SPIRIT an AUGMENTATIONS notes -

I am working on a big change to Spirit point costs and Augmentations - It has become pretty apparent augmentations an implants cost way too much in regards to spirit points. for the moment... if you using or getting either, consider all spirit costs to be HALF - what is listed in the book currently. I will be putting into place a different system for implants and augmentations soon. But i gotta work out some bugs in it.

RULES UPDATE These are the new rules in effect for Augmentations and Implants - AUGMENTATION TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTIONS and RULES pg68 BODY AUGMENTATIONS -- Pro’s and Con’s of Augmentations - Augmentations can be extremely helpful to a individual. Basic augmentations can replace lost limbs or organs, while cybernetic and Bio-Augmentations can push an individual beyond their physical natural organic limits of strength, speed or reaction time. Genetic Manipulation and Akronite Infusion augmentations can modify and increase ones mental and intellectual abilities. There is a price to pay however. An individuals Spirit or the Strength of a characters life-force can only take so much manipulation. Over indulging in Augmentations breaks a persons psyche and they become nothing more than a mindless inhuman thing suffering severe physical and mental distress. They respond only to primal urges to inflict pain an suffering on other organic beings. Medical professionals refer to this as” Violent Disorder Syndrom”, or “Void Syndrome”. While the inhabitants of the Singularity universe refer to people that have fallen into this state as “Voids” or “The Void”, Spacer slang commonly uses the acronym “VDS” for those who’s spirits succumb to the mental disorder. Individuals lost to the insanity of VDS are destined to wander the Void of empty space until their horrific end. Spacers occasionally come across Void raiders or individuals who are nothing more than mindless butchers and villains. Horror stories abound of nightmarish Void encounters. Heavily augmented individuals are also the target of many Anti-modification cults and religions. Or simply receive a great amount of scorn and hate from non-augmented individuals who both fear the augmented, as well as view them quite jealously for their more than human abilities. NEURAL OVERLOAD STRESS CHECKS and SUCCUMBING TO VDS OR VOID SYNDROME DUE TO EXCESSIVE AUGMENTATION ABUSE NEURAL OVERLOAD STRESS CHECK GM DISCRETION- Characters with a abundance of Augmentation and Implants can suffer from painful Neural Overload Stress. When under severe mental duress or mental fatigue, intense combat, and similar high tension situations players may be required to make a Augmentation Rating + Spirit Check. Target Number 6. **Success represents no issues and the character may function as normal. **Failure means the characters neural system suffers a painful bio-feedback shock. The character first rolls 2d6. This represents the duration for the Neural Overload Shutdown. The character then rolls 1d6. Result 1-4 equals minutes (or combat turns). Result 5-6 equals hours of painful unconscious incapacitation. **On a Botch roll, the character suffers from the worse case scenario… they get struck with a severe case of Neural Overload Shock and fall into VDS or VOID Syndrome. Players lose control of the character and the GM Takes over the character temporarily, as the character lashes out in pain at both friend and foe, becoming a murdering, emotionless psycho. ** Incapacitation and prompt medical attention including the administration of mental and neural suppressants may stop the Neural Overload Stress. Or else the character goes on a psychotic spree of violence until they duration of the attack ends. **NOTE - Zeniri do not suffer from Neural Overload Stress due to their natural ability to sync with implants and augmentations that they receive. VDS or VOID SYNDROME SYMPTOM CHECK GM DISCRETION- All characters with Implants and Augmentations must make a symptom check to see if they succumb to VDS or VOID syndrome. Heavily augmented or implanted characters should be required to take a symptom check every set of days equal to their (Augmenaton Rating+ Spirit + Willpower) VDS symptom check equals AUGMENTATION RATING + SPIRIT ATTRIBUTE vs 6+ target number. ** NOTE - Zeniri while extremely resistant to VDS and Neural Overload Stress still may fall victim to VDS or VOID SYNDROME. Zeniri duration for making a VDS symptom check is 4x longer than normal rules. Zeniri take a symptom check every set of days equal to their (Augmenaton Rating+ Spirit + Willpower) x4 VOID SYNDROME FINAL SAVE - DEATH SAVE ** Characters overwhelmed by VDS may make 1 final saving throw to come back to reality. SPIRIT RATING - Target Number 5+ Success equals returning to sanity. Characters must at this time undergo medical treatment and surgery to remove all possible augmentations or implants. Or be prepare to slip into the VOID and be lost forever to its darkness. As a serous threat to others as well as themselves most law enforcement or medical agencies will take required actions to ensure this procedure occurs. There is a new "Calculated Attribute" - AUGMENTATION RATING. Augmentation Rating reflects how much or how little implants and body augmentations a character has. All characters and factions have an Augmentation Rating of 10 points. Implants and Augmentations old (spirit costs) are subtracted from a characters Augmentation Rating now. NOT SPIRIT. Spirit now more directly affects Healing, and Recovery of Health. As well as a few other issues. Augmentation Rating + Spirit directly affect DEATH SAVES and UNCONSCIOUS STATES in regards to healing and recovery. The lower your ratings the less chance you will have of surviving Death or coming out of unconsciousness , or in other words its easier for you to slip into death once incapacitated from injuries. The rulebook will be a little goofy until i make all the SPIRIT x AugRating adjustment notes. So just a little heads up for the moment.

Will the races that start with implants not have their cost subtracted from the augmentation rating?

Jim - it will be subtracted from the Aug Rating i think. Basically since there are more points now, an its not off the low spirit rating number. But I am going to make some kinda of adjustment for the free starting implants or something. I have to think about it still. I knew this change would have a big ripple effect for a lot of other things. It might also affect morblins also, since their mutations should not stack with other augmentations i think? Or something of the like. Not sure about that yet. Beast traits are not implants, but the potential to stack them plus implants? not sure. Do you think there is an issue with the free starting points or implants? Just wondering. Hopefully all these new changes an things are not discouraging... i know folks just like, made new chars an Ive been slapping down new rules at the same time. But, with the holiday I have some nice time off to really work on the game, so there will be a lot of modification or adds and things to the rule book / game book as I work on new content, or make things more in depth. I think several of you have pointed there are many things with a very 'general' and 'wide' rule or specification. Vehicles being one for example. Not really many descriptions or anything. An stuff like the fact I totally seemed to miss adding any fun Evanrill (or morblin) specific weapons is another. Though both use basic tech, or lower. A note on something I am working on is Vehicles , Exo suits, or power suits and some of the different types or classes of starships. There may be more power suit definition, and a few cross breed adds or tests for automatons and bigger mecha suits, things that function more like small vehicles. There needs to be a little more definition to starships and capital size ships, or bigger things also. The definition between character equipment, vehicles, and starships - i have also begun to outline more. ( lots of new notes in the vehicles an starship sections soon) Things such as no missiles or rockets?? I think that was maybe an oversight. Or is "heavy weapons?" Well, Buster weapons are kinda that... Its all for more fun play ^__^ So I hope everyone continues to enjoy the game work in progress. But I keep working with the goal to keep things simple, I think the game is solid at the moment, I like the new changes to Factions to make races more unique or special. I am trying to NOT add tons new rules or b.s.... but I think a little more specialization or more definition to some aspects of the game are needed.

All I meant is that Evanrill will start with -3 augmentation rating and Gothica -2 off the top of my head. Also I made a character which bought an extra implant so I would be at -4 unless adding extra ratings to implants adds to that number then I'd be at -6 so I'd have 4 plus my 2 spirit for the rolls. Kind of a question relating to how I made my character. And yes I thought the no rockets and missiles seemed off since you had some kind of rocket pack I think for flying that you could buy.