The discussion about the power of mundanes (in comparison to adepts) and the last thread about the new adept powers of SOTA:2064 brought me to the question, which new pieces of cyber- and bioware we want?

I would like to see some piece of 'ware that grants protection against magic (and is only usuable for non-awakenend characters). Haven't made much thougts about it anyway...

Allowing some sort of USB-cyberware: an arm or leg where you can add and remove gadgets nearly on the fly. M&M covers it a little bit, with the ECU, but it's not the way i want it.

Make it easier to remove and upgrade cyberware. M&M really sucks there. Someone mentioned the idea of nanotech that allows cyberware to be removed easily, without the risk of losing essence (not gaining back the essence you spend).

Just waiting for more ideas, so let your minds work!

I'd like cyber arms with extra ECU so I can fit lots of goodies inside them. Go-go gadget! A bioware thermovision would make sense, but would sort of remove a major advantage of adepts and certain races, namely natrual theromvision. I'd think a bioware thingy that lets you control your external heat somewhat, similar to armour thermal dampening, would also be fun.

JaronK

Yeah, more mix'n'match, more modularity, more flexibility...

I'm not that bothered about new /stuff/ per se - there's certainly no particular items that spring to mind, but I'd like to see easier surgery, improved healing, improved cyber repair - all of which can be done through nano-tech.

Reductions in cost for cyber across the board and lower the multipliers and availability for alpha and beta ware. Nothing too drastic...

A total reworking of implanted Communications gear would be nice.

yeah, that too.

Actually a reworking of all comms gear (implanted or otherwise) would be a good first step.

A combination of street-level stuff and non-combat cyber.

An example of street cyber might be eyes that have ONLY low light or thermo or something. Very cheap, essence friendly. Sure, nobody who can afford real cybereyes will want them, but they make a nice option for the really poor, like gangers and such.

Someone mentioned cyber allowing control over hair color. I'm really surprised this doesn't already exist. I think Shadowtech had a full-page color add for fiber-optic hair. Why the heck don't we already have this? A bio version might be nice, too.

A while back someone described an "obvious cybereyes" option that would allow the eyes to hold more "free" essence worth of 'ware. I really like that idea.

I've also been thinking about all this "mundanes got it tough" talk going around. Maybe something along the lines of "Neural Integrity Reinforcement," (to use M&M's reasoning about why Essence is lost. Personally I'd call it "Pattern Integrity Reinforcement") sort of like an IMS for non-cyberzombies.

It has a certain Essence cost, but allows the installation of a slightly higher amount of Essence for free. Say, it costs 1.1 Essence, but allows 1.5 Essence to be implanted for free. This way, the Awakened that take it still suck down losing 2 points of magic but for kind of minimal gain. You can only get one, of course.

Just thoughts.

Oh, and better cyberlimbs, too.

Just throwing out ideas from my gaming group at random (I don't necessarily support or hate any one of them):

Something that adds dice, like Reflex Recorders and Synthacardium, that doesn't necessarily stack with Adept abilities.

Bioware pheremones that allow someone to work with animals better.

We have a variant cyberskull in our games that allows the facial sculpting and hair adjustment allowed by adept powers (this was long before SOTA: 2064 was published).

Upgraded chipjack systems, or possibly even personality construct engrams (What ever happened to the tech in Dreamchipper?).

The ability to download the consciousness of someone's brain and neural net into a box (like the Dixie construct in "Neuromancer", or the current incarnation of Rache Bartmoss in Cyberpunk).

Tech that eventually leads to the biological data storage, maybe a bio/cyber "gatekeeper" which allows direct encoding of data onto the brain (similar to what Deus has done to create The Network).

More options as far as Rigger interfacing... maybe a VCR that only allows you to use CCSS, or only allows you to control a single type of vehicle/drone.

More options as far as simsense rigs... more detailed information on simsense rigs (VCRs and datajacks allow limited simsense, the Smartgun Link has a limited simsense rig).

"External" cyberware... cyberware that is basically induction datajack pads on a limb and a machine rig is built over the limb as an extension... leading to a sort of power armor, I guess.

i want to see different types of cyberlimbs. industrial limbs with higher strength/quickness, more room for gear, but difficult or impossible to conceal; low-end prosthetic limbs with lower strength/quickness and little or no room for gear; etcetera.

How about body sculpting nanites. Changing the look of your body by rearranging fat deposits under the skin. Go from pot belly to breasts in 5 minutes...

I want to see brand name cyberware with different stats for different models.

I want to see alpha class ware being pushed as what is standard along with a price cut to relfect at how common it has become.

More uses for fingertip induction pads. Honestly I don't know why those things aren't used more often as an alternative for datajack ports.

A rewrite of the cyberlimb rules would bee good too. Right now it's prohitively expensive to use cyberlimbs as limbs that are actually stronger than normal human limbs, which seems really stupid to me.

That neural integrity enhancement idea seems interesting. Something that allows mundanes to add more cyber more easily than Awakened would definately be a big plus.

On Cyberlimbs: I liked the old SR2 ruling that the limb installed was equal to your regular arm in stats (until you tweaked it for cash). Combine that with the ECU rules and they get a little bit better. However, they do need to rework the rules entirely. It's just too mucky to really play around with on a consistent basis.

there's a problem with the concepts behind the SR2 rules, though: why would the average cyberlimb come with servos powerful enough to rip the cyberlimb right out of the socket? if i'm Str 1, and i remove the safety features that limit my cyberlimb so that it's also Str 1, that cyberlimb ought to ramp up to Str 9, right? at which point, i'm gonna try to open a stuck cabinet one day and rip my own arm off.

i think cyberlimbs ought to have set Str and Qui values, but it ought to be very cheap and easy to upgrade those values (5k/point, rather than 20k/point). this would solve most of the problems, and still make sense.

The way we viewed it (any time we walked into a chop shop or somesuch) was seeing a machine that ran tests on your own physical strength and quickness, then suggested the proper arm for you to use. The proper arm being, of course, the one that has the same stats as you do (without modification, save for cyber mods like muscle replacement).

No removed "safety mechanisms" or anything. All stock.

There's a bigger problem, and it's one many of you have overlooked: the more accessible cyberware gets, the more fucked mundanes get. Before any new cyberware gets introduced, this would be something the designers should finally get around to acknowledging and fixing. Of course, they're more interested in turning adepts (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, all awakened) into universe breaking gods, so it might be a while.

okay, that's actually pretty close to what i'm talking about. with your rules, the character has to get their arm modified/replaced whenever they raise their natural Str or Qui, right? same thing as what i'm saying then, basically, except that i'd make the char pay for the extra Str and Qui when they buy the arm. but, like i said, i'd make the Str and Qui much cheaper.

edit: arrrgh! please explain to my why no-cyber mundanes should be able to keep up with cyberware or magic? if they could, there'd be no point in getting cyber or magic, and everybody'd just play mundanes! not to mention the fact that, as it stands, you're better off not getting cyberlimbs if you want high Str and Qui.

Looks like she's saying "Adepts can initiate to get better. Mundanes just take 'ware. And when they're out of Essence, they can't take anything else."

Maybe not power, but usefullness outside of storing crap.

MM radar vision.
Reworking of just about all the head and comware,as well as smartgun links.

Bah! It's a piece of metal you're welding to your body! That should Tim Allen-sized power implications!

I think there should be cyberware mods. Like translucent colored panels displaying the inner workings, internal neon lights that shine through the open spaces, etched in designs with electro-luminescent wire laid in, superfluous exhaust pipes that fire out steam at random intervals, decals on 8-balls and naked lady silohuettes...stuff like that.

Although I suppose you don't really need rules for that...

Hey, there'd be a market for junk like that. Look at Ricers and Computer Case Mods.

And Maria Mercurial hasn't been cool since like, 2055, man.

OK, I'll give you the MM point...

But, c'mon, case mods rock out. If I wasn't so poor I'd tweak mine to hell and back. (And if good cold-cathodes weren't so damn hard to find reliably.)

Yeah, I'd be messing around with my computer if I had the money...

I completely agree that the cyberlimbs have really dropped off. Remember the Cybertechnology book, picture where the dwarf chica was walking off with a massive bat and an even more massive cyber arm, and there was a troll she just beat senseless lying there drooling?
Well I tried making myself a dwarf sammy the other day with that pic in mind. In order to get the strength of an average troll ( 7, avg att 3 +4 troll adjst), costs what, 2.2 essence!1/3 of your essence for ONE ARM!

You'd think that with all of these "technological advancements", some of the ware could be cheaper, or more essence friendly. Sure in M&M they changed the essence cost. Now muscle replacements Lv4 cost 4 essence, where muscle augmentation is .4! same boost, WAY different cost. Anyone taken muscle replacements lately?

Yes there's the "SOTA", and there's various levels (alpha, delta). But realistically, a cell phone now costs $100, or free.Remember Lethal weapon (the first one), when Murdock pulls out his "cell phone", and battery pack, the size of a large purse. D&D pagers, meaning "doctors and drug dealers", because they're the only ones that could afford them. Well the tech got better, and the price went down. In SR, the tech is getting better (according to the SOTA, but the newest ware is MBW, and it's pretty scary. The westwind still looks the same), but the price is only going up (deltaware).

The way it is now, your best bet is to start out w/ a "merc", no cyber, save your cash (if you survive) until you can find a Beta or better clinic, and THEN get you ware, 'cause you can't swap out for a more essence friendly upgrade.

Sorry if I'm coming off as ranting, but I've been playing mages since 3rd edition because I don't like the evolution (or lack of) of the cyberware.Bioware is a much better choice, which seems to follow the trend of the developers leaning more to magic friendlies.

Which irks me, because, y'know, only 10% of the population is awakened. Sure, the percentage is higher in Runners, but that doesn't mean all the cyberware is going to go poof.

(Admittedly, I did take Muscle Replacement for a gang campaign I was recently in. Makes sense, neh?)

Lets see a cyber wish list.

1 Add in something that makes it bad for awakened people to get ware. In the books mages that deck get headaches, that sort of thing. (maybe stun damage or some type of disorentation when they use cyber.)

2 Cyberlimb rules that make them useful. One of the coolest mental images of SR for me is a chromed cyberarm. However, in my current group I have seen NO cyberlimbs, and I don't blame the players, they suck as it is.

3 Water down or increase the essence/money cost of smartlink 2. There is no reason anyone would have a SL1, when 2 is so much better and costs a spit more.

4 Adjust move by wire to be worth the trouble. Right now you can used boosted reflx and synaptic excel for far less and get most of the benefits. And since they now let you upgrade boosted, there is almost no reason to get MBW.

5 Add some type of ware that lets you resist magic, and make it mundane only.

Oh SOTA 65 come to me...

Not me, I prefer clean functionality and unassuming appearance. Quality over loudness. Which is probably why I'm becoming obsessed with Lian Li's case offerings. Nothing says "Jesus Christ" like a case that, with all the bells and whistles (and no power supply) costs upwards of $350.

Almost all of our cybered characters have had cyberlimbs. They are real essence-savers when you add in things like built-in RC decks, medkits, induction pads for Smartlinks, cyberweapons, etc... much MUCH better than getting a C2 cyberdeck or a cranial RC deck. They also add a Body bonus when you buy a pair of them (+1 for arms, +2 for legs).

I think it's just gaming group preferences.

I like the edge that makes you more resistant to magic, that only mundanes can take. Sort of a token "fight the {magic} power brother!"

Cyber zombies are resistant to magic because of the hazing effect of the cybermancy. Here's a thought. High technology is more difficult to effect with magic (object resistance). I'd call a samurai with .4 essence, and a bio index of 3.2 pretty technological (maybe not long for this world, but pretty technological). Why don't they figure in stuff like that to make the heavy but not "zombied" samurai more resistant to magic like they are with healing magic? Wonder how much that would change the balance, and if it would be going to far?

And sorry about tose muscle replacements Tanka. I've got a ganger with dermal plating when sheating is a hell of a lot better. I went with the cheaper, less techy one becasue it seemed to fit better.Kudos to you!

I would like to see a completly changed price-list. Skillwires i.e. are so ridicolous expensive and we better don't talk about cyberlimbs.

And the essence cost of headware memory and the whole comm'ware should be lowered significantly.

fix those funky cyberlimbs, white boy

3 essence, actually. we're still debating ECU costs; that will likely be the limit.

edit: oh, right, an additional 1.5 essence.

yep.
cool, post it when they get a final number, think I like that system LOADS better!

Some things I would like to see for cyberware/bioware:

1. An power upgrade for cyberlimbs. Some more ECU or a higher cap on the amount of strength and quickness you can add without costing additional essence. Also, it has always bugged me that trolls and orks don't get more ECU. I mean, they are a lot larger than humans, elves, and dwarves. Nothing huge, maybe just an additional 1 for orks and 2 for trolls.

2. I agree with fistandantilus3.0 about the idea for magic resistance. For cyberware, you could get a +1 dice for magic resistance for each point of essence lost or a +1 target modifier for every two points of essence for magic tests. These would apply to both hostile and friendly magic. It would make Sams more formidable against magic users, but also be a disadvantage for those Sams that want the big attribute bonus spells quickened on them. Characters that still want to be magic friendly can take more bioware.

3. I think it would be nice if the body/spirit's natural healing capacity kicked in to restore lost essence. Maybe .1 a week or month.

4. More body index would be good. Maybe the max cyber/bioware could be raised to essence lost + 1/2 body.

All of these, of course, are major changes. Some things you could add to a supplemental book could be:

1. Genetic modification for low-light and thermographic vision (.2 bio index).

2. Genetic modification for some hearing enhancements such as high frequency hearing (.2 bio index).

3. Genetic modification to allow the racial max for intelligence and charisma higher (.5 bio index).

4. Bring back the cybercomm link.

That is about all I can come -up with . Which leads me to an interesting question: has Shadowrun used all the good, usable ideas for fundamentally new cyberware? I mean are there only stupid and/or useless things that can be added (such as the oral spur)? Is that why there haven't been any fundamentally new and groundbreaking cyberware items since SRII?

Just an idea for everyone to shred, but how about removing the the essence limit? Let essence still detract from magic, making it harder for mages to get cyber and keep magic. But otherwise let people get as much cyber as they want. Retool the social modifiers for cyber to account for more people having more cyber. Get rid of silly cybermancy.

This way Sams can keep geting implants.

Honestly, fuck the social penalties. SR's cyberphobic social constructs were never a good idea. Aside from that, I agree that that would be an good first step to fixing things (though, I should be clear, there's still a long way to go).

Alas, I doubt anyone's going to want to let go of precious cyberzombies.