not been destroyed through fumbles).

Acid Pen

Pocket Slick

This pen can appear to be either a fountain pen or a ball point pen, the major difference being the amount of acid in each. The pens are pressurized with an inert gas to insure the smooth application of the acid; the acid comes out in s stream less than half an inch long. The ball point version holds two cc's of acid, enough to cut four times through an iron rod one inch in diameter (i.e., sufficient to remove two bars from a jail cell) or enough to cut about a 10-inch diameter hole in sheet metal, such as a car body. The fountain pen version holds four cc's of acid, enough for eight cuts through a one inch iron bar, or to cut a 14-inch diameter hole in sheet metal.

The acid requires one sequence to dissolve the metal to which it is applied.

Bomb Suppression Wrap

Trenchcoat Slick

A heavy reinforced blanket that can be wrapped around a bomb. It absorbs and redirects the force of the explosion, halving the blast damage. It cannot reduce a blast by more than 15 points. It can also be used to direct the force of a blast, actually increasing the explosive power of an emplaced charge.

Bushmaster

Jacket

A bushmaster is an 8" tube with a timing device, which fires a pistol bullet. One uses it to draw the enemy's fire. Unwary troops must make a Perception roll (DN 10) or assume the bushmaster is their target. Note that the bushmaster never fires more than one shot, but they are usually deployed in numbers. In a sustained firefight, defined as one where both sides exchange shots, a bushmaster confuses troops for one shot per point of negative outcome. During less active situations, those fooled by a bushmaster may remain misguided for longer depending on logic. If guards returned fire, they may believe they killed the sniper.

Disassembled Concealment

Unconcealable Slick

Basically, any device can be disassembled and the parts distributed among other innocuous items in a piece of luggage. Such an item is almost impossible to detect by sensors, and hard to detect with even a trough inspection. Assume the device will automatically pass normal airport security and such, unless there is a special alert. It takes two three-shot actions to reassemble the disassembled device.

Grease Caltrops

Jacket Slick

Small gel canisters holding a low-friction grease. A packet of grease caltrops is about a two dozen.

A packet will cover five one-meter squares and can be spread with an action. They need darkness or some concealment, such as grass, to work well.

Grease Caltrops are a trap, and uses the normal rules for discovering traps. An Intrusion or Perception roll against a difficulty of your Fix-It or Intrusion will discover it. Specifically looking for traps gives a +3 bonus.

A character who steps on a grease caltrop falls down, loosing shots equal to the negative outcome getting up. In addition, his Move is halved until he cleans his feet or otherwise gets rid of the grease.

Hedy Firecracker

Jacket

A Hedy firecracker simulates the explosion of a large bomb, serving as a decoy. The Hedy's inventors named it for actress Hedy Lamarr, because "Lusty young officers said she created a panic wherever she went."

The Hedy Firecracker has an Intimidation equal to the creator's Fix-It skill, and will attempt to distract and cause panic. If used on a battlefield, where explosions are common, the effect is greatly lessened.

Shoe Escape Kit

Jacket Slick

These kits have saved many agents from long internments. The latest version includes several useful items. In the heel, there is a wire cutter, a metal file, and a small microfilm reader with sufficient power for six hours of use. There is also a spare shoelace in the heel. In the sole, there is a plastic dagger and several microfilm strips with maps of the area in which Q Branch had reason to believe an agent would be held captive.

The shoe laces are chemically treated to be easily inflammable, such that they will burn very briefly and at a very high temperature. The heat they produce is adequate to losen a half-inch iron bar sufficiently to remove it with a push of sufficient strength. There is a small prying tool beneath the tongue of the shoe. This tool is used to pry open the heel and sole of the shoe to access the equipment stored there.

The blade hidden in the shoe does +3 damage, but is not balanced well enough to be thrown effectively.

Note: An iron bar can be removed with a Strength roll of 7 after the shoelace has been burned. For every three full shots thereafter, the difficulty increases by one. After the bar has cooled for twelve shots, it can no longer be removed by a Strength roll.

Suction Cups

Jacket slick

A set of suction cups that allow you to climb sheer surfaces, the smoother the better. Primarily of use for climbing on glass or steel walls, that are otherwise almost unclimbable. In such cases, the more difficult it would normally be to climb on the surface, the easier it becomes when using suction cups.

Umbrella Smallsword

Trenchcoat Slick

Give the handle a good tug, and an audible snap will be heard, followed by the emergence of two feet of pointed metal. The blade is securely fastened to the handle. The weapon is quite good for thrusting, mediocre for cutting, and abysmally balanced for throwing.

The Umbrella Smallsword will operate like a normal sword, with +4 damage.