Augmentations in Crown and Skull

homebrew
#1

Recently started watching edgerunners and I’m loving it, so since my players are now entering the second main city of the campaign B3N34TH, I decided to go full cyberpunk. The city is run by a super intelligence named Q.U.E.E.N and her semishared consciousness android workers called H.I.V.E. For organics as well as non H.I.V.E androids, you are required to augment as a form of identification. Neathers (people from the city) without augments exist, but do so in hiding and are usually unable to access things like medical care.

An augment gives you an immediate 5 hero points to spend on any 1 skill, spell, or ability you want. This is flavored as an augment giving this ability. You must also take the augmented flaw. You may take as many augments as you can afford, but the downsides begin to add up. If one wishes they may use more than 5 hero points on an augment, but they must take the augmented flaw enough times to equal the hero point total, rounding up if required.

Augmented: Everytime you use your augment you must roll a d20, if you roll a nat 20 you must roll on the Cyberpsychosis table*. Additionally you may interact with computers directly bypassing the need for sight, and you can do so from up to FAR if you pass a difficulty 6 roll. every augment you take makes it easier to go Cyberpsycho, with your second augment a failure becomes 19-20, the third 18-20; after three the numbers double so 4 is 16-20, etc.

  1. Brain-Bleed: Blood begins to drip from your nose as you lose consciousness, you will die if you do not recieve medical attention in d4 hours
  2. Broken: 1 random skill is lost for d2 days
  3. Seeing Red: Immediately attack your nearest ally
  4. Snapped: Immediately attack the nearest target regardless of whether they are friend or foe
  5. Fog of War: All rolls are HARD untl a successful RECOVERY
  6. Cope: Laugh to cope and draw attention for D4 rounds
  7. Second Wind: Gain 1 hero coin
  8. Rub Some Dirt On It: Heal 1 FLESH attrition
#2

Can I take an Augment, (+5 HP) along with the Augmented Flaw, and add 3 HP that I previously earned for and Augment Skill at value 8?

Or do I still have to take the Augmented Flaw twice?

#3

The idea is that you would have to take the augmented flaw twice there, in the cyberpunk universe (which this is heavily based off of) more powerful chrome is dangerous, just like too much chrome is. but also this isnt meant to be the pcs main form of progression, for a full cyberpunk world i may have to rewrite this and change things up a bit.

#4

Ok, so I get 5 free HP, with a flaw, and if I spend more, I’m also gaining more levels of the flaw?

If I just take the Augmented Flaw twice, and I don’t want to invest any of my saved HP, what kinda skill value am I looking at?

#5

Taking the flaw twice is the better option, but I’d say it depends how you do currency, my players are rich so a few augments wont be trouble, but if it was earlier in the campaign id make them do a few jobs to pay for more than one. I might make a system to upgrade your augments using other hero points though which wouldn’t add to the flaw, so maybe that clause is unnecessary in the first place and I should just make the flaw happen once per seperate augment.

#6

I’m trying to narrow in on the question here to make sure I’m misunderstanding.

It sounds like you’re asking for a mechanical cost (take a flaw) and a currency cost (spend HP/do a couple of jobs) for any Augments that cost more than 5.

I’m working on some custom Black Powder rules, and I’m planning to require that every feature adds to the currency cost AND comes with a mechanical drawback. So you can commission a gun with as many features as you want, but it’s gonna have a lot of drawbacks and it’ll be very expensive.

This is because I want guns to be on the table, but I want them to be limited. You should see them and go WOW, that’s badass! But then look at the costs and that should explain why every hero isn’t a gunner.

So that’s what I’d think about. Maybe there’s a standing promotion where the first augment is free. Or maybe you always pay in HP, but Augments always double your investment, but come with the flaw.

Regardless of where you land on the details, this is I really cool system. I always like giving players the option to bargain away their humanity for cheap power. :grin:

#7

Is this a custom campaign or is B3N34TH published elsewhere?

#8

So, not knowing C&S’s system very well, would buying the cyber give you a skill that succeeds 1/4 of the time? Could you use it to increase your defense? But then, any time you used your defense, you get a 1 in 8 chance of having an aneurism. With my puny knowledge, it looks like a very dangerous cost for not much extra power compared to just getting gear and skills, but I may be just way super wrong about that.

#9

You would have a 1 in 20 chance of needing to roll on the table, and while putting it into your defense is an option it’s probably not optimal compared to putting it somewhere important but used less frequently like a powerful ability, healing stims, a repair drone (basically all reskinned spells) or even a skill like breakfall that comes up rarely but really saves your ass when you need it. It’s basically like putting unstable on a spell but you can put it wherever you want instead. I have made a slight edit to the rule which is that you can also put your own saved hero points into an augment to power it up further if you want and you don’t have to take the flaw anymore times, only once per augment.

#10

Custom campaign, but I’ve got a lot of world info I might publish somewhere after the campaign ends.

#11

Sorry I think I didn’t reply properly (I don’t really get how to work this forum yet) but my previous post was meant for you.

#12

I got that; the forum tells me when something new has been posted in a thread I have participated in. You’re doing great! Thanks! :grinning:

What I’m getting from your reply is that the use-case you’ve imagined is really for reskinning spells, and not for gaining new skills or cyber equipment. Is that right?

#13

Well no, the point is to gice my players who are generally rolling poorly this campaign a sort of devils pact they get essentially free hero points at the cost of a flaw that can stack (we use wealth levels but I’ll let them afford up to 3 augments without working because they’re currently wealthy. Augments can be used for basically anything the player wants from a d12 gun mounted in your wrist, to a telescoping eye that gives the scout skill, hell if they spent the hero points I’d let them buy a second core ability.

#14

OK, so it’s just free hero points, bought wit a flaw, but outside a character creation? Without knowing the system very well, it’s hard for me to have a sense of the risk v. reward here; I’m pretty risk averse, so I tend toward shying away from those extra costs that might really bite hard when the chips are down.

#15

It’s no more risky than casting a spell in icrpg or Shadowdark, but for some people that is too risky either way so its prolly not for everyone. I have full faith that my players will take this bargain.