Differences between GURPS 3 & 4 cybernetics

hal · 07-08-2016, 12:02 PM

Hello folks,
In trying to decide how I will approach repricing various limbs and other cybernetic items from GURPS ULTRATECH for an upcoming cyberpunk/Night City campaign, I started to look at things with a fine tooth comb. This resulted in some questions on my part, and some dis-satisfaction with perceived issues. Before I list some of my issues, I wanted to get some clarifications if possible.

To wit: what is the HT of any bionic device? The maintenance rule on page 143 indicates that if a maintenance interval is missed, the HT drops by one and a roll is made against the HT attribute. Failure results in some problem of the GM's choosing, and a crit failure results in a potentially fatal circumstance.

Maintenance checks that potentially result in a dysfunctional item seem to have the same result as "unreliable" (page 95 ULTRATECH 2 for classic GURPS) which only fails on a 15+ or 13+ depending on which level is taken. The other disadvantage for bionics listed in UT2 is Breakdown Prone (same page as unreliable UT2) with rolls to activate 16+ or 14+ depending on the level chosen.

Is it just me, or do the maintenance rules for cybernetics make things worse than the classic GURPS rules? Consider what happens if HT equals that of the TL (for example, otherwise the HT of 12 based on GURPS TRAVELLER might be more prudent): at 1 missed maintenance interval, HT 9 becomes HT 8. With only a 25% chance of rolling an 8 or less, the device will suffer some form of degradation in performance. This roll is worse than the classic rules. But the rule for crit failures means that ALL bionics can catastrophically fail after missing maintenance of one week! Does this sound right? When you take into account that anyone with bionics now requires 1 hour of maintenance (seemingly per bionic item) and the fact that most professionals charge money for their services; player characters with bionics in GURPS 4e are getting hosed pretty badly as contrasted against Classic GURPS rules.

Seems to me that either I'm missing something, or the rules need more fine tuning. A bionics equipped character whose plane goes down in a jungle, is now facing a grim countdown. It is one thing to have restrictions based on having sufficient power cells available, but another to have the maintenance rules in 4e be applied in a strict manner. Having 1 in 216 bionic devices fail if not maintained within a 168 hour interval would seem to render that "product" a non-viable product for the usual cyberpunk genre convention. I suspect that most of the cybernetic devices should not include the maintenance disadvantage.

Comments?

07-08-2016, 12:02 PM	#1
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	Differences between GURPS 3 & 4 cybernetics Hello folks, In trying to decide how I will approach repricing various limbs and other cybernetic items from GURPS ULTRATECH for an upcoming cyberpunk/Night City campaign, I started to look at things with a fine tooth comb. This resulted in some questions on my part, and some dis-satisfaction with perceived issues. Before I list some of my issues, I wanted to get some clarifications if possible. To wit: what is the HT of any bionic device? The maintenance rule on page 143 indicates that if a maintenance interval is missed, the HT drops by one and a roll is made against the HT attribute. Failure results in some problem of the GM's choosing, and a crit failure results in a potentially fatal circumstance. Maintenance checks that potentially result in a dysfunctional item seem to have the same result as "unreliable" (page 95 ULTRATECH 2 for classic GURPS) which only fails on a 15+ or 13+ depending on which level is taken. The other disadvantage for bionics listed in UT2 is Breakdown Prone (same page as unreliable UT2) with rolls to activate 16+ or 14+ depending on the level chosen. Is it just me, or do the maintenance rules for cybernetics make things worse than the classic GURPS rules? Consider what happens if HT equals that of the TL (for example, otherwise the HT of 12 based on GURPS TRAVELLER might be more prudent): at 1 missed maintenance interval, HT 9 becomes HT 8. With only a 25% chance of rolling an 8 or less, the device will suffer some form of degradation in performance. This roll is worse than the classic rules. But the rule for crit failures means that ALL bionics can catastrophically fail after missing maintenance of one week! Does this sound right? When you take into account that anyone with bionics now requires 1 hour of maintenance (seemingly per bionic item) and the fact that most professionals charge money for their services; player characters with bionics in GURPS 4e are getting hosed pretty badly as contrasted against Classic GURPS rules. Seems to me that either I'm missing something, or the rules need more fine tuning. A bionics equipped character whose plane goes down in a jungle, is now facing a grim countdown. It is one thing to have restrictions based on having sufficient power cells available, but another to have the maintenance rules in 4e be applied in a strict manner. Having 1 in 216 bionic devices fail if not maintained within a 168 hour interval would seem to render that "product" a non-viable product for the usual cyberpunk genre convention. I suspect that most of the cybernetic devices should not include the maintenance disadvantage. Comments?