Chi Loss Due To Cybernetics

[Mantisking]

Since there are no rules for this, and people seem to want them, here's a couple of ideas.

1.) If you have a cybernetic arm, you lose 5% of your Chi.

2.) If you have a cybernetic leg, you lose 20% of your Chi.

[slade the sniper]

Of course....if you really wanted to...Shadowrun and Cyberpunk handle this a lot better than a homerule...

But yeah, anything nueral would be 5% to 10% as well.

-STS

[Mantisking]

Of course....if you really wanted to...Shadowrun and Cyberpunk handle this a lot better than a homerule.

Importing rules from another rule system is essentially the same thing as a houserule.

But yeah, anything nueral would be 5% to 10% as well.

I based the loss for the arm and the leg on the average percentage of bodymass each one represents. What's the reasoning behind yours?

[slade the sniper]

Of course....if you really wanted to...Shadowrun and Cyberpunk handle this a lot better than a homerule.

Importing rules from another rule system is essentially the same thing as a houserule.

But yeah, anything neural would be 5% to 10% as well.

I based the loss for the arm and the leg on the average percentage of bodymass each one represents. What's the reasoning behind yours?

Neural stuff I say 5% to 10% due to the fact that it is directly connected to the brain and has a way of changing the manner of interaction with the world (like increased speed, increased audio/visual acuity...stuff like that.

But hey, house rule away...

Spoiler:

Augmentation is another stimulus that causes beings that gain excessive amounts of cybernetic/ biomagical enhancements to gain a mental axis. Although some of these are beneficial, most of them are not. The reason that they are so harmful is that it reduces a characters ability to empathize with fellow biological beings.

The root of these problems is that as a being transcends their original limits, they begin to feel less and less like they used to. This is especially true for those who gain sensory, neurological or musculature enhancements. The issue is that they can no longer interact with the world in the same way.

For example, when a being gains thermal vision, they lose the ability to see colors as others of their race can. Within a few years they will forget what colors really are. They typically have horrible fashion sense, since a shirt is a shirt, and whether it is day glow pink or black will have no impact on whether they wear it or not. Thus, their manner of dress is comical or they have someone pick their clothes for them or they have lots of clothes in the same color.

Auditory boosts typically have a tendency to make beings much more cynical since they can hear people whisper under their breath, or what they whisper to each other behind their backs. Those with sensitive auditory systems usually have very few friends. The same can be said for those beings with naturally good hearing such as the Sheng'po or Lupines. Auditory boosts also turn beings into insomniacs, since every small sound interrupts their sleep.

Tactile boosted beings have a tendency to be fastidious about their cleanliness and their apparel. Rough fabrics drive them crazy, irritants such as poison ivy, sunburn, bug bites, extreme heat or extreme cold are debilitating to them. In addition they cannot sleep unless under very fine fabrics such as silk. Other fabrics are too scratchy and too heavy to sleep under.

Beings who have booted smell have a tendency to sniff the air. There is a huge amount of information carried by scents and those who can gather that information need to collect it, and sadly, sniffing does that. This is a disconcerting behavior when done by those races that it is not common practice to do so. Those with boosted smell also typically have a hatred of spicy food. They seem to prefer extremely bland meals.

Gustatory boosted individuals have many of the same proclivities, although they have to lick surfaces to gain information. This is a drawback for social as well as safety reasons. Nothing quite like licking some nerve agent droplets.

Neurological systems make people move fast, faster than they want to sometimes. For instance, the time it takes to stop an impulse, such as punch your boss when he is pissing you off is far too slow when you have boosted reflexes. The nature of the enhancement makes those who possess it seem to be twitchy. They constantly have to force themselves to not do things. A stimulus causes a reaction, and there is rarely enough time to "stop" yourself from doing something stupid.

Those with neurological upgrades also have a tendency to have a very short attention span. Constantly needing stimulus, they are commonly insomniacs, and are extremely fidgety. Always tapping fingers, gnawing on pencils, tapping their feet and bouncing around, they are not the people you need on an ambush line or conducting surveillance. They lack the ability to just be still.

Adrenaline boosters are even worse. Everything makes you overreact, then you are tired. Constantly switching between adrenaline fueled mania and exhaustion; a boosted individual is not good company. They have a tendency to be moody and emotional wrecks.

Musculature boosts come in two types...permanent and temporary. Temporary boosts are caused by chemical infusion throughout the body, typically testosterone, endorphins and adrenaline, all of which cause an individuals' mental state to become unbalanced. Becoming freakishly strong, rage filled and immune to pain is a good thing when engaged in covert operations gone bad and you are alone, outnumbered and behind enemy lines. It is not a good thing when you are meeting your soon to be in laws for the first time and their dog annoys you by biting you heels!

A permanent muscle boost causes its own set of problems. With more muscle tissue, a being has to eat a lot of protein. For a human who gains a small boost, it is not that much of an issue, just eat another meal. For a troll who gains a large boost...they eat constantly. Not snacks, but full meals. Expect to triple or quadruple the cost of food every month as they eat, and eat, and eat. If a being lives with other beings in a sort of "safe house", then there will likely be arguments about who drank all the milk, ate all the dog food, and made a huge mess in the kitchen.

Permanently strength boosted beings are also notorious for breaking things. Glasses, dishes, sensitive electronic or mechanical or magical items are not built to be handled by overly strong beings, and they break easily.

-STS

[Nightmask]

Given there's chi in everything and the book doesn't give any reason to think otherwise there's no reason to dock someone with Cybernetics any Chi at all. Anything short of total conversion shouldn't affect someone's chi, unlike with PPE since 'dead' things don't generally have PPE unless enchanted with it. Chi though runs through everything.

[Regularguy]

Given there's chi in everything and the book doesn't give any reason to think otherwise there's no reason to dock someone with Cybernetics any Chi at all.

I agree with this; it's not just that a Wired Agent can get a variety of bionics with no trouble, it's that a Cyborg Soldier can get all the way up to more machine than man, now and still unconcernedly double his chi right on schedule while firing off assorted chi mastery powers -- all with no rules marking replacement body parts (or, at that, missing ones) as problematic.

[drewkitty ~..~]

The chi spirit can even leave the body, whereas generally if someone leaves their body the PPE stays in it. The chi spirit is of the mind.

When someone "Mind Walks" they take their PPE with them.
When a mage "astral projects", they take their PPE with them.

PSI/ISP: of the mind only

Chi: of the body and spirit.
PPE: of the body and soul.