Cybernetics

Cybernetics with no listed dot rating are available to all characters. Those with listed dot ratings, have only the first variant available to all characters. Only Cyborgs can buy Cybernetics of a higher rating than one. Some Cybernetics do also, as a listed requirement, require a Cyborg host.

If a cybernetic implant specifically states that it is available to non-cyborgs even though it shouldn't be by the above stated rules, then it remains available to non-cyborgs as stated.

Cybernetic implants are smart and can work together with the available remaining organic organs and other bodily functions.

System Strain
Each cybernetic implant in a normal character causes 1 point of system strain. System strain threshold is equal to stamina+each point of size above 5 or -1 for each point below. Anything that causes the maximum capacity of the stamina rating to go up, also raises the maximum system strain by one, even though the actual stamina rating is unaffected. Cyborgs do not suffer system strain.

Cyborg
Cyborg is a sub-template that alters some of the properties of a character. Some cybernetics are only available to cyborgs, but most are generally available to non-cyborgs.

Definition of a cyborg
A cyborg has had their organs removed, and do not have any vital organs anymore, excepting the brain. Nor do they have any actual hearing, olfactory senses or sensory organs or any nerves. Their brain is integrated with the machinery that replaces their vital organs, sending signals to their body.

Their muscle fibers are replaced by synthetic muscle fibers that operate through hydraulics, with an intelligent system that can re-adjust after loss of a limb or a rupture. Tendons, sinews, veins and arteries are also removed and replaced with synthetic variants.

The sensory organs are replaced with cybernetic minimalist and extremely realistically looking replacements.

While the skeleton is kept intact, it's dead and the marrow is replaced by a flexible fiber core and the bone is coated in lightweight alloy that keeps the dead bones from smoldering out into the body.

The brain is kept inside a brain-case that keeps the brain from dying (fully upgraded brain-case augmentation). The body operates through a fusion core. The fusion core becomes unstable after about 100 years and needs replacement.

The body requires no oxygen, no food and no rest. Occasionally, the cyborg needs to shut down briefly to run diagnostics and process data, but this takes considerably less time than sleeping for a normal human. On a weekly basis, the Cyborg needs 2 hours of consecutive down-time for system maintenance.

Cyborgs have synthetic skin and are always given grafting options for power armor because the servicing stations and initial training suits (post operation) require these. Cyborgs can optionally have the cover-op variant that allows them to look entirely human.

Advantages
Cyborgs do not garner system strain when they take on additional implants. Cyborgs have no stamina rating, and as such they do not feel pain, they do not suffer damage from radiation, extreme cold (though they can be immobilized by it), electricity, moderate to high heat (extreme heat still hurts them), no vital organs to target, they require no food or drink and have very sparse maintenance costs and requirements.

Cyborgs replace their stamina rating with System Stability, which is capped at 10, but is used for anything that stamina is used for. It cannot be lowered by things that normally affect stamina.

Cyborgs are immune to all poisons, diseases and illnesses.

If a cyborg buys a limb replacement, they get the entire limb replaced for the merit cost of one third of the limb.

Cyborgs can at any time shut down, which makes them salvageable for years depending on the conditions they shut down in. A shut down can prolong their chances of surviving where others could not, drastically but is no guarantee.

Cyborgs cannot be mutants, but they can be psionics, and they are practically immune, or at the very least highly resistant to most mind altering effects, including having their mind read.

Replacing cybernetic limbs or cybernetic implants costs only a fraction of the original price due to most of the ground work already being done. Cyborgs can repair minor damage utilizing nano-bots that repair them internally, which is a surprisingly fast process, repairing minor damage incredibly fast - combined with their many redundant systems, they appear practically invulnerable to many forms of damage. Bashing damage heals at a rate of 1 per round.

More serious damage can be repaired easily and fast. The price is 10 credits per point of lethal damage. Cyborgs can go to full aggravated damage before they automatically initiate automatic shut down.

Disadvantages
Cyborgs cannot raise their strength above 1 if they do not have the augmented upper- or lower body, and even if only one of those cybernetic implants is bought, they are capped at 3. Both must be bought to achieve strength above 3. The same goes for agility.

Note: If the cyborg has a matching pair of artificial limbs, the requirement to buy the corresponding body augmentation falls away - if all four limbs are replaced, the requirement to augment the body falls away entirely.

Cyborgs must pay for the following cybernetic merits at character creation, or upon being turned into cyborgs (or already have them): Synthetic skin and brain-case (all upgrades). This is a total of 5 merit points or 5 exp.

Cyborgs, while actually immune to mind altering effects and highly resistant to most forms of mind reading too, have a hard time implementing mind altering effects of their own if they are cyborgs. The immunity Cyborgs have against mind altering effects also means their mind cannot be augmented through psionic means.

Cyborgs cannot be healed using psionic means (this isn't seen as much of a disadvantage in the post scream era because incredibly few people have access to psionic healing as it is). They also do not heal anything beyond bashing damage "naturally".

Upkeep and maintenance
They do need occasional upkeep, which either requires spare parts worth about a 100 credits per month and a successful repair roll, or going to a service center which costs usually around a 150 credits.

Missing a service deadline results in a -1 penalty and then another -1 for each week passes. Once a -4 penalty has been reached, the penalty applies after only a day.

The spare parts necessary to do a service take up no more space than a lunchbox, and the tool kit necessary to apply them is equal to a small and basic survival kit (which cyborgs have very little use for) in size.

Upkeep takes at least 6 hours of concentrated work, a self-repair takes at least 12. Service done by a service center takes only 2 hours.

A luck roll decides if they are capable of self-repair. On a success, they are entirely capable. On a failure, they are capable this time, but next time they will definitely need outside help and are not warranted a roll. On a critical failure, they are not capable of self-repair and must seek outside help.

It's not necessarily possible to tell if someone is a cyborg, beyond their power-armor graft. Only close examination or a bio-scan will reveal it. Some Cyborgs choose to remain visually cyborgs as well.

Cyborgs are not limited to having only cybernetics. Most cyborgs retain a lot of their original biological bodies - for instance their organs. It's entirely possible for a cyborg to also have mutations.

Cybernetics
The various cybernetics can be purchased - they will likely cost money equal to a thousand credits per dot, just for the parts and then adding in the doctor's rates.

Augmented upper body
Unlocks strong back, allows strength to go one beyond capacity. You also deal lethal damage with melee attacks.

2) Upper body stabilizers

You have 9 again on firearms. While matching arm replacements will remove the need to buy Augmented Upper body, this upgrade is still bought separately.

Augmented lower body
Unlocks fleet of foot and allows strength to go one beyond capacity. You can jump 1 meter per success rather than ½ a meter. You can fall 10 meters per dot in strength before suffering any falling damage at all provided that you land on your feet.

2) Lower body stabilizers

You always land on your feet. While matching leg replacements will remove the need to buy Augmented Lower body, this upgrade is still bought separately.

Inbuilt equipment
You have an inbuilt piece of equipment. Without replaced limbs, it's very limited what this can be.

Augmented senses
You various senses are augmented beyond human capacity - your natural senses remain, but your new augmentations take over the duties, nulling your natural abilities unless you specifically decide to use them. You gain 9 again on related alertness checks.

Note: Augmented senses results in an implant that takes over the primary function of the sensory organ it's replacing. While the sensory organ remains function-able, this merit is a suitable way to replace a lost sensory organ. A mechanical-glass-eye combined with this augmentation can entirely replace a lost eye cosmetically and is optionally included in the price.

2) Sensory Tools

Can grant you anything from night vision to the ability to see infrared or hear what falls outside the human spectrum.

Enhanced processor
You react faster because the processor attached to your PIDU implant is improved. Unlock fast reflexes.

System overwrite
Your PIDU implant can overwrite your physical pain center in your brain and feed you data instead. You unlock Iron Stamina. This upgrade is useless to cyborgs, as theey cannot feel pain.

Power Armor Graft
You can wear power armor with no penalties. Doesn't result in system strain. Power Armor Graft is visible and looks very "cyborg", with small pieces of metal sticking out of the skin, but optionally for a slightly increased price, the grafting units can be retractable with synthetic skin that will cover the areas when they are not extended.

Tracking module
Your tracking module can keep track of anything within your visual field, and even some things that has left your field of vision. You can aim without even having your gun ready, and you can shoot something outside of your field of vision.

Eternal life module
A casing that surrounds your heart and will keep it beating forever (as long as you don't miss too many of your annual tune-ups), even after you're declared clinically dead. Attacks against your heart can do no more than one point of lethal damage.

You filter harmful toxins from your bloodstream. You gain immunity to most toxins and many diseases. This upgrade doesn't cause additional system strain, but costs one additional merit point and is available to non-cyborgs. This upgrade is the most common way to replace lost kidneys, livers and spleens making all of those organs entirely redundant. As a result, damage to any of those organs becomes non-critical.

Your blood is extremely oxidized due to a much more efficient process, and as a result your maximum stamina capacity is raised by one and you unlock fleet of foot.

Fiber tubes cover your veins and arteries, and when breached, they can automatically redirect the bloodstream. You cannot bleed out. This upgrade is available to non-cyborgs and costs an additional merit point to unlock, but causes no further system strain.

DNA regeneration modules installed prevents ageing - While you can still die, old age will not be the cause. Even if your eternal life module fails, the DNA regeneration will have kept all of your organs in prime condition, giving you a life expectancy of somewhere between a 80 to 100 years beyond what you have already lived until that point. This upgrade costs one merit point, doesn't cause additional system strain and is available to non-cyborgs.

Cyborgs cannot acquire these upgrades as they do not have their organs anymore.

Brain Case
A brain case is designed to keep the brain from taking damage from the exterior as long as a supply of oxygen is available. Once lack of oxygen is detected, the brain will be put into a special coma, flooded with certain fluids that keeps the brain in a medically induced trance, sustainable the limited amounts of oxygen available in the brain case, for years. The brain case prevents head-shots from putting a stop to the subject, and the subject can never suffer more than 1 point of lethal damage from a head-shot.

Memory banks prevent you from losing your memory to regular brain degenerative conditions. Further more, your memory cannot be tampered with in other normal ways (a fairly basic psionic technique is memory wiping which this protects against). The augmentation also grants eidetic memory. This is available to non-cyborgs for the cost of an additional merit point and no additional system strain cost.

Additional advanced implants prevents your brain from losing it's functionality to the ages of time. These implants includes an adaptive chip that builds an AI based on your actual personality. Should the brain actually fail entirely at some point, the subject becomes an android. This augmentation raises the capacity for intelligence by one and grants the language "binary" for free, as the subject can effortlessly communicate with technology, even without a human interface. This upgrade is available to non-cyborgs and costs an additional merit point, but warrants no additional system strain.

While most people probably prefer an eternal life module with a DNA regeneration to keep their entire body working, having a smaller DNA regeneration center working on the brain alone, inside the brain case, will allow a person who has clinically died to be revived as a cyborg. This upgrade costs 1 extra merit point, doesn't warrant additional system strain and is available to non-cyborgs.

Torso Case
A torso case protects vital organs from outside damage, but not much more than that. While the organs cannot be directly damaged (and a targeted shot against any organ except the lungs and the heart) can deal no more than a single point of lethal damage, the torso case cannot protect the tissue around the organs, and doesn't prevent death from blood loss.

Requires: Eternal Life module and Lung Cases.

Cyborgs cannot acquire this upgrade as they do not have their organs anymore.

Lung cases
Your lungs cannot fail and targeted attacks against your lungs can do no more than 1 point of lethal.

You have a small tank inside your chest for when there is no oxygen present - You have about an hours worth of internal oxygen. This upgrade costs an additional merit point, but causes no additional system strain, but is available to non-cyborgs.

You filter anything except oxygen from your air supply and automatically your system attempts to detect what is in the air. You can breathe under water. This upgrade costs an additional merit point, but causes no additional system strain, but is available to non-cyborgs.

Cyborgs cannot acquire these upgrades as they do not have their organs anymore.

Cybernetic limb
A direct cybernetic replacement of a limb.

They can have various properties, a trade off on one attribute or skill for a bonus on another. A cybernetic limb also results in a free piece of inbuilt equipment. The piece of equipment must of course fit in size for the limb replaced.

Limb replacements do not necessarily cause system strain - a replaced hand causes 1 point of system strain, but later replacing the entire arm doesn't add further system strain cost - it's only if you also start replacements on another limb that further cost is incurred.

Non-cyborgs buy limbs in pairs of three, merit point wise. Hand/foot, lower limb and upper limb. Cyborgs can replace an entire limb with one merit point.

If an entire limb is replaced, choose one of the bonuses applied for augmented upper- or lower body, respectively for free, to apply. If both matching limbs are replaced, you gain the augmented upper- or lower body for free. This applies to Cyborgs too.

For an increased price, the replaced limbs can be covered in either synthetic skin or even organic skin if the subject isn't a cyborg.

Synthetic skin
Synthetic skin replaces all skin on the character. Synthetic skin looks, and feels like the real thing, only better. It's always smooth to the touch and (unless damaged) it's always smooth to look at too. Synthetic skin behaves in a funny way and is easily repaired, even in the field. It can be recolored and can mimic tattoos and scar tissue (though scars and other wounds never look quite realistic). The advantage of synthetic skin is that it protects against anything that can harm the body through the skin.

An entire body covered in synthetic skin can function as a vac-suit, but it of course also requires a source of oxygen, though the subject becomes practically immobilized if this solution is used. The subject might be able to open a hatch or use some sort of signal device through slow controlled motions.

Psionic Enhancement Implant
Psionic Enhancement Implants will grant an immediate bonus of +1 Psionic level, with all the benefits thereof. The benefits, being a free dot in any psionic discipline obtainable, and with that, a rote to follow. While the rote and psionic discipline is kept even if the implant is removed, the psionic level is lost, potentially making the granted psionic discipline useless. If the implant is restored, only the psionic level is restored, as the other bonuses were not lost.

Psionic enhancement implants exist in various models, some being extremely rare. Some can grant a non-psionic powers of a psionic adept, or at least the same potential.

Regardless of what implant the character actually has, this merit doesn't change. Purchase of the merit assumes that the character gains a typical low-grade version, unelss of course the character has somehow acquired expensive psitech.