Buying equipment in special ops/military type games

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by clu2415

Elite soldiers have access to talented armorers to make custom modifications, early access to prototypes, exotic and expensive ammo, but they still have limited resources at their disposal. I’m running an ISWAT campaign, which I see as a lot like a special operations team. (note: I don’t have Infinite Worlds, just using the info in Campaigns. I’m running Homeline as straddling the TL8/9 border.) I do want them to have access to high-tech and awesome gear, but I want them to make decisions about which pieces of gear matter to their character instead of grabbing every gadget they can see. So I suppose I need to set an operating budget for them, since rare and cutting edge tech costs more. Does anyone have tips for equipment access on this kind of situation?

At the risk of tooting my own horn, you could probably look up Schrodinger's Backpack (Pyr 3/83) and treat the pool of weight and resources (or just resources) as something to roll against. If someone wants a piece of custom tech, they roll to see if they can get it. If they CAN, the per-time-period budget is reduced and Next Guy may have a harder time getting what they want.