Simple cyberware/bioware

[Strung Nether]

After paging through Augmentation and the core book, I realized that over 80% of the cyberware and bioware mods do 1 or more of the following:

Increase an attribute
Increase a skill
Add armor

What would happen if you removed ALL cyberware/bioware, and simply allow buying the above three mods in any combination? (assume nuyen and essence costs are mostly similar to before the change)

[Stahlseele]

You'd have to basically rebalance all attribute and skill costs with this in mind.
It'd also fuck over mundanes more than magical types, if this does not cost increasingly more essence.

[Username17]

Mostly you're talking about setting fire to some flavor in exchange for simplicity and balance. Probably a good idea to begin with, and you could get most of the flavor you care about back by having some "example systems" written up. I think you could squeeze a lot more flavor in sideways by having lists of names of "similar models"like the old rigger books did for cars.

Now truth be told, there was a basic standard cost for an attribute boost in the original blue book. You paid half an essence point for a limited +1 to a stat. Dermal Plating was +1 Damage Resistance Die (not even a whole Body, just most of one) for .5 Essence, Muscle Replacement was a whole Essence point but it gave you a half-assed +1 to Strength and Quickness together (half assed because it did not affect figured characteristics).

As it happens, that is fucked and way too expensive. And most of the crap invented since then from bioware muscle augmentation to dermal sheathing has been power creed attempting to sneak in a new standard of costs that was less of a kick in the nuts.

-Username17

[Seerow]

So what would you do with other stuff, like datajacks/control rigs? Just make them implants that are separate from the essence system?

[Strung Nether]

So what would you do with other stuff, like datajacks/control rigs? Just make them implants that are separate from the essence system?

I'm really not sure.

[Ed]

I'd be a little concerned about implants for some skills and attributes. Like, I feel a little weird about having Willpower be enhanceable, due to its role in magic defense - I'm not sure about having cyberware being able to improve your chances against a manabolt.

[Seerow]

I'd be a little concerned about implants for some skills and attributes. Like, I feel a little weird about having Willpower be enhanceable, due to its role in magic defense - I'm not sure about having cyberware being able to improve your chances against a manabolt.

Why?

No, seriously. I've seen arguments that lower essence should equate to harder to affect with magic, in the same way that object threshold makes casting on refined materials harder.

Even if you didn't want boosting Willpower directly (because a Wizard taking a few points of ware to boost his Willpower IS weird), having an implant to boost magic defense, or even just having magic defense come for free from getting other implants, is hardly a crazy out there concept.

[Ed]

Mostly a taste thing, I guess. Once you get up past a certain point I've found that one of relatively few things that consistently pose a real "oh shit" threat against higher-end samurai is a magician. I like having that tool in the toolbox. There's an argument that implants that improve Willpower might weaken other areas where your prototypical "soak everything" combat monster is currently strong though, so I guess it depends on the implementation.

[Nath]

As said above, a simplified augmentation system would be better if keeping some fluff. It should be something like list that says how each attribute and skill category (physical, vehicle, social, etc.) can be augmented with cyberware/bioware (something around the lines of "Cyberware agility augmentations use synthetic muscle or prosthetic limbs, maximum rating 4. Bioware agility augmentations use protein production or vat-grown muscular fibers, maximum rating 3." or "Cyberware vehicle skill augmentation use direct neural plug, maximum rating 2. Bioware vehicle skill augmentation use spinal cord modification, enhancing motor reflexes, maximum rating 1"). Personally, I would probably merge nanotech with cyberware and genetics with bioware to streamline things a big, but keep a difference between flesh and metal enhancements.

There are a few ware that cannot translated as modifier. I would probably dismiss some of them anyway (you can assume that any Perception augmentation includes multi-spectral vision, and stops bothering with the difference between light amplification, thermo, ultrasound...). There are other you would need to keep (like weapons, face/fingerprints disguise, compartment...).

Though I know a lot of people prefer Magic and Technology to "feel" different, simplifying augmentations would result get them closer to adepts' power list. You could possibly go as far as reverting the Essence mechanic and make it an attribute similar to Magic, that one must increase with Karma to pack more augmentations.

At some point I actually considered a system where Essence would be removed, and you would have four special attributes: Edge, Magic, Augmentation and Resonance. They could all be used in the same way Edge can, to roll more dice, move first or get an extra action: Edge as the luck and will-to-survive factor, Magic because magic, Augmentation by "red-lining" your ware, and Resonance because datarealms or whatever.
The cost to increase one of them would have been based on the sum of all special attributes (sorta multi-classing), or you could shifting point from one attribute (usually Edge) to another for free. You could have specific rules for burned-out mage (a character who shifts points from Magic to Augmentation) or cyberzombie (a character who shifts all points from Edge to Augmentation).

[Ed]

You could possibly go as far as reverting the Essence mechanic and make it an attribute similar to Magic, that one must increase with Karma to pack more augmentations.

I'm fucking around with an early prototype of isometric fantasy-cyberpunk RPG that's sort of trying to be the digital version of CPFHB, so...this, I like, and I might steal it. Maybe it's not right for Shadowrun, but in general, I dig this. It feels like a mechanic that could naturally oppose Magic (or Resonance), with an overall stat cap of the combination and a one-way trade of Magic->Essence.

[unnamednpc]

You know what'd be cool? Cyberware that fucking does shit .
So instead of some boring but mandatory stat boosts and a fiddly essence/humanity/game balance tax, I'd like to see a moderately chromed Samurai flatline a squad of mooks, dogde a million rounds of autofire, jump through a plasticrete wall and kill an attack chopper with his unstoppable cyberpunches. Just so.