Humanity is known for augmenting and modifying itself, both for practical reasons (such as laser eye surgery and dental reconstruction) as well as for purely aesthetic ones (like tattoos, piercings and scarification). And in the sci fi future, whether it takes place among the stars, or in the neon-lit concrete gutters of megacities, that tendency to alter what we are is often even more pronounced.
Whether your game has you investigating strange happenings onboard orbital space stations, skulking through the glowing ghettos of a cyberpunk dystopia or heading out to the rim worlds to track down wanted targets, it’s likely you’re going to come across all kinds of body modifications and upgrades both cybernetic and bio-engineered. The following examples can be used purely for flavor, or as game rewards as you see fit. And while you can give them to your player characters, you can also use them as inspiration for the antagonists they’ll have to deal with!
To use the list, either roll d100 for a random result or select appropriate ones manually.
Here are some sample results:
42. Predator’s Array: An implant that connects the mouth to the nose via a dilating, artificial passage, the machinery of this implant mimics the vomeronasal cavity and scent glands found in cats. An implant series often utilized by bounty hunters, survivalists and trackers of all sorts, this augment lets one track a unique scent across a crowded room, detect trace changes in the body of a target that can act as a lie detector test or even smell the chem traces of drugs or poisons slipped into food or drink. While a Predator’s Array isn’t as common as gene-splicing augmentations, those who do boast this mod set are typically not individuals to be trifled with.
43. Thermo Crank: Regulating your body temperature is a challenge for humans, and we’ve mostly relied on artificial means like clothes, houses and portable heating devices to make sure that we stay warm or cool. However, there have been steps in the field of biology that have shown there are certain people who can regulate their own core temperature, allowing them to exist comfortably in hot zones, or to ignore blasts of frigid temperatures with very little in the way of discomfort or damage one would expect. The Thermo Crank allows one to access their own biological systems, ensuring that one can exist comfortably in a variety of different environments. There is a safety range, of course, but within those parameters one can easily alter themselves to fit whatever climate they find themselves in.
44. Glow Rods: A bizarre mod that’s become something of a fad in recent years, Glow Rods allow people to become artificially bio-luminescent. The color and intensity of one’s glowing can be preset, and some models even allow one to maintain particular patterns in their skin. This mod was originally made infamous by gangs looking to camouflage their faces from identification software with shifting patterns of light and color, but Glow Rods have turned up in resistance movements and protest groups as well. And as with anything born in the streets, it was eventually co-opted, and turned into an accessory for the wealthy and the powerful.
Released: 20th May 2023 Pages: 22
PDF ($1.99): DriveThruRPG
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