This is a databank of skill software. Whenever you try to use a skill you are untrained in, the Skill Bank cuts in and aids you, giving you a default skill value of 10 in skills you do not have. This lets you perform the skilled-only applications of skills you do not have.
A Skill Bank is great for learning how to use new and unfamiliar gear or adapt to new situations. If you have a Skill Bank with the appropriate software, you can instantly master new languages or unfamiliar applications of skills you already have, thus negating the first time penalties for skills.
The Skill Bank cannot enhance physical skills, such as Guns or Martial Arts or the physical aspects of Intrusion. Skill Wires can make up for this. Nor can it help mystic Skills, such as Shaping, Sorcery, or Powers. You cannot use Races or Fu schticks with skills provided by the Skill Bank. If the genre allows full integration of magic and technology, this can be overcome by Chi Wires, but this is unusual - check with your GM is this is allowed in your setting.
Taking several schticks in Skill Bank increases your effective skill value, giving a +1 bonus to your attribute defaults per two schtick picks (+1 at two picks, +2 at four picks, +3 at 6 picks and +4 at eight picks).
Cyberware that can be taken several times become slightly more bulky for each pick you take. As you load up on metal, you become more inhuman, and at very high levels deployed cyberware will change your basic form. Eight picks is the usual maximum for cyberware.
| Picks | Signature when turned on | Signature when turned off |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slick | Slick |
| 2 | Visible to sensors | Slick |
| 3-4 | Visible at close range | Visible to sensors |
| 5-6 | Visible at range | Visible at close range |
| 7-8 | Visible at range | Visible at range |
Skin Graft helps you to conceal your cyberware visually, while Mask helps you disguise its sensor signature.