In the crowded, volatile corridors of Starfall's undercities, shock pads transform ordinary fists into arc-weapon delivery systems—practical, brutal, and just legal enough to slip past most station security scans.
On the cramped decks of Station Tertius-9, where bulkheads sweat condensation and the hum of faulty reactors drowns out conversation, a streetside vendor hawks shock pads from a folding table. "Certified nonlethal," he shouts over the din, though everyone knows the settings can be overridden with a screwdriver and ten minutes of patience.
Shock pads are ubiquitous in the Starfall Galaxy—worn by dock enforcers maintaining order during ration riots, by freelance bouncers ejecting drunks from neon-soaked cantinas, and by desperate refugees defending makeshift shelters from scavenger gangs. Their design is brutally simple: an insulated polymer glove with embedded capacitor banks and contact plates across the knuckles. Squeeze the trigger stud in your palm, and the next punch delivers a crackling arc that drops most humanoids without permanent harm.
The pads earned the nickname "sparkers" in Guild slang, and wearing a visible pair sends a message: I'm willing to negotiate, but I'm not defenseless. Security forces across the Inner Sphere issue them as standard subdual gear, while black-market models flood the Outer Sphere—often jury-rigged from salvaged arc-welder components and medical defibrillators.
Cultural attitudes vary. In the orderly precincts of Accord-aligned stations, shock pads symbolize restrained authority—proof that civilization can enforce compliance without spilling blood. In the Borderlands, however, they're tools of survival: light enough to wear all day, versatile enough to jumpstart a failing power relay or discourage a pickpocket, and cheap enough that even the destitute can scrape together the credits.
Shock Pad Weapon 0+
Source Player Core pg. 264
Price 2c; Damage 1d6 Blugeoning, Bulk L
Hands 1; Upgrades 1
Category Simple
Group shock
Type Melee; Category Simple; Group Club
Price 10 creditsDamage 1d4 EBulk —
Hands 1
Type MeleeCategory SimpleGroup Shock
Upgrades 1
This flexible nanocarbon circuit can be installed as an upgrade into gloves, kneepads, or similar appendage protectors to emit a powerful electric shock when forcefully applied to a target.
Critical Specialization Effects
Certain feats, class features, weapon runes, and other effects can grant you additional benefits when you make a Strike with certain weapons and get a critical success. This is called a critical specialization effect. The exact effect depends on which weapon group your weapon belongs to, as listed below. You can always decide not to add the critical specialization effect of your weapon.
Shock: The target must succeed at a Fortitude save against your class DC or be stunned 1.
Non-Combat Applications
Emergency Resuscitation: In a pinch, shock pads can deliver a controlled jolt to restart a stopped heart or revive someone from electrical shock-induced unconsciousness. A DC 20 Medicine check is required to calibrate the charge correctly—failure deals 1d6 electricity damage instead of helping.
Tech Interaction: Shock pads function as makeshift arc welders or power sources for low-voltage equipment. GMs may allow a DC 15 Crafting or Engineering check to repair simple electronics or force open malfunctioning electronic locks.
Intimidation: The visible crackle of live shock pads grants a +1 circumstance bonus to Intimidation checks in close-quarters social encounters where the threat of violence is implicit.
Societal Impact
Shock pads occupy a unique legal and social niche. Because they are classified as nonlethal by default, most jurisdictions permit civilians to carry them—unlike laser pistols or blades, which trigger weapon-carry restrictions. This has led to a thriving "sparker culture" in undercity districts, where improvised fight clubs host bare-knuckle brawls enhanced by crackling fists, betting pools measured in Cinders, and an unspoken code: no lethal mods, no permanent injuries.
Enforcement agencies love and hate shock pads in equal measure. They enable officers to subdue suspects without paperwork-heavy lethal force incidents, but black-market tampering—adding lethal voltage boosters or disabling safety limiters—has resulted in countless "accidents" blamed on faulty equipment. Forensic investigators in high-profile cases routinely examine shock pad circuitry for signs of modification.
Adventure Hooks
The Sparker Circuit: A charismatic underground fight promoter recruits the party to compete in a no-holds-barred shock-pad tournament. The prize: a starship berth and enough Yoms to last a season. The catch: the ref's been bribed, and half the fighters are using illegal lethal-mod pads.
Malfunction Murder: A wealthy merchant is found dead in his quarters, killed by what appears to be a shock pad discharge. Station security arrests a dockworker who swears his pads were functioning normally. The party must investigate whether it was murder, sabotage, or a tragic accident—and uncover who profits from the confusion.
Jury-Rigged Salvation: The party's ship suffers a catastrophic power failure during a firefight, leaving life support on emergency reserves. The only way to reroute enough energy to the reactor is to sacrifice someone's shock pads—or risk one PC using them directly on exposed circuitry (requiring a DC 25 Engineering check or taking 3d6 electricity damage).
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