| From: | Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.UMICH.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Cyber-psychosis |
| Date: | Wed, 14 Jun 1995 16:15:52 -0400 |
> > I've dealt with multiple amputees, para- and quadrapalegics, cancer and
> > MS patients, and a variety of others who'd benefit from cybernetics,
> > some of whom have a variety of prosthetics today. Prosthetics do NOT
> > make these people feel "less human". To the contrary, being enabled by
> > what devices we have tody makes them feel that much better about
> > themselves. Belive me, there's nothing more dehumanizing than being
> > confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed; anything that breaks these
> > people out of their confinement is going to have a completely opposite
> > effect than these crocked "cyberpsychosis" mechanics.
Up to this point I agree with you. Prosthetics etc. can have a
profound positive influence on people's lives. But prosthetics aren't
usually hardwired to your brain.
Robert Watkins wrote:
> The only justification I can see for the cyberpyschosis syndrome is that
> you do end up fiddling with the brain. This could be bad if you didn't know
> what you were doing. But, as far as the Shadowrun Cyber system goes, it
> doesn't matter how many things you get installed, you're only going to have,
> at most, something like 4 interfaces. Things like headware cost more
> essence than other things, because your brain is affected more, but it's
> still not likely to be a problem.
To me, this is where cyberpsychosis comes into play, namely where
the brain is affected. I run it such that "cyberpsychosis" is the result
of neuro-chemical imbalances caused by the minute charges and
artificial magnetic fields caused by the implantation of neural ware. If
you could piss away your entire Esence on ware that had absolutely no
neural interface, I would say that you were in no danger of succumbing to
the disorder. I realize that it's not technically a Shadowrun mechanic,
but then again, nobody ever accused my campaign of being standard.
Keep in mind, however, that I'm not your typical proponent of
cyberpsychosis. To me, it's much more of a roleplaying thing. I cringe
everytime a newbie says "Cyberpsychosis?! You mean I get to roll to see
what derangement I have? Cool." Cyberpsychosis should *never* come off
a table. It should be something that is intrinsic to the character and
it should fit in with that character's background, experiences, etc.
And finally, most people view cyberpsychosis as turning you into
a raving maniacal killing machine bent on the destruction of all life.
Not so. By far the most common symptom of cyberpsychosis in my game is
chronic depression, which, by the way, it hinted at in the description of
Essence in the basic book.
Marc
