Ultra-Tech

Great technological civilizations are not all the same, and each one's scientific development can take them in completely different directions. This document classifies advanced space technologies according to technological scales, even though there is a wide variety of development between different civilizations. It is perfectly possible for a people on a certain technological scale to have some more advanced technologies, and at the same time be lagging behind in other fields.

# The Technological Scale

The technological scale which characterizes space civilizations is divided into 4 levels: Mega-Technologies, Giga-Technologies, Tera-technologies and Peta-technologies. For all practical purposes, only the first 3 are relevant. Peta-technologies are so advanced as to be metaphysically transcendent.

The generic characteristics of these four technological levels are:

* ***Mega-Technologies:*** Civilizations that are beginning their process of space exploration and expansion. Typical Mega-Technologies are: fusion reactors, room temperature superconductors, artificial gravity, genetic engineering.
* ***Giga-Technologies:*** Large galactic civilizations that have already established themselves in the galactic scenery and control a relevant part of the galaxy. Typical Giga-Technologies are: antimatter reactors, energy shields, generic processing nanotechnology, large-scale quantum computers.
* ***Tera-Technologies:*** Extremely advanced civilizations that reached the first level of the Kardashev scale. Very few civilizations reach this level, since most self-destruct first. Thera-technological civilizations usually occupy one or only a few star systems. Typical Tera-Technologies are: singularity reactors, time-space flow control, dyson spheres, ring worlds.
* ***Peta-Technologies:*** Technologies that unify all existing quantum fields and establish the complete knowledge of the universe. These technologies interact with transcendental aspects such as the human mind and consciousness, the spirit of living beings, and magic. The most characteristic peta-technology is the arkyllian ring.

## Stress Scales

The more technology evolves, the more ways to annihilate individualsin the blink of an eye are invented . Therefore, in highly technological environments, the simple counting of stress points becomes simplistic. Thus, attacks caused by ultra-technological weapons, or extreme natural events, cause stress on other scales. These scales are called: Mega-Stress, Giga-Stress, and Tera-Stress. There is nothing that causes Peta-Stress.
* ***Normal Stress:*** Encompasses the impact of "low" technology weapons: thrown objects, arrows, bolts, gunshots, medium-intensity lasers, small explosions (such as grenades).
* ***Mega-Stress:*** Is stress caused by high-technology weapons that can be used by a humanoid person, such as hand phasers, monowire vibroblades swords, gauss machine guns, gravitational weapons, as well as stress caused by large, inferior technology vehicles such as tanks, planes, warships, including missiles, cannons, etc.
* ***Giga-Stress:*** Is stress caused by ultra-technological vehicles or ships, which include photon missiles, proton torpedoes, turbolasers, etc. Atomic bombs cause giga-stress.
* ***Tera-Stress:*** Is stress caused by extreme natural events such as a supernova explosion, a quasar beam or the annihilation inside of a black hole.

The relationship between these scales is decisive. If, for example, a normal person is hit by even 1 point of mega-stress, they are immediately knocked out (if not annihilated). Likewise, if a spaceship receives even 1 point of tera-stress, it is immediately disabled, if not destroyed.
## Energy Shields

It is possible to create energy shields that protect a target from external impacts, functioning as a kind of active armor that can be repaired during combat. Energy shields grant their users a new stress track, called a "shield stress", which also has a type (mega, giga or tera). All stress received by a target protected by energy shields must be absorbed by the shield first, until such time as the shield drops. Only then will incoming stress be applied to armor (if it exists).
Shields recover all their stress points at the end of a scene. However, a character can spend a turn in combat by making a "technology" check against an opposition of 2 in order to recover 1 point of stress from a shield. On a success with style, it regains 2 stress points.
If a shield receives an amount of stress that it cannot withstand, it still protects the user one last time before collapsing completely. Shields that fail completely can only be regenerated in the next scene. This last protection even works against a damage scale one higher. For example: a gigashield receiving a point of tera-stress drops completely, but still offers protection against that specific attack.
# Weaponry

Technological levels are also measured by their destructive capacity. The weaponry presented below is tailored to beings of relatively human size, since the vast majority of intelligent species in the galaxy measure from 1 to 3 meters. Smaller beings do not naturally develop sentience because they cannot support a complex enough brain, and larger intelligent beings do not arise naturally since biological evolution tends towards the most economical (smallest) structures possible.

***Stress:*** Technological weapons cause the described physical stress type, and it does not vary according to the success shifts of an attack roll. The damage scale is the same as the weapon technology scale, except in cases described in the "notes". This value can contain some modifiers:

* "(z)": The weapon deals damage in an entire combat zone.
* "(f)": The damage listed is a maximum damage limited to the result of the attack.
* "x" with a number ("x2" or "x3"): The damage dealt is applied multiple times, removing multiple layers of stress simultaneously.
* Two numbers separated by a slash ("/"): the weapon deals different stress against armor (the number before the slash) and energy shields (the number after the slash).

***Shots:*** Many weapons project multiple shots per attack. The "shots" value indicates how many combat rounds the weapon can fire before requiring a reload, regardless of how many projectiles are propelled each round. Likewise, the indicated stress already considers the impact of all projectiles from a weapon in a turn.

***Pistols, rifles and cannons:*** Weapons can be used as pistols, rifles or cannons. The listed parameters refer to the size of pistols. Rifles contain 1 "modification point" and require 2 hands, and cannons contain 2 "modification points" and also require 2 hands. If a weapon is not available in any of these sizes, this is described in its "notes". A modification point can alter a weapon as follows:

* Increase the stress caused by 1 point.
* Increase the number of multiple damages by 1 time, for weapons that already have a multiplier greater than 1.
* Increase the number of shots by 10 times.
* Increase range by 5 times.

***Volume:*** An abstract value that indicates the volume occupied by the weapon when mounted on a protecive chassis (see below). Weapons mounted on protective chassis can be mounted in their pistol, rifle or cannon versions. The volume of a rifle is twice as listed, and the volume of a cannon is triple. Weapons mounted on exoskeleton chassis or combat suits must be at least "rifles", with twice the volume, and those mounted on mechs must necessarily be "cannons", with three times the volume. A weapon's volume falls at higher tech levels, but its stress type does not change.

# Protections

Armors and protections are created by selecting a "chassis", and implementing devices into it. Each different chassis has an "available volume", and each different technology occupies a "volume" in the chassis. The available volume of a chassis does not change with the technological scale, but the volume occupied by each technology does decrease with the technological scale.

 Composite suit
 Combat suit (1 ton)
 Exoskeleton (5 ton)
 Mech

Devices that can be mounted in protective chassis are listed below. Values are listed for mega-technologies. Each higher tech scale reduces the equipment's volume by 2, down to a minimum of 1. If a device's volume is derived from the chassis tonnage, it can only be fitted to combat suits or larger chassis.

The equipments listed below are available in mega-technology, with the exception of equipment that clearly lists superior technologies. For example: giga-armor points are not available to be equipped in mega-tech chassis.

## Equipment Physique

Some chassis have a "Physique" value, which depends on their weight. This value is required to determine the thermal resistance of the chassis and also its strength when performing physical actions. Small chassis do not have a Physique, as its user's own Physique is used instead. When performing a melee attack, if the user's Physique is greater than that of the chassis, use this value to determine the force of the impact.
## Power

Each time a character uses a weapon that is installed on their chassis, and in its notes is described that it "uses energy", this weapon consumes a number of "energy points" equal to the stress points caused (or its greater stress dealt, if the attack differentiates between shields and armor). Weapons that consume energy have no "shots" limit, as long as the energy provided by the chassis is enough.
If a chassis's reactor or reactors are disabled, all its systems that consume at least 1 energy point stop working.
## Thermal Stress

Whenever a chassis that generates energy or has built-in weapons performs an action that consumes power, it heats up. This characteristic is accounted for by the equipment's "thermal stress". An equipment has a number of thermal stress points which equal its "Physique".
Each of the events below grant the chassis 1 point of thermal stress:
* Walking: 1 point.
* Attacking with any built-in weapon: 1 point per attack, per weapon.
* Receiving an attack: 1 point per received attack.
* Flying: 1 point.

All thermal stress of a combat turn must be accounted for at the end of the turn. This accounting requires summing up all events that generate heat, minus the number of heath points reduced due to installed heatsinks. If the final value is positive, the player must mark on their chassis the layer of thermal stress equivalent to the acquired heat. If the final value is negative, the chassis dissipates a thermal stress of one layer equal to or less than the dissipated heat.
If the chassis accumulates more thermal stress than it can withstand, it goes into emergency shutdoen mode and turns off all its energy-consuming equipment, until its thermal stress has at least one free layer again. If it fails to reduce its thermal stress below the maximum for 3 turns in a row (for example, because it is receiving too many simultaneous attacks), its reactor explodes, with often catastrophic consequences.
## Mechs

Among the possible weapons and protections, gigantic humanoid armor, armed to the teeth, are the apex of military versatility. Mechs are built as chassis that have a large number of equipment, weapons and protections.
Each mech has a "tonnage", which is the weight of its original chassis. A mech's tonnage starts at 10, and usually doesn't go above 100.
A mech's available volume is equal to its tonnage times 3. So a 10 ton mech has an available volume of 30, and a 100 ton mech has an available volume of 300.
A mech's tonnage also informs its size. A mech's height is equal to 7 + 1/10 of its tonnage.
### Mech Combat

Combat between mechs follows similar rules to combat between organic beings, with a few differences.
* ***Initiative:*** A mech's initiative in combat is equal to its pilot's initiative (Athletics + Perception), minus 1/10< /sub> of the mech's tonnage.
* ***Everything is bigger and slower:*** Each turn of mech combat takes 5 turns of a normal combat, and each zone / hexagon is 5 times bigger.
* ***Damage to systems:*** When a mech receives stress that is no longer able to absorb through its armor, instead of taking physical consequences, it must *disable* one of its installed systems. A disabled system can no longer be used in combat, but can still be repaired. The attacker determines which system is being disabled, and the defender can choose to accept that, and *gain a fate point*, or *pay a fate point to the attacker* and change the affected system. The mech's reactor and cockpit can only be damaged after 3 other mech systems have been disabled. A disabled system can be targeted again, in which case it is *destroyed*.
* ***Pilot Stress:*** If a mech's cockpit is damaged, pilots may themselves receive physical stress. The stress points that affects a pilot is numerically the same as the stress points that affected the cockpit, but they are of the "normal" type.
* ***Multi-Weapon Attacks:*** Many mechs are deployed with multiple weapons. An operator can attack with multiple weapons simultaneously if they are of the same type (all ranged, or all melee). Make a "Shoot" test, the success shifts indicate how many different weapons hit the target. The operator defines which of their weapons hit the target. If the mech has more than one operator, each can make their own attack roll.
* ***Evasion and Defense Rolls:*** Mechs do not perform defense rolls, and an operator's "Athletics" does not influence an opponent's chance to hit them. However, moving mechs are more difficult to hit. When a character moves with their mech, they accumulates 1 "evasion" point if they move 3 hexes or more (or if they move to an adjacent zone in the turn), and 2 evasion points if they moves 6 hexes or more (or if they moves through two zones in one turn). When receiving an attack, a character can "spend" their evasion points to grant the attacker a -2 penalty per evasion point. Evasion points are reset every turn.
* ***Attacks between different sizes:*** Mechs that attack other mechs or vehicles suffer no penalty on their attacks. However, if a mech intends to attack "normal" people, or targets 4m high or smaller, it suffers a -2 to its attack roll.

### Mech Builder Spreadsheet

There is a shared spreadsheet on google spreadsheets for building Mechs, **HERE**

* There is a **Portuguese version** of this document.