LIMITING CYBERNETICS

Return to Home

Return to Cybernetics

**LIMITING CYBERNETICS**

Not every cybernetic implant is designed to be helpful to the recipient. Everything from trackers to cortex bombs, remote controls, and personality transplants can be placed in a character against his will to hinder or control him. Devices of this kind are always restricted or illegal, and many are banned by international treaties. This does not, however, stop them from being available on black markets and even occasionally used by immoral governments. Except for function, limiting cybernetic devices are the same as enhancing ones, and follow the same rules regarding implantation, acquisition, and maximum number of implant slots and total implants.

**Pain Implant (PL 6)**

This electronic receiving device is implanted near the brainstem and causes excruciating pain to the recipient when triggered.

**Benefit:** The recipient is debilitated with pain when the device is triggered. Such a device is usually triggered remotely, either by a manually operated remote or by transmitters that turn the receiver on whenever the recipient enters (or leaves) the transmitter’s range.

Removing such device requires a Treat Injury (surgery) check (TN 25) to remove. Particular ruthless GMs will have the device trigger (see the results below) if this check is failed by 5 or more.

Explosive Implants are occasionally tied to Pain Implants as a secondary backup and to keep them from being tampered with. Tracking Beacons find a use as well, serving as triggers for the pain implant should the recipient move too far away.

Whenever the pain implant is triggered, the recipient’s pain center is stimulated. The resulting pain is so acute that the recipient is effectively helpless (Dexterity 0, lying on the floor and writhing in pain begging for it to stop, etc.) as long as the pain implant is active.

At the GM’s option, the recipient may be allowed a Fortitude saving throw (for those “tough” guys, TN 20). Success means that the recipient is not helpless. However, he is still unable to attack, use psionic powers, or do anything else requiring attention or concentration; he can only take a single move action per turn.

In addition to this all-or-nothing function, many pain implants are built with rheostats, allowing a variable amount of pain to be introduced to the recipient. This goes from a warning tingle all the way up to paralyzing pain; a popular stop in between is noticeable pain (–2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks).

Pain implants that trigger long enough (usually 1d4 + the recipient’s Constitution modifier rounds) cause the recipient to pass out from neural overload. Continued stimulation (usually 1d4 + the recipient’s Constitution modifier minutes) causes permanent damage, the recipient suffers 1 point of permanent Constitution damage for every additional minute until death.

Pain triggers are popular in securing criminals, even in democratic societies. They have also been placed into standard cybernetic devices as a means to ensure the devices will not be used against certain parties or individuals.

**Type:** Internal.

**Hardness/Hit Points:** –/1.

**Base Purchase TN:** 9 (+3 with Tracking Beacon, +3 with Explosive Implant).

**Restriction:** Military (+3).

**Paralysis Implant (PL 6)**

This electronic receiving device is implanted near the top of the spinal column and when activated causes the recipient to lose control of her voluntary muscle functions.

**Benefit:** The recipient is paralyzed when the device is triggered.

Such a device is usually triggered remotely, either by a manually operated remote or by transmitters that turn the receiver on whenever the recipient enters (or leaves) the transmitter’s range.

Removing such device requires a Treat Injury (surgery) check (TN 25) to remove. Particularly ruthless GMs will have the device trigger if the check is failed by 5 or more and/or have permanent damage caused to spinal cord resulting in permanent paraplegia or quadriplegia.

Explosive implants are occasionally tied to paralysis implants as a secondary backup and to keep them from being tampered with. Tracking beacons find a use as well, serving as triggers for the paralysis implant should the recipient move too far away.

Whenever the paralysis implant is triggered, the recipient’s neural connection with the spinal cord is blocked. As a result, the recipient can no longer control her body from the neck down, rendering them paralyzed (temporarily quadriplegic, unable to physically move or act from the neck down, helpless with effective Dexterity and Strength scores of 0). The recipient remains paralyzed until the paralysis trigger ceases functioning. Paralysis triggers are popular in securing criminals, even in democratic societies.

They have also been placed into standard cybernetic devices as a means to ensure the devices will not be used against certain parties or individuals.

**Type:** Internal.

**Hardness/Hit Points:** –/1.

**Base Purchase TN:** 9 (+3 with Tracking Beacon, +3 with Explosive Implant).

**Restriction:** Military (+3).

**Suicide Bomb Implant (PL 6)**

The recipient has a trigger and a large amount of explosives implanted in his body.

**Benefit:** The recipient is able to blow him and others nearby up, causing damage 4d6 points of damage in a 6-meter burst radius. A suicide implant can be triggered remotely, using a transmitter, or manually by the recipient (through a remote, or a button beneath the skin, or even a ripcord coming through the skin).

Removing such device requires a Treat Injury (surgery) check (TN 20) as well as a Demolitions (disarm explosive device) check (TN 10) to remove. Failure of either check by 5 or more causes the device to explode with the listed damage. Explosive implants are occasionally tied to suicide implants as a secondary backup and to keep them from being tampered with; if the explosive implant is set off, the suicide bomb implant is also triggered unless it was disarmed first. Tracking beacons find a use as well, serving as triggers for the suicide implants and triggering them when the recipient reaches a certain location.

**Type:** Internal.

**Hardness/Hit Points:** –/1 (trigger only).

**Base Purchase TN:** 10 (+3 with Tracking Beacon, +3 with Explosive Implant).

**Restriction:** Illegal (+4).

**Gimper (PL 7)**

A gimper is a cutoff system built into the nervous and adrenal systems of the recipient as well as emotional centers of the brain. It limits his strength, agility, and ability to feel intense emotions.

**Effect:** The recipient of a gimper takes a permanent –4 penalty to Strength and Dexterity and gains only half the benefit of morale bonuses. Any bonus to Strength or Dexterity gained from cybernetic implants is negated. A recipient with the rage ability (from any source) cannot employ it. As a side effect, the recipient takes only half the normal penalties from being shaken and gains a +6 bonus on saves against fear effects.

**Type:** Internal.

**Location:** One head and one torso.

**Hardness/Hit Points:** —/20.

**Base Purchase TN:** 25.

**Restriction:** Res (+2).

**Personality Implant (PL 8)**

A personality implant is a complex chip directly wired to a recipient’s brain that attempts to place a recorded mentality into the body, suppressing the recipient’s original personality.

**Effect:** A personality implant is designed to allow those with far more money than morality to utterly destroy a person without wasting his body. Before it is implanted, the cybernetic chip must be “imprinted” with the memories, thoughts, and personality of a donor. The donor loses 300 XP in the process. (If the donor has not gained at least 300 XP since reaching his current level, the process automatically fails and the donor loses XP sufficient to drop him to the minimum neded to attain his current level.)

Once implanted (almost always against the recipient’s will), the implant impresses the totality of the donor’s psyche onto the recipient’s subconscious. If successfully implanted, the seed of the donor’s mind germinates over the period of one week. During this time, the recipient begins to unconsciously take on the donor’s mannerisms.

After one week, when integration is complete, the recipient becomes a duplicate of the donor, but the recipient’s character level is eight lower than the donor’s (minimum 1st level). The recipient does not have any of the donor’s physical ability scores or equipment, but does have the Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores the donor had when he was eight levels lower.

While the recipient is initially the donor’s mental duplicate, the two personalities diverge over time. Although the recipient starts off with memories of the donor’s experiences, he possesses his original soul and physical body and develops his own personality based on new experiences. Thus, the recipient is not the donor’s slave or servant, but instead a person in his own right that shares the donor’s earlier memories.

Once implanted, a personality implant can be stopped by removal or destruction any time during the germination period (one week). After that, the original personality is destroyed and removing the chip has no effect.

**Type:** Internal.

**Location:** One head.

**Hardness/Hit Points:** —/3.

**Base Purchase TN:** 40.

**Restriction:** Illegal (+4).