Mental Body Modifications

Enhancement

Mental Augmentation (4/8 XP): The character gains +1 to a mental attribute. Like a PSE boost, these affect all mundane uses but do not improve the effects of quantum powers, and do not increase the cost of the attribute. A character may not increase any attribute by more than +5. It costs 4 XP to improve Perception by 1, or 8 XP to improve Wits or Intelligence.

Sensory

Acute (Sense) (2/4 XP): A character with Acute (Sense) at the 2 XP level gains +1d to all Perception rolls based on that sense. The 4 XP level of Acute (Sense) grants +2d to all Perception rolls based on that sense.

Alternate Sensory Mode (5 XP): Each time this is purchased, a character gains an alternate sense, such as lateral line sense (the ability to sense the electromagnetic fields of others), echolocation, infrared vision, and so on. Some examples are listed below. Besides for their special features, an applicable alternate sense provides additional sensory data (and a +1d to Perception rolls when the sense is applicable in addition to one of the normal five), and may allow a character to ignore difficulty increases in certain circumstances, as well as giving additional options to gain sensory data.

Echolocation: Character may navigate through the world without sight by using echolocation, negating optical stealth.

Lateral Line: Allows a character to make Perception + Awareness rolls to sense neural activity at a range of 10m (100m in water).

Thermal Vision: Character may sense heat and cold. +2d circumstantial bonus to detect hot things on a cool background or vice versa.

UV Vision: Character may see in UV spectrum. Often used to find UV-fluorescent materials or other tools.

High-Mag Vision: Reduces the difficulty of ranged attacks at Medium/Long/Extreme range by 1. Up to x10 magnification.

Increased Peripheral Vision: Gives the character 360 degree peripheral vision, adding +1 automatic success to detect surprise attacks.

Motion Tracker: +1 success on rolls made to detect any moving objects within 30m.

Radar: Character has millimetric-wave radar, allowing sensing through wood and thin materials but a reduction in image resolution (no ability to discern fine details).

Rangefinder (4 XP): The character can precisely judge distances and velocities, reducing the difficulty of all ranged attacks by 1 at Medium/Long/Extreme range. Under certain circumstances, this difficulty reduction may apply to other abilities, such as Pilot, Drive, or Athletics.

Improved Kinesthesia (6 XP): The character's kinesthetic senses are precisely tuned to give them near-perfect balance, adding an automatic success to all non-dodge Athletics rolls based on movement or precise positioning. The character also can confidently move at full speed in even extremely hostile terrain (such as ice, or a tightrope) without a roll.

Exotic Sensory Mode (8 XP): A character with this modification has exotic sensory modes covering multiple spectra, which are specialized to assist him in a specific task.

Electromagnetic Field: +1 success to rolls made to detect powered-up electronics. Character can sense all powered electronics and powerlines within 100 meters.

LANSA: A successful Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty +9 - target's [Quantum + Taint]) detects a Nova. Range is 30 meters.

Lifesigns: +1 success on rolls made to detect living beings. +1d to Medicine rolls.

Materials Analysis: Analyzes chemical composition and makeup by touch, smell, or taste. +1 automatic success to all Science(Chemistry) rolls to identify substances.

Terahertz Radiation: Character may see through thin non-metallic walls and detect cybernetic implantations or other metal objects in living beings. Range of 50 meters.

Weakpoints: -1 to enemy soak for aimed shots, +1d to maintenance rolls.

Autonomy

Daemon (4 XP): The character has a nonsentient but autonomous subroutine running in her mind, that she can assign to one of various duties while she does something else-including sleeping. Common uses for a Daemon are alerting a character to ambush, tidying up the house while in REM sleep, or other relatively simple tasks. Daemons have all of the character's physical abilities, but none of the character's mental or social abilities, and are considered to have a Charisma and Manipulation of 0 and an Intelligence of 1.

Bifurcated Mind (6 XP): The character can sleep while aware of her surroundings, owing to a modification allowing her to shut half of her brain off like a dolphin when sleeping. While "asleep", a character is considered to have half (round up) his mental Attributes and Mega-Attributes, and all actions are at +1 difficulty due to general lethargy.

Sleepless (9 XP): The character does not sleep and does not need to sleep. This is a dehumanizing, but incredibly powerful, feature that can greatly increase productivity. Sleepless characters gain 1 WP every 28 hour cycle rather than 1 WP with a good night's sleep.

Speed

Multithreaded (12 XP): The character has a multithreaded thought process. The character adds 1 automatic success to resist mind control or any other form of mental influence. In addition, the character counts as an additional assistant to himself for most mental purposes. Finally, this enhancement reduces multiple action penalties by 1, and allows the character to maintain a Concentration power without having to concentrate.

Clock Speed Improvement (4 XP): The character's thinking speed is increased, reducing multiple action penalties by 1. This Enhancement may be purchased (Wits/2) times, rounded up.

Cognitive Overclocking (10 XP): The character can, at the cost of 1 willpower, overclock his mental processes. When activated for an action the character gains +5 Initiative for that round and an additional action (which, like all extra actions, may not be split). The extra action is taken at half the character's normal initiative.

Reactions

Neural Acceleration (2 XP): Synthetic fast-transmitting neurons, electro-optical bypass shunts, or some other method of increasing reaction speed have improved the character's ability to react to circumstances, adding +1 to initiative. The character may buy as many iterations of this augmentation as his (Wits * 2).

Ambidexterity (2 XP): The character no longer has a dominant side period, reducing all multiple action penalties by 1 as long as attacks are being made with two weapons. This is identical to the Ambidextrous merit and does not stack.

Fluidity (4 XP): The character's increased thought speed allows him to "carry through" unnecessary actions and change them into relevant actions. If a character's actions are invalidated, the character may alter them with no penalties. The character also no longer must spend/roll Willpower to abort to a defensive action.

Physical Optimization (16 XP): The character's nervous system is altered with additional onsite processing ability, greatly improving the ability of the character to make use of his physical attributes. These optimization and processing nodes are implantable, but several mega-Intelligent Novas have had greatly improved per-neuron processing as a side effect of their intellect enhancement. By continuously optimizing muscle contraction, synchronization, circulation, and breathing, a character with this body modification adds +1 to all physical attributes.

Interface

Implant Computer (8 XP): An implant computer adds 1 automatic success to any mathematics or computer intrusion/programming rolls, as well as providing a character perfect time sense and eidetic memory. Implant computers have their own wireless I/O connections for peripheral interface.

Radio Implant (1/2 XP): The character has an internal 2-way radio with 10km range on a clear plain with no interference that has cell phone and wireless connection functionality. The advanced version (2 XP) provides video send/receive support, as well as a 50km range.

Nav Implant (2 XP): The character is implanted with a combination of GPS tracker, inertial navigation system, and compass, adding +1 success to any Survival rolls made to navigate difficult terrain.

Skill Implant (1/2/4/6 XP): The character is implanted with an artificial knowledge of a ability (physical, mental, or social). A skill implant requires 1 willpower to use during a scene or interval (the feeling of being puppeted is extremely disconcerting). A skill implant costs 1 XP for an ability at rating 1, 2 XP for an ability at rating 2, 4 XP for an ability at rating 3, and 6 XP for an ability at rating 4.

Smartlink (6 XP): A character with this body modification can link himself or herself to willing electronically-controlled systems. Any machine with no actual security can be considered automatically willing, When linked, the character reduces the difficulty of all rolls related to the equipment by 1, and adds +1d to his dice pool total. Purchasing this body modification allows the character to interface with one category of system corresponding to a single Ability. Multiple purchases of Smartlink allow a character to interface with a broader range of systems.

Defensive

Encryption (4 XP): The character's memory is partially encrypted. This adds +1 difficulty to any attempt to read the character's mind via telepathy or similar powers.

Trauma Tolerance (4 XP): Modifications made to the brainstem have altered the character's autonomous functions to better compensate for severe injury. Any attempts to stabilize the character when dying are at half difficulty (round down), the character takes twice as long to actually die (doubling the time intervals to resuscitate the character), and the character adds +1 to Stamina for the purposes of resisting Dazing or Stun.

Pain Editor (4 XP): The character has the ability to ignore pain, reducing all wound penalties by -1. At the end of a scene where the pain editor was used, the character takes 1 unsoakable level of damage, which is bashing if the character has only taken bashing damage, or lethal if the character has taken lethal or aggravated damage.

Sensory Shielding/Cutoffs (2 XP): The character has greatly reduced vulnerability to having her senses overloaded, adding 1 automatic success to any attempts to resist attacks that target the senses such as Strobe or flashbang grenades. This enhancement may be repurchased up to two times, each repurchase adding an additional automatic success to resistance rolls.

Firewall (6 XP): The character has specialized anti-intrusion components that interface with all computer systems in his body, including the brain itself. These firewalls protect against any unwanted access, adding +1 difficulty to all attempts to take control of the character or read his mind against his will, such as cyberkinesis, domination, telepathy, or other such abilities.

Error-Correction (6 XP): Systems intended to ensure proper brain functionality have been integrated into the character, adding 1 automatic success to resist mind-affecting powers, and -1 difficulty to resist the effects of mental disorders.