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Old 09-13-2017, 07:02 PM   #15
hal
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
Default Re: Cybernetic costs and modifiers both 3e & 34e

Quote:
Originally Posted by ravenfish View Post
I would have assumed it was intended as compensation for the previously mentioned "paying points for abilities that duplicate easily available equipment" problem. Paying 200 points for 1000 points of abilities seems less of a bargain when all of the abilities you buy could be duplicated by a trip to the store. With non-obvious cybernetics, you at least get the surprise factor, and perhaps a chance to take weapons (or whatever) to places where weapons are prohibited but no-one is checking with high security scanners (although the Holdout skill will generally be a cheaper way of achieving that); with obvious cybernetics, you merely become slightly harder to rob (and we already have Signature Gear for that).
Keep in mind too, that GURPS CYBERPUNK (back when there was no 4e - just 2e, 3e, and ultimately 3e revised) had sprinkled liberally about, that in some cyberpunk worlds, having obvious cybernetics invited social stigma issues (discrimination).

Then the "Unnatural" description (which is where the 80% discount comes into play) talks largely about the fact that some people don't want their cybernetics to appear natural - and that to some extent, the cost of these "goods" become cheaper due to the lack of effort and expense to make the cybernetics look natural.

Elsewhere in GURPS CYBERPUNK (Now GURPS CLASSIC CYBERPUNK), it says this on page 30:

"Depending on the campaign, the GM may decide that character points must be paid for acquiring these advantages. Suggested point costs are listed for each device."

Think about that for a second...

Some GM's charge both character points AND money for cybernetics. Some charge ONLY money. Some, such as myself, use both guidelines of points and money, depending on whether it is pre-game or post start of campaign that is involved.

So, getting "Goods" at a monetary discount is one thing. Getting the character points themselves discounted, may NOT have been what the original writer had in mind when the rules were written. Making matters worse is the fact that a cyborg body was entirely different as a beast than cybernetics intended to look normal. Cyborg bodies were largely robots with life support for a brain and a connection system that hooked up the brain to run the body's active behavior. The point total for the cyborg body in order to have it was 120 character points. Getting an 80% discount on that was probably NOT the intent when/where the rules make character point cost for cybernetics, optional.

But, that's largely a matter of conjecture. GURPS CYBERPUNK as a book, predates GURPS VEHICLES, and also predates GURPS ROBOTS. Could one build a Robotic body and treat it as a cyborg body? Sure. Would it match what GURPS CYBERPUNK originally crafted when it was first published? Probably not.
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