Milking the Mysterious Cyberware Creatively, For GM's Options

[Ancient History]

PCs take Flaws to min-max their characters, or to gain an advantage or two. GMs typically use these Flaws to screw with players, usually blatantly and repeatedly ("Damn! How many of these gangers are packing silver bullets, which I'm allergic to? Bloody screen-monkey.")

This need not be the case, as it can be much more interesting for GM and player if the GM decides to get creative without going overboard.

'cause really, watching a player live and writhe is much more fun than being callously cruel and crippling them.

The key to these combos are that the player doesn't know what the mysterious cyberware is, just tell them the result. After a while, they might find out and guess, but by then you've had some fun.

Amnesia and Mysterious Cyberware
You have a chemical gland which releases a dose of laes into your system every twenty-four hours. Consequently, your short term memory is shot and every day is an adventure. Hell, you may not even be aware of your condition! Otherwise, your life consists of an ongoing autobiography in your pocket secretary, and post-it notes. Lots of post-it notes.

Flashbacks and Mysterious Cyberware
You have an Invoked Memory Stimulater hooked up to a biomonitor. Every time a certain condition(s) happens, the IMS sets in. Depending on the nature of the condition, this could be anything from debilitating to comedic as the IMS might trigger memories relative to it. Punitive implants of this type might be invoked every time you have to use the restroom ("Aw, Hell, I hate having to relive potty training when I was three every time I have to pee...I thought Mom was kidding when she said she'd do this one day!") while more entertainment-oriented implants might trigger whenever the character is aroused (if the memories themselves are arousing, this might effectively take the character out of action for some time. "Man, she's novaho..hho..hottt..." "We just lost Jim again, dammit. Hand me that sedative.")

Mysterious Cyberware and Alchoholics
Toxin or Blood Filter. The characters can drink a keg and never feel the tiniest buzz off the alcohol. Particularly malicious GMs may throw in a Nephritic Screen and make the character have to pee every fifteen minutes after a single beer, too.

/Damaged/ Mysterious Cyberware
Symbiotes are bad enough for the unsuspecting character, as they face constant cravings for snacks. But imagine malfunctioning symbiotes that require more food but process it much slower. Suddenly, body-conscious runners are gaining weight and can't stop eating! Well meaning street docs may mistakenly treat them as diabetics or suggest corrective surgery, while GMs with exceptional timing might place this after a female runner's sexual encounter (or a male runner's night with a girlfriend), leading to the dreaded conclusion that the character might be *gasp* pregnant!

[Striker]

You're evil. I like you.

[Cynic project]

I think another good one would be that filter that makes it so you don't rememeber anything. Have it set to trigger when some code words are spoken. Maybe have a song that has those words in it,that is being played all the time.

[DocMortand]

Ya know...it's threads like this that cause my runners to never EVER use those combinations. *grin*

Thanks for the input tho...I know what to do now if I ever capture 'em. ;)

[Tarantula]

Mysterious cyberware, install a set of snake eyes. If they decided to get wired reflexes on their own, you now have you're own street sammy drone.

[FrostyNSO]

All those are great, but having a pair of cyberskates pop out unexpectedly is HILARIOUS.

[toturi]

The drawback to most these is simple: It is mysterious cyberware. Not mysterious bioware or nanoware. However since you are the GM, you are God.

The second drawback is that all the PC needs to do is go to a cyberclinic for a checkup and the nature of the Flaw is exposed. Furthermore, if the sammy has 0.01 Essense left, most cyberware will give him a free ticket into cyberzombie territory. You planning to jump out of the pot into the fire?

[Trax]

[sidartha]

The best ways I've ever seen Mysterious Cyber used is as survailence equipment.
Consider the ex-CIA bla bla bla, who doesn't know it but still gets up in the middle of the night accesses a certain matrix account and gives a full download of the days events.
Or.
Someone who knowingly has a eye camera but doesn't know that he has a headware radio that accesses his head memory and transmits the contents into the ether.
Props for both of these go to Mr Woodchuck. :notworthy: :notworthy:

[SpasticTeapot]

I'm about to start GM'ing my first true campaign, and I think that all of these are marvellous ideas. Especially that one about the roller skates. Finally, a way to get that annoying over-cybered street sam with a HMG under control.

[Necro Tech]

I always liked putting in a reflex trigger on the intiative junkies. You run against corp X? You're gonna do it real slow like.

[Jrayjoker]

Or the mouth gun loaded with fugu toxin darts. Sneeze and take the risk of shooting yourself in the hand, your Johnson across the table, your Fixer in the alley, your girlfriend while kissing, you get the picture.

[Daishi]

I've always been a fan of RAS overrides, personifx chips, and radio receivers. :vegm:

[Jrayjoker]

Where did I read about the brothel with personality override on the joy girls/boys so you could program anything you wanted? As I recall it was installed without consent, but all opposition was then programmed away.

[Sabosect]

Heh. Cranial bombs, radio transcievers, and cybereyes with eye cameras. Perfect assassin.

[Moirdryd]

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

[DocMortand]

[hyzmarca]

[FrostyNSO]

[Panzergeist]

Of course, there is no need for mysterious cyberware to be normal stuff out of the books. Anyone who has played Paranoia knows how much fun you can have with mysterious, powerful, unreliable equipment. Maybe the character has cybereyes that occasionally extend out of their sockets on eyestalks against his will, helping him see things but creeping people out. Maybe he has an implanted nanomedkit that occasionally synthesizes and injects him with street drugs when he is under stress. Maybe he has a laser pistol implanted in his hand which sometimes goes off when he only means to punch someone.

If you really want to fuck with someone, how about headware memory with half a dozen implanted personafix programs? Maybe a genetic augmentation that causes their blood type to change every few days, making ritual samples useless, and making them hard to identify, but also potentially causing a bad mixup if the character gets hospitalized. Or, wickedest of all, a chemical gland that produces Laes. It could release it into the characters own brain, or it could affect anyone he kisses, quickly earning him an undeserved reputation as a date rapist, and several seperate hunted flaws.

[toturi]

[paul_HArkonen]

I think that the best ones would be a radio reciever (you hear voices in your head, they're talking about [insert evil GMy plan to trick/annoy runner here])

or the IMS (see above, only with vioces replaced with images as well.)

[DocMortand]

[Sketchy]

For that special little something to annoy players, try shock hands! Think of all the fun to be had randomly detonating flash grenades and shorting out weapons/vehicles!

[EDIT] Not to mention trying to shake hands with new acquaintances :S

This post has been edited by Sketchy: Jan 15 2005, 06:30 PM