| From: | Number Ten Ox number_10_ox@**********.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Cyberware and Cosmetic Surgery |
| Date: | Mon, 20 Sep 1999 13:42:19 -0700 (PDT) |
> Something that's been on my mind of late. How much "evidence" (in
> the form of scarring) is left after cybernetic implant surgery?
I would assume none or almost none. Medical technology has advanced
enough to grow/clone bones, muscles, organs... if they can grow you a new
kidney, liver, or pituitary gland (a la Shadowtech), if they can replace
your skin with dermal armor or orthoskin or dermal sheathing, plastic
surgery would be minimal by comparison.
> Personally I would assume that plastic surgery has advance enough to
> easily cover "small" scars and such, but is it available from street
> docs or street clinics?
Yes. Some street docs and street clinics would *specialize* in
plastic surgery, as it is a prime method for evading the long arm of ...
whoever's after you. Matter of fact, I could see a street-doc-and-decker
partnership offering "Identity Switch" packages: the doc changes your
face, the decker does funky things to your records.
> And wouldn't major implants (such as wired
> reflexes) leave some scars even after plastic surgery?
No.
Okay, maybe I'm weird, but to me, Essence does NOT reflect how much
alteration is done to your body. You can crack your skull, and have a
metal plate put into your head: by the rules, your Essence would remain at
6. But install a datajack, which is perhaps a tenth of the mass of the
metal plate, and your Essence plummets. If Essence represents the fraction
of your body that's not what you started out with, that makes no sense. I
run Essence as the degree of damage to *nerves*. It's not the cyberarm
which subtracts Essence, it's the funky nerve-system-to-cyberware
connections that make the thing run that impact Essence.
So, to me, a high-Essence implant (like Wired Reflexes 3) does not
necessarily equal major invasive surgery. As a matter of fact, Wired 3 in
my game is one of the mildest surgeries around as far as gross physical
effects go.
> Would it be
> possible to go to a specialized plastic surgeon to completely cover
> all implant scarring?
Yes. Not only that, any surgeon worth his salt would be able to do it.
In my games, the scarring from cyberware is not noticeable. The actual
cyberware can be detected in one of three ways:
1) With a visual inspection if the piece of cyberware is obvious (shiny
silver eyes, obvious cyberarm, datajack in middle of forehead).
1a) With a visual inspection if the piece of cyberware affects the
character in a visible way (the 'jumpiness' of wired reflexes,
constant munching brought on by thyroid augmentation, etc.)
1b) With a close physical examination. (A doctor palpating your
ribcage is going to notice bone lacing, and you can bet your lover
is going to notice various augmentations.)
2) With a cyberware sniffer (rules for which are in Lone Star and a couple
of other places), or
3) with an astral check.
> --
> Iridios
> "Accept what you cannot avoid,
> Avoid what you cannot accept."
>
>
--Number 10.
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