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Cybertech.. How do you handle it in CT?

I had some cybertech IMTU, but my players never liked weapons implants. I never really saw the point either, besides possibly being interesting reading.

If all your player wants is armor and to be faster, why not just get some nanotech work done? Gene-matched designer glands that secrete Combat drug and Slow? Maybe getting some kind of sub-dermal weave of whatever that'll turn a knife blade or reinforce the bones/joints and skull? Just charge lots of credits.
 
I had some cybertech IMTU, but my players never liked weapons implants. I never really saw the point either, besides possibly being interesting reading.

If all your player wants is armor and to be faster, why not just get some nanotech work done? Gene-matched designer glands that secrete Combat drug and Slow? Maybe getting some kind of sub-dermal weave of whatever that'll turn a knife blade or reinforce the bones/joints and skull? Just charge lots of credits.
 
Well, concerning law levels and cybertech, my take is a bit different.

You see, the main reason where I can see cyber be put in the works would be for military personel that requires to be put back in action quickly. Regrow lost limbs take time as, well, we can put that cyberarm instead, which costs a little more, is stronger than flesh, and faster to adapt to than the time it takes to grow a replacement arm to specs.

So, I allow my players to take cybernetics during prior history, if they get wounded and if only they want it.

Afterward, it is quite naturally sorted off, if you don't want any hassle, you wear your uniform, or your medals, and police forces know you are an imperial vet who was wounded in the field.

So, yes they will watch out for you, as you are touble on legs, but they wont harrass you as you were on the right side of the law.

It is clear to my players, that cybernetics is frowned upon by everyone. Incurring negative reaction modifiers from normal people as, obviously, either you are a weirdo or you are a veteran. In both cases, they are afraid.

Unobtrusive cybernetics like cyberjacks are really rare and terribly illegal. Even the special force remove them from their guy when they leave active duty.

Bio engineered modifications are TL 16+ nobody does it.

Biotech as in cybergames, are also too high a TL to be easily found. Even less in the hands of criminals.

So all in all I got one player with a top grade cyberarm, veteran of police action who got wounded in the field, and is the security officer of the starship my players travel with.

When they get planetside, either he stays on-board or he goes out in uniform, to say "hey look I am a vet don't try it with me"

So far it has worked fine.

The thing is to pick your players and kill the characters if they dont play square.


Hope it helps,
Francois
 
Well, concerning law levels and cybertech, my take is a bit different.

You see, the main reason where I can see cyber be put in the works would be for military personel that requires to be put back in action quickly. Regrow lost limbs take time as, well, we can put that cyberarm instead, which costs a little more, is stronger than flesh, and faster to adapt to than the time it takes to grow a replacement arm to specs.

So, I allow my players to take cybernetics during prior history, if they get wounded and if only they want it.

Afterward, it is quite naturally sorted off, if you don't want any hassle, you wear your uniform, or your medals, and police forces know you are an imperial vet who was wounded in the field.

So, yes they will watch out for you, as you are touble on legs, but they wont harrass you as you were on the right side of the law.

It is clear to my players, that cybernetics is frowned upon by everyone. Incurring negative reaction modifiers from normal people as, obviously, either you are a weirdo or you are a veteran. In both cases, they are afraid.

Unobtrusive cybernetics like cyberjacks are really rare and terribly illegal. Even the special force remove them from their guy when they leave active duty.

Bio engineered modifications are TL 16+ nobody does it.

Biotech as in cybergames, are also too high a TL to be easily found. Even less in the hands of criminals.

So all in all I got one player with a top grade cyberarm, veteran of police action who got wounded in the field, and is the security officer of the starship my players travel with.

When they get planetside, either he stays on-board or he goes out in uniform, to say "hey look I am a vet don't try it with me"

So far it has worked fine.

The thing is to pick your players and kill the characters if they dont play square.


Hope it helps,
Francois
 
Since I am one of those heathens that uses ALL SORTS of non-canon (man, that word just makes me gag...) stuff IMTU, I happily embrace cybertech stuff.
But most of my players are in for the direct-interface stuff. They want to improve their piloting skills by jacking directly into the ship. They want to navigate more accurately by meshing with their plotters. They want to increase their gunnery skills by hooking up to their weapons.
I always trot out some thousand-yard stare hardcase that drools out of the corner of his mouth and twitches so violently he spills his beer...after some feedback accident scrambled some part of his lizard-brain. That usually underscores the risks involved.
And as far as hiding guass-rifles up their butts...I've found that a relatively low-tech-level stun-gun can cause ammunition cook-offs in a MOST hideous fashion. Heh.
I also limit most cyber-stuff to planet-locked adventures...since I agree that travelling for heavily modified people would be severely problematic at best.
Low-level cyber modifications I think would be common among a certain class of people - but heavily frowned-upon my most. But since my players (and their characters) are sub-or-counter-cultural themselves...it makes the game actually a little MORE realistic for them. They react well, when their modified characters are the butts of scanalous glances and whispers - simply because they have more metal in their faces, lips, eyebrows, and eardrums than Steve Austin had in his entire body.
 
Since I am one of those heathens that uses ALL SORTS of non-canon (man, that word just makes me gag...) stuff IMTU, I happily embrace cybertech stuff.
But most of my players are in for the direct-interface stuff. They want to improve their piloting skills by jacking directly into the ship. They want to navigate more accurately by meshing with their plotters. They want to increase their gunnery skills by hooking up to their weapons.
I always trot out some thousand-yard stare hardcase that drools out of the corner of his mouth and twitches so violently he spills his beer...after some feedback accident scrambled some part of his lizard-brain. That usually underscores the risks involved.
And as far as hiding guass-rifles up their butts...I've found that a relatively low-tech-level stun-gun can cause ammunition cook-offs in a MOST hideous fashion. Heh.
I also limit most cyber-stuff to planet-locked adventures...since I agree that travelling for heavily modified people would be severely problematic at best.
Low-level cyber modifications I think would be common among a certain class of people - but heavily frowned-upon my most. But since my players (and their characters) are sub-or-counter-cultural themselves...it makes the game actually a little MORE realistic for them. They react well, when their modified characters are the butts of scanalous glances and whispers - simply because they have more metal in their faces, lips, eyebrows, and eardrums than Steve Austin had in his entire body.
 
i think the bonouses of some types of cyber & bio where are all ready in traveller (like the 65 year old with str and or dex of 12+)this would be the no or low aug & maintance stuff that they let you keep on mustering out. if the players do still want to go aug (aurgemented) start with the cyberwhere section in FF&S and import stuff from other games useing that as a guide, also Loren K. Wiseman gave a darn good wright-up in GURPS Traveller in the side bar of p.16 of the socal vews of most of the impiriam towards most types of aug-where.
 
i think the bonouses of some types of cyber & bio where are all ready in traveller (like the 65 year old with str and or dex of 12+)this would be the no or low aug & maintance stuff that they let you keep on mustering out. if the players do still want to go aug (aurgemented) start with the cyberwhere section in FF&S and import stuff from other games useing that as a guide, also Loren K. Wiseman gave a darn good wright-up in GURPS Traveller in the side bar of p.16 of the socal vews of most of the impiriam towards most types of aug-where.
 
Originally posted by Jamus:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />FF&S1 (TNE-FF&S) has some limited cybernetics in it. T20 also has some. Core enough?
No its not. CT/MT should have had material about cyberware, its gonna come up in game and should have been released..if nothing else it would have been a few more bucks for MWM from all the die hard traveller fans who would buy the book. I know I would have or will if it is ever released.

I dont really acknowledge TNE or T20
TNE just proves the old saying that if it isnt broke then dont fix it. the problem is alot of players are attached to numbers..they want a list of 50 skills, CT's 3 or 4 are not enough, they want big stats, big damage, big dice rolls...

numbers kill roleplaying..the more numbers involved in a game the more time players will devote to the numbers and meta gaming and the less time they will devote to actually playinng the character as a person instead of a collection of stats.

I use CT rules. no high guard or merc but i do allow CotI careers. even though alot of the T20 stuff looks neat it just doesnt have the Traveller feel i like or am used to.

thanks for the help though guys.
</font>[/QUOTE]I know I probably should refrain from this, and I probably wont change your mind but I'm sorry, you've pushed my button here with this post.
TNE just proves the theory that if it isn't broke then don't fix it. Well should I laugh or cry? Your first post was essentially

"Help, my player's want something my gaming system doesn't deliver. It's broken help me fix it."
So some kind soul seggests that TNE has all this stuff and maybe you could gain inspiration from it, and your reply is "no thanks I don't like it and I don't like the kind of player's that game system attracts" only not that politely IMHO.
I guess I'm just too defensive over "my" game but I see alot of posts on these boards asking, how do I do this?, or how do I make that? etc etc and IMHO it's all in TNE or if it's not FF&S gives you the tools to add it along with a detailed explanation of how, and why it works. Yet allmost everyone seems to bag TNE, go figure.
I guess maybe I just got out of bed on the wrong side today but the irony of your post considering your thread, and the Flame sounding bit after it about numbers vs roleplaying just got to me.

Now I'll try to actually add something to this thread. Though bare with me I'm a TNE GM.

The OTU takes a dimm view on cybernetics from what I've read of it, YTU might be different, we don't know, but given the OTU's view I think you could easily nut out a way to effectively add cybernetics to your game. You merely need to look at what your players are actually asking for, find out what that means with regards to the game mechanics (2d6 rolls and + or - mods) and make it available to them.
The key to it is to NOT munchkin it by balencing the positive effects with negative effects.
Cyberlimbs for example, positive effects might be +1 Strength. Negative effect is when damaged the player not only has to heal he also needs repairs.
Also is it visably different or barely detectable or not detectable? Easily noticed means bad reaction rolls from npcs from allmost all walks of life.Maybe a -1 on all reaction rolls or actually lower that players' Charisma stat. Difficult to detect usually means hideously expensive and I mean both in initial purchase/ installation and damage repairs.
The beauty of CT is that it IS so simple. A little bit of thought about what they want, how it can be made to work given the game mechanics, and how you as a Ref/GM are going to detail it IYTU is all you really need to do.

I hope I've actually been helpfull. I think I've tried without Flaming CT in the process maybe your view will differ.
 
Originally posted by Jamus:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />FF&S1 (TNE-FF&S) has some limited cybernetics in it. T20 also has some. Core enough?
No its not. CT/MT should have had material about cyberware, its gonna come up in game and should have been released..if nothing else it would have been a few more bucks for MWM from all the die hard traveller fans who would buy the book. I know I would have or will if it is ever released.

I dont really acknowledge TNE or T20
TNE just proves the old saying that if it isnt broke then dont fix it. the problem is alot of players are attached to numbers..they want a list of 50 skills, CT's 3 or 4 are not enough, they want big stats, big damage, big dice rolls...

numbers kill roleplaying..the more numbers involved in a game the more time players will devote to the numbers and meta gaming and the less time they will devote to actually playinng the character as a person instead of a collection of stats.

I use CT rules. no high guard or merc but i do allow CotI careers. even though alot of the T20 stuff looks neat it just doesnt have the Traveller feel i like or am used to.

thanks for the help though guys.
</font>[/QUOTE]I know I probably should refrain from this, and I probably wont change your mind but I'm sorry, you've pushed my button here with this post.
TNE just proves the theory that if it isn't broke then don't fix it. Well should I laugh or cry? Your first post was essentially

"Help, my player's want something my gaming system doesn't deliver. It's broken help me fix it."
So some kind soul seggests that TNE has all this stuff and maybe you could gain inspiration from it, and your reply is "no thanks I don't like it and I don't like the kind of player's that game system attracts" only not that politely IMHO.
I guess I'm just too defensive over "my" game but I see alot of posts on these boards asking, how do I do this?, or how do I make that? etc etc and IMHO it's all in TNE or if it's not FF&S gives you the tools to add it along with a detailed explanation of how, and why it works. Yet allmost everyone seems to bag TNE, go figure.
I guess maybe I just got out of bed on the wrong side today but the irony of your post considering your thread, and the Flame sounding bit after it about numbers vs roleplaying just got to me.

Now I'll try to actually add something to this thread. Though bare with me I'm a TNE GM.

The OTU takes a dimm view on cybernetics from what I've read of it, YTU might be different, we don't know, but given the OTU's view I think you could easily nut out a way to effectively add cybernetics to your game. You merely need to look at what your players are actually asking for, find out what that means with regards to the game mechanics (2d6 rolls and + or - mods) and make it available to them.
The key to it is to NOT munchkin it by balencing the positive effects with negative effects.
Cyberlimbs for example, positive effects might be +1 Strength. Negative effect is when damaged the player not only has to heal he also needs repairs.
Also is it visably different or barely detectable or not detectable? Easily noticed means bad reaction rolls from npcs from allmost all walks of life.Maybe a -1 on all reaction rolls or actually lower that players' Charisma stat. Difficult to detect usually means hideously expensive and I mean both in initial purchase/ installation and damage repairs.
The beauty of CT is that it IS so simple. A little bit of thought about what they want, how it can be made to work given the game mechanics, and how you as a Ref/GM are going to detail it IYTU is all you really need to do.

I hope I've actually been helpfull. I think I've tried without Flaming CT in the process maybe your view will differ.
 
Jamus,

I saw this kind of thing handled well by an otherwise inept referee. It's called "plot device". Inadvertently, your player has handed you a campaign on a platter.

Here's my take, and some possibilities.

The referral

Step One is the Referral. He can't just walk in off the street and get augmented. People don't do that. They need a Factor -- a representative of an organization they use to obtain jobs. A guy who can refer cargo to them, missions to run, upgrades they might want, and ways to make or save money. A guy they can trust enough to ask hard questions.

Factor: "Haven't seen you guys in a month. What's up?"
Victim: "I've been thinking about augmentation."
Factor: "Have you?"
Victim: "Yeah, you know, to have an edge."
Factor: "Hm. Well, tell you what. Let me talk to a couple of people first. I will contact you in three weeks. In the meantime, you can do something for me..."

So the Factor contacts his SuSAG factor on XYZ, and they chat. Then, after the players fight off a couple of pirates to deliver 'cargo' (three people in Emergency Low Berths...hmm), they talk again, and the Factor gives them a name, the hospital, and the target world.

Update: The Factor

The factor could be someone they met who helped supply them information in the past (for example) helping them find the snake who nipped their ship. That alone would help them trust the Factor -- and that trust shouldn't be betrayed, by the way. The Factor, like all people, is limited in what he knows and what he can do for the players, but he's a helper, a sometime patron.


Nice place...

Figure one world per sector that has the megacorporate hospital and expertise willing to perform the surgery. And something the players might not know unless they do some research: the megacorporation in charge maintains its own army of slave Augmentats. The hospital is not public, and in fact the people are all rather creepy. Insert a bunch of random augmentats-gone-wrong in the "Long-term care" ward.

Pay the price

Short term costs, that is.

These services are not "for sale", though there are costs and obligations: the agreement will require a few million Cr up front (but for special cases such as yours, we're willing to deal, moo hoo haa haa haaa), and a verified contract requiring a term of service with some corporation ("Rand-Eneri LIC") which, if the players are resourceful enough, may eventually figure out is a subsidiary of SuSAG's Bioweapons division or something.

Defaulting means the builder owns you. Literally.

Augmentation is subtle but not invisible, and is socially stigmatized, resulting in a permanent -4 penalty to one's social standing, with a maximum SOC of 7. You lose noble titles, feifs, family ties, what-have-you.

Please note that Rand-Eneri also secretly runs several corporate repo ships manned by all-Augment crews. You could leak a rumor about Spooks in cloaked ships who kill criminals quickly and painfully. Preface it with a newsfeed about a captain and crew who skipped nearly six months' payments, who were recently found murdered aboard their vessel (grisly details inserted here). You could also give them a tentative sensor ping on a ship of unknown configuration, no transponder, which demonstrated impressive acceleration as it zipped into obscurity. Creepy.

Reap the benefits

Reflex augmentation is a +4 added on top of the player's DEX. Dermal armor is a +2 to the armor rating.

Give him both. He'll need it. Moo hoo haa haa haaa...


Suffer the penalties

The Rand-Eneri Corporation will employ the Augment and his fellow crewmembers at good rates for a term. Duties will be reasonably exciting, and increasingly violent and criminal. Escort duties to anti-"pirate" ops to boarding parties, to minor military actions, to downright burglary and assassination. At some point the players will have had enough; or, at some point, the players will find out that a bounty has been placed on their heads.

Scene: The crew receive a holo-recording of their Factor (holo-recordings are sophisticated simulation-recordings, capable of responding to a limited set of queries).

Factor: "I've got some bad news for you guys."
Crew: "What is it?"
Factor: "There's a MCr10 bounty on your ship, and a MCr1 bounty on each of your heads. I shouldn't even be sending this holo to you; I've had to add security constraints just to keep it from incriminating me."
Crew: "Who did this to us?"
Factor: "It's registered under world FooBar. I don't know anything more about that; I will send myself a note to check further about this."
Crew: "Are we in danger?"
Factor: "I'd say keep away from worlds with a law level of 6 or higher, and high tech worlds. I have a number of shipments that need to go to some worlds that should be safe for you..."

Several weeks and many adventures later

Factor: "You will be surprised to know that it was Sharik Gakuurrik -- a Rand-Eneri factor -- who placed the bounty."


The Spook Network

Your average Spook Repo ship is essentially a System Defense Boat, hopped up to Maneuver-6. These ships are transported between the stars with a small Spook Tender, a big jump carrier that looks like an ordinary 5000t freighter, which just happens to have a hangar that can hold a few of those Spook Repo ships, as well as other Spook ships. The Tender probably has Jump-6 (but probably only carries fuel for half that, relying on drop tanks to make up the difference), but probably Maneuver-1. Megacorporations aren't going to fool around when it comes to small, well-funded, super-secret security ops.

Other loose ends

Gotta have more loose ends lying about for red herrings and future adventure directions.

Having a local Factor as an occasional patron is an excellent way to filter information to players, by the way.

Well, what about those three corpsicles they transported earlier? Not enough people to be slaves, right? Are they captured Augments? Or perhaps Psionics who are being shipped to a testing facility? Or perhaps implanted with a virus, or a parasite (eek!).

And what about the competition? If there's one crew with an Augment under contract, there's bound to be at least one more. Will they make friends, or will Rand-Eneri LIC pit them against each other?

And what about higher-level competition? Perhaps a rival megacorp wants to steal a sample of Rand-Eneri's handiwork -- and dismantle the player-character? If they capture him, how will his friends rescue him?


Oh yes, your player has opened a Pandora's Box of great potential adventures.
 
Jamus,

I saw this kind of thing handled well by an otherwise inept referee. It's called "plot device". Inadvertently, your player has handed you a campaign on a platter.

Here's my take, and some possibilities.

The referral

Step One is the Referral. He can't just walk in off the street and get augmented. People don't do that. They need a Factor -- a representative of an organization they use to obtain jobs. A guy who can refer cargo to them, missions to run, upgrades they might want, and ways to make or save money. A guy they can trust enough to ask hard questions.

Factor: "Haven't seen you guys in a month. What's up?"
Victim: "I've been thinking about augmentation."
Factor: "Have you?"
Victim: "Yeah, you know, to have an edge."
Factor: "Hm. Well, tell you what. Let me talk to a couple of people first. I will contact you in three weeks. In the meantime, you can do something for me..."

So the Factor contacts his SuSAG factor on XYZ, and they chat. Then, after the players fight off a couple of pirates to deliver 'cargo' (three people in Emergency Low Berths...hmm), they talk again, and the Factor gives them a name, the hospital, and the target world.

Update: The Factor

The factor could be someone they met who helped supply them information in the past (for example) helping them find the snake who nipped their ship. That alone would help them trust the Factor -- and that trust shouldn't be betrayed, by the way. The Factor, like all people, is limited in what he knows and what he can do for the players, but he's a helper, a sometime patron.


Nice place...

Figure one world per sector that has the megacorporate hospital and expertise willing to perform the surgery. And something the players might not know unless they do some research: the megacorporation in charge maintains its own army of slave Augmentats. The hospital is not public, and in fact the people are all rather creepy. Insert a bunch of random augmentats-gone-wrong in the "Long-term care" ward.

Pay the price

Short term costs, that is.

These services are not "for sale", though there are costs and obligations: the agreement will require a few million Cr up front (but for special cases such as yours, we're willing to deal, moo hoo haa haa haaa), and a verified contract requiring a term of service with some corporation ("Rand-Eneri LIC") which, if the players are resourceful enough, may eventually figure out is a subsidiary of SuSAG's Bioweapons division or something.

Defaulting means the builder owns you. Literally.

Augmentation is subtle but not invisible, and is socially stigmatized, resulting in a permanent -4 penalty to one's social standing, with a maximum SOC of 7. You lose noble titles, feifs, family ties, what-have-you.

Please note that Rand-Eneri also secretly runs several corporate repo ships manned by all-Augment crews. You could leak a rumor about Spooks in cloaked ships who kill criminals quickly and painfully. Preface it with a newsfeed about a captain and crew who skipped nearly six months' payments, who were recently found murdered aboard their vessel (grisly details inserted here). You could also give them a tentative sensor ping on a ship of unknown configuration, no transponder, which demonstrated impressive acceleration as it zipped into obscurity. Creepy.

Reap the benefits

Reflex augmentation is a +4 added on top of the player's DEX. Dermal armor is a +2 to the armor rating.

Give him both. He'll need it. Moo hoo haa haa haaa...


Suffer the penalties

The Rand-Eneri Corporation will employ the Augment and his fellow crewmembers at good rates for a term. Duties will be reasonably exciting, and increasingly violent and criminal. Escort duties to anti-"pirate" ops to boarding parties, to minor military actions, to downright burglary and assassination. At some point the players will have had enough; or, at some point, the players will find out that a bounty has been placed on their heads.

Scene: The crew receive a holo-recording of their Factor (holo-recordings are sophisticated simulation-recordings, capable of responding to a limited set of queries).

Factor: "I've got some bad news for you guys."
Crew: "What is it?"
Factor: "There's a MCr10 bounty on your ship, and a MCr1 bounty on each of your heads. I shouldn't even be sending this holo to you; I've had to add security constraints just to keep it from incriminating me."
Crew: "Who did this to us?"
Factor: "It's registered under world FooBar. I don't know anything more about that; I will send myself a note to check further about this."
Crew: "Are we in danger?"
Factor: "I'd say keep away from worlds with a law level of 6 or higher, and high tech worlds. I have a number of shipments that need to go to some worlds that should be safe for you..."

Several weeks and many adventures later

Factor: "You will be surprised to know that it was Sharik Gakuurrik -- a Rand-Eneri factor -- who placed the bounty."


The Spook Network

Your average Spook Repo ship is essentially a System Defense Boat, hopped up to Maneuver-6. These ships are transported between the stars with a small Spook Tender, a big jump carrier that looks like an ordinary 5000t freighter, which just happens to have a hangar that can hold a few of those Spook Repo ships, as well as other Spook ships. The Tender probably has Jump-6 (but probably only carries fuel for half that, relying on drop tanks to make up the difference), but probably Maneuver-1. Megacorporations aren't going to fool around when it comes to small, well-funded, super-secret security ops.

Other loose ends

Gotta have more loose ends lying about for red herrings and future adventure directions.

Having a local Factor as an occasional patron is an excellent way to filter information to players, by the way.

Well, what about those three corpsicles they transported earlier? Not enough people to be slaves, right? Are they captured Augments? Or perhaps Psionics who are being shipped to a testing facility? Or perhaps implanted with a virus, or a parasite (eek!).

And what about the competition? If there's one crew with an Augment under contract, there's bound to be at least one more. Will they make friends, or will Rand-Eneri LIC pit them against each other?

And what about higher-level competition? Perhaps a rival megacorp wants to steal a sample of Rand-Eneri's handiwork -- and dismantle the player-character? If they capture him, how will his friends rescue him?


Oh yes, your player has opened a Pandora's Box of great potential adventures.
 
Originally posted by robject:
Augmentation is subtle but not invisible, and is socially stigmatized, resulting in a permanent -4 penalty to one's social standing, with a maximum SOC of 7. You lose noble titles, feifs, family ties, what-have-you.
I think this is going a bit far. If it's not illegal, there would be no reason why noble titles would be lost.

Similarly, having a glass eye and a wooden leg rarely results in your family turning their backs on you.

Other than this, however, your ideas are very interesting. It does seem, however, that you are talking about a very extreme degree of augmentation.
 
Originally posted by robject:
Augmentation is subtle but not invisible, and is socially stigmatized, resulting in a permanent -4 penalty to one's social standing, with a maximum SOC of 7. You lose noble titles, feifs, family ties, what-have-you.
I think this is going a bit far. If it's not illegal, there would be no reason why noble titles would be lost.

Similarly, having a glass eye and a wooden leg rarely results in your family turning their backs on you.

Other than this, however, your ideas are very interesting. It does seem, however, that you are talking about a very extreme degree of augmentation.
 
It probably does go a bit far. But I think augmentation is also going to the furry edge of Traveller, and needs a check. I'd want significant benefits to require significant sacrifices. No munchkins allowed.

Of course, IMTU and all that. I don't write the rulebooks.
 
It probably does go a bit far. But I think augmentation is also going to the furry edge of Traveller, and needs a check. I'd want significant benefits to require significant sacrifices. No munchkins allowed.

Of course, IMTU and all that. I don't write the rulebooks.
 
Alanb in responce to your query on loss of titles although it's not illeagal (in most places) it is seen as scandoulous to have odvouse high Aug(espechily Mill-Spech)-where so if your titles are allredy in question or you have a haddit of erking the higher-ups (and lots of PC's do) it wont be long before all those lovely titles go by-by and most of the nobility are expected to have the cash and conections (if in a low tech part of the impireim) to aquier cloned replacement parts.
 
Alanb in responce to your query on loss of titles although it's not illeagal (in most places) it is seen as scandoulous to have odvouse high Aug(espechily Mill-Spech)-where so if your titles are allredy in question or you have a haddit of erking the higher-ups (and lots of PC's do) it wont be long before all those lovely titles go by-by and most of the nobility are expected to have the cash and conections (if in a low tech part of the impireim) to aquier cloned replacement parts.
 
Originally posted by robject:
... a couple of pirates to deliver 'cargo' (three people in Emergency Low Berths...hmm) ...
Like clockwork, robject has once again delivered some serious goods - thanks for that post! I'm still not done reading it, there's so much there ...

The "cargo" mentioned above reminds me of a recent film, "Dirty Pretty Things", which could be mined for some interesting Traveller-esque characters and scenario ideas.

Re: cybertech, I'm with kafka47. Traveller for me is people-centric, not gear-centric. Frankly, the idea of cybertech/nanotech/dingletech/whatever doesn't interest me - I much prefer the idea of drugs that have game effects.

In fact, if I were to incorporate cybertech into my Traveller game, I'd model it after drugs. Drugs can be: expensive; fraught with dangerous side-effects; difficult to obtain; socially unacceptable or, in certain circumstances, social requirements; provided by criminals (cf robject's post); etc.

So, I guess for me the interesting thing is, how does something fit into society? If cybertech is just another way to buy guns or ammo or sensors, who cares? But if it's a plot device or a character quirk, then that's something I can work with.
 
Originally posted by robject:
... a couple of pirates to deliver 'cargo' (three people in Emergency Low Berths...hmm) ...
Like clockwork, robject has once again delivered some serious goods - thanks for that post! I'm still not done reading it, there's so much there ...

The "cargo" mentioned above reminds me of a recent film, "Dirty Pretty Things", which could be mined for some interesting Traveller-esque characters and scenario ideas.

Re: cybertech, I'm with kafka47. Traveller for me is people-centric, not gear-centric. Frankly, the idea of cybertech/nanotech/dingletech/whatever doesn't interest me - I much prefer the idea of drugs that have game effects.

In fact, if I were to incorporate cybertech into my Traveller game, I'd model it after drugs. Drugs can be: expensive; fraught with dangerous side-effects; difficult to obtain; socially unacceptable or, in certain circumstances, social requirements; provided by criminals (cf robject's post); etc.

So, I guess for me the interesting thing is, how does something fit into society? If cybertech is just another way to buy guns or ammo or sensors, who cares? But if it's a plot device or a character quirk, then that's something I can work with.
 
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