Surgery, Why the hate? Options

[Talia Invierno]

Never once have the surgery rules been mentioned on these boards without -- yes, call it hate. The reason most commonly given is that they are insanely complicated.

I never found them so. Quite the contrary: once I caught the mechanic, they seemed some of the most straightforward in the entire set of rulebooks. After all, the core of it was simply determining

(a) the category of surgery;
(b) the risked negative options and desired positive options; and
(c ) location/technology/condition:

all of which together gives a target number and the required number of successes for bad things not to happen and for each potential good thing thereafter.

The combat rules are considerably more complex: yet reaction to any single part of these is far less visceral. Spellcasting even has a similar structure of rules, with the balancing act of ideal Force level echoing the balance of desired surgical options against acceptable TN.

The surgery rules do, however, insert an element of risk that is not within the PC's direct control: something almost unique throughout the rulebooks. What's more, that risk cuts directly at a keystone of the PC's sought-after superiority.

Interestingly, I have noticed that many of the most welcomed SR4 changes cut out precisely this kind of risk, or indeed most situations where a PC would be required to find a way to work with others and perhaps even have to trust them. For example, Astral Gateway is no longer a power for which the PCs have to negotiate with a free spirit; but one which an Awakened PC can command of a Guidance spirit as soon as Invoking is learned.

Perhaps in parallel, other commonly welcomed changes in SR4 involve anything that reduces negative consequences of power. The constant risk of focus addiction is gone. At least in the core books through Augmentation, the objective potential for drug addiction has vanished. With Edge, even imminent death has become -- less than relevant.

(In fact, one of the most fought-against new rules continues to be the concept of aspected Essence holes, even with the simultaneous release of genetech to undo Essence holes altogether ... so permanent Essence loss becomes another negative consequence which becomes far less relevant in SR4. The argument against aspected Essence holes is that it's an unnecessary complication. I can't help but notice that the point of contention happens to be over one of the few remaining limitations on the power balancing act.)

And the surgery rules are gone.

What really underlies the hate of the surgery rules?