How To Handle a Character With One Cybernetic Limb

[Hardin]

I originally posed this question to Clint in the PEG Official Answers forum, but he redirected me to the group discussion forum instead. As no official answer is forthcoming, I thought I’d post the question here, too.

In original recipe Rifts, it was not uncommon for characters to have a single limb replaced with a cybernetic. If one wanted to replicate this in Savage Rifts, how would it work mechanically? Presumably, the character would take a level of Bionic Strength Augmentation to represent the stronger than normal limb. So far, so good.

In game play, would the character only get the benefit of the increase in Strength die if he uses the augmented limb?

Would the augmented limb be stronger than normal to make up for the fact that there’s only one of them? Two die types instead of one, for example? Or perhaps two types of Cybernetic (strength and armor plating on the arm)?

[Ndreare]

I hate it when he does that.

I would let the other arm have Armor and Strength, but say it is limited and only cost half the strain (rounded up)

[Pender Lumkiss]

So heres the thing. Trappings matter in this game a great deal, and you only really need to "pay" for something that has an ingame benefit.

Using the cybernetic example: say I have a leyline walker. I want him to have both arms replaced by synthetic bio cybernetic replacements. They function completly like regular arms, and I spend 1 attribute point on str to reflect them being stronger than normal. No need to have strain factor into the discussion.

Same senerio but I want to pick up the rich edge and roll twice on the cybernetic tables: you better beleive you need to keep in mind cost of strain and how strain effects spell casting.

Or say in the above discussion the walker had saved enough credits to by a cybernetic arm with bionic str boost. You would factor in strain as normal.

I hope this helps.

[Radecliffe]

I originally posed this question to Clint in the PEG Official Answers forum, but he redirected me to the group discussion forum instead. As no official answer is forthcoming, I thought I’d post the question here, too.

In original recipe Rifts, it was not uncommon for characters to have a single limb replaced with a cybernetic. If one wanted to replicate this in Savage Rifts, how would it work mechanically? Presumably, the character would take a level of Bionic Strength Augmentation to represent the stronger than normal limb. So far, so good.

In game play, would the character only get the benefit of the increase in Strength die if he uses the augmented limb?

Would the augmented limb be stronger than normal to make up for the fact that there’s only one of them? Two die types instead of one, for example? Or perhaps two types of Cybernetic (strength and armor plating on the arm)?

I would just treat this in narrative rather than try to complicate things with special mechanics. The character has augmented strength but whenever it comes into play it should be considered that it is his dominate hand doing most of the work. The same for armor. Most of the time armor is armor. The only situation where the armor's location is important is called shots. In my opinion giving a double bonus in either options is a bad idea unless you want to balance it with negative for the normal arm. That's my two cents anyway. I think a good example of this is Will Smith's character in I, Robot.

[Tribe of One]

Mechanically, I wouldn't worry about differentiating. Either the one arm is strong/fast enough to grant an over boost (ie. a level of cybernetic strength or agility) or not. Assume the user has learned to take full advantage of it (favoring that arm in combat, blocking blows with the metal parts, etc.) and use it as flavor when describing successes and failures.

[High Command]

Yeah, this is just trappings: "I had one arm until I had a bionic arm installed. It's technically stronger than my normal body, but I'm slowly learning to use that to my advantage and the rest of me is catching up."