I'm trying to come up with a simple system for prosthetic limbs (steampunkish bionics, essentially) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Since I'm planning on using this for NPC's, I'm just going to wing it and give them whatever powers/abilities I think are appropriate.

However, I would like to know if there are rules somewhere that incorporate bionics/prosthesis into Basic DnD type games, in case somewhere down the line I decide to allow PC's to have this kind of technology.

So, any resources out there?

Quote from: everloss;577095I'm trying to come up with a simple system for prosthetic limbs (steampunkish bionics, essentially) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Since I'm planning on using this for NPC's, I'm just going to wing it and give them whatever powers/abilities I think are appropriate.

However, I would like to know if there are rules somewhere that incorporate bionics/prosthesis into Basic DnD type games, in case somewhere down the line I decide to allow PC's to have this kind of technology.

So, any resources out there?

Stars Without Number has them. Characters have a System Shock score, which can go up to their CON; every time they get healed using psionics or stim patches, it goes up by one, and when it reaches the limit, they can't be healed any more (Except through natural healing). SS goes down by 1 every day, but cybernetics add permanent SS points that don't go away.

It also has "gain system shock to use this ability"-type mechanics. Also, pdf is free if you want a read, etc.

Other Dust features various traits that directly change the modifier for a stat, rather than the stat value.

How much cyber do you want characters to have? I'm inclined to suggest dropping the CON modifier by 1 for each bit, because steampunk tech will be harsh on the body.

Earthdawn took Shadowrun's Cyber-wetware and filled the slot with Living Crystal (and other types of) Blood Charms. One of the big ones in the Theran ground army was the Crystal Limb.

Quote from: Ladybird;577100Stars Without Number has them. Characters have a System Shock score, which can go up to their CON; every time they get healed using psionics or stim patches, it goes up by one, and when it reaches the limit, they can't be healed any more (Except through natural healing). SS goes down by 1 every day, but cybernetics add permanent SS points that don't go away.

It also has "gain system shock to use this ability"-type mechanics. Also, pdf is free if you want a read, etc.

Other Dust features various traits that directly change the modifier for a stat, rather than the stat value.

How much cyber do you want characters to have? I'm inclined to suggest dropping the CON modifier by 1 for each bit, because steampunk tech will be harsh on the body.

That's very interesting and I'll definitely look into it!

My thought is that poor people will still have simple wooden peg legs, but the wealthy will have access to mechanical limbs. Since this is an era where infection results in amputation, this kinda shit will be relatively commonplace, especially for fighters.

The basic deal is that I want to replace magical items/weapons with mechanical devices. In LotFP, magic items should be unique and have detrimental qualities - which fits with prosthetics in my view.

Example: character loses legs in battle. Gets mechanical replacements. Normal humans can move 0-30' in a round. Character with mechanical legs can move 10-50' in a round; he can move a lot faster, but cannot control his mechanical legs to allow him to move slowly without a great deal of effort and concentration. A normal person can nudge something with their foot without causing damage, but the guy with mechanical legs doesn't have that degree of control - he'll just kick the shit out of something.

I don't want players actively trying to replace body parts with mechanical versions. However, I DO want players to utilize mechanical body parts if they need them, and I want the option to be useful enough for them to consider, but the penalties to be enough so that they aren't abused.

Quote from: Telarus;577101Earthdawn took Shadowrun's Cyber-wetware and filled the slot with Living Crystal (and other types of) Blood Charms. One of the big ones in the Theran ground army was the Crystal Limb.

I've never looked at Earthdawn (but have heard of it), but I do have several books for Shadowrun's newest edition.

Right now I'm looking at bionics out of various Rifts books because I have a lot of familiarity with that game.

It's easy for me to look at a bionic arm and say, "Okay, gives a strength of 18, and can crush a rock in it's hand, but can't pick up a flower or have any sensation of touch; -1 or -2 to any skill rolls involving touch."

Dragonmech and Iron Kingdoms.

If a character is interested in a prosthetic, it's probably to remove the penalties associated with the lost limb.  Ie, if you lost a leg, and you can't move at normal speed, a limb that allows you to move with full functionality is great.  

If you're looking to build more into the limb, treat them as magic items.  A steampunk leg with a piston action that gives you the ability to jump from standing as though you were running (or in earlier terms, like a Bullywug) is useful, but probably not worth severing a leg for.  

Just avoid making 'super items' that provide a large number of multiple benefits or really add to attack or damage.  

For example, putting a weapon on an arm (like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat) might be cool - it's a unique attack that fits with the limb.  But if that limb REPLACES the ability to use other weapons, the benefit is pretty limited.  So if you end up with a bionic arm that shoots a spiked chain, that's all well and good, as long as that's not an ADDITIONAL free attack.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;577216If a character is interested in a prosthetic, it's probably to remove the penalties associated with the lost limb.  Ie, if you lost a leg, and you can't move at normal speed, a limb that allows you to move with full functionality is great.

For that sort of prosthetic, like a peg leg, I'd let an XP penalty replace the usual "no limb" penalty - so they can be as good as a character who hasn't been maimed, but they'll have to put more effort in. Look at, say, runners on running blades, for an example.

LotFP has a skill system, right? Because for bionics that replace functionality, like the chain-arm, I'd let the character invest in a "learning to do mundane things with it" skill (aka, the Edward Scissorhands skill), so they could learn how to eat with the ball-and-chain arm, but it would cost them (In this case, having to spend points on it and not other skills, and multiple spiked-ball-to-face errors as they learn).

You must be playing a very different sort of LotFP campaign than me.

Although, in my Albion game one of the players (Doctor Ralph of London) did build a kind of brace to help with young Richard Crookback's limp.

Surely, that's something he won't ever live to regret...

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I play it mostly as shown in the box set, but I added black powder firearms. I've run Grinding Gear and the murder mystery from the Three Brides. However, the more I play, the more I want to differentiate the setting of my game from that of the traditional swords, wizards, monsters fantasy generic model.

I remembered a short-lived comic series with the descriptive, yet mundane title of "Steampunk" from the late 90's or early 2000s that took place in a time-altered Victorian England where people had steam-powered prosthetics to replace limbs lost in wars or in the unsafe machinery inside factories.

I think that is all kinds of cool. Yet I've also already established the area the game is in is much like the Holy Roman Empire, but with airships and giant-spider farms.

So, in a world where magic is all but forgotten (there are two magic-users in the group and no cleric), but not nonexistent, and more alchemical in nature; I think steam/clockwork prosthesis would fit pretty well. It also increases the weirdness as long as it's used sparingly.

Quote from: everloss;578116I play it mostly as shown in the box set, but I added black powder firearms. I've run Grinding Gear and the murder mystery from the Three Brides. However, the more I play, the more I want to differentiate the setting of my game from that of the traditional swords, wizards, monsters fantasy generic model.

I remembered a short-lived comic series with the descriptive, yet mundane title of "Steampunk" from the late 90's or early 2000s that took place in a time-altered Victorian England where people had steam-powered prosthetics to replace limbs lost in wars or in the unsafe machinery inside factories.

I think that is all kinds of cool. Yet I've also already established the area the game is in is much like the Holy Roman Empire, but with airships and giant-spider farms.

So, in a world where magic is all but forgotten (there are two magic-users in the group and no cleric), but not nonexistent, and more alchemical in nature; I think steam/clockwork prosthesis would fit pretty well. It also increases the weirdness as long as it's used sparingly.

Your descriptions of the campaign keep reminding me of Full Metal Alchemist, with Edward Elric's alchemy made arm and leg.  There was an article in the late AD&D 2 period of Dragon about mages that focused upon machines.  It was titled Mage vs. Machine by Bruce Cordell, Dragon 258.  The cover shows one of these Machine Mages in dynamic pose.  It is a pretty complete article that could be adapted pretty easily to some other D&D.  I like Castle Falkenstein for general game inspiration of this type of setting.

I think in 'Basic' D&D, I would try to come up with something that doesn't give a penalty at all.

Quote from: mcbobbo;578330I think in 'Basic' D&D, I would try to come up with something that doesn't give a penalty at all.

Out of curiosity, what mechanisms would you use to dissuade players having their characters go out to get cyberred up? Would you use the cost of surgery / implants, social stigma from the other inhabitants of the world, something else, or just not bother?

Quote from: Ladybird;578359Out of curiosity, what mechanisms would you use to dissuade players having their characters go out to get cyberred up? Would you use the cost of surgery / implants, social stigma from the other inhabitants of the world, something else, or just not bother?

Me?

I've never liked the idea of players being able to purchase enhancement items at the market. That also doesn't go with LotFP.

social stigma is definitely an issue. Word gets around that some dude has the Saint Victors Arm of Smiting, and it's hard to conceal.

adding a curse, or some sort of penalty to the item in question seems reasonable enough to me. Going into the realism of finding a barber (ha!) to amputate the original limb and add the new one would also probably work, just based on how grisly it is.

Plus, I don't like to give away a lot of treasure... I tend to go with the 4 adventures per level line of thought with this game (if it were, say Rifts, that's a totally different story).

The doctor character who made the harness for Richard Crookback is also a general inventor; I've decided to treat basic inventions in the game with the Tinkering skill; however, I keep a somewhat strict eye on making sure they don't go way out beyond the limits of the setting's emulation.

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