Parabatteries are active-matrix power storage devices that are used in vehicles, computers and robots. They vary in size from a fist-sized cube,[1] to one cubic meter block.[2][3] The cost to recharge a parabattery at a commercial recharging station is equal to the amount of the SEUs being recharged, times 5 cr.
Unlike Power Beltpacks and Backpacks, parabatteries are not equipped with multiple ports for quick connections, instead, they must be linked to devices through dedicated connections.
| Parabattery | SEUs | Cost (Cr) | Wgt (kg) | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type 0 | 250 | 300 | 12.5 | Light body Robots Level 1 Computers |
| Type 1 | 500 | 600 | 25 | Ground Cycles and Hovercycles Standard body Robots Level 1 Computers |
| Type 2 | 1,000 | 1,200 | 50 | Ground Cars and Hover Cars Heavy Duty Robots Anthropomorphic body Robots Level 2 Computers |
| Type 3 | 2,000 | 2,300 | 100 | Ground Trucks, Hovertrucks and Explorers Level 3 Computers |
| Type 4 | 4,000 | 4,500 | 200 | Aircars and Jetcopters Level 4 Computers |
All vehicles listed above can travel 1,000 km on a new parabattery before it is out of energy and must be recharged.[4] (A glijet does not use a parabattery; its range varies with fuel use, altitude and air currents.)
Most robots use a single Type 1 parabattery, while heavy duty and anthropomorphic robots use a Type 2 parabattery.[5][6] Level 1 to level 4 computers are commonly powered by parabatteries of the same type as the computer's level. Level 5 and 6 computers generally use power generators type 1 and 2, respectively. Computers will operate for at least one year at full capacity before their (baseline type) batteries must be recharged.[7]
Parabetteries may be recharged at public recharge stations at a cost of 5 Credits per SEU, or directly from a Power Generator.
New Parabatteries are commonly sold fully charged.
An exploding parabattery causes 2d10 points of damage multiplied by the parabattery's type to anyone in close contact with it.
Notes[]
- ↑ A fist-sized battery would be similar in size to a motorcycle battery (approx 10cm cubed), but the weight is twice that of a full-sized car battery.
- ↑ This volume is not consistent with linear scaling; if a Type I (500 SEU) is a cube 10cm across and weighs 25kg, then a Type IV (4,000 SEU) weighing 200kg would be a cube 20cm across; doubling the side length on a cube multiplies its mass eightfold.
- ↑ A better guide for size might be to simply describe by cubic centimeters; Types I, II, III and IV being 1000cc, 2000cc, 4000cc and 8000cc, respectively, with the actual shape dependent on the intended application.
- ↑ 1,000 km on a new battery of its listed type; the range is not based on the battery type, but on its SEU capacity; this can be determined as a Kilometers per SEU (kpSEU) based on the base battery of the vehicle type. Technicians can easily connect a parabattery (or even a power belt/backpack) of any size to any vehicle that can handle its weight (i.e. no Type IV batteries on hovercycles).
- ↑ The operating time of robots is not stated in the rulebooks.
- ↑ Although not listed, the operating time of a robot can be extrapolated from both the vehicular ranges (2 kpSEU for standard body robots and 1 kpSEU for heavy duty and anthropomorphic) and computer power usage SEU (see below) based on the robot's level.
- ↑ One year of computer operation for the given parabattery type assumes maximum Function Points for the computer level and a standard GST year or 400 standard days (20 hours/day). Alternate size parabatteries or other active-matrix energy sources may be used without modification, with a suitable change in operational duration based on the source's capacity. Non-rechargeable SEU sources such as powerclips may not be used to power computers.
- Level 1 (1-10 FP) Computers use 0.125 SEU per Function Point per day (SEU/FP/day)
- Level 2 (11-30 FP) Computers use 0.0833 SEU/FP/day
- Level 3 (31-80 FP) Computers use 0.0625 SEU/FP/day
- Level 4 (81-200 FP) Computers use 0.05 SEU/FP/day
- Level 5 (201-500 FP) Computers use 0.04 SEU/FP/day (Assumes 8,000 SEU/yr)
- Level 6 (501+ FP) Computers use 0.032 SEU/FP/day (Assumes 16,000 SEU/yr and 1,250 FP)