Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

[JupiterExile]

Creating characters for a game I'm aiming to start in a week, one of my players will have the power to use mechanical junk to heal or aid others. He will work from a pool of parts as either an END reserve or a set of charges that only refill once he has access to spare parts.

 

The character will wind up with a kit of healing, aid, and usable on others powers and fix people by making them into cyborgs.

 

The bit that I don't know how to build is the limitation of becoming a cyborg. I want all applications of these powers to be paired with social complications and minor combat penalties based on the jury-rigged mechanical parts being unnatural to the setting and clunky so as to impair combat values.

 

Basically, I want to tie complications and/or transform effects as limitations to heal and aid powers, and I don't know how best to go about that.

[BhelliomRahl]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

What long term benefits are these mechanical parts going to provide? Are people going to want to receive a short-term benefit for a long-term disadvantage? Are the impairments to CV going to fade as the character adapts to the replacement parts?

 

I would consider balancing it out if the disadvantages are permanent. A decrease in combat values but increase Strength or Resistant Protection (If using Hit Location) limited to the locations replaced. Or unique abilities related to the parts.

 

You could use the Limitation - Side Effect Major/Extreme - Transform; Severe, Always occurs when Power used. to create the complications:

1) Social Complication: Cyborg - Frequent Minor

2) Distinctive Feature: Cybernetics - Depending on what is replaced if the parts are concealable.

3) Dependance: Cybernetics requires regular maintenance or suffer malfunction. (example: Common 10pts; Time: 1-day -15pts; Requires a Skill Roll -11 +10pts; Total Cost: 5pts)

 

If you are altering abilities:

Side Effect Extreme - Transform Major - Can Decrease CV up to 4 levels.

I would consider allowing players to purchase Penalty Skill Levels to offset any penalties generated by the jury-rigged parts to represent the character growing accustomed to them.

 

Another option is just to hand wave it, if a character receives Jury-Rigged Parts they receive these complications and CV penalties. Some people don't like this but it is the simplest method.

[Martin2]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

Sounds to be more of a transform than healing.

 

The transform being to change them into a cyborg with the side effect of them being healed of some body damage.

 

Problem being that if I was playing I would prefer to heal naturaly then being transformed into a cyborg. As one player would be taking my character in a direction that has consequences that I would not want as it is open to too many disadvantages over a few points of body healing.

 

Also there currently is no numerical rules it.

 

1 body healed gives you what?

Hunted anti cyborg sect?

-1 CV?

 

So for a short term gain you get something that could really effect your character for the rest of their lives?

 

That is a really powerful power.

 

That is a small bonus game effect for a big player disadvantage that is controlled by one player or just a plot device by a GM that wants to turn all of his players into cyborgs for fun?

 

But it depends on the game.

[psyber624]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

RAW the only way to change a person into a cyborg would be with Transform. It is the only way to make permanent changes to another character (other than killing them). It is also the only way to add powers, disadvantages, etc to a character.

 

Of course if your the GM you can do whatever you want and allow the player to come up with something, but that really doesn't sound like a power that should be in the hands of a players. It has too much effect on the game world.

[Ockham's Spoon]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

This depends on what benefits/limitations being a cyborg imposes, and how permanent the change is. My general conception of cyborgs is a major irrevocable body alteration, and that would require Transform.

 

However, if the cybernetic part functions just like the flesh and blood it replaced from a game mechanics standpoint, then you could just use Healing with a cybernetics special effect. From a role playing standpoint the character is now a cyborg, but they gain no particular bonus and there are no changes to the character sheet.

 

If you want some advantage from the cybernetic part (extra PD/ED or extra STR or something) with the understanding that it is ultimately temporary, you could use Aid to BDY (and STR or PD/ED) or whatever but with a long fade rate to reflect the fact that the cybernetic part will fail at some point. The extra BDY will keep them from dying, albeit temporarily until they are properly healed or the cybernetics is made more permanent. If the fade rate is long enough they may even recover from the injury normally. You might tack on a Side Effects "Aided character sets off metal detectors" or something similar as a limitation.

[JupiterExile]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

Thanks all for the feedback! This is good food for thought to spur discussion with my player on the capabilities and boundaries of his hero.

 

In the end I think we'll break apart the individual capabilities (healing, aid STR, UON HtH, etc.) into various powers with the similar side effect of becoming cybernetic. With effort, we could setup a table for the partial results of an Improved Results Severe Transform, but a simpler interpretation should prove much more manageable in the long run.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

RAW the only way to change a person into a cyborg would be with Transform. It is the only way to make permanent changes to another character (other than killing them). It is also the only way to add powers, disadvantages, etc to a character.

 

Of course if your the GM you can do whatever you want and allow the player to come up with something, but that really doesn't sound like a power that should be in the hands of a players. It has too much effect on the game world.

Just to pick nits, by RAW Transform is not permanent.

[Greywind]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

And experience allows you to add powers. Playing allows for the adding/losing/altering of disads.

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

And in a Heroic level cyberpunk game many cybernetic implants (which would provide new Powers) may be able to be purchased in game without spending XP or using a Power to add Powers. Not that that has anything to do with the OP, but it does have to do with ways to alter a character per RAW.

[psyber624]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

Okay, somewhat true guys but:

 

1. Transform is permanent until some outside condition is met (frequently "another application of this power".) It is the only way to change ANOTHER character that does not have a finite time limit on it.

 

2. XP, Cybernetic Implants you buy, etc are all things you do to YOURSELF. You cannot spend XP to give someone else a power. That's what I meant, sorry if I didn't specify that.

[Greywind]

Re: Jury-Rig bio-junk Healing

 

Well, you could spend the XP to have someone else do it to you.