| From: | Hal Mangold <hmangold@*******.AC.RUNET.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | C.A.I.N. |
| Date: | Thu, 3 Jun 1993 12:00:27 EDT |
of you take a dim view of this subject, but I hope you will at least take
the time to take a look. As I said before, these rules are untested.
NON-FLAMING critiques are encouraged. Tell me what you think!
Without further ado...
*C.A.I.N. (Cybernetic Augmentation/Implant Nuerosis)*
(or, how to kill street samurais with kindness)
-CAIN is a blanket term used to describe the numerous phobias, nuerosies
and psychosies that can occur due to excessive integration of cybernetics
into the human/metahuman body.
-*The Rationale*
As has been stated by my esteemed collegues on the Net,
cyberpsychosis is an artificial game balance option imposed to keep PCs
from going wild with cyberware. However, I think that the idea of it is not
without a certain degree of basis in the fiction that spwaned "cyberpunk".
In the works of people like William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams, George
Alec Effinger, Bruce Sterling, and others the integration and use of
cyberware does have a psycological price. One is selling a bit of ones
self down the river when having cyberware installed. With the concept of
essence in SR having some sort of spiritual component, linked as it is to
magic, it makes sense to me to have to pay a price for the benefits that
it brings, something more than just slight instability. I mean a real
personal price.
Another reason for doing this is that I have a small problem with
the amount of cyberware that a person can buy: its too low. Now before the
slings, arrows and carp start flying, let me explain. I have read
extensively in the Cyberpunk gaming genre, as have most of us (I hope),
and have found that ya just can't load the cyberware on like in other
games. For instance in the adventure Elven Fire, the big bad samurai
opponent in that game would have been toast beside his equivalent in any
other game.
ARRRGHHHHH! I hear you cry. I know, your players are overcybered
are already, and they want to get more. I have an easy solution.
Let them.
If these rules work, you can give 'em what they want, and hose them in
the bargain.
-*The Rules*
Okay, the starting premise is that PCs/NPCs may now reduce their
Essence below 0 to a maximum of -5. HOWEVER at 0 Essence or below there is
a chance that mental problems will develop.
When a PC/NPC reaches 0 Essence or less, they begin to make
Psychosis Checks. These checks are made after EACH reduction in Essence
due to cyberware.
*EXAMPLE: Snake gets some 'ware installed that reduces his ESS
to -0.25. Snake must immediatly make a Psychosis Check. In
addition, he must make a further PSY Check after each additional
implant that he gets that costs ESS. So, is he gets another
implant that takes him down to -0.75 ESS, he makes another PSY
Check.*
If someone gets multiple pieces of 'ware installed at the same
time, then only one PSY check is necessary for the whole batch.
A PSY Check is made by rolling willpower dice versus a taget
number equal to: 12-Willpower+#of full ESS below 0.
*EXAMPLE: Bloody Mary hhas just had surgery and reduce her ESS
to-1.5. She has a Willpower of 5. For her PSY check, she will
roll 5 dice vs. a target number of 8 (12- Mary's 5 Willpower +1
for her -1.5 ESS).*
The number of sucesses is then indexed on this chart:
0 sucesses => Severe Mental Instability
1 sucess => Moderate Mental Instabilty
2 sucesses => Minor Mental Instabilty
3 sucesses => Nuisance Mental Instability
4+sucesses => No Appreciable Mental Problems
Karma may be spent on Psychosis Tests as normal. The various levels of
mental problems are as follows:
Severe: effects always present, major effect on behavior
Moderate: Effects may be triggered by stressful situations, has a
major effect on behavior.
Minor: Effects always present, minor effect on behavior.
Nuisance: Effects troggered by stressfull events, minor behavior
effect.
It is recomended that in cases of serious mental problems that the GM not
tell the player what exactly the problem will be but instead relay it
through roleplaying (ie giving the character descriptions of place and
people twisted to fit the insanity *HEH* "Ya know Snake, you could swear
that the troll houswife just insulted your mother...")
Castagir
