Keeping an eye on suspects or tracking the moves of potential enemies is a crucial part of the modern
adventurer's job.
A
bug sweeper is a handheld device that measures radio frequency signals and looks for "suspicious" wavelengths. It gives a +5 equipment bonus on Search checks when trying to find microtransmitters.
This tiny camera mounted on a flexible cable allows a person to peer into places without being spotted or getting in harm's way (such as slipping it under a door or through an air vent). It includes a small viewer and can be connected to a video camera or monitor. It requires a Computer Use check (DC 10) to use properly.
Originally designed for bomb-disposal applications, contact mikes allow the operator to hear through walls, packages, doors, and so on, merely by placing the suction-cup microphone in contact with the surface in question. It can listen through 6 inches of material.
Trying to hear someone from a distance is fine, unless there is something in the way. A laser microphone bypasses this by measuring the vibrations on a glass surface (such as a window). The listener can hear past a glass window and 10 feet around that area. It does not work on any other type of surface. A laser microphone has a range of 100 feet.
The specific function of this microphone is to pick up quiet sounds at a distance. Otherwise, it functions just like an ordinary pickup microphone. It has a range of 50 feet.
The standard microphone, designed to pick up sounds within a few meters. A standard pick up microphone can hear all sounds within 10 feet, granting a +5 equipment bonus on Listen checks.
A shotgun mike can pick up sounds up to 100 feet away, but must be pointed directly at the target. It has a very narrow corridor, roughly three feet across, and cannot pick up anything beyond that range. A shotgun mike gives a +5 equipment bonus on Listen checks.
Commonly called a "bug," this tiny microphone is the size of a nickel and sends a signal to a waiting transmitter. Average quality bugs have a range of 100 feet, good quality bugs have a range of 300 feet, and amazing quality bugs can reach one mile. For +1 to the purchase DC, microtransmitters can be built into pens, calculators, clocks, and other mundane items. Finding a
microtransmitter requires a Search check opposed by the Hide
skill of the person who planted it. A good quality
microtransmitter grants a +2 equipment bonus on Hide checks. An amazing quality
microtransmitter provides a +4 equipment bonus on Hide checks.
A
police scanner allows a person to listen to emergency broadcast frequencies-fire, medical, animal control, and so forth. It has a range of 10 miles.
Incorporating a tiny pinhole camera and a
microtransmitter, these otherwise ordinary sunglasses see whatever the wearer sees. There are two models-one transmits in black and white and the other in color. They include a
microtransmitter with a range of 150 feet.