Upgrading stats?

By Sarius2, in Dark Heresy Rules Questions

I long wondered in what degree i should allow implants to upgrade stats, like using a good quality Mining Helot Augumentics from IH p. 139 just without the breacher.

As that one is now its
Commen: Mining Helot Augumentics give the character an extra limb fitted with a breacher. This implant increases the character's strength and toughness each by +10 thanks to surgically implanted muscle tissue and bionic skeletal reinforcement.

Drawbacks: Unfortunately, the side effects of these somewhat crude and bulky flesh-metal fussions reduce the character's agility charteristic by -10 . the implants are preformed with little thought given to the level of pain or discomfort they inflict , thus the recipient's gain 1d10 Isanity Points.

So could a good qualtity version be without the drawbacks and could other characteristics be improved by other cybernetics.

Ultimately I think it's up to the GM.

Strength being the most obvious upgrade simply by implanting vat grown muscles

I've often thought about cerebral upgrades. For Example:

The character must have a Mind Impluse Unit to use the upgrades.

The upgrades are permanent and can not be transfered to another character.

The character can have a maximum of X upgrades (X being willpower bonus)

Berzerker package: +5WS, +5AG, Frenzy talent.

Sniper package: +5BS, +5 Per, Marksman talent.

Seducer package: +5 Fel, +5T, Carous skill (or +10 if you already have it)

Servant of the Hammer package: Common lore (ordo malleus), Scholastic lore (ordo malleus), Forbidden lore (ordo malleus)

Xenoslayer package : Common lore (xenos-pick one), Scholastic lore (xenos-pick one), Forbidden lore (xenos-pick one)

I haven't worked out any costs yet and these are just an example.

Augments are common in the fluff and range from vat grown musce to subdermal armor to ... all kinds of stuff.

As to the mining augment Itonly makes sense there couldbe a good quality version. First off rip out the 1D10 insanity points, we can assume this is more like a normal implant and the implanters do indeed care about the customer. Also I would reduce the agility penalty to -5 from -10 showing the use of better more compact (and thus lighter) technology, more servos less pistons, etc. If you were to get a model without the big drill (and its atendant limb) I would eleminate the agil penalty. Making it a general buff for the character.

I also would not allow overlaping buffs with the possible exception of techpriests (potentia coil for power etc) the highest would be the one to take effect.

Really the rule for me is "anything is more or less possible, within the bounds of reason and balance."

So if the boost gained is reasonable and more or less balanced then I'll give the PC a price to meet and that's that. Otherwise I just use the "heretical technology" cop-out.

Keep in mind the high grade cerebral enhancement grants unnatural intelligence x2, so crazy stuff is already available.

Keep in mind the high grade cerebral enhancement grants unnatural intelligence x2, so crazy stuff is already available.

If by "available" you mean "quite a bit rarer than power armour", you're right.

Otherwise, there's a very simple option to consider about cybernetic upgrades: Just use them as justification for advancements you buy with your XP. Want to get carouse, but you're not into heavy drinking sessions? Your friendly tech-priest has outfitted you with a blood filter (and deadened most of your taste buds...). Str advancement? Slab muscles. Frenzy? Get a little internal combat drug injector that you can trigger.

This way, you can have nice flavorful "upgrades" without worrying if what you want to do is balanced or not.

As to availability... I think it is good to remember that availability is based on more than just the raw number of the item that exists.

When talking about something like power armor I explain it this way to my players.

Think of power armor like it is a armored combat vehicle in todays world (tanks, IFVs, SPA, etc). The powers that be in any given area can and due make these items. They appear in various types and qualities and production is based more off official need than anything else. So is an APC very rare availability? Yes and no. There are a bunch of them around and they can make more at any time... The problem is how do YOU get your hands on one? That is what really determines the availability of many items in DH.

Oh course smart PCs will play up their Inquisition connection and make contacts to get those items normally beyond the reach of the average citizen.

But yes the X2 int brain chips would be hard to get.. My little speal was more in general about something I noticed.

Sarius said:

I long wondered in what degree i should allow implants to upgrade stats, like using a good quality Mining Helot Augumentics from IH p. 139 just without the breacher.

As part of the Augmetics and Implants section of my current work-in-progress fan supplement, I've done up rules for vat-grown muscle (no cost or rarity, yet; I'm open to suggestions in that regard)

Muscle Grafts
Vat-grown muscle, either from a gene-neutral source or cloned from the recipient’s own flesh, is implanted beneath the recipient’s skin and woven into his existing musculature, granting enhanced strength and mass.
Poor Muscle Grafts, the crudest and cheapest examples of this kind of augmentation – common amongst ganger “heavies” and dreg-thugs of the lowest variety – are simple slabs of gene-neutral surgically-grafted meat, prone to rejection sickness and cramping, and can provide only limited and uncertain benefits without skeletal reinforcement. They grant a +1d10 bonus to Strength (roll when implanted), but the recipient suffers a level of fatigue if a Strength test is ever failed by 3 or more degrees.
Common Muscle Grafts incorporate bio-alchemical treatments that strengthen bone, and use cloned muscle tissue to minimise rejection, allowing the recipient to better utilise the new strength he has been granted. They grant a +10 bonus to Strength and two extra wounds.
Good Muscle Grafts go a step further still, genetically-enhancing cloned muscle that is not only denser and more efficient than natural human muscle tissue, but is designed to grow into the tissues it is grafted into and supplant their genetics with the grafts’ enhanced structures. They grant a +15 bonus to Strength, a +5 bonus to Toughness, and 1d5+1 additional wounds.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Sarius said:

I long wondered in what degree i should allow implants to upgrade stats, like using a good quality Mining Helot Augumentics from IH p. 139 just without the breacher.

As part of the Augmetics and Implants section of my current work-in-progress fan supplement, I've done up rules for vat-grown muscle (no cost or rarity, yet; I'm open to suggestions in that regard)

Muscle Grafts
Vat-grown muscle, either from a gene-neutral source or cloned from the recipient’s own flesh, is implanted beneath the recipient’s skin and woven into his existing musculature, granting enhanced strength and mass.
Poor Muscle Grafts, the crudest and cheapest examples of this kind of augmentation – common amongst ganger “heavies” and dreg-thugs of the lowest variety – are simple slabs of gene-neutral surgically-grafted meat, prone to rejection sickness and cramping, and can provide only limited and uncertain benefits without skeletal reinforcement. They grant a +1d10 bonus to Strength (roll when implanted), but the recipient suffers a level of fatigue if a Strength test is ever failed by 3 or more degrees.
Common Muscle Grafts incorporate bio-alchemical treatments that strengthen bone, and use cloned muscle tissue to minimise rejection, allowing the recipient to better utilise the new strength he has been granted. They grant a +10 bonus to Strength and two extra wounds.
Good Muscle Grafts go a step further still, genetically-enhancing cloned muscle that is not only denser and more efficient than natural human muscle tissue, but is designed to grow into the tissues it is grafted into and supplant their genetics with the grafts’ enhanced structures. They grant a +15 bonus to Strength, a +5 bonus to Toughness, and 1d5+1 additional wounds.

I like it. It allows for everything from Abnetts "Slab Ox" (ganger with vat grown muscles). To the chantry guards in DotDG which would have good quality implants.

As for availability I would go with common/scarce/very rare. Cost is much harder to say and depends heavily on how money rich a given caimpaign is. I would use 500/3000/20000 as a starting point though. With maybe even less for the poor quality one (a ganger needs to be able to afford it).

Just a few thoughts. I will be interested to see your finished work.

As for availability I would go with common/scarce/very rare. Cost is much harder to say and depends heavily on how money rich a given caimpaign is. I would use 500/3000/20000 as a starting point though. With maybe even less for the poor quality one (a ganger needs to be able to afford it).

Another solution would be to make them recyclable - the interfacing between original tissue and grafted tissue may be bad, but the things are nigh-indestructible, meaning that it's often possible to take a gang heavy you shanked to the next doc and get at least a few of his muscles.