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Old 10-28-2018, 08:57 AM   #1
Luke Bunyip
 
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Default TL8 Prosthetic Legs

I have a player in a TL8/9 game that wants his PC to be a double leg amputee, but with prosthetic blades akin to those worn by the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius.

Any advice regarding how to stat them?
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Old 10-28-2018, 10:40 AM   #2
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

Lame (Paraplegic) (Mitigator: Cybernetics, -70%) is the canonical way of handling it in Ultra-Tech; I'd place "Late TL8 Advanced Prostheses" as a -60% or -70% Mitigator.

I'm not sure if he qualifies as having DR on his lower legs due to their nature; for simplicity, I wouldn't add any.
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Old 10-28-2018, 11:56 AM   #3
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

The Wikipedia article suggests that they're rather awkward and unstable for walking. Probably a reduction in body Dexterity compared to walking prosthetics if anyone cared to be that detailed.
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Old 10-28-2018, 12:43 PM   #4
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

As I understand it Pistorious' blades traded in walking stability for an advantage in running ... although I don't understand the ergonomics of the thing well enough to model it. Unless the character intends to do a lot of track running, the blades are probably a bad idea.

Although as well all found out at the trial, it's not an either/or thing - the user can switch between standard prosthetics and running blades with not much more effort than putting on a pair of boots.
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Old 10-28-2018, 01:29 PM   #5
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

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Originally Posted by The Colonel View Post
As I understand it Pistorious' blades traded in walking stability for an advantage in running ... although I don't understand the ergonomics of the thing well enough to model it. Unless the character intends to do a lot of track running, the blades are probably a bad idea.

Although as well all found out at the trial, it's not an either/or thing - the user can switch between standard prosthetics and running blades with not much more effort than putting on a pair of boots.
One of the characters in my Facets campaign, Beatrice, has one of these on one leg. I gave her a permanent Move -1, for it. I don't think a second one would impact the wearer much more than that, assuming they got the physical therapy needed to learn to use them, properly.

In game terms, Pistorious made up for the reduction in "Move" by putting a lot of points into "Running" skill, justified through intense training. He can outrun most people, but still can't beat a similarly-trained runner with two healthy legs.
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Old 10-29-2018, 01:57 AM   #6
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

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Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
In game terms, Pistorious made up for the reduction in "Move" by putting a lot of points into "Running" skill, justified through intense training. He can outrun most people, but still can't beat a similarly-trained runner with two healthy legs.
Oh, if he can't beat a similarly-trained runner with healthy legs, why would there be a push for banning him for having an unfair advantage over said healthy runners . . .
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Old 10-29-2018, 03:44 AM   #7
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

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Oh, if he can't beat a similarly-trained runner with healthy legs, why would there be a push for banning him for having an unfair advantage over said healthy runners . . .
Because people are idiots. "He has advanced prosthetic lower legs that help him run" invariably became "he has bionic legs that help him run faster!!" in their minds. Also, he might have beat someone's time, but everyone has good days and bad.
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Old 10-29-2018, 05:25 AM   #8
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

A presumably-not-so-idiotic professor of biomechanics who studied him said:

The report claimed that Pistorius's limbs used 25% less energy than runners with complete natural legs running at the same speed, and that they led to less vertical motion combined with 30% less mechanical work for lifting the body.[56] In December, Brüggemann told Die Welt newspaper that Pistorius "has considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs who were tested by us. It was more than just a few percentage points. I did not expect it to be so clear." (Wikipedia!!)

However, that's only in full speed straight line sprinting, while he had disadvantages in take-off and turning.

ETA: More in-depth analysis here. I'll leave it to those more grognardly than I to stat up how that all works.

ETA2: OOPS, that link was in the OP. Shame on those who didn't check it before commenting.
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Old 10-29-2018, 07:12 AM   #9
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

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The report claimed that Pistorius's limbs used 25% less energy than runners with complete natural legs running at the same speed, and that they led to less vertical motion combined with 30% less mechanical work for lifting the body.[56] In December, Brüggemann told Die Welt newspaper that Pistorius "has considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs who were tested by us. It was more than just a few percentage points. I did not expect it to be so clear." (Wikipedia!!)

However, that's only in full speed straight line sprinting, while he had disadvantages in take-off and turning.

Arguably, that means he has something like enhanced move .5 and basic move -1, which is actually a pretty cool combo, all things considered. If I were the GM I'd probably make up an "Enhanced move .25" that increases your speed when sprinting by 25%, not 50%, and costs [5], not [10]. This makes you slightly but not drastically faster on long sprints.
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Old 10-29-2018, 11:46 AM   #10
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Default Re: TL8 Prosthetic Legs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
A presumably-not-so-idiotic professor of biomechanics who studied him said:

The report claimed that Pistorius's limbs used 25% less energy than runners with complete natural legs running at the same speed, and that they led to less vertical motion combined with 30% less mechanical work for lifting the body.[56] In December, Brüggemann told Die Welt newspaper that Pistorius "has considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs who were tested by us. It was more than just a few percentage points. I did not expect it to be so clear." (Wikipedia!!)

However, that's only in full speed straight line sprinting, while he had disadvantages in take-off and turning.

ETA: More in-depth analysis here. I'll leave it to those more grognardly than I to stat up how that all works.

ETA2: OOPS, that link was in the OP. Shame on those who didn't check it before commenting.
There's a lot of conflicting analysis. This is one of the earlier studies, and it has been contradicted several times (along with other studies that suggest different positive benefits - not "all of these", but "instead of those").

This study has also been criticized for the methodology, but I don't know enough to judge how valid the criticisms are.
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