Cyberpsychosis
The main innovation of the 21st century is cybernetics. It's very convenient to acquire skills without learning them, to make a phone call via an implant or to look at things under a microscope without a microscope. It is also useful for combat : drawing faster, shooting with more precision, taking phenomenal blows without flinching, these are the miracles of the science of the future...
However, many individuals from the street feel reassured by the presence of implants in their bodies. And some sacrifice flesh for the sake of metal. At some point, it breaks down, and at that level, it's going very badly.
This disease begins with crises that are triggered in situations of intense stress, during a fight for example. The individual then completely loses contact with reality, and gives in to paranoia, panic fear or crises of unheard-of violence. If the individual does not follow any therapy and does not have the superfluous prostheses removed, the frequency and duration of these attacks will increase. Eventually, the person will lock himself up in a state of psychosis and confinement, braindance or death will be the only possible outcomes.
In case of intense stress situation, a fight, serious failure situation, shame, fear or other, the characters throw 1D3 below their Empathy score.
Those who succeed keep their control, with no scrambles. This rule allows characters with little or no cybernetics to never fail their throws.
Those who fail their jets will suffer a full-blown cyberpsychosis attack for 1D20-empathy score turns. During this time, the player will return their character sheet that the Game Master will manage.
He will roll 1D10 according to the following table to see how the character reacts :
1-2 Paranoia : the character will be suspicious of anyone around him. He will be sure that even those close to him are plotting against him. Every gesture on their part will trigger all suspicions. If someone pretends to stay near the door, the character will believe that it is to ambush them. But when someone is looking for his cell phone in the inside pocket of his jacket, there for sure, the character will shoot first, believing that he is looking for a weapon to kill him.
3-4 Loss of contact with humanity : the character considers himself as an animal, he will behave like a cat, meowing, walking on all fours, rubbing against his master. Then he will change his nature, becoming in turn a bird, a dog or a snake. These behaviors seem harmless, but will surely cause harm to the player. He will try to fly out the window if he thinks he is a bird, will want to "tease" all the females if he is a dog, etc.
5-6 Blind hatred of humanity : the character considers all humans as cockroaches that must be gotten rid of. Since insecticide is used, he will use all the means at his disposal to exterminate humans. Beginning obviously with the most radical means (explosives and the heaviest weapons). Metal is better than meat !
7-8 Paralysis : the character will be paralyzed with terror by the sight of an object. It can be anything, like a broom, a glass of beer or anything else. The character will be so terrified that he will be paralyzed, doing nothing but moaning, crying, shaking and pissing himself.
9-0 Lives in an imaginary world : the character thinks he is in a fiction or cartoon from his childhood. At the GM's discretion, he will think he is a Teletubbies, a Pokémon, the beast of Gévaudan or Darth Vader. He will behave as if he were the character. Thus, in the last example, he will think he is the father of his enemy, will drive his car like a TIE Interceptor or will try (in vain, of course) to choke his opponent with the dark side of the Force... It can be very funny, but often, the opposing gangs don't like to be spoken to with an asthmatic voice waving a red broom under their nose.
The character suffering from one of these psychoses will have a 15% risk per attack (cumulative) + 20% in case of violence, of being sought by the police.
If he is arrested, any cybernetics not necessary for his survival will be removed and he will be put in therapy for long weeks.
In case of recidivism, resistance during the arrest or massacres provoked by his crises, the case is then entrusted to the Borg Squad. The means of this section are practically unlimited and its methods are very expeditious.
Extended rules
These rules expand on the rules given for Humanity Loss and the effect on Empathy thereof (for every 10 full points of Humanity Loss collected from cybernetics or drug use, the character loses 1 point of Empathy until the character's Empathy is reduced to Zero and complete cyberpsychosis sets in). In addition to standard Humanity Loss the character must also record what kind of humanity loss it represents. In our current system we have four kinds of Humanity Loss (the same four as from Grimm's CyberTales), Alienation, Egotism, Obsession and Paranoia.
Starting Characters start with a predetermined amount of points divided as they please between the four types of Humanity Loss. This amount is calculated as (10 - EMP) x 5 (remember not to apply this HL against their Humanity, it exists to represent their slight separation from the rest of humanity).
| EMP | HL |
| 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 |
Different types of cybernetics cause different types of humanity loss. In some cases cyberware may cause Humanity Loss from more than one category, in these cases the player divides the Humanity Loss between the categories based on the character's personality. Since these psychoses can become dominant parts of a character's persona, having a high Alienation will make other Humanity Loss more often be Alienation too, and so on...
| FashionWare NeuralWare CyberOptics CyberAudio Implants CyberLimbs BioWare Linear Frames CyberWeapons Body Plating |
Alienation, Obsession Alienation, Obsession, Paranoia, Egotism Paranoia, Alienation, Obsession Paranoia, Alienation, Obsession Paranoia, Alienation, Obsession, Egotism Egotism, Obsession Egotism Egotism, Alienation, Obsession Egotism, Obsession Egotism, Paranoia |
The Effects of Humanity Loss
There are four types of humanity loss, the character's current total in any one type of HL describes how their seperation from humanity is affecting them.
Alienation
0 - 5 points : Normal
The character shows no effect of his alienation.
6 - 15 points : Distant
The character is a little distant, but no more than is common in the Cyberpunk world.
16 - 25 points : Absent
The character's memory of existance prior to his augmentation or drug use is easily forgotten. The character is unlikely to notice things that seem unimportant to his current main focus (-2 on memory checks and rolls to notice clues and things he is not looking for).
26 - 35 points : Eccentric
The character develops a quirk or quirks that seperate him from "other" people. He is drawing himself away from society and has built up a wall of defense that includes this eccentricity to mark his change. Quite often he will no longer refer to his life prior to his augmentation after this point (if he hasn't repressed all memories thereof already).
36 - 45 points : Delusions
The character gains a firmly-held false belief about the world or himself. Examples include thinking many of his actions are controlled by the cyberware, that he can pick up top secret transmissions on his wearman, that he can see people's auras with his cyberoptics, etc.
46 - 55 points : Hallucinations
The character begins seeing things that aren't there, or that the character thinks should be there. Hallucinations last D6 turns and are usually triggered by stress, and require a successful save vs COOL to avoid in nasty situations. By now the character has probably created an entirely new history for himself prior to his implantations.
56+ points : Schizophrenic
At this point the character has his own reality. The character must make an INT check at -2 to do anything constructive. If the roll is failed by 4 or more, the character does something destructive.
Egotism
0 - 5 points : Normal
The character shows no effect of his egotism.
6 - 15 points : Arrogant
The character is a little arrogant, but no more than is common amongst the self-centred dreggs of humanity.
16 - 25 points : Stubborn
The character is more self-involved and stubborn. The character usually thinks he is smarter and / or stronger than the others, and his ideas are better. A routine Leadership or Persuasion roll will get the character in line usually.
26 - 35 points : Conceited
The character's stubborness takes a new turn and the character begins thinking and acting as if he is in fact better than others. The character will make sure that his efforts are rewarded, and may take skills to improve his appearance or reputation.
36 - 45 points : Egocentric
The character views things only as they relate to himself. Others' needs and desires are neglected for his own desires. An average Leadership or Persuasion roll will be required to convince the character that another plan is in their best interest.
46 - 55 points : Narcissistic
The character becomes obsessed with his own appearance, skills, comfort and/or reputation. The character will be hard-pressed (Difficult Leadership or Persuasion) to do anything for other people.
56+ points : Megalomania
The character has delusions of grandeur. As such, everyone else is inferior and can be neglected. The character also seems himself as immortal or at least bullet-proof. The character will ignore risks, seeing himself as impervious to danger.
Obsession
0 - 5 points : Normal
The character shows no effect of his obsessions.
6 - 15 points : Happy
The character is pleased with his cybernetics or drugs, and likes to play with them, but without interfering in his normal life.
16 - 25 points : Distracted
The character likes to play with his cybernetics or drugs, using them whenever free time presents itself. Unless the character is concentrating, he receives a -1 on all rolls (usually applicable when things get boring or people start talking about other stuff).
26 - 35 points : Compulsive
The character compulsively plays with the cybernetics or drugs, using them whenever possible. Others will find this irritating as he is constantly showing off or tripping out.
36 - 45 points : Addict
The character has to play with the cybernetics or drugs. It starts taking over his life, and acts as a serious distraction (as Distracted, but a -2 penalty). The character's COOL drops by 1 for every 6 hours not allowed to play with the cybernetic or using drugs.
46 - 55 points : Obsessive
The character does play with the cybernetics or drugs, playing with them all the time. This interferes in social activities (-2 on most social rolls) and will probably ostracize the character from scenes that do not like the same drugs or cyberware as the character. COOL drops by 1 for every 3 hours not allowed to play with the cyberware or drugs.
56+ points : Monomania
The character must play with the cybernetics or drugs all the time. This is a serious distraction, with a penalty of -3 applied to all actions not directly related to the cyberware or drugs. The character's COOL drops by 1 point every hour he goes without. The character is essentially a vegetable, 100% addicted and dedicating his entire life to the addiction.
Paranoia
0 - 5 points : Normal
The character shows no effect of his paranoia.
6 - 15 points : Nervous
The character is a little nervous, but this is healthy in the Cyberpunk world.
16 - 25 points : Edgy
The character is a little more nervous than the average person, seeing things, shapes, stalkers, etc. The character has a -2 penatly on fright checks.
26 - 35 points : Hypochondria
The character now is always afraid that he is getting sick or being ambushed or some such. The character feels the symptoms of various diseases, spots ambushes and so on.
36 - 45 points : Phobia
The character now develops a severe phobia...
46 - 55 points : Paranoid
The character begins to think that people are out to get him, that he is the target of some conspiracy. Any time a character does something selfless towards this character, he must make a successful COOL-2 check or learn to hate that character, as he is obviously part of the conspiracy. The character gets a -4 penalty on all Fright checks and the character's effective COOL decreases by 1.
56+ points : Homocidal
Fearing that people are secretly plotting against him, the takes things into his own hands and begins to hunt them down.
Phobia table
| Roll | Phobia |
| 01-02 | Acrophobia - Heigts |
| 03-04 | Agoraphobia - Open Spaces * |
| 05-06 | Ailurophobia - Felines |
| 07-08 | Agliophobia - Pain |
| 09-10 | Andro/gynophobia - Gender |
| 11-12 | Arachnophobia - Spiders |
| 13-14 | Astraphobia - Thunder |
| 15-16 | Autophobia - Solitude |
| 17-18 | Bacteriophobia - Bacteria |
| 19-21 | Claustrophobia - Enclosed places |
| 22-23 | Cyberphobia - Computers, cybernetics |
| 24-25 | Cynophobia - Canines |
| 26-28 | Demophobia - Crowds |
| 29-30 | Electrophobia - Electricity |
| 31-32 | Entomophobia - Insects |
| 33-34 | Equiphobia - Horses |
| 35-37 | Anthophobia - Flowers |
| 38-40 | Haemophobia - Blood |
| 41-42 | Heliophobia - Sun |
| 43-47 | Haphephobia - Bodily contact |
| 48-49 | Hydrophobia - Water |
| 50-51 | Selenophobia - Moon |
| 52-54 | Hoplophobia - Firearms |
| 55-58 | Musophobia - Mice, rodents |
| 59-65 | Neophobia - New ideas, ways |
| 66-70 | Ophidiophobia - Reptiles, snakes |
| 71-73 | Patriphobia - Authority |
| 74 | Phonophobia - Noise |
| 75-76 | Photophobia - Light |
| 77-79 | Pyrophobia - Fire |
| 80-81 | Rupophobia - Dirt, filth |
| 82-83 | Scotophobia - Darkness |
| 84-86 | Technophobia - Technology ** |
| 87-88 | Teratophobia - Monsters |
| 89-90 | Thalassophobia - Open seas |
| 91-93 | Thanatophobia - Death |
| 94 | Theophobia - God |
| 95-96 | Toxicophobia - Being poisoned |
| 97-98 | Xenophobia - Strangers, unknow |
| 99-00 | Zoophobia - Animals |
* Not to be confused with the severe agoraphobia of the Over the Edge table.
** GM must determine which type of technology.
