Universal Base Polymers

A universal base polymer, or UBP, is the basis for the vast majority of technology now used by humanity. Each UBP is a tiny multifunction component, not much larger than a grain of rice, capable of being configured to act as a brace, capacitor, circuit, diode, fastener, insulator, lens, modulator, pipe, resistor, and dozens of other constituent parts. UBPs can even be spun out into fabric, broken down into component chemicals, reconstituted into new chemicals, or supplemented with base materials (such as dirt or sand) to form massive braces or walls. The right combination of hundreds or even thousands of UBPs can create everything from a comm unit to a laser weapon to powered armor. In their raw form, UBPs have a bulk of 1 per 1,000 UBPs, though when aligned and configured they can easily take up less bulk, and when configured for a specific purpose that calls for a minimum size and bracing (possibly combining them with inert materials), they can have a higher bulk.

While many corporations pay their employees with their own digital currencies, these currencies cannot be used to trade with other corporations nor trade with the rare non-corporate entity. Thanks to their direct utility, being able to create almost anything, and untraceability, making them popular with smugglers, UBPs have quickly risen as the dominant currency throughout humanity's many colonies.

Crafting
A player character can create all the items in the game as long as he has the skills, materials, tools, and time needed to construct it. To begin crafting, the player must first either have a schematic for said item or must have a number of ranks in the appropriate skill equal to the item level of the item to be created. For drugs, medicinals, and poisons, the skill can be either Life Science or Physical Science. For any food or drink, the appropriate skill is Life Science. For computers, you can use either Computers or Engineering, and you can construct a computer with a tier equal to half your ranks in the skill. For items that are not considered any of these categories (such as most clothes, tents, and so on) Engineering can be used. At a GM’s discretion, an appropriate Profession skill can be used for a narrower range of items. For example, a character with Profession (weaponsmith) might be able to make weapons, but no other items.

Schematics can be obtained through corporate connections or through trading. Using a schematic crafts the item as is, reducing the crafting time by half and the price in UBPs by 25%, as the schematic is more efficient than human crafters. Crafting without schematics is less efficient, but the item's level is considered to be equal to the player's ranks in the crafting skill, increasing the item's hardness, hit points, and saving throws. Characters can also repair an item that they themselves crafted in half the normal time. It is, however, normally impossible to craft ranged weapons, ammunition, augmentations, or vehicles without the use of a schematic, unless the player possesses the proper abilities.

Crafting items requires you to have access to a 3d printer. Virtually all settlements and trade hubs will have several printers of various sizes, both public- and private-use. Starships can also be equipped with printers through expansion bays, allowing convenient construction as sailors go from star to star. Finally, Gearheads have access to Rapid Prototypers, man-portable printers that allow them to construct items on the go. Creating an item normally has a base time of 2 hours. If your number of ranks in the appropriate skill to craft an item exceeds that item’s level by 5 or more, you can craft that item in half the base time. If your ranks exceed the item level by 10 or more, you can create the item in one=quarter the base time. Objects larger than a Medium creature take twice as long to craft for each size category larger.