In Starfall's sprawling station districts, contested colony outposts, and guild-controlled trade hubs, compliance cuffs are the universal symbol of enforcement authority. Mass-produced by guild security contractors, these lightweight restraints feature quick-ratcheting polymer frames that auto-adjust to fit wrists or ankles from Small to Large creatures, cinching down with a satisfying click that signals the end of resistance. Each pair embeds a low-power security chip keyed to the arresting officer's badge transponder, allowing remote lock and unlock commands within short range—handy when processing multiple detainees in crowded detention blocks or riot scenarios.
The polymer casing is just strong enough to restrain an average person without specialized tools, but experienced escape artists, strength-augmented mercs, or anyone with a decent set of lockpicks can bypass them with effort. Guild enforcers know this, which is why compliance cuffs are considered "soft restraints"—adequate for cooperative suspects, drunken spacers, and low-threat detainees, but insufficient for high-risk captures. For those situations, enforcers upgrade to tactical binders (reinforced alloy frames, hardened biometric locks) or neural suppression cuffs (electro-shock compliance systems), but those cost significantly more.
The ubiquity of compliance cuffs has spawned a thriving underground market for "cracked chips"—reprogrammed security transponders that can unlock any commercial-grade cuff within range. Black-market hackers sell these for 10–20 Cinders, and smugglers, resistance cells, and independent crews keep them stashed in emergency kits alongside fake IDs and counterfeit guild permits. Guild security regularly updates encryption protocols to counter this, leading to an ongoing arms race between enforcement tech and criminal ingenuity.
Culturally, compliance cuffs carry different meanings depending on context. In guild-controlled space, being cuffed is routine—station police slap them on anyone who gets rowdy, violates curfew, or can't produce proper documentation, releasing them after a few hours and a hefty fine. On frontier colonies and nomad ships, wearing cuffs is a mark of shame, a visible reminder that you got caught by "the suits" and couldn't talk or fight your way out. Resistance propaganda often features broken compliance cuffs as symbols of liberation, and some underground groups modify them into jewelry or art installations as acts of defiance.
Compliance Cuffs Gear 0+
Price: 5 c
Bulk: L
Hands: 2
Usage: Held in 2 hands
You can apply compliance cuffs to someone who is willing or otherwise at your mercy (such as being unconscious, restrained, or paralyzed) as an exploration activity taking 10–30 seconds depending on the creature's size and how many limbs you're binding. The cuffs automatically ratchet down and lock via an embedded security chip.
Restraint Effects: A creature wearing compliance cuffs on their wrists has the clumsy 1 condition and cannot use actions that require two hands. A creature with cuffed ankles takes a –10-foot status penalty to all Speeds.
Escape: Freeing a creature from compliance cuffs requires two successful DC 15 Thievery checks (to hack or pick the electronic lock). The Athletics DC to Break Open the polymer casing or chain between cuffs is 17.
Activation: The cuffs can be locked or unlocked as a single action by anyone with the paired security chip (usually worn by the arresting officer) within 30 feet, or by speaking the correct passcode within 5 feet of the cuffs.
Compliance Cuffs are lightweight, polymer-framed restraints that lock automatically and integrate biometric security chips, designed as the standard restraint tool for guild security, station police, and enforcement teams across Starfall.
Non-Combat Applications
Crowd Control: Security teams apply compliance cuffs during riot suppression, protest dispersals, or station lockdowns to process and detain large numbers of individuals quickly.
Prisoner Transport: Enforcers use cuffs to restrain suspects during transfer between detention cells, courtrooms, or transport shuttles, minimizing escape risk.
Diplomatic Leverage: Possession of compliance cuffs and their security chips can serve as proof of authority or guild affiliation during negotiations with rival factions or independent operators.
Societal Impact
Compliance cuffs have become so synonymous with guild enforcement that their presence alone can escalate or de-escalate situations. When guild security openly displays cuffs on their belts, it signals readiness to enforce compliance through detention—a visual threat that keeps populations in line. Conversely, independent arbiters and frontier marshals who refuse to carry guild-standard cuffs send a message of neutrality, using improvised restraints (rope, salvaged chain) to avoid association with guild authority.
The standardization of compliance cuffs has also created supply chain dependencies: colonies that can't afford guild-licensed security gear often resort to bootleg cuffs with faulty locks, expired encryption, or brittle polymer frames that snap under pressure. This leads to embarrassing escapes, security failures, and increased distrust of local enforcement. Guild contractors exploit this by offering "maintenance contracts" that lock colonies into long-term dependency on proprietary security tech.
On the darker side, compliance cuffs enable abuses of power. Corrupt enforcers plant cracked chips on rivals to frame them for possession of illegal tech, or "lose" security codes to allow selective escapes in exchange for bribes. Human rights advocates across Starfall document cases of prolonged cuffing (leaving suspects restrained for hours beyond legal limits), punitive tightening (over-ratcheting cuffs to cause pain or nerve damage), and "accidental" lock failures that result in suspect deaths during transport.
Adventure Hooks
The Faulty Batch: A shipment of compliance cuffs delivered to a frontier station has defective security chips that unlock randomly—players must track down escaped detainees before they flee or cause chaos, while investigating whether the defect was sabotage or negligence.
Cracked Chip Conspiracy: A guild security captain's entire squad is found dead, their compliance cuffs unlocked by an unknown cracked chip—players must trace the chip's origin through the black market to uncover a deeper conspiracy.
The Liberator's Toolkit: A resistance cell is distributing free cracked chips to impoverished colonists, causing mass jailbreaks and undermining guild authority—players must decide whether to stop the distribution, protect the cell, or exploit the chaos for their own ends.
Compliance cuffs are symbols of control, tools of oppression, and targets of rebellion, a constant reminder that freedom in the void is often just one security chip away from disappearing.
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