Contrary to the predictions made in popular culture, the art of fusing mechanical and electronic devices with human flesh and bone never proved to be extremely popular. While it certainly had its applications and proponents (particularly amongst androids), most people felt that biotechnology was faster, safer, and easier to use. In many cases, linking meat to metal simply failed to produce satisfactory results. Furthermore, from a psychological viewpoint, many users found the idea of complex inanimate objects lodged in their bodies disturbing.
One of the reasons that cybertechnology persists is because it is relatively durable and robust. A set of cyber eyes left in storage after the Crash will likely still be functional if found by the characters. In contrast, biotech implants would have died and rotted centuries ago. Regardless of its toll on the human body and psyche, cyberware (whenever available in the campaign) is almost guaranteed to lure players with its dark promise of superhuman capability.
Cyberware comes in three different ratings of increasing power and increasing "invasiveness" to the recipient body: Minor, Medium, and Major. The higher the rating, the more useful the cyberware - but the more difficult the surgery, the more traumatic the replacement, and the longer the recovery and acclimation period for the patient:
The total sum of all cyberware ratings must not exceed the Massive Damage Threshold of the character. You can only stick so much cyber onto the human body. (Creatures without a Constitution score are not really alive, and effectively have no limit on the amount of cyberware they can implant.)
The invasive nature of cyberware has psychological effects as well. To represent this, for every two cyberware rating points installed, the recipient suffers a -1 penalty to all Charisma-related skill checks. As more and more of the body is carved away and replaced with circuitry and cold steel, the recipient loses more and more of his connection with his fellow man and starts thinking like a machine. Eventually, this can lead to a state of cyber-psychosis.
Before the Crash, extensive medical facilities were available that enabled safe and reliable cyber-surgery with few risks or side effects. In the world of Ground Zero, however, things are a little bit more difficult. Though cybernetic body chop-shops are available in some areas, the risks are much greater.
Adding cyberware requires surgery. Cyber-surgery is based on the Treat Injury skill and requires the Surgery talent:
The modifier for all checks is the sum rating of all cyberware in the recipient's body, plus the rating of the new cyber. If you already have 12 rating points of cyber in you, and you go to add another rating-1 cyber, the DC modifier is +13. Minor surgery, but still DC 28.
Performing cyber-surgery on characters with the Medical Incompatibility trait is even more difficult; increase all DCs by 5, and the risks of rejection are higher. Conversely, adding cyber to androids is easier; all DCs are decreased by 5, and androids adapt much more easily to their enhacements.
A character who undergoes cyber-surgery must succeed a Death From Massive Damage save immediately on completion of the surgery. The DC for this save is 10 + the total rating of all cyberware in the body, or 15 + the total rating for characters with Medical Incompatibility. Androids automatically succeed this check.
If the check succeeds, the body accepts the cyberware. The character must spend time in recovery and therapy: 1d4 days for minor cyberware, 1d4 weeks for medium cyberware, and 1d4 months for major cyberware. A healer can provide long-term care (Treat Injury DC 15) to reduce the recovery time by half (though never less than one day).
If the check fails, the recipient's body rejects the cyberware; the recipient immediately drops to 0 hp and begins dying. (The surgeon will have to act quickly to save the patient.) Mutants must also roll on the Medical Incompatibility Table for further side-effects. If he survives, the character must then spend significant time recovering: 2d6 days for minor cyberware, 2d6 weeks for medium cyberware, and 2d6 months for major cyberware. (Again, a skilled healer can reduce this time by half.) Needless to say, the cybernetic implant does not function.
At the end of the recipient's recovery period, he must make a Charisma check against DC 5. Androids automatically succeed this check. Remember that the cumulative effects of cyberware impose a penalty on all Charisma-based checks, and this check is no exception.
If the check succeeds, the recipient is mentally acclimated to the cyberware. He suffers a penalty on all Charisma-based checks as normal for cyberware, but there are no further dangerous effects.
If the check fails, all results are more severe. In addition to the regular penalties, the recipient permanently loses 1 Charisma for every rating point of cyber in his body. If this reduces the recipient's Charisma to 0 or less, he withdraws into a catatonic state of cyber-coma; or, at the GM's discretion, he succumbs to cyber-psychosis and begins a violent spree of death and destruction.
Regaining lost Charisma requires the removal of the latest piece(s) of cyberware. Removing cyberware requires surgery (DC 20 + the item's cyber rating) and 1 week of recovery per point of cyber removed. The recipient regains lost Charisma at a rate of 1 per week.
Rescuing a recipient from cyber-coma or cyber-psychosis requires the removal of all cyberware from the body (DC 20 + total cyber rating). Once the character rises above 0 Charisma he regains awareness but must still complete his recovery period.
Once the recipient completes the recovery period and regains all lost Charisma, he can, of course, opt to go back under the knife for more wonderful cybertechnology.
As an alternative to the system above, the following talents allow characters to add cyberware without risk of physical or psychological rejection. They also allow starting characters to have cyberware before play begins.
These talents can be selected multiple times. Their effects stack.
It should be noted that all cyberware provides a named bonus (a cyber bonus) and, thus, cyberware does not stack with itself. For example, a character with both a +1 cyber bonus to Strength and a +2 cyber bonus does not receive a total of +3; only the highest cyber bonus applies (in this case +2 Strength). For this reason, characters may from time to time seek to remove a piece of cyberware in order to make room for an upgrade.
Listed below are a number of sample cyberware items:
Adrenal Booster (Medium Cyberware): This cyberware stimulates the adrenal gland at key moments, providing the recipient with improved reaction time and a +4 bonus to Initiative.
Cyber Armour (Medium Cyberware): A weave of nanofiber is layered just beneath the skin, providing a +4 natural armour bonus to the recipient. It takes a skilled surgeon to hide the bunching and puckering of the skin that is often a side-effect of this procedure.
Cyber Eyes (Minor Cyberware): This piece of cyberware provides the recipient with low-light vision. The device can be in any natural eye colour, or in many unnatural colours (such as the trendy "all chrome" look).
Combat Cyber Eyes (Medium Cyberware): A superior version of the standard cyber eyes, this enhacement offers low-light vision, darkvision (60 ft. range), optical magnification (+4 bonus to all vision-related Awareness checks), and targeting crosshairs (granting the enforcer's Far Shot talent). Because of the dizzying amounts of information provided, these eyes must be integrated with a neural net (included in the surgery). In addition, it is impossible to disguise the eerie red glow of these eyes.
Cyber Plating (Major Cyberware): Unlike cyber armour, which at least attempts to disguise the unnatural enhacements, cyber armour pulls no punches. In this cybernetic enhacement, the surgeon grafts armour plates to the outside of the recipient's skin. This enhacement grants the recipient DR 5/-.
Enhanced Immune System (Major Cyberware): The enhacement of the recipient's immune system, including the replacement of his liver and kidneys, greatly improves his ability to filter out dangerous toxins and to recover from injury or illness. The recipient is immune to poison and receives a +6 bonus to all Fortitude saves.
Muscle Augmentation (Variable Cyberware): Layers of electrostatically-stimulated fibers are layered underneath and through the body's existing musculature. As augmentation is increased, it becomes necessary to enhance the skeletal system as well, to ensure that the bone structure can suppor the increased lifting capacity. Minor muscle augmentation grants +1 Strength, Medium muscle augmentation grants +2 Strength, while Major muscle augmentation grants +4 Strength.
Skilldex (Minor Cyberware): A microcomputer is added to the cerebral cortex, allowing the recipient access to preprogrammed skills and motor resoponses. The user gains a +3 cyber bonus to a skill of choice, or a +2 cyber bonus to two specific related skills.
You may note that many cybertech items mimic the effects of minor, medium, and major mutations. Over time, the GM may add new cyberware with different capabilities. Like new mutations, the design of new cyberware is the exclusive purview of the GM.