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Not exactly Cyberpunk 2020
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<blockquote data-quote="Wolf1066" data-source="post: 5148477" data-attributes="member: 88680"><p>Thanks for your reply, Aus_Snow. My understanding has always been that Humanity Cost was there to prevent overly cybernetic characters - in a character creation system where you can fit yourself out with a lot of stuff for only a few hundred Eurobucks. (Stuff that would cost thousands in game by the time you factor in surgery costs on top - millions if the prices were a trifle more realistic).</p><p></p><p>Humanity Cost certainly makes no sense in light of real-world responses to implants and (Disclaimer: I have not read every Cyberpunk novel out there) does not seem to have any support in the genre.</p><p></p><p>I do run a version of "Humanity Cost" though...</p><p></p><p>How human you <strong>look </strong>afterwards.</p><p></p><p>Natural-looking replacements carry no cost, unnatural looking replacements (and exotic sculps) do. Weird cyberoptics - cat/wolf/lizard/goat (don't ask me why, I don't know)/vampire eyes that could just be contact lenses not so much but glowing red ones definitely so.</p><p></p><p>So, you no longer look human to a casual, unmodified observer. What does that mean? Well, this is "the Real World" so it means "that depends". </p><p></p><p>Anything from "Wow, you look like an elf! Way Cool! Did the surgery hurt?" to "Hah! What a dick! Whatnhell you do that to yourself for?" to "The body is a Temple and must not be defiled! Die, you heathen bastard, for your crimes against The Lord!" - all depending on the person doing the perceiving.</p><p></p><p>No numbers, no die rolls - you either look human or you don't. Your modification might look like non-surgical costuming and therefore be glossed over or it might be so obviously cybernetic that it sends all the religious zealots scrambling to get the blazing torches.</p><p></p><p>For years my take on cyberware has been rather non-standard as well. Cyberoptic option: camera, actually takes up spaces. WTF? A cyberoptic <em>is </em>a camera! Who puts a camera inside a camera? So, pay a little extra for the wiring, jacks and storage and you can record those "Kodak moments" for later.</p><p></p><p>Why do you need a "neural processor" to operate a basic limb or cyberoptics? Surely they're hardwired into your nervous system and feedback would be appropriate to the part of the body they are replacing. Only reason you would need a neural processor would be to control non-standard options (reading your synaptic responses) or to feed non-standard data to the nervous system (Times Square display, targeting etc).</p><p></p><p>Which brings us to why do you need cyberoptics for Times Square and targeting? A neural processor could feed the data - left/right differentiated, of course - direct to the sight centres of the brain bypassing the eyes entirely. Feed the right signals in the right format and you can convince the brain there is a targeting cross/dot or the weather conditions in the town of your choice hovering a couple of metres in front of you no matter where you turn your head. Kinda like when you start "seeing spots" - it's not your eyes, it's your <em>brain</em>.</p><p></p><p>So naturally, even if you do have cyberoptics, Times Square or targeting would not "take up spaces". Basic cyberoptics - convert incoming light into a format your brain will translate - like it translates data from real eyes. Low light option: nothing more than increased sensitivity to low light levels, automatically adjust until it's too dark for even them to work. No problem.</p><p></p><p>Thermograph: a whole other problem as real thermographic cameras have to be adjusted by trained personnel - contrast, heat range, whether hot areas are displayed as white or black or artificial colour spectrum (which must be adjusted for the current temperature range) - either you are going to have hand controls sticking out of your body at a convenient location or you are going to control it using a neural processor.</p><p></p><p>I'm one of those horrible people who actually read up how <em>real-life</em> things work - so my Edgerunners don't use Thermographic vision to spy through walls and see people moving around - like certain cruddy Hollyweird movies [cough] <em>Blue Thunder </em>[/cough] would have us believe. My characters can't even see through a <em>glass window</em> using thermographic vision - but they can pretty much instantly spot which vehicle has been running recently.</p><p></p><p>I love the idea of cybernetic implants for style and or profit, love the edgy Corporate-controlled dystopia against/within which the characters can strive. The stress, fatigue, environmental rules in the Ianus Games books are great for putting that bit of extra edge in the game. Tired, stressed out characters having to handle yet another crappy situation that may well blow up in their faces.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Wolf1066, post: 5148477, member: 88680"] Thanks for your reply, Aus_Snow. My understanding has always been that Humanity Cost was there to prevent overly cybernetic characters - in a character creation system where you can fit yourself out with a lot of stuff for only a few hundred Eurobucks. (Stuff that would cost thousands in game by the time you factor in surgery costs on top - millions if the prices were a trifle more realistic). Humanity Cost certainly makes no sense in light of real-world responses to implants and (Disclaimer: I have not read every Cyberpunk novel out there) does not seem to have any support in the genre. I do run a version of "Humanity Cost" though... How human you [B]look [/B]afterwards. Natural-looking replacements carry no cost, unnatural looking replacements (and exotic sculps) do. Weird cyberoptics - cat/wolf/lizard/goat (don't ask me why, I don't know)/vampire eyes that could just be contact lenses not so much but glowing red ones definitely so. So, you no longer look human to a casual, unmodified observer. What does that mean? Well, this is "the Real World" so it means "that depends". Anything from "Wow, you look like an elf! Way Cool! Did the surgery hurt?" to "Hah! What a dick! Whatnhell you do that to yourself for?" to "The body is a Temple and must not be defiled! Die, you heathen bastard, for your crimes against The Lord!" - all depending on the person doing the perceiving. No numbers, no die rolls - you either look human or you don't. Your modification might look like non-surgical costuming and therefore be glossed over or it might be so obviously cybernetic that it sends all the religious zealots scrambling to get the blazing torches. For years my take on cyberware has been rather non-standard as well. Cyberoptic option: camera, actually takes up spaces. WTF? A cyberoptic [I]is [/I]a camera! Who puts a camera inside a camera? So, pay a little extra for the wiring, jacks and storage and you can record those "Kodak moments" for later. Why do you need a "neural processor" to operate a basic limb or cyberoptics? Surely they're hardwired into your nervous system and feedback would be appropriate to the part of the body they are replacing. Only reason you would need a neural processor would be to control non-standard options (reading your synaptic responses) or to feed non-standard data to the nervous system (Times Square display, targeting etc). Which brings us to why do you need cyberoptics for Times Square and targeting? A neural processor could feed the data - left/right differentiated, of course - direct to the sight centres of the brain bypassing the eyes entirely. Feed the right signals in the right format and you can convince the brain there is a targeting cross/dot or the weather conditions in the town of your choice hovering a couple of metres in front of you no matter where you turn your head. Kinda like when you start "seeing spots" - it's not your eyes, it's your [I]brain[/I]. So naturally, even if you do have cyberoptics, Times Square or targeting would not "take up spaces". Basic cyberoptics - convert incoming light into a format your brain will translate - like it translates data from real eyes. Low light option: nothing more than increased sensitivity to low light levels, automatically adjust until it's too dark for even them to work. No problem. Thermograph: a whole other problem as real thermographic cameras have to be adjusted by trained personnel - contrast, heat range, whether hot areas are displayed as white or black or artificial colour spectrum (which must be adjusted for the current temperature range) - either you are going to have hand controls sticking out of your body at a convenient location or you are going to control it using a neural processor. I'm one of those horrible people who actually read up how [I]real-life[/I] things work - so my Edgerunners don't use Thermographic vision to spy through walls and see people moving around - like certain cruddy Hollyweird movies [cough] [I]Blue Thunder [/I][/cough] would have us believe. My characters can't even see through a [I]glass window[/I] using thermographic vision - but they can pretty much instantly spot which vehicle has been running recently. I love the idea of cybernetic implants for style and or profit, love the edgy Corporate-controlled dystopia against/within which the characters can strive. The stress, fatigue, environmental rules in the Ianus Games books are great for putting that bit of extra edge in the game. Tired, stressed out characters having to handle yet another crappy situation that may well blow up in their faces. [/QUOTE]
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