Cyborg (IB)
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| Starfox's Blades in the Dark space hack |
Cyborg Playbook
As a Cyborg, you are a fusion of flesh and machine — a being rebuilt, repaired, or refined through technology. Whether soldier, worker, or pioneer, your body is both tool and temple, designed for performance and endurance beyond human limits. You walk the line between human and mechanism, aware that the line itself grows thinner each year. Being a cyborg is not about mere prosthetics; you don't need this level of training to merely replace lost bodily functions.
People distrust the ascended — both cybernetic Cyborgs and biological Posthumans. The visible presence of mechanical augmentations draws wary stares, but concealment provokes even deeper unease. You can hide your nature behind synthskin and clothing.
Cybernetic enhancements can be concealed when they are not in use, but will be dramatically reveled on use. Discovery invites fear or hostility and increases Heat by two. Showing your condition openly earns tolerance, but also suspicion of what you’ve become.
Adding cybernetic parts is easy, the tricky part is using them well. This requires a significant investment in training time, and in rule terms each enhancement is a Special Ability. You can add or remove enhancement with about an hour of work, much faster with assistants. You can choose to use all, some, or none of the enhancements you have mastered. You still need your human brain and will want to protect it at all costs. Most cyborgs put it in an armored brain box inside the head. It can be mounted in the torso, but this can cause vertigo; it is unclear how this happens. The rest of your body might be meat or machine, depending on which enhancements you are using. You possess an unenhanced body to use when not in action and can have a clone of your own body grown if you can afford it and want to go fully human again.
Touchstones: Alex Murphy / RoboCop (RoboCop, 1987), The Major / Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell, 1995), Darth Vader (Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, 1980), Marcus Wright (Terminator Salvation, 2009).
Special Abilities
- Augmented Perception: Your visual and auditory systems are replaced or overlaid with digital sensors. You can perceive beyond the visible spectrum and hear through interference or solid materials. You gain improved Position against stealth or obscured threats, but not to better than Controlled.
- Brain Drone: You can dethatch your brain pack, abandoning your body and moving around as a small vehicle with the size and agility of a housecat. In this form you gain increased effect on Lunar, Micro, and Terran, but physical Harm is one level more severe, you are much weaker, and cannot use equipment or Load.
- Cybernetic Arms: Telescopically increases your reach out to two meters and incorporates sensors and tools enhancing your effect on Rig rolls involving repair.
- Cybernetic Constitution: Your vital systems are reinforced with mechanical components. You are immune to Degrav and decompression, can operate in vacuum or toxic atmospheres, and require no food. You resist disease and poison as though they were Tier 0 threats. Rig can be used to repair bodily Harm you have suffered.
- Cybernetic Legs: Your enhanced legs increases effect when running and leaping and can deliver kicks as if you were armed with a mace.
- Internal Devices: You can install devices worth up to four points of Load internally; these do not count against your carried Load. This does not significantly change your physical form, even when you install armor or weapons. You can change these devices between scores, using these points just like normal Load.
- Neural Link: When driving a vehicle rigged for neural control, you gain increased effect.
- Synthiskin: You look human and can change details of your appearance in a minute, altering physical features such as skin, hair, and figure. You can only do minor changes to frame and height. You gain increased effect on Consort if you use this to assume a form relevant to the occasion.
Contacts and Enemies
- ˄ ˅ Helix, a black-market mechanic.
- ˄ ˅ Mace, a mercenary pilot.
- ˄ ˅ Petra, a neural engineer.
- ˄ ˅ Rho, a cyborg.
- ˄ ˅ Varin, a veteran with failing implants.
Inventory
To be determined.
XP
- Every time you roll a Desperate action, mark XP in that Action’s attribute.
At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 XP (in your playbook or an attribute), or 2 XP if that item occurred multiple times.
- You addressed a challenge using your cybernetic augmentations or technical skill.
- You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background.
- You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session.