Body-gene Box: A body-gene box is part stasis field, part freeze field. It is a 20-cm cube made of federanium. A small piece of a character's epidermal covering is placed inside it. As long as the box remains closed, the sample remains fresh. The body-gene box is kept in a bank vault that is now standard at all major hospitals. Once a character is declared dead, his genetic sample can be removed
from the box and a clone can be created of the character. As might be expected there are numerous hitches involved with this item and the entire procedure.
• Cost: Besides the high cost of the body-gene box (see the Equipment Tables) there is also the cost of having the sample prepared and taken (5000 Cr), the cost of storage (10,000 Cr per year), and the cost of having the clone made (75,000 Cr). Once a clone is grown the sample is destroyed. Another sample cannot be taken for at least three months.
• Legalities: Society has a great fear of clones running wild. No character with a felony criminal record can have a sample taken, maintain a sample in a b-g box, or have a clone grown. Proof of a character's death must be positively established before a clone can be grown. This either requires witnesses, a medical certificate of death, or the identifiable remains of the character.
If it is discovered that a clone exists while the original still lives, a general order to shoot on sight is immediately given. Unfortunately this usually results in both the clone and the original being destroyed.
A character can only be brought back through cloning if he has died an unusually early accidental death. Most of the Frontier believes that if allowed a free hand, the clone merchants would overpopulate the systems in a matter of decades. Therefore, by law, no one may be cloned who has died of old age or a natural death. Interpretation of this are left to the referee's discretion. (Of course, there are always rumors of the "filthy rich" who can buy their own clone banks and almost become immortal, but that is for NPC consideration only).
• Dangers: If a close discovers that his original is still alive, he becomes obsessed with a desire to kill the original character and never stops trying until one or the other is dead. The next step, usually, is that the cloned character then becomes suicidal after realizing that he has killed himself.
• Campaign Considerations: When a character has a sample taken, the referee must record all of the character's abilities, skills, and so forth. This record is then the basis for the clone, if and when it is grown. Any new abilities or skills developed after the sample is taken are not recorded, unless the character has another sample taken later (whereupon the original sample is destroyed).
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A player can never control two versions of the same character at the same time. If, for some reason, a clone is grown while a character still lives, the referee will control the clone.
Body-Jump Box: A body-jump box is a device used to try to resurrect a dead character. It comes in many forms, from huge chambers in city hospitals to the small portable units that are carried into the field. When it is wired to various nerve points of the victim's body and head and then activated, if forces beta particles through the body.
If the character using the device (who must have the Medical Devices skill) makes his skill check, the body comes back to life. If the skill check is missed, the body is completely destroyed by the beta particles. This operation can only be attempted on a character who has been dead no more than 10 hours.
Federanium: This element is the toughest known material in the Frontier. It is impervious to heat, cold, and rust. It is incredibly expensive (how expensive is left to the referee's discretion) and the cost of molding it is also high. There are very few factories where federanium can be formed or reworked.
Medical Tabs: These aspirin-sized tablets come in different varieties and are used by explorers to temporarily combat unusual maladies. Examples include the following:
• Aller-Tab: One tab blocks the effects of most allergies to alien flora or fauna for twelve full hours.
• Dehy-Tab: One tab prevents the Human, Ifshnit, Humma, or Yazirian body's dehydration from heat for twenty-four hours.
• Elasti-Tab: One tab prevents the Dralasite body from losing its elasticity or the Vrusk's chitinous body from locking up in freezing weather.
• Fungi-Tab: One tab prevents most alien fungi from growing on or in the user's body for eight hours.
Neutrad: An injection of neutrad is necessary with the Medical Treatment: Radiation skill to stop radiation poisoning. Radiation poisoning is most commonly caused by nuclear battery or plant leakage or by a character being exposed to ancient nuclear weapons or their residue in nuked areas.
Salgel: Salgel is an oily blue goo that effectively protects surfaces from all but the worst concentrations of acid. Explorers often coat themselves or any exposed items with it to counteract the corrosive effects of severe acid rain or acidic gas. It can only be removed by a special liquid that accompanies its purchase.
Sporekill: An injection of sporekill is necessary with the Medical Treatment: Infestation skill to stop spore or parasite infestation. Spore infestation is most often caused by alien plant life seeking to spread its spores to a fertile growth medium... like lungs.
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