Weapons, armour and equipment can be augmented as part of a respite. Half of your unmodified engineering skill determines how many things you can augment. Having an engineering of 5 for instance means you can personally maintain 3 augments at any one time. Note this is a hard cap if you begin augmentation on a new item and this would put you over your cap one of the old augmentations of your choice and confers no benefit. This could be weapons, armour or equipment for your own or your allies use or on any vehicle you might have. Augments do not stack and no benefit is conferred for having multiple instances of the same augment on the same weapon, Armor or piece of equipment. You may never add the WMD, Pillarite, Capital, Living or Bonded or theatre weapon traits though these can be altered or removed if they exist already the weapon.
To attempt an augmentation, you must:
Pass an engineering/aid test
Pay a CS cost
Wait a number of days
You may ignore certain augment requirements by increasing others. The specifics are determined by the tables below.
| Level | Difficulty | DS Cost | CS Cost | Days | Buffs | Debuffs | Array Size / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Trivial | 0 | 0 | 0 (1 full action) | (add, remove, or alter 1 weapon or armour trait). | 0 | — |
| 1 | Easy | 3 | 10,000 | 7 | (add, remove, or alter 1 weapon or armour trait) & 1 random buff. | 1 random debuff | 5 options |
| 2 | Moderate | 5 | 50,000 | 14 | (add, remove, or alter 1 weapon or armour trait) & 2 random buffs. | 1 random debuff | 5 options |
| 3 | Hard | 7 | 100,000 | 21 | (add, remove, or alter 1 weapon or armour trait) & 3 random buffs. | 1 random debuff | 5 options |
Damage: ±1–3
Range: ± 1-3 times, add or remove AO, ad or remove theatre
DD: ±1–3
AP: ±1–3
Cost: increase or decrease
Traits: add or remove (existing) trait from the weapon Or increase or reduce trait value by reason
AV: increase or decrease
Traits: remove (existing) or add trait. Or increase or reduce trait value by reason
Cost: increase or decrease
Personal/vehicle augments of weapons and armour work by adding compatible traits. Weapon augments can only add weapon traits to weapons and armour augments can only add armour traits to armour. Other restrictions may apply. Each augment conferred by engineering means you can add 1 trait to 1 weapon or piece armour. Individual weapons and armour can have multiple augments and multiple players may choose to add their augments to one piece of weapon or armour. Unmodified reason determines the values of traits added to weapons or armour through augmentation. For instance a player with 5 Reason could choose to set the Aim () trait acquired through an augment on their weapon up to Aim (5). If the weapon already possessed an Aim value they could add their Reason score to it. Altering a pre-existing trait in this way counts using an augment despite not adding a new trait.
Weapons and armour that have the Living, GELF synchrony and GELF syncretises traits must use unmodified aid in place of unmodified engineering and unmodified diligence in place of unmodified reason when determining number of augments possible and values of said augments. Note that these 2 act as 2 separate pools and players skilled in diligence, reason, aid and engineering can maintain more augments.
Vehicle augments function identically to personal augments in terms of maintenance limits and value determination, but apply to vehicle statistics instead of personal weapons or armour. Your unmodified Engineering skill determines how many vehicle augments you can maintain, following the same cap rules as personal augments.
Each vehicle augment conferred by your Engineering skill allows you to alter one of the following vehicle statistics on a single vehicle. Multiple augments can be applied to the same vehicle, and multiple players may contribute their augments to one vehicle. Augments do not stack. No benefit is conferred for having multiple instances of the same augment on the same vehicle.
Your unmodified Reason determines the values of vehicle statistic alterations through augmentation, following the same principles as personal augments.
You may increase or decrease a vehicle's Speed through augmentation. Speed cannot be reduced below 1.
When increasing Speed, your Reason score determines the maximum increase you can apply. When decreasing Speed (typically to allocate budget toward other statistics or to meet equipment requirements), your Reason determines the maximum decrease, though you may choose to decrease by less than your full Reason value.
Speed alterations from augments stack with other speed modifications from vehicle equipment and tonnage adjustments, but remain subject to the same stacking restrictions as other augments.
Vehicles that possess the ability to make unarmed attacks (such as ramming or crushing) use a modified version of the personal unarmed damage calculation. A vehicle's base unarmed damage equals half its Grit attribute value (if piloted) plus half its tonnage, with the extra damage die equal to half its Piloting skill value.
Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease a vehicle's unarmed damage. Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply to either the base damage or the extra damage component. You may split your Reason value between both components if desired, or apply the full value to a single component.
Decreases to unarmed damage follow the same Reason-based limits. Unarmed damage cannot be reduced below 1.
Vehicle Defence is calculated as half the pilot's Piloting skill value + half the pilot's Grit attribute value. Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease this value.
Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply to a vehicle's Defence. Defence cannot be reduced below 0, and reductions cannot make the vehicle easier to hit than its base structural characteristics would allow at the GM's discretion.
Cover, obscurement, and other environmental factors remain separate from augment-based Defence modifications. Augment Defence changes apply to the vehicle's base Defence before environmental modifiers.
Vehicle Resilience is determined solely by the vehicle's base statistics and equipment; vehicles do not add attributes or skills to their Resilience. Through augmentation, you may increase vehicle Resilience.
Your Reason determines the maximum increase you can apply. Unlike other statistics, Resilience cannot be decreased through augmentation. Augments can only reinforce a vehicle's resistance to damage.
Resilience increases from augments stack with equipment-based Resilience improvements but remain subject to the normal augment stacking restrictions.
A vehicle's Hull Points are determined by its tonnage and any HP-to-EQP exchanges made during creation. Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease a vehicle's Hull Points.
Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply to Hull Points. These modifications apply to every segment of the vehicle simultaneously. You cannot augment individual segments separately. When you increase Hull Points through augmentation, add the full increase to each segment's HP pool. When you decrease Hull Points, subtract the decrease from each segment's HP pool.
Hull Points cannot be reduced below 1 per segment through augmentation. Any HP that would be reduced to 0 or below instead remains at 1.
A vehicle's Equipment Points are determined by its tonnage and any HP-to-EQP exchanges made during creation. Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease a vehicle's EQP.
Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply. EQP cannot be reduced below 0. EQP increases allow the vehicle to equip additional equipment. EQP reductions represent structural compromises that limit equipment capacity.
When you decrease EQP through augmentation, you must immediately remove existing equipment totalling at least the reduced amount, following the same rules as when a vehicle loses EQP through other means. You cannot reduce EQP below the total cost of currently equipped non-optional equipment.
A vehicle's base Size 1 weapon slots are determined by its tonnage (one slot per ten tonnes), with additional slots available through HP expenditure (one slot per 4 HP spent). Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease the number of Size 1 weapon slots.
Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply. Each point of Reason applied to this augment adds or removes one Size 1 weapon slot. When you remove weapon slots through augmentation, you must first dismantle any larger slots (Size 2 or Size 3) that would become impossible to maintain with the reduced count, and you must remove weapons from any slots that no longer exist.
Weapon slots cannot be reduced below 0.
A vehicle's active crew limit is determined by its control surfaces and type. Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease the active crew limit.
Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply. Each point of Reason applied to this augment adds or removes one active crew slot. The active crew limit cannot be reduced below 1 for any vehicle that requires a pilot to operate.
When you decrease the active crew limit below the current number of active crew members, excess crew are displaced and cannot contribute to vehicle operations until the limit is increased or crew count is reduced.
A vehicle's starting passenger capacity is determined by its type (Personal Vehicles start with 3 passengers; other types start with 0 unless modified by equipment). Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease passenger capacity.
Your Reason determines the maximum modification you can apply. Each point of Reason applied to this augment adds or removes one passenger slot. Passenger capacity cannot be reduced below 0.
This augment modifies only the base passenger capacity of the vehicle, not any additional capacity provided by specific equipment. If equipment that provides passenger capacity is later added, that capacity is separate from and cumulative with the augmented base capacity.
A vehicle's duration represents how long it can operate before requiring refuelling or recharging. Through augmentation, you may increase or decrease duration.
Your Reason determines the maximum percentage modification you can apply to the vehicle's base duration. For each point of Reason, you may increase or decrease duration by a number of times equal to your reason value.
Duration increases represent fuel efficiency improvements or expanded fuel storage. Duration decreases represent fuel system compromises or reduced storage capacity made to accommodate other modifications.
A vehicle has a base maintenance cost representing the regular upkeep, repairs, and supplies required to keep it operational. you may increase or decrease this maintenance cost using multiplication or division by your Reason value.
When increasing maintenance cost, multiply the base cost by your Reason value. When decreasing maintenance cost, divide the base cost by your Reason value (rounded to the nearest whole unit of currency, as determined by the GM). You may choose to apply a smaller multiplier or divisor than your full Reason value if desired.
Maintenance cost cannot be reduced below 1 unit of currency per maintenance period. Increases have no upper limit beyond what your Reason allows. This augment represents modifications that either make the vehicle more demanding to maintain (specialized parts, complex systems) or easier to maintain (standardized components, rugged design).
A vehicle's base purchase or construction cost in criptoscrip can be increased or decreased through augmentation using multiplication or division by your Reason value.
When increasing criptoscrip cost, multiply the base cost by your Reason value. When decreasing criptoscrip cost, divide the base cost by your Reason value (rounded to the nearest whole unit). You may choose to apply a smaller multiplier or divisor than your full Reason value if desired.
Criptoscrip cost cannot be reduced below 1. Increases have no upper limit beyond what your Reason allows. This augment represents modifications that either make the vehicle more expensive to acquire (premium components, custom fabrication) or less expensive (salvaged parts, simplified systems).
Vehicle augments count against your total augment maintenance cap alongside personal weapon and armour augments, unless you possess abilities or traits that create separate pools (such as Living Augments using Aid and Diligence instead of Engineering and Reason). The same hard cap applies. If beginning augmentation on a new vehicle augment would exceed your cap, one existing augment of your choice ceases to function.
Vehicle augments can be installed, removed, or altered only during a respite, following the same timing rules as personal augments.
When multiple crew members contribute augments to the same vehicle, each augment is tracked separately. The vehicle can benefit from multiple augments to the same statistic, but only if each augment comes from a different source and the augments are not identical. Identical augments from different sources still do not stack, and only the highest value applies.