The gear is designed to protect against the common hazards — such as temperature, pressure, or humidity extremes — of a particular environment, granting a -1 difficulty to all related Extraplanetary, Resistance, and Survival tests when worn there.

The armor's strength and stability grants the wearer a +X damage bonus to melee attacks, in addition to any provided by a high Brawn. The wearer can use Unwieldy weapons without Bracing, use Unbalanced or Two-Handed weapons in one hand without an increase in difficulty, and gain up to +Xd20 to any Brawn test in exchange for increasing the test's complication range by the same amount.

The armor is particularly bulky and cumbersome, making it difficult to move around quickly and adding +1 difficulty to all Agility-based skill tests when worn.

The armor is designed to be worn covertly, either under clothing or in plain view but disguised as innocuous items. Observation tests made to notice the armor are made at +X difficulty.

This armor incorporates primed fast-twitch polymer fibers, allowing the user to dodge and flex incredibly quickly for brief periods, reducing the Heat costs and difficulty of all Acrobatics Defense Reactions by one, to a minimum of 0 and Simple (D0) respectively. After a successful Defense, the user can Withdraw by spending 0 Momentum and may spend 2 Momentum to move to an adjacent zone.

The item has Armour Soak equal to its rating, making it more difficult to destroy.

This item is implanted, bioengineered, or xenografted into the user's body and nervous system. Augmentations usually cannot be removed without invasive surgery or mutilation.

Although most equipment in the Human Sphere is susceptible to hacking (see the Non-Hackable quality, below), Comms Equipment is integrated into a user's personal area network and is primarily designed to be quantronically controlled. As a result, Comms Equipment is susceptible to the System Disruption Breach Effect and can become non-functional if a character's personal area network is destroyed due to Breaches. Comms Equipment cannot possess the Non-Hackable quality.

The item is easy to hide or is designed to be disguised as something else. Observation tests made to discover the item when it has been hidden or concealed are made at +X difficulty. A character can spend 1 Momentum when using the item to stow it away immediately after use.

A disposable item is designed to be used only once and is destroyed or lost after use.

The item incorporates complex programs and subroutines that help a character use the item. When used as part of a successful skill test, the expert system grants the user X bonus Momentum. Expert systems connect to the user's personal network, automatically have the Comms Equipment quality, and are penalised if the user suffers Breaches.

A Fragile item is disabled after suffering one Fault and is destroyed after suffering two Faults.

The item is not designed for the described use, giving it a +X complication range.

Any piece of equipment with this quality cannot be used with other NFB equipment.

The item interfaces directly with the user's nervous system, allowing the user to issue neuronal commands. If the item is designed for active use rather than passive benefit — a weapon or hacking device, for example — it grants 1 bonus Momentum when using the item for its intended purpose. (This stacks with the item's Expert quality, if any.) If hacked, however, the item exposes the user's mind and nervous system to direct quantronic attack, rendering them vulnerable to a truly nasty subset of Breach Effects and attack programs.

Virtually all modern technology in the Human Sphere possesses some measure of connectivity and is designed to be controlled by or feed information back to a user's comlog or local datasphere. This means that most items are vulnerable to being hacked. Items with the Non-Hackable quality either lack quantronic components entirely (like a Teseum sword) or have been specifically designed to lack networking capability. Such items cannot be targeted with quantronic attacks and cannot be affected by Breach Effects.

• Non-Hackable (+1D): The Non-Hackable quality can be added to equipment which normally lacks it, but this requires the item to have clunky, primitive, and/or non-responsive interface, inflicting a +1 difficulty to any action tests made using the item.

A repeater allows a hacker with the proper authentication connected to the repeater to make quantronic attacks as if they were in the same zone as the repeater. If an enemy hacker can gain access to a repeater (generally by gaining authentication through a Breach Effect and then using a Standard Action to connect to the repeater), they can also make quantronic attacks against any hacker currently connected to the repeater as if they were in the same zone. Repeaters have their own Firewall and Security values, allowing them to be targeted by quantronic attacks. They can be disabled or suborned with a single Breach Effect. Repeaters can be either physical objects (inhabiting a combat zone) or a specialised program (inhabiting a quantronic zone). Connecting or disconnecting from a repeater requires a Standard Action. A hacker with proper authentication can use the Reset action to reboot a suborned repeater.

The item is self-repairing. Between scenes, it automatically recovers all its lost Structure. It also removes one Fault per day. If the item provides Soak or BTS and those scores are reduced, it also regains one Soak and BTS until it returns to its original rating.

Using this item is particularly quiet and draws little attention. Any Observation test to notice the use of the item increases by +X difficulty. In addition, noisy actions using the item are reduced to sneaky actions; and sneaky actions are reduced to silent actions.

A character can only maintain one Supportware program in their personal network at a time, and characters can only benefit from one Supportware program being run by their allies. Activating a Supportware program is a Minor Action which also automatically deactivates any other Supportware currently running on the user's system. Allies within the Supportware's range immediately and automatically link to the Supportware (and gain its benefits), but if they gain additional Supportware links they must use a Minor Action to switch which link is currently benefiting them.

This item is unusually overt, drawing undue attention each time the item is used. Any Observation tests made to detect the use of the item are made at -X difficulty (minimum 0). In addition, silent actions using the item are increased to sneaky actions; and sneaky actions are increased to noisy actions.

The attack is designed to damage structures, vehicles, and other sources of cover. Attacks against targets in cover destroy X points of cover for each Effect rolled and attacks against vehicles or Armored structures permanently reduce the target's Soak in that location by X for each Effect rolled.

If a piece of cover loses all of its cover dice, it is destroyed and no longer provides any protection. If the vehicle or Armored structure's location's Soak was already at 0, each Effect rolled deals 1 damage instead.

The attack affects a wide area and multiple targets. For each Momentum spent, the attack strikes an additional target within the blast's range, starting with the nearest one to the initial target. If a complication is rolled, the GM may choose to target an ally within the affected area. Each character targeted by an Area attack may attempt separate Defense Reactions, resolving them against a fixed difficulty of Challenging (D2) instead of a face-to-face test.

If an item also has an Indiscriminate quality with the same range, ignore its Area quality.

Attacks with the Backlash quality are dangerous for the user as well as the enemy, and inflict X damage to the wielder for each Effect rolled. This damage ignores Soak and, if it is physical damage, affects a random hit location.

The attack relies on biological, chemical, or technological means that bypass conventional armor. Damage inflicted by a Biotech attack uses the target's BTS as persistent soak instead of its Armor.

The attack emits focused beams of light, sound, or data to blind the target or jam their sensory ports. If an Effect is rolled on a Blinding attack, the target must succeed on a Daunting (D3) Resistance test or suffer the Blinded condition. The condition lasts for one round per Effect rolled.

This attack can inflict a special Breach Effect (as explained in the item description) by spending Momentum. These special Breach Effects do not count as Breaches for the purpose of disabling or compromising the target's network, but may be treated and removed like other Breach Effects.

Breaker attacks are designed to degrade modern Bio-Technological Shielding (BTS). (The name references the technical expression "breakthrough time", a criterion used in the evaluation of CBRN protection that measures the time until the hazardous agent reaches body.) For each Effect rolled, inflict a special Fault Effect which reduces the BTS value of the target's Armor by 1 (to a minimum of 0). If the BTS value was already at 0 before damage was dealt, each Effect rolled deals +1 damage instead.

The attack releases a wave of sound that overloads the target's auditory systems. If an Effect is rolled on a Deafening attack, the target must succeed on a Difficult (D3) Resistance test or suffer the Deafened condition. The condition lasts for one round per Effect rolled.

These attacks emit high-energy electromagnetic pulses upon activation or impact. The attacks are made using physical attack tests, but they inflict quantronic damage. If this damage causes a Breach, they must inflict a System Disruption as the Breach Effect — the pulse is indiscriminately destructive, lacking the advantages of subtler hacking attacks. If a character suffers their fourth or fifth Breach from an E/M attack, the attacker can spend 2 Momentum to destroy their Cube (if any). E/M attacks also possess the Breaker quality automatically. Equipment with the Non‑Hackable quality is immune to E/M attacks.

An attack with Extended Reach can take the Withdraw Action as a Free Action if no enemy combatants within Reach have an Extended Reach attack of their own. Melee attacks made with non-Extended Reach weapons against a character with an Extended Reach attack are made at +1 difficulty.

These attacks become less effective over time. For each Effect rolled, reduce the number of in the attack's damage rating by 1. If this would reduce the number of to 0, then the attack cannot be used again until it has been replaced or replenished.

These attacks are designed to inflict massive harm on a target, incapacitating them far more swiftly. If a Grievous attack inflicts one or more Harms, it inflicts one additional Harm of the same type as well.

A Guided attack can be controlled and directed from a distance. If the target has been Marked with an appropriate piece of gear, the attack ignores all penalties to hit due to range, visibility, or concealment. Additionally, with an Average (D1) Analysis test, an attack with the weapon can ignore any conditional soak the target would normally benefit from. Guided weapons or ammunition possess the Comms quality automatically.

If one or more Effects are rolled on the damage roll from an Immobilising attack, the target must make an Athletics test with a difficulty equal to the number of Effects rolled or become Hindered. If the target was already Hindered or if the attacker spends 1 Momentum, the target instead becomes Stuck.

The target is set alight and gains the Burning X condition for a number of rounds equal to the number of Effects rolled.

An Indiscriminate attack affects one or more zones. Each target within the affected zone — every character, vehicle, and damageable object — suffers the attack's damage (even if the attacker wasn't aware of their presence). Each character targeted by an Indiscriminate attack may attempt separate Defense Reactions, resolving them separately against a fixed difficulty of Challenging (D2).

If an item also has the Area quality with the same range, ignore its Area quality.

If one or more Effects are rolled on the damage roll of a Knockdown attack, the target must pass an Acrobatics or Athletics test with a difficulty equal to the number of Effects rolled or be knocked prone.

The weapon uses a monomolecular wire — a single-molecule thick edge stabilised by a faint E/M field. The weapon ignores all Armor Soak, but it has +2 complication range and does not gain any bonus damage from a high attribute (including Superhuman Attributes).

MULTI weapons are designed to use multiple forms of ammunition, switching seamlessly between preloaded primary and secondary modes as the situation requires. A character declares which mode (i.e., ammunition type) they're using when they choose a target to attack. Some MULTI weapons may have multiple secondary modes of fire.

• Light MULTI weapons fire any Standard ammo in their primary mode and a specific type of Special ammo in their secondary mode. (If the Special ammo type is not specified, it is DA by default.) The secondary mode has Burst 1, regardless of the weapon's normal Burst, and the Munition quality.
• Medium MULTI weapons fire any Standard ammo in their primary mode and a specific type of Special ammo in their secondary mode. (If the Special ammo type is not specified, it is DA by default.) Unlike a Light MULTI, the secondary mode does not have the Munition quality (unless specified otherwise) and uses the weapon's normal Burst rating.
• Heavy MULTI weapons fire any Standard ammo in their primary mode and a specific type of Heavy ammo in their secondary mode. (If the Heavy ammo type is not specified, it is EXP by default.) The secondary mode has Burst 1, regardless of the weapon's normal Burst, and the Munition quality.

Weapons with the MULTI Heavy Mod quality are similar to MULTI Light Mod weapons, but their secondary weapons can include heavy flamethrowers and heavy grenade launchers (in addition to weapons allowed by the MULTI Light Mod quality).

Weapons with the MULTI Light Mod quality have been designed to easily incorporate an adhesive launcher, light shotgun, light flamethrower, or light grenade launcher as a secondary weapon. It requires an Average (D1) Tech test to install the secondary weapon. The two weapons then operate as one with the Heavy MULTI quality (or Medium MULTI quality if the secondary weapon is a light shotgun), with the secondary weapon operating as an additional secondary mode.

A weapon with this quality (such as rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and flamethrowers) can only use a specific type (or types) of ammunition. A Munition weapon expends a single Reload whenever it is fired, which provides no benefit but counts toward the normal limitations on the number of Reloads spent.

Nanotech-based attacks bypass traditional defences. Damage inflicted by a Nanotech attack uses the target's BTS as persistent soak instead of its Armor or Security. In addition, these attacks possess Nanotech Effects, which generally take the form of special Harm Effects which can be inflicted by spending Momentum. These special Harm Effects do not count as Harms, but may be treated and removed like other Harm Effects. Targets with BTS are immune from Nanotech Effects triggered via Momentum spends, but may still be subjected to them as a normal Harm Effect if the attack deals a Harm normally.

This attack is designed to incapacitate. Any Harms inflicted by a Nonlethal attack are temporary and can be removed by successfully resting (along with the Stress normally removed by resting, see CRB p. 102). Characters cannot die as a result of Nonlethal Harms.

This type of attack is exceptionally good at turning aside incoming attacks. A Parry attack grants the wielder +X Cover Soak, but only against melee attacks.

The attack ignores X points of Soak for each effect rolled on its damage roll.

Damage with the Radiation quality ignores all Soak except from BTS and is treated as Terrifying X and Vicious X. If a Wound is suffered from radiation, it possesses a special Wound Effect that inflicts a +1 difficulty on all Agility-, Brawn-, or Coordination-based actions. In addition, neither the Wound nor the Wound Effect can be removed without Serious Treatment (or a specialised item).

Attacks with this quality are the same as Smoke, except that the affected zones are impenetrable to modern optics and sensors, including multispectral visors (which are, therefore, affected by the penalties normally).

The attack is particularly effective when large quantities of ammunition are unleashed. This quality grants another quality whenever the attack uses X Reloads (not counting Reloads used because of the Munition quality). If no X value is given, the Salvo quality can be triggered with one Reload.

Attacks with Smoke create a cloud of gas, nanobots, or other substance that interferes with enemy lines of sight within a target zone. For each Momentum spent when attacking with a Smoke weapon, the attack affects an additional adjacent zone. Observation tests or attacks within, into, or out of affected zones are made at +X difficulty. This penalty decreases by 1 every 1d6 rounds. If the penalty is reduced to 0, the Smoke has been completely dissipated.

The ranged attack can be arced over obstacles, bounced off walls, or otherwise used in an indirect manner to attack hard-to-reach foes. A Speculative Fire attack has -1 difficulty against targets that are detected, but for which there is no direct line of fire. Further, the attacker can take a penalty of +1 difficulty to ignore the target's Cover Soak entirely.

This attack can strike the target across multiple areas. For each Effect generated on the damage roll, the attack inflicts X additional hits at half the first hit's damage, each separately reduced by Soak. If the attack inflicts physical damage, roll separate hit locations for each additional hit. The weapon is also particularly effective at blasting holes in cover; add up all the damage inflicted from all hits to determine if cover is degraded.

If one or more Effects is rolled, the attack inflicts the Staggered condition on the target. This condition lasts for one round per Effect rolled.

The attack is especially agonising or frightening. Each Effect rolled inflicts X mental damage to the target in addition to whatever damage it inflicts normally.

Thrown weapons can be used to make ranged attacks, but use Athletics as the attack skill (instead of Ballistics). Thrown weapons have a range of Close unless specified otherwise. If the Thrown weapon can also be used for melee attacks, those attacks are still resolved normally using the Close Combat skill.

This attack is a stream of flame, deadly liquid, gas, or some other substance that can be swept back and forth across an area to affect a group and overcome cover. Torrent weapons cannot affect targets further away than their optimal range, but they ignore all Cover Soak. A Torrent weapon is otherwise treated as an Area attack.

The attack has a lingering, deleterious effect. If the attack inflicts a Harm, the Harm Effect causes the target to suffer 1+X (Vicious 1) damage at the end of each turn. Unless specified otherwise, this damage is of the same type as the attack which inflicted it.

The attack is either exceptionally precise or capable of inflicting much greater harm on a direct hit. When making an attack that has gained the benefit of an Exploit action, the attack gains Vicious X.

A Vicious attack inflicts X additional damage for each Effect rolled.