Surgery / cybernetics / medical stuff

[SAmeme]

Okay, well the way I see it there's a lot of people who want a surgeon job, but outside of removing bullets and headcrabs, there's no real reason for it to exist. I think that adding things like tumors or other injuries or diseases that require surgery is a bad idea, because if you don't have a surgeon or a helpful medic you're shit out of luck and are going to die as you can't operate on yourself.

So, I propose that there should be a suite of cybernetic implants, things like an eye implant to provide the functionality of Meson scanners or thermals while being able to wear sunglasses over the top, or artificial muscle to pump up the damage of melee weapons and punching, and being able to throw with a passive grab. I don't have many ideas off the top of my head and I'm sure others will have some good ideas to contribute, but this is what I've come up with so far;

Remote access implant- enables interfacing with computers and doors like the AI does, eye slot.

ICEbreaker: enables access to computers without sufficient clearance after a 30 second period of staying still with a red message to alert those nearby. combine with the remote access implant to hack from afar!. Brain slot.

Reinforced musculature (leg and arm variants)- enables faster running (legs) or increased strength (arms). Maybe you could knock over a vending machine to create an obstacle, throw people with a passive grab, increased melee damage, smash windows with your fists. Not as powerful as hulk, so no busting down walls or anything crazy. Maybe you could tear a sheet of metal off a regular wall so you can get into anywhere with just a crowbar?

Meson/infrared detecting eyes- does what it says on the tin, good for say, security who want the ability to see in thermal vision without the drawback of susceptibility to flashes. Can be shorted out by EMP, leaving the user blind.

I know the names suck, they're just descriptive rather than names I'm actually suggesting. I think this could be good if properly balanced, with serious drawbacks as well as advantages. Maybe to power them you need to eat a lot of food to keep your bioelectric cells charged? Maybe it requires items from restricted areas on the station or the cooperation of the miners, artifact researchers or roboticists? make them vulnerable to EMP's and there is a reason for security not to take thermal eyes and run the risk of a traitor blinding them easily. I know making visual cues would be difficult, but you should be able to see them when you examine someone- "Pubbie McShitler's eyes menace with a red glow" "Pubbie McShitler eyes are glowing green- spooky!", that kind of thing.

This would give those players who want a surgeon job something to do, but depending on how extensive the implants were it could just be taken care of by the roboticists or regular medbay staff. So just to reiterate, the drawbacks would be thus;

Requires the help of medical staff to install

Susceptible to EMP

Requires power to use, with a dimming of vision or interface glitches or weakness if you don't keep charged

Requires rare materials to create

visible to examination or even visual cues.

Think about the same level of usefulness as superpowers with more difficulty to acquire but to balance that, less based on random chance. Feel free to tell me I'm an idiot and this is unworkable, was just an idea!

[Weavel]

Since the dawn of time, (space)man has tried to put things on them to make them better at things.

I don't think it should be a superpower-grade thing, though. It should have far more drawbacks.

- Electrocution shorts out your circuits temporarilly. If you get tasered or batoned, or shocked by a door or arc flash, you're going to drop shit and go blind
- The surgery itself is expensive! Like with robotics, the Cybernetics fabricator could be based on Mining ores and QM assistance, rather than ye olde robotics-style things of just oh-I'll-spend-20-minutes-researching-then-make-shit-with-metal.

definitely would be a fun thing though.

[SAmeme]

Yeah, I didn't intend for them to be as powerful as superpowers, more like equivalents of existing gear in most cases, and difficult enough to make that you're picking them up mid-round rather than making a beeline to medbay to bug someone to turn you into superman. I like your suggestions and if anyone else has an idea for a cybernetic implant please post it even if you think its dumb, there might be a kernel of a good idea inside a bad one!

How about an implant that lets you view cameras the same way the AI does but you get nauseous and throw up and fall over for a moment when you leave the camera mode, and without the track player functionality. could require the detective or HoS's camera monitor to build and would go in the eye slot. I only have ideas for eye slots.

How about an implant that lets you *shit a banana

or an implanted rebreather that lets you breathe in vacuum.

or an internal radiator that lets you go into space without a suit but can malfunction and begin to cook you from the inside

[SAmeme]

Sorry for the double post but I also think there should be a way for traitors to mess with implants so say, a traitor surgeon could get a jamming device that disabled implants- picture the scene. The guy who has been helping security all round giving them incredible implants with speedy service and a pleasant bedside manner comes to security saying "Hey guys, I've got an upgrade for you!", they let him in, he switches on his jammer and half the security staff goes blind or falls over, or starts to suffocate as their rebreathers discharge CO2 into their lungs, one guy catches on fire as his radiator goes into overdrive. One guys legs go into overdrive and every time he tries to run his legs slip out from under him.

[Weavel]

*shit a banana

press a button and make sec into the equivalent of cluwnes

sold

What about leg/arm things? Maybe an in-built heater/cooler system for your arms, or magnetic feet of some sort. Of course with robo-hands and feet you couldn't wear gloves or shoes, for a tradeoff.

[david2222121]

Anything that gives me an in game reason to mangle Deus Ex quotes is a good thing.

We might want to also tie these implants to a battery, so that you have to periodically recharge or swap batteries to keep using your thermal vision and hacking powers.

What if we give the traitor roboticist some especially deadly implants to choose from? Perhaps give him the ability to hook a taser to himself and become a hobo-secborg, perhaps. Or super enhanced muscles that are a cross between old horseshoe gloves and hulk?

[Weavel]

I think if we're talking about weaponry, then there are two main problems;

1. disarming
2. recharging

You can't be disarmed, but it's attached to your goddamn arm so fuck if you're going to be able to recharge either. Along with that, it's taking up a permanent space in your hand.

that sort of thing maybe

[david2222121]

The binding it to your hand is probably a good idea too. Having a permanent egun miiiiight be a tad overpowered. Granted, I would keep the gun-arm implant traitor only.

[MEOW POW]

limb amputation and subsequent replacement with cybernetic versions would be awesome

[Weavel]

Whoa maybe not an egun, taser at max and maybe some sort of longer-lasting flash equivalent.

Also with how sprites work it'd be hard to make having no arms something I expect; maybe with the mutantrace code advancements, it could just be based sorta off that? Amputate process like debuttal, simply transforms your human sprite without a message.

[SAmeme]

Yeah the biggest problem I think with this idea is implementing it. That's why I said like superpowers, I didn't mean in strength, I meant in the way they are applied to the player, as invisible (or visible) buffs that don't require an invisible cybernetics inventory. Also let's not suggest weapons and stuff, that's a quick way for the thread to go to hell, a permanent taser instead of a hand would be both overpowered and probably unworkable. Would be cool to have to stick your hand in a charger and stand there while it recharged though! I'm talking more about deus-ex style implants. Cybernetic rather than mechanical. How about an implant that dispensed space lube through your pores, making you impossible to grab but have a chance of falling over? that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. advantages rather than weapons, with clear drawbacks.

[SAmeme]

Anything that gives me an in game reason to mangle Deus Ex quotes is a good thing.

We might want to also tie these implants to a battery, so that you have to periodically recharge or swap batteries to keep using your thermal vision and hacking powers.

What if we give the traitor roboticist some especially deadly implants to choose from? Perhaps give him the ability to hook a taser to himself and become a hobo-secborg, perhaps. Or super enhanced muscles that are a cross between old horseshoe gloves and hulk?

I suggested a Bioelectric cell, like in deus ex, that can be recharged by eating. You might get a message like "You feel your energy reserves flagging" and you have to eat some food so "You tingle with energy!". Another drawback and adds to the need to have multiple parties involved in supporting the implants so they can't be abused or effectively mass produced and given to everyone.

[david2222121]

So, it'd work more like you had an addiction to this one specific "food/robotics/whatever" item, and had to rely on the cues to know when you're about to run out of power?


I dunno, I'd prefer to keep it with more of a borg gameplay structure menu-wise, you see how much energy you have, and can check at any time with your menus to see if you need a little pick me up.

Also, instead of relying on a new item that would need to be created(how would we get bioelectric cells? Bake 'em? The QM? Have robotics manufacture them?), what if we give augmented guys the ability to drain a battery of its charge, kinda like how stungloves work, only you take the battery's entire charge instead of like 5%?

[SAmeme]

you're the one who brought up deus ex how do you not know how bioelectric cells work?

it turns the food and drink you eat and drink into power for your augmentations. I literally lifted that idea straight from deus ex because it's sort of an unimportant thing. You're not becoming a robot, you shouldn't have to compete for space in robot docking stations. aside from the drawbacks I already suggested I don't think having to eat something every 10 minutes is such a big deal, think of it like a miner topping up his jetpack rather than an addiction or something. we're not talking big things here, we're talking things with the power drain of a pair of thermals or something. I'm not suggesting implementing a whole electrical subsystem to player's bodies. it's kind of the least important aspect of the whole suggestion and I just threw it out there because it fit with the deus ex theme I sort of had in my mind.

[david2222121]

When you said bioelectric cells you made me think of the pickups you find to refill your energy in Deus Ex. My bad.

And I'm not saying let JC Meson-face fit himself into the borg dock, I'm saying let him interact with batteries the same way that stun gloves do, click the battery to the implant and transfer power to it. Though requiring food to keep charged up would be a good idea as well, and gives the vending machines an actual use, especially when the only thing left to eat on the station is the Discount Dan stuff.