A portable computer is a computer system with considerable processing power, yet able to be easily carried – in today’s world, this covers laptops and tablets of all sizes. It is more powerful than a computer terminal, and can be used without access to a network.
TL Processing Mass Cost
TL7 Computer/0 5 kg Cr500 TL8 Computer/1 2 kg Cr250 TL9 Computer/1 1 kg Cr100 TL10 Computer/2 0.5 kg Cr500 TL11 Computer/2 0.5 kg Cr300 TL12 Computer/3 0.5 kg Cr1000 TL13 Computer/4 0.5 kg Cr1500 TL14 Computer/5 0.5 kg Cr5000 OPTIONS
Comms (TL8+): Any computer of TL8 or more can act as a
comm unit or transceiver if this is specified at purchase. This does not increase the cost of the computer.
Data Display/Recorder (TL13): This headpiece provides a
continuous heads-up display for the user, allowing him to view computer data from any linked system. DD/R headsets are commonly used by starship crews, to access information without changing their primary console displays. DD/Rs can display data from any system, not just computers – they can display vacc suit oxygen reserves, grav belt status, neural activity scanner results and so forth. Costs Cr5000.
Data Wafer (TL10): The standard medium of information
storage in many universes is the data wafer, a rectangle of hardened plastic about the size of a credit card. The interface for a data wafer is standardised, but the internal workings vary. A TL10 data wafer is memory diamond, with information encoded in structures of carbon atoms; more advanced wafers use more exotic means of data storage. Costs Cr5.
Specialised Computer: A computer can be designed for a
specific purpose, which gives it a Processing score of +1 or +2 higher for that program only. The navigation hand computer used by an explorer, for example, might be only a Computer/1, but could run the Navigation/3 program because it is specially designed for that task. A specialised computer costs 25% more per added rating – so, a Computer/1, Navigation/3 portable computer costs 150% of the cost of a basic Computer/1. At TL7 this would be Cr750.
SECTION 1: COMPUTERS SYSTEMS
The computers used on spacecraft to calculate jump travel and combat solutions are much more powerful than those typically found planetside, and can run much more sophisticated software. These are covered in detail within High Guard.
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AGENT
Agent software packages provide computers with a degree of intelligence and can carry out any tasks assigned to them that require the use of the Electronics (computers) skill. For example, an Agent package might be told to hack into an enemy computer system and steal a particular data file. They are effectively specialised combinations of Expert Electronics (computers) and less capable Intellect software packages.
Software Bandwidth TL Cost
Agent Agent Agent Agent 0 1 2 3 TL11 TL12 TL13 TL14 Cr500 Cr2000 Cr100000 Cr250000
DECRYPTOR
Decryptor software packages allow a comms operator to analyse intercepted transmissions and decrypt them in real-time. This typically requires an Very Difficult (12+) Electronics (comms) check but DM+1 is granted for every TL the transmitting computer or comms device is below the intercepting computer. A further DM+2 is granted if 1D hours is spent analysing the transmission though this will, of course, no longer be done in real-time. Furthermore, Decryptor packages will be utterly unable to decrypt transmissions made from devices of a higher TL (in theory they can accomplish this, but the time to do so is usually estimated in scales of hundreds or thousands of years).
Software Bandwidth TL Cost
Decryptor Decryptor Decryptor 1 2 3 TL10 TL12 TL14 Cr5000 Cr10000 Cr20000
DATABASE
This software package is a collection of several databases that can be searched with an Electronics (computers) check or using an Agent package. It automatically updates itself whenever in range of a suitable server or cloud (typically any system of TL9+) and can thus usually be counted upon to answer any question based upon fact and reference.
Software Bandwidth TL Cost
Database 1 TL7 Cr10000
SECTION 2: SOFTWARE PACKAGES
COMPUTER VARIANTS
The most sophisticated computer in the galaxy is little more than a power-consuming collection of circuits without a software package to make use of its processing power. The huge variety of software packages available allows computers to become the most flexible devices a Traveller can own.
A computer’s optimum Technology Level is the level at which it reaches standard production and is no longer considered a prototype or experiment. Most computing systems will be built at the optimal level or higher, to allow utilisation of higher TL programs. Computers may be built at lower than optimum Tech Levels (Prototech) or reduced Tech Levels (Retrotech).
PROTOTECH: A computer type may be produced at up to 2 levels below its optimum TL as a prototype (or reverse
engineered experiment), or as a substandard but cheaper model. The system has its Rating and TL at normal values, but cost and mass are multiplied by 10 for construction at one TL lower, and 100 for construction at two TL lower
For example, a TL10 Computer/2 salvaged from a mysterious alien wreck could be used to reverse engineer a Computer/2 by a TL8 society. It would run as a TL10 Computer/2, but would cost Cr50000 and mass 50 kg.
RETROTECH: While computers may be built at, and rated as any TL above the optimum TL, a higher TL society may
produce a lower rated TL system for reduced cost and weight. Any system may be built at any TL below the society’s current level, but not below the optimum TL for the model. Each reduced level halves the cost and weight of the basic model.
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