d20 Modern Cybernetics Idea....opinions anyone?

[Morgenstern]

Another thing. If you do have an elaborate cybernetics ruleset already preped, you might take a look at Spycraft and see if it's compatible. We're always looking for interesting new fan submissions for the website, and any serious submission will receive an equally serious review for our mechanics design team. Might help sharpen some of your ideas .

The guidlines are at www.spycraftrpg.com

 

[Shallown]

I think just limiting Cyberweear by cost and introducing some element of danger into having it implanted is enough for me. Why does it have to reduce stats or some created stat. Just balance it like you would a nice car or powerful gun. Its just equipment so treat it as such.

Makes it simple for me. It doesn't have to be unbalancing to be useful, cool and worth it.

Later

 

[Visceris]

This is my system:

A character's base Constitution is his Cyber Form Score. He can have a certain number of augmentations that based on that score. It doesn't go up as points are spent on Constitution due to leveling up or by other modifiers. The character can take feats (Cyber Affinity, Greater Cyber Affinity) that will increase the Cyber Form Score, though Cyber Affinity must be taken at first level. Also there is an Experience cost in implanting Augmentations. This represents the time and energy needed to learn how to use the augmentation. Another feat (Chrome Soul) effects the base XP cost to lower it, which can only be taken at 1st level. The player can choose not to spend the experience but he takes a -4 penalty on all actions that makes use of the augmentation.

Also going under the knife also carries risk. as well, though I need to work on it more to make sense beyond myself.

Every piece of augmentation has a Purchase DC, but not all augmentations have a Cyber Form cost or cost experience to use. Also the character can choose to go beyond is Cyber Form Score, but takes temporary Constitution damage per day as long as the overloading is in place. The character can take expensive drugs to combat it but that works against his immune system which give a penalty of a -4 to all Fortitude saves.

As I stated I have 140+ different augmentations (cybernetics, biotech, and nanotech) that I and an friend of mine has written up. I also set it up a Cultural Technology Level system to separate different advances in technology in augmentations.

Here are three examples and tell me what you think.

Cybernetics
Cyberarm
CTL10
Surgery: Serious
Purchase DC 18
CFC: 2
XP Cost: 500
This is the standard replacement limb cyberarm which has the base score of your Strength and Dexterity, though at additional cost this can be increased. For every +1 to the base Purchase DC you can increase either you Strength or Dexterity by one point, max being a +4 Strength and Dexterity enhancement bonus, also each point increases the CFC by 0.5. These bonuses only apply to that arm. You can do similar upgrades to other limbs as well. A cyberarm has 4 spaces available for various options. For no additional CFC cost, however, you can increase your Strength or Dexterity by using up your option spaces. 1 Option Space equals 1 point of stat increase. Cyberarms have a base structural hit points of 20 (destroyed at –10) and a punch from a cyberarm does killing damage as its base instead of subdual damage. For a cyberarm constructed in a CTL 12+ culture the cyberarm has 6 option spaces available to it.

Biotech
Advanced Respiratory System
CTL11
Surgery: Serious
Purchase DC: 18
CTC: 1.5
XP Cost: 100
A new pair of lungs are grown and enhanced with extra alveoli, replacing the old lungs. The user can hold his breath twice as long and can effectively function at higher altitudes. The character receives a +2 enhancement bonus to his Constitution. This enhancement cannot be combined with other circulatory system enhancements.

Nanotech
Strength Augmentation
CTL12
Surgery: Light
Purchase DC: 22 per level
CTC: 1
XP Cost: 50 Per level
This system rebuilds the host’s muscles, tendons, and ligaments, increasing overall strength and reinforcing the body to allow it to take advantage of the new strength. The result is an enhancement bonus to Strength equal to twice the implant’s level. The power points needed to power this system equals to the implant’s level.
(max rating: 5)


A special note that the nanotech uses a core system that is intergrated to the body's natural energy which powers the various systems. If the core system doesn't have the power the various systems will begin to shut down.

 

[Kage Tenjin]

An idea

I've seen this mentioned, but I was thinking about it and I'm liking it more and more.
The cyberware reduces your con. you are slowly becoming a construct, and the reduction in con score shows how close you are to sliding off the scales from humantity to machine. each peice reduces your con by a set amount, and when your con reaches 0, you become a construct type creature with a very good chance of going insane...
COC-style sanity. give each peice both a con cost and a san cost and that judges how well a person can handle becoming a machine. If they can reach 0 con and still remain sane(somehow), they are not really human at all anymore, just an amalgamation of machine parts. If your san gives out first, well, we were given the insane cultist template for a reason, now weren't we

 

[Visceris]

Consitution isn't a measure of one's sanity, but of one's physical form and one's tolerance for physical augmentation. If you want to use Sanityas a base I think the Wisdom or Intelligent score would be used instead.

As for becoming a Construct why give the player's a boon to over cybering themselves. Though becoming a NPC would be one deterrent from the results of doing so.

 

[Bagpuss]

There is no evidence to support that getting cyberware would make you insane, a number of people already have artifical limbs and you don't see them killing people on the streets.

I personally think its a poor 'game-balancing' mechanic and very '80's a throw back to the Cyberpunk RPG. Surely we can come up with something more original.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

To me, it seems the Dragonstar system works fine.
The method there uses the same "restriction" idea than for item-creation feats, so it seems to be a balanced method within D20.

The XP cost could be described at your need to train with the new parts of your body.

If you still want to make Cyberware a danger for your psyche, consider using Sanity Score & Loss from Call of Cthulu D20...

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Blacksad]

I personally think its a poor 'game-balancing' mechanic and very '80's a throw back to the Cyberpunk RPG. Surely we can come up with something more original.

I don't know a lot of cyberpunk book, but I think that this throw back is from traditional cyberpunk literature, and that RPG simply modeled that.

Otherwise if you find a gp<->€ conversion, you can simply use the magic items creation rules, with perhaps the x2 modifier at the end if it doesn't take a slot (like neural implant). That way it would be balanced, though it wouldn't fit every campaign world.

For a simple system on cyber-psychosis, the half-golem template sytem (from MM2, perhaps it's available in the MM2 web enhancement) might be efficient, for each operation you have to do a will save with greater DC, if you fail you become a constuct (so you loose con bonus) and become neutral evil.

PS: baaz-great rules! the only thing missing is perhaps the level modification that the cyber implant might have or the required level (from a GM point of vue ala magic items in the DMG).

 

[Bagpuss]

I don't know a lot of cyberpunk book, but I think that this throw back is from traditional cyberpunk literature, and that RPG simply modeled that.

Can you (or anyone) give me a literature reference to cyberpsycosis? I can't think of any in William Gibson's work and he's pretty much the father of the cyberpunk genre.

 

[Blacksad]

It's not litterature, but anyway:
Armitage III and Blade Runner feature not totaly human character who becomes crazy due to this non-humanity. Most character do not have this problem, just the extreme.