BOARDGAME

Cost: 0.4 credits/1 platinum

Availability: Everywhere

Space travel is, for the most part, pretty boring, and crews often need to indulge in time-killing activities that doesn't burn fuel cells or brain cells, or require a lot of reading. Boardgames are a common enough means of passing time between stops. The classics are still in heavy rotation, notably checkers, Chinese checkers, chess, go, and backgammon.

BOOK

Cost: Varies

Availability: Everywhere

Printed books come in a near-unto-infinite variety of shapes, sizes, quality, and contents. On the Core planets, they're a symbol of old wealth and education. They're rarer on the Border planets, where it's usually cheaper and more practical to use databooks or other electronic storage. Out on the Rim, print books are more common, as they're more reliable and, in some ways, more comforting to simple, honest folk. Most common book you're liable to find out in the Rim is the Bible.

BOXING GLOVES

Cost: 2 credits/5 platinum

Availability: Everywhere

A pair of padded gloves, used for the sweetest sport. Though boxing is no longer practiced much in the Core planets, it's still very much in favor out among the Rim.

CARDS

Cost: 0.2 credits/1 platinum

Availability: Everywhere

A single, standard deck of cards can get you through hours that might otherwise be without purpose. Some folk might even make a living with a deck of these. 

CLIMBING GEAR

Cost: 12 credits/30 platinum

Availability: Everywhere

If you've got a hankering to climb a wall, a mountain, or the side of a building, you've a friend in this. Climbing gear includes pulleys, pitons, rope, chocks, ascenders, clips, a handaxe/hammer combo, and a harness. Also, gloves keep your hands safe; a helmet's included so's they can recognize your face when they find you at the base of the cliff. The price listed will cover the necessary gear for one climber.

HOLOGAME TABLE

Cost: 100 credits/250 platinum

Availability: Everywhere

Not exactly portable, this piece of furniture is topped with a field of holographic emitters. The table can be customized for pool, foosball, air hockey, or any number of tabletop games. Handles and sticks come separately. Not-so-real parts keep people from stealing 'em, or throwing 'em through the windows of your less discriminatin' establishments when tempers run too hot.

HOVERPACK

Cost: 1,000 credits/2,500 platinum

Availability: The Core

Essentially, a hoverpack is a backpack-styled jet capable of limited flight. Most are too noisy and generate too much heat to be of any practical use, though they're sometimes favored for rapid commando strikes or rescue attempts in difficult terrain. Alliance engineers spent billions and wasted years on hoverpack projects, but in the end couldn't solve the inherent problems. A number of prototypes entered the private sector and serve mainly as museum pieces or as stunt-show curiosities. The functional models (of which there are few) are prohibitively expensive.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

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A wide range of instruments exist, including guitars, drums, mandolin, sitars, harps, and horns of all sizes and shapes. Most folk get some musical training during schooling, and it's always a pleasant surprise to see what secret talents a crewmate has. Registered Companions are trained in music and play at least one instrument.

PARACHUTE

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A basic parachute, worn on the back, for use in the rare situation where your ship's falling through atmo and you've got the chance to jettison. Some ejection seats have built-in parachutes.

PARASAIL

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A specialized form of parachute constructed with integral air channels that allow for far more maneuverability and vertical movement than a standard parachute. Parasails are sometimes used for entertainment purposes, such as might be had from being dragged behind a boat or other vehicle. Alliance forces use 'em for covert operations; the specialists drop a ways off from a target and parasail in quietly and with little fuss.

RAIN STICK

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A long wooden tube sealed at both ends and filled with small beads; a number of pins pointing inward are fixed to the inner walls. When the stick is held upright or at an angle, it makes a sound like rainfall. On Earth-That-Was rain sticks were thought to summon rain, but now they're mostly curios or musical instruments.

SHELTER, PORTABLE

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This item is basically a small tent, with collapsible poles and stakes. It don't provide much cover from extreme weather, but it'll keep you dry and beats sleeping out in the open on a stormy night. Fancier versions have small heat cyclers and built-in light emitters in the central pole. Really fancy ones are made of smart cloth that just snaps into shape or folds up on its own. It'll house two comfortably, three less so though.

SLEEPSACK

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A basic synthetic fiber mummy-bag, insulated to keep you warm. Cozy when you're in it; easily collapsed when you're not. If you're in a friendly mood, you can zip two together.

SURVIVAL GEAR

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Generally, you'd take this little pack if you were roughing it, or as a precaution in case you find yourself stranded somewhere unexpected. Inside you'll find useful items such as water purification pills, a mini first aid kit, a multi-tool, a little fishing kit, a lighter, a tiny survival guide, a compass, some cable, a flare or two, a few snaplights, a wire saw, and some basic fire-starting materials.

WEIGHT SET

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A set of dumbbells, weights, bars, free weights, a rack to store 'em on, and a bench to lie down on while you're lifting.