MorbidDon 178 Posted December 10, 2014 (edited) In many popular RPGames, cybernetic implants cause "humanity loss", reducing your social traits and essentially making cyberware into a form of Body Horror. (Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, Etc.) As with everything in the galaxy, this can come at a potential price, in Gelt and in the potential loss of self. Someone could easily go too far in attempting to be "more human than human." Otherwise in terms of Game Balance (or Game Creep) nothing stops an Explorer from acquiring augmentation each game session - other than a GM who imposes restrictions due to availability, location, or other "story" based elements they wish to impose, which is fine but can become a stale "foil" and when PCs decide to "camp" in a setting with a vast populace and according better chances at availability - then the sky becomes the limit... Presented herein are my House-rules which are derived from other game systems - with concrete rules in place the PCs now have the guidance needed in order for them to plot their course of cybernetic advancement in a 40k Universe without the GM's Hand being overly used. The Balance - In this way a PC has to balance their inherent resources namely Fellowship & Willpower in exchange for abilities and "perks" which in most likelihood will be combat oriented, on top of that for those who wish to push the boundaries are presented with a way that costs heavily for those with the most to gain in terms of game setting advantages. Cybernetics in 40k From the loss of empathy & physical sensation to the susceptibility of haywire field and scrap-code effects, many risks exist in the fractured world of cybernetic procurement. Practical considerations such as an increase of weight to the sound and smell of converted parts all play a role towards the drawbacks of upgrading the flesh... A character may install a number of cybernetic parts & addons up to their Toughness Bonus. Once past that point – the recipient begins to suffer Biological Damage as they cross the divide between the machine and flesh… Exceeding your Biology If a character installs more cybernetic augmentations than this maximum total Tougnhness Bonus, he or she incurs a point of permanent of Critical Damage as the recipient now suffers a persistent condition that lasts until enough cybernetic implants are removed, via surgery, to place the character below this maximum total. +1 Point Critical Damage per Excess Each part of the body can only hold a certain number of upgrades. A character only has a certain number of body slots: (7-Slots Total) Head Slots: 1 Arm Slots (including hands): 1 each Torso Slots: 2 Leg Slots (including feet): 1 each For each installed augmentation slot location overage a character can opt to reduce one of the following values; CHOOSE ONE (Essence Cost) Fellowship -%5 Willpower -%5 Upgrade Limitations A character can install any number of cybernetics into any of the above bodily locations, but exceeding your maximum total number of implants per slot has detrimental effects… (see below) Cybernetic Formula (Summary)Surpassing Your Biology… By Body Location Fellowship or Willpower LossBy Toughness Bonus Critical Wounds Mechanicus Considerations By default Explorators (aka Mechnicus Members) gain some of the following qualities below… TALENT The Flesh is Weak Prerequisites: Mechanicus Implants The Explorer’s body has undergone significant bionic replacement to the point where he is far more machine than man. This Talent grants the Explorer the Machine Trait (see page 365) with Armour Points equal to the number of times this Talent has been taken. The Explorer may purchase this Talent multiple times in accordance with his Career Advances. In this case, note the number of times this Talent has been taken, such as The Flesh is Weak 3. TRAIT Machine A creature with the Machine Trait is fashioned from inorganic materials and is generally more rigorous than fleshy folks. Machines do not breathe, are immune to the effects of a vacuum, extremes of cold, any mind-influencing psychic effect, and their Armour Points apply toward fire damage. Machines are also resilient to injury, having 1 to 5 Armour Points for each location. This number is indicated next to the Trait. Bionic Arm - LIMB Cyberskull - Cranial Armour (Obvious or Synthetic) - HEAD Interface Port (Datajack) – HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Auger Arrays – HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Augmented Senses - HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Baleful Eye - HEAD, LIMB Bionic Heart - BODY Bionic Leg - LIMB Bionic Respiratory System - BODY Calculus Logi Upgrade - HEAD Cortex Implants - HEAD Cybernetic Senses – HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Manipulator Mechadendrite - BODY Manufactured Muscle Grafts - LIMB Medicae Mechadendrite - BODY Memorance Implant – HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Mind Impulse Unit (MIU) – HEAD, BODY, LIMBS MIU Weapon Interface – HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Optical Mechadendrite - BODY Respiratory Filter Implant - BODY Scribe-tines - LIMB Smart Link - LIMB Subskin Armor - BODY, LIMB Utility Mechadendrite - BODY Voidskin - BODY Volitor Implant - HEAD Vox Implant - HEAD, BODY, LIMBS Edited December 19, 2014 by MorbidDon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WeedyGrot 148 Posted December 18, 2014 It took some searching but I knew I had seen a similar post before somewhere on this forum. http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/27184-the-mechanization-track/ I like the concept from this post that cybernetic use is more problematic in the middle (IE when you're half machine and half man) than it is when you're either mostly man or mostly machine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MorbidDon 178 Posted December 19, 2014 Houserules UPDATED - 7 Body Slots; if you go over a particular "slot location" remove -5% from either Fellowship or Willpower (players choice) - Toughness Bonus; if you go over this value apply 1-Point of Critical Damage (not applied by the TABLE*) * In essence this is to reduce your range of Critical Points from 1 - 10 to 2 - 10 as the flesh is replace by the cold inert systems. For most PCs this will mean they can install on average of around 3 to 4 (Toughness is like 2d10+ 25) augmetics before a "cost" is applied - not counting body slot overages... I am comfortable as a GM having PCs roll around the galaxy with that number of cybernetics - and if they desire more, well now the game is balanced to allow for that style of play - all in all I think I'm done touching these rules. Again as in any of the Houserules I present, I am not trying to ruin or meddle with your 40k experience - these rules and my style of GMing isn't for everyone but for those who want to explore this avenue of thought I hope this post helps! Stay GAMING! Morbid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavinfoxx 26 Posted December 19, 2014 What about the people who replace 95%+ of their body with superior machine equivalents? Which is canonical to the setting? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MorbidDon 178 Posted December 22, 2014 I'm no expert in the setting's canon - what I could say as is done in many RPGs is that if you see or meet with the 95% converted person (what I would call a full-conversion borg, from Rifts) they are NPCs with drawbacks / complications derived from their heavy implantation... Examples: Maybe they (the NPC) has no ambition - thus the particular NPC maybe all 95% converted but doesnt do much with it game wise Maybe they are built for a specific role/job - anything else is pointless to them The point is the possible logic herein is as expansive as your imagination... If/when splitting hairs, consider that my Homebrewed rules herein dont prevent a player from taking Mechanicus "the Flesh is Weak" Talent and in addition to gaining the Machine Trait - that in itself would plausibly meet your 95% conversion census requirement... My point wasn't to remove the amount or frequency of "cyber" in the campaign but rather set in some firm guidelines that have a PRO vs. CON strategy associated to their acquisition for sake of game balance and repeat game play... If there's nothing to prevent a power gamer - then it has been from experience; they will create the same "perfect" character each and every time - in this case they will choose to get the same cyber game in / game out since there's nothing preventing one from doing so. On the other hand - how much repeat playablity does the system have before you are essentially playing the same thing again - many RPGs suffer from this when they are a bit streamlined and rules light - so to speak... Again this may not be something for everyone - just for those who seek such a game mechanism Otherwise thanks for the input Stay Gaming Morbid P.S. I will be posting followup material in PDF format for those interested more in this concept (just finishing the fine tuning) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
