Installing Cyberware
Cyberware must be implanted by a physician with at least Heal-1 skill or an NPC with at least a +1 skill bonus at medical matters. The average street doc will have a +2 skill total, with the better having +3 and the elite having +4 or even +5. Access to such high-grade medical care often requires a Contact or mission.
Paired systems such as cybereyes or cyberears are implanted together as a single operation. Add-ons to such tech, such as an eye flechette system, require a separate operation.
The implantation surgery itself takes a short time but comes at a cost and skill check difficulty as given in the table below. If the surgeon donates their work, the installation cost is halved.
| Cyberware System Strain | Cost | Recovery Time | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $100 | 1 Hour | 7 |
| 0.1 — 0.5 | $500 | 1 Day | 8 |
| 0.6 — 1 | $2,500 | 4 Days | 10 |
| 1.1 — 3 | $12,500 | 2 Weeks | 11 |
| 3.1 or More | $50,000 | 1 Month | 12 |
Once the surgery is complete, the doc makes an Int/Heal or Dex/Heal skill check against the installation difficulty, modified by the table below.
| Mod | Circumstance |
|---|---|
| -1 | Only has a cyberdoc kit |
| +0 | Has level 1 surgical theater equipment |
| +1 | Has level 2 surgical theater equipment |
| +2 | Has level 3 surgical theater equipment |
| -1 | Lacks a dedicated surgical room |
| +0 | Has a dedicated, clean room to work in |
| +1 | Has a sterile medical operating room |
| +2 | Has an entire medical clinic worth of space |
| +1 | The cyber is new and unused |
If they fail by more than two points, the surgery is unsuccessful, the target’s System Strain is maximized, and the target is reduced to 1 hit point. The cyber survives, but now counts as used cyber for future implant purposes.
If they fail by one or two points, the surgery is successful, but the user suffers a random implant complication from the table in section 3.6.1.1. This glitch isn’t obvious until after the surgery is complete. A user who wants a second try at installing a particular system will need to remove the original cyber, spend a month undergoing therapeutic medical treatment at a cost equal to the offending cyber’s original installation cost, and then try again. Such additional attempts have a cumulative -1 penalty on all installation attempts after the original, including any penalty for re-implanting used cyber.
If it succeeds, the cyber is implanted successfully. The system immediately adds its System Strain value as permanent System Strain to the user. A subject cannot accept cyber if it would put their System Strain above their maximum score.
Whether successful or not, the subject needs a certain amount of time for recovery before they can return to action, whether an hour for the most superficial cyber or a full month for full-body invasive surgery. During this time they must rest and follow the appropriate anti-rejection medication regime. Failure to do so risks implant complications at best and fatal system rejection at the worst.