A common theme in RPGs is kewl stuff. Tools for lewting some Fools Jewls.
One of the differences between the modern and fantasy genres is that the gear in modern games tends to be more specialised and mission oriented. If the Agency hands you a suitcase that can deploy a parachute, you know that you’re not going diving. At least not from a boat.
Operators also tend to be given their gear from the Agency Techie Squad whereas the fantasy types tend to retrieve it from the still cooling corpses of their foes, or find it stashed in ancient subsurface lewt and monster storage facilities.
In Bandit Country I lean towards the practical. If it exists today and is a proven technology, Bandits can get it. Bandits may work for but are not employees of Espionage agencies. They don’t have all the super high tech gear. The fact is that most official Agents don’t either. High tech gear and deniable action are not all that compatible. It is bad tradecraft to be captured carrying some piece of fancy gadgetry. Better to be treated as a common criminal than an espionage agent.
The other reason for minimising the shiny tech is one of practicality and survivability. Why carry an unproven or fragile technology when store shelf tech can do the same thing. It is a far better solution to have something clunky that works than something shiny that doesn’t.
Most gear falls into the following categories: Weaponry, transport, intrusion , surveillance, counter-surveillance, forensic and communications. All of these categories are well catered to in the civilian market.
A typical cell phone comes with a camera that can take good enough images to copy documents and has low light imaging, bluetooth connectivity and a good battery life. That’s a whole lot of functionality in one unit that is globally innocuous. Insurgents use them to trigger bombs, many have GPS functionality,meaning that they can be used to set targets for GPS guided munitions. Infra red ports can be used to create laser trip wires between the unit and a convenient reflective surface. Many have accelerometers so can be used as motion detectors (eg, put your phone on a wooden floor and if it detects vibration in the floor it sends an SMS to another phone or informs a local bluetooth network). A bunch of cell phones can be distributed to create a cell network if there isn’t one. Nice easy distributed network that can carry data. Place a phone that has a touch screen under a document to be signed and take a digital copy of the signature. I am sure that this is the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with a phone.
The application of deception techniques to commonly available gear can increase utility. This can range from the simple; decant a can of capsicum spray and repressurise it into an empty deodorant can. how many casual body searches will check the contents of the spray? Make a piano wire garrote out of a retractable ID reel. For a little more complication how about a cover drivers license that has a high quality printed sticky film of a different license on top. When the first ID has been used, peel off the top layer and have another one ready to go underneath.
For my money, this approach to gadgets is more fun. It encourages player improvisation and, even of the results are implausible, it is less likely to break story continuity.
BANDIT COUNTRY 