CyberSavage

A little while ago I got around to typing up some of my thoughts about cyberpunk and cyberware, under the pretense of getting ‘ware to work in Savage Worlds. Here’s the result, feel free to comment on it. And yes, I know very well that the way I wrote this is quite one-sided. I intended this to just let my thoughts out in a somewhat coherent form, and possibly to help others thinking of the same things. Therefore, no explanations to the genre or its usual conventions, only pondering on some of the less-considered (and more realistic) parts that might add to it.

Handling of cyberware in general:

I didn’t find any rulesets in the basic Savage Worlds rulebook that would be immediately applicable to cyberware, so I had to create and deduce something else. I decided that there are two main ways to treat cyberware: As 1) “natural” parts of the character, or 2) equipment. In the first case, that part being cyberware is mainly a question of flavor, and the fact that with cyberware some things can be achieved that are impossible with normal biological bodies. The second case seems (to me) to give more freedom in the variety of cyberware used, but easily results in very unbalanced characters. Rules-wise, the first option is simple: Some body parts of the character being cyber is merely flavor, at most giving access to unusual abilities or those over the human norm. Thus, they should be treated as normal Edges, Traits and possibly Arcane Powers. They should be marked off as cyberware, though, since cyberware is susceptible and resistant to different things than human body.

The second option is not much more complicated, but as mentioned, has the added difficulty of maintaining game balance. Of course, that is adjustable too: just tamper with the prices of cyberware. But still, a character putting his money in good-quality cyberware is likely to get somewhat more for his money than one buying more traditional technology. Otherwise, cyberware is just normal equipment: Added abilities, or enhancements to existing ones that can be easily modified, added or taken away.

Of course, both of these seem somewhat restrictive, and I prefer to use them somewhat mixed up: Any significant, permanent advantages (like enhanced Attributes) granted by cyberware should be bought as any other Trait or Edge, but less significant ones (merely a cyberarm to replace one blown off, or a cybereye only modified to show a HUD) are equipment. Also, some cyberware (hand, foot, eye) might be equipped with some sort of quick-change mount so that one could easily change a piece of ‘ware to another with different properties. This would, in my opinion, qualify for that piece of ‘ware to be counted as equipment. Still, any cyberware should be marked as such.

Acquiring cyberware:

Acquiring cyberware has two sides. On one hand, how it’s handled game technically. On the other, how it’s handled in the game world. I’ll do some checking on the game tecnical side in this chapter.

Of course, handling this depends somewhat on the approach on cyberware. As equipment, finding and purchasing is a simple matter, it just requires some more time to be useful, in the form of operations and recovering from them, and they probably aren’t quite as easily resellable. Considered a natural part of a character, though, this gains some complications. As a character gains permanent advantages upon installing new cyberware, this might be felt as a similar thing to an Advance. This would be an easy way of handling the matter, and it’s quite useful,too, when ‘ware is handled completely as a part of a character. One additional advantage is that adding ‘ware might let, at the GM’s option, ignore some of the requirements for Edges. To me, though, this feels somewhat unrealistic, and unfair, as it effectively takes away one chance of natural learning, and forces the character to invest extra time and money into something that might be available as a normal Advance. On the other hand, just selling Edges and Attributes is even more unfair, and that lets the power level of the characters blow out of proportion quite quickly. So, once again, some kind of golden middle road is the best solution, at least for me.

I think a good way would be to give some options to the player on how to handle installing of the ‘ware. Either, he could do it as an Advance, with no side effects, but using the time he could spend bodybuilding or reading instead in hospital, getting his new ‘ware installed. In this case, the advantage mentioned earlier (ignoring requirements) should also apply. Or he could get it as an “extra advance”, with equal amount of Hindrances or other side effects to balance the new abilities. (Some of these I will cover in the next chapter.) The side effects might be permanent, or they might be possible to buy off with upgrades, or just wear off with time and getting used to the new ‘ware. Or the GM might require the character to spend extra time off adventuring and additional (I’d suggest at least triple) money to ensure that the ‘ware being installed, and the installation process, is first-class. Or finally, the player might agree to skipping his next Advance to get it now as cyberware. With this last one, GM should be careful though, and not allow anyone to take more than two of these at once, and require a normal Advance every now and then too.

Getting ‘ware to work:

This is the first chapter in which I extensively consider my opinion of some “realities” of cyberware, and those who want ‘ware to be a smaller part of their game, or just want high-flying action and coolness more than a certain grittiness are adviced to ignore most of this. Personally, I like a certain feel of realism in my games.

Getting new cyberware installed is actually no simple process. First, you need to choose and find the ‘ware you want installed. Choosing shouldn’t be a big problem, finding might. The law might very well become a big problem in the whole process: Many types of cyberware are likely to be at required to get registered, if not downright illegal to anyone else than specialiced groups (like the military). The easier to conceal a piece of ‘ware is, the more destructive it is, and the easier it is to use to hurt people’s privacy, the more likely it is to be controlled. A simple cyberhand would probably be standard operation for replacing a lost one, and wouldn’t require any kind of record besides normal medical ones. On the other hand, a heavy handgun hidden inside a cyberarm or an eye equipped with a camera would probably be restricted to certain kind of personnel, such as military, civilian police officers or spies. Then again, even if law is not a problem, a certain piece of cyberware might require a lot of searching to find one that is ready, either used or new, or a wait of several weeks (and extra cash) to order one specifically.

Well, now we’ve found and paid for what we need, one way or another. Next trouble is to find someone to actually install the stuff. And that might not be easy either. The law might cause problems again, though probably less than before: In a dystopian world, almost everyone has their price, and it might even not be that high. Still, skill is what’s needed. In reality, installing something that will be controlled with your own nervous system requires a hell of an expertise. But the level of expertise that installing cyberware would realistically require would put ‘ware away from the hands of nearly all of our dear street thug PCs, and that’s not (probably) what we want. So, let’s play it moderate and just require a special education of “cyberdoc”, requiring a year or two of studies, added to those of any medical doc. Actually, probably any surgeon is able to stitch a cyberfinger into place, but anything more would require some sort of specialisation. And with illegal mods, you need to either pay a lot extra, or fond somebody less qualified. Of course, this being cyberpunk, the latter option might not be that hard after all…

Next step is to get the operation itself, and recovery. As in any surgery, the operation will take some time, and is not without problems of its own. If you actually managed to find a good doctor, and pay him enough, and get good parts too, you will have a good chance of getting the out of the operation and getting the ‘ware to work smoothly. But probably, not all of these will apply. A ripperdoc on the street or a student of cybersurgery might do the job easier and cheaper, but the result will have no guarantee of being good. Old equipment and shady clinics risk infection. Cheap ‘ware might be much more difficult to attach, and if it’s used it might have its own quirks. Add together a few of these, and you’ll have a new adventure on your hands. Recovery should mostly take time, unless infection really did kick in, so that’s simple.

Now we’ve got that shiny new cyberarm installed, and despite the drunken doc and used parts we’re up and on the street again. Time for some new trouble. A human’s nervous system is adapted to his own body. Rip something off and install something even the slightest bit different, and it will take some time before you get used to the new parts. even worse is, of course, when that new part includes something that wasn’t in the original, like a gun inside an arm, or a tiny switch in your new eye that enables you to switch between normal and infravision. There will probably be some basic safety controls in place that will prevent you from shooting that gun while it’s inside your arm, but at first, that eye might reflexively change to infrared when you squint. Let alone the fact that you will be seeing two different wavelenghts (and thus images) at once. Or, if you’re not sure about the situation, the gun might decide to follow your subconcious fear and not pop up at all. The equipment or surgery might well be faulty, too: A used cyberarm tends to lock up if you straighten it all the way, or that student doc was too nervous to notice he crossed a couple of nerves, so that now you move your wrist when you try to move your elbow, and vice versa. Annoying, if not downright dangerous. Also, this part is good to consider for balancing the advantages of cyberware if that method is used.

Maintenance:

Maintenance is another aspect of cyberware that is often ignored for the sake of a simpler game. But is is somewhat essential to at least consider if one wants to keep the game realistic and gritty. Also, need for constant maintenance is another good wayt to balance out cyberware.

For one part, cyberware need power. even with today’s technology, some of this could be achieved by taking energy from the body’s movements. Note that some wristwatches actually use this already. But to be honest, most cyberware would need mouch more energy than that, and it would be probably best arranged with rechargeable and changeable internal batteries. Once again, one could easily and plausibly go overboard with the realism here, requiring the owner of a non-enhanced cyberarm to sit next to a wall plug a few hours each day, but better times for play would probably be three to six hours per week. another interesting thing with this is the fact that even the best batteries get worn down, so they need to bee changed every once in a while. And they might not be cheap. Even more fun comes our way when connection or size standards get outdated.

Then again, everything wears down in use, but that can be lessened a lot with correct maintenance. To use a little more familiar example for most uf us, guns need to be cleaned basically after every day of use, be that use shooting at target in shooting range or carrying it around in nature. Similar rules apply tu cyberware, even more strictly: Joints wear down, wirings corrode and everything gets dirty and decayed. And as models get older, spare parts get more and more difficult to find…

One more thing is the not-so-usual maintenance: Bullet holes, EMP, hacking etc. While it may not require a new piece of ‘ware to be installed, repairing that kind of damage will still need spare parts and some fine manipulation and mechanical and electronic skills. And of course, even if it’s owner was still alive, a cybereye that has received a speeding bullet will be practically useless, requiring a new eye.

Humanity and cyberpsychosis:

I don’t feel rules for cyberpsychosis to be actually necessary, since ‘psychos don’t actually appear much in the base literature of the genre, and those rules appear to me to have been inserted mainly to prevent players from munchkining by stuffing too much cyber into their characters. Nevertheless, sometimes it might create quite interesting dramatic tension, and for some people, it still is a big part of CP roleplaying. So, here are some simple rulings for Humanity and Cyberpsychosis, which any GM can either use or leave out. Personally, I’d just assign some enemy Wild Cards to be cyberpsychos (if necessary), and leave it at that.

Humanity is a stat separate from any other, used only for following how a character reacts to new cyberware being installed to his body. It starts at 20, decreasing with each new installation of cyberware. The amount of humanity lost depends on the type of cyberware: Basically, the larger the cyberware, and the more of brain’s (active) capacity it requires to control, the larger the Humanity loss. This means that, for example, a simple cyberhand might cost only one Humanity, a cybereye with added switchable infravision three, and a fully modified, strengthened arm-and-shoulder with a hidden built-in gun and finger tools might cost even six Humanity.

On the other hand, light tattoos, illuminating hair, or other such installments that can be merely “inserted” into a body, without any attachments to nervous system, cost no Humanity.

Also, one might give some leeway in Humanity costs, if the character already has a similar piece of ‘ware installed: The shock to the nervous system might not be as severe when your brain and nerves have already gotten used to controlling a certain kind of ‘ware. That also means that in conversion to full cyborg (if possible at all), the Humanity cost will not necessarily incapacitate a character immediately.

Each time new cyberware is added, roll a d20. If the result is lower or equal than the “new” Humanity score, nothing happens. If the result is more than the humanity score, though, cyberpsychosis looms heavy.

Optionally, if that feels too random, you might want to roll only when Humanity drops to less than 10, or skip with the rolling altogether and just rule, that when Humanity drops below a certain point (probably 0…), the char is in dire need of therapy.

Advertisement