Discount Cyber Shop for Cyberpunk 2020

OCELOT’S DISCOUNT CYBER SHOP, v 1.0
Author: Gary Astleford, first posted to Mockery’s Cyberpunk 2020 Page

[This article deals with older/defect cyberware, which is on the other hand cheaper. Great for a gutterpunk / losers game or Characters short on money.]

Hey there, chombatta. Come on in, take a look around. I know, you’re used to the top-of-the-line, the creme de la creme, the chillest tech and the hottest cyb. That’s not what I deal in, though. That’s not my biz. I can give you what you want for as cheap as you want it, though it ain’t gonna run as good as the stuff you could get in that on-the-mall clinic. Then again, if you had the money for that place, you wouldn’t be here, would ya..?

ON DISCOUNT CYBERWARE

Cyberware’s expensive stuff, and if you want the Edge, you gotta be chipped in, wired up, and turned on. You think the world’s gonna stop just ’cause you can’t afford that orbital crystal cyberarm? I sell stuff made in third world nations by companies that no longer exist. Some of it’s military surplus. The rest of the stuff here got recalled a few years ago due to defects. Sure, none of the defects are TOO bad. Nothing you can’t live with. So what do you say?

[Mockery’s Note: Unless otherwise noted, HC for these implants is the same as for normal ones.]

DEFECTIVE BIOWARE

MUSCLE & BONE WIRE – I call this stuff “wire” instead of “lace.” Like, you use lace on panties, but you use wire when you wanna string someone up in a tree. Get it? Anyway, it’s your standard nanoid treatment, ‘cept these little bastards get a mite too busy. They wrap up your bones and muscles just like normal, but it kinda stiffens you up. From what I hear, it makes you strong as an ox, but it’s kinda like having wire inserts in your body. Like Gumby. Game Notes: This treatment increases your BODY by +3, but reduces your REFLEX by -2. Cost: 750 euro.

DEFECTIVE CYBERAUDIO

TAIWANESE HEARING MODULE – I got nothing against the Taiwanese, man, but they make BAD implants. I just sell the stuff. This is a basic hearing module. It’s a copy of a Chinese copy of a Russian original. Probably made from stampings, too. Yeach. Anyway, it’s cheap. ‘Cept when they do cut you open and slap this puppy on, you’ll understand why. First off, you’ll notice you can’t hear as well anymore. Not only that, but you get feedback in your head if you walk too close to anything like, say, a walkman headset. Game Notes: All awareness checks involving hearing will be reduced by -2. An auditory boost will partially correct this problem (but what’s the point?). Also, electromagnetics will cause a loud ringing in the ears, resulting in a stun/shock save that, if failed, will leave the fool unable to do anything but hold his ears and moan. Cost: 75 euro.

[Mockery’s Note: In case you were wondering, you can still purchase other hearing options at normal cost (phone splice, radar detector, radio link, digital recorders, etc) which will work normally. It’s just when you try to HEAR things that you have the problem.]

DEFECTIVE CYBERLIMBS

CRUSHER – Hey, you like orange juice? Then, boy, do I have the arm for you. Oh, yeah, man. Runs like a dream, until you try to pick something up or shake someone’s hand. Faulty pressure sensor. See, you grab someone’s hand, say, to shake it. Feels to you like you’re applying normal pressure, but in actuality you’re breaking every bone in his hand. I seen a guy with one of these playfully swat his buddy on the back. Sent the poor schmuck sprawling about ten feet. Game Notes: Anyone with this type of arm attempting a normal action (picking something up, doing detail work on a circuit board or weapon, etc.) must make an average awareness roll. If the roll is failed, any item held by the hand takes normal crushing damage, depending on the strength of the cyberarm (ie, thickened myomar, hydraulic rams, etc). Under stress, the difficulty of the roll is increased to 20 (difficult). Cost: 1500 euro per arm.

LAME – This leg? Oh, yeah. I remember that one. Problem with the design; a flaw in the servo mechanism or something. Makes you look like you got a nail in your shoe. Game Notes: Anyone with this type of cyberleg will have an obvious limp. MA is reduced by -1. Cost: 1600 euro per leg.

NOISY – The cyberlimb is noisy, with loud servos and gears. No amount of Realskinn will be able to muffle the clicks and whirrs that this little baby makes. Other than that, it’s just like a normal limb. You interested? Game Notes: The limb is loud. Stealth rolls are modified by -5. Cost: 2340 euro per arm/1500 euro per leg.

SLOW – Check this one out. Pretty nice, neh? What’s that? Why’s it so cheap? Well…let’s just say this model wasn’t so good in the speed department. Yeah, it’s strong. It’s got full structure ratings. It’s just slow as molasses, and clumsy, too. But heck, what do you want for 750 euro? Game Notes: The limb is slooooooooooooooow. -2 to all rolls involving REF (including initiative). If the limb is a leg, reduce MA by 2 as well. Cost: 750 euro per arm/500 euro per leg.

SOLAR POWERED – I wanna meet the poor dumb idiot who thought this one up. This is your average arm, but it’s SOLAR powered. Sounds like a good idea, but you gotta keep the solar cells uncovered so that sunlight can get to ’em…which means you gotta roll your sleeves up to your shoulders or rip ’em off altogether. Not only that, but when fully charged, the limb’ll only have enough power to keep going for six more hours, and if it runs out altogether you gotta sit in full light for an hour before it charges up enough to start movin’ again. Game Notes: When fully charged and exposed to direct sunlight or bright incandescents, the limb performs flawlessly. However, if removed from light, all damage caused by the arm will be halved. After six hours without light, the arm will go dead, and will take an hour under full light to recharge. If the limb takes more than 10 SDP in damage, assume that the solar cells are destroyed, and the arm’s performance will degrade as detailed above. It has one option space. Options not available include armor coating and Real Skin. Cost: 1000 euro per arm.

DEFECTIVE CYBEROPTICS

FUZZY VISION – These are real old Kiroshi’s. Good quality eyes, too. ‘Cept for the fact that they don’t focus too well. Some of ’em, they got bad distance vision. Some got bad close vision. I try to match ’em up. Boy, wouldn’t it suck if you had one of each? Wouldn’t know if you were coming or going… Game Notes: These eyes are either near- or far-sighted. Depending on the circumstances, any action that requires vision is at -2 as long as the requirments are met (ie, farsighted optics give a -2 mod to close up work like picking locks, repairing electronics, and reading, while nearsighted optics give a -2 mod to anything requiring sight beyond a distance of about fifteen feet. Cost: 175 euro per optic.

[Mockery’s Note: Yup, just like the Hearing Module, you can still buy options like Targeting, Thermo, etc. at normal cost … you just can’t see real far/near with them.]

REDUCED SPACES – My, aren’t those pretty? Reminds me of a cute little Irish girl I knew when I was in the service. She had eyes that color. But I digress. What’s the matter with ’em? Well, you can’t put as many options in ’em as you can with the newer ones. Two options per eye, max. And they’re all that color, too. No, you can’t buy just one. I only sell ’em by the pair. Game Notes: These eyes have only two option slots each, as opposed to the normal four. Cost: 250 euro per optic, 500 euro per pair.

SINGLE FUNCTION – Right after the first optics hit the market, the U.S. Army got a hold of some. Decided to make them “Function Dedicated” or some such. You gotta realize this is before eyes were customizable, so you can’t blame the boys in green for tryin’. They come in two flavors – Infrared and Low Lite, take yer pick. They’re REALLY cheap. Game Notes: These eyes replace normal vision with either IR or Low Lite. Normal light will not be perceived. HC : 1D6 per eye. Cost: 100 euro per optic.

STICKY CYBEREYES – What do I mean by “sticky”? Well, these eyes, they’re like normal ones ‘cept they tend to “stick” when you attempt to change to a different visual option. So, like, if you equip one with thermograph, it might not change to or from that option when you want it to. Just annoying, really. Game Notes: These are normal optics. Each time switching to a new option is desired, roll 1D10 (per eye). On a roll of 1-2, the currently chosen option “sticks,” and will not change. One attempt can be made per turn. Cost: 400 euro per optic.

DEFECTIVE CYBERWEAPONS

MOODY WOLVERS – I don’t know what it is about these. Army made a ton of them before they caught on to the flaw. See, these wolvers work like normal, but from time to time they won’t extend. Maybe one will, or two. Sometimes they got their shit together and they all come out to play. What? You wanna live forever? Game Notes: These wolvers don’t always work. Roll 1D10 for each of the three blades when extending them. On a roll of 1-3, the blade in question will not extend. Roll 1D10 again when retracting them. On a roll of 1-3, the blade won’t retract. Characters can make one attempt per minute to either retract or extend the blades. Wolver damage is reduced by 1D6 for each blade not extended. Cost: 450 euro.

DEFECTIVE IMPLANTS

NASAL FILTERS – I got BOXES of these things. Get ’em while they’re hot. Made for the wars in Lithuania. I heard guys bitchin’ cause these things didn’t always work. They’re made in sweat shops by teenage girls who moonlight as hookers, and they expect quality. Sheesh. Game Notes: These filters are only 50% effective at stopping toxic gases and fumes. Cost: 45 euro.

SUBDERMAL POCKETS – Before they started using polymers and artificial skins and stuff, subdermal pockets were made outta SKIN, man. The skin would sweat, and if you didn’t keep it clean, the thing would smell like a dirty-ass belly button before too long. Not only that, but fungal infections are really probable. It’s okay, as long as you keep the thing clean. Game Notes: 1D6+1 HC, pocket is 2″x4″ with a tuck-top. Not water proof. Cost: 50 euro.

DEFECTIVE NEURALWARE

BOOSTMASTER MK1 – When Kiroshira Technologies originally came out with the boostmaster, they hadn’t worked out all the bugs. The faulty units were only on the market for about a week, but it was long enough for several thousand wired-up solos with hard-ons for speed to put their money down and bend over. As it turned out, the damn thing would make ’em wig out and twitch under stressful conditions. This did absolutely nothing for their accuracy. A lot of them died, and for a while, Chiba smelled a hell of a lot better. Game Notes: Can be added to an existing boosterware package, giving an additional +1 REF. However, during stressful situations, the unit gives off mild feedback, reducing all REF-based skills rolls by -2. This negative modifier can be avoided by rolling 1D10 under the user’s COOL -2. Cost: 400 euro

CRIPPLED CHIPWARE – You sick of buying expensive MRAM chips you’re only gonna use once? Like Zimbabwean Tribal Culture chips for three hundred euro a pop? Matter of fact, I got one of those lyin’ around this dump, somewhere. Anyways. These chips are designed to “go bad” when they’ve been accessed for three hours. Sorta like a cheap trial use. I got a big basket full of ’em. And, no, they ain’t sorted. Game Notes: These are standard MRAM chips with a special security subroutine. They only go up to Skill Level 2, and will erase themselves after three hours of use. The data can be re-encrypted again with a VERY DIFFICULT (25) Programming roll, but there is an 8 in 10 chance that the data will have been compromised, and the chip won’t work anyway. Note that many may be outdated, being as much as four or five years old. Cost: 1/10th normal MRAM chip cost for a +1 or +2 chip.

REDUCED CAPACITY CHIPWARE SOCKETS – Ok, you know how normal chip sockets got ten slots for chips? ‘Cept that if you’re a peabrain, you can’t use them all ’cause all the signals get crossed? Well, back when these puppies were looking for a standard, they came out with sockets that could hold as few as two chips. Smaller, too, less chance of ‘borging out ’cause you wanna learn to ski. A bargain, really. I mean, why pay for something you don’t need? Game Notes: These chip sockets hold 2, 4, 6, or 8 chips, respectively. A character cannot process more chips than he has points of INT. Cost: 2 Chip Capacity – 40 euro, .5 HC; 4 Chip Capacity – 80 euro, 1 HC; 6 Chip Capacity – 120 euro, 1.5 HC; 8 Chip Capacity – 160 euro, 2 HC.