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[Victoria Valadeus]

So in an effort to roleplay out my chosen ancestry (which I took because I misunderstood the description) I thought I'd have Victoria undergo some cybernetic enhancements. Having recently finished reading Neuromancer, I thought I'd turn Victoria into a razorgirl in imitation of Molly Millions to help cement her role as the close-quarters combatant to Raze's crack shot. So, here's what I was thinking of doing:

Her sensory input, metabolism and reflexes are also artificially heightened by means of electronic implants and exotic forms of advanced surgeries and other medical procedures. Molly also sports razor-sharp retractable claws underneath her fingernails: ten double-edged blades four centimeters in length.

I'm forgoing Molly's inset lens implants, but other than that, pretty much as above.

So, what I'm asking of all of you fine folks is to help me out a bit:

1. I'm trying to go for a speed over strength style of close-quarters combat. What implants would help with that?

2. I haven't the foggiest idea how to RP the surgeries and post-op personal training and conditioning. Any suggestions?

[Seriphyn]

From "All Tomorrow's Bodies"...

"You know that Skids has a quickdraw implant," he said.

Stuff exists. I imagine just make it up.

[Z.Sinraali]

To infringe Catalyst Game Labs copyright a bit, here are a few items you might consider:

• Enhanced Articulation: A number of procedures like joint-surface coating, relubrication, and tendon and ligament augmentation lead to more fluid muscle and joint action.
• Reaction Enhancers: By replacing part of the spinal column with superconducting material, a character’s reaction time can be increased.
• Wired Reflexes: This highly invasive operation implants a multitude of neural boosters and adrenalin stimulators in strategic locations all over the body, catapulting the patient into a whole new world where everything around her seems to move in slow motion.
• Move-by-Wire System: Move-by-wire-systems are the cutting-edge in motion control and reaction augmentation. They operate by putting the user’s body in a constant state of seizure, so that it wishes to move in all directions simultaneously. An implanted expert system monitors the seizure and counteracts
  its effects until the user wishes to act. At that point, it channels the effects of the seizure along the desired path of motion, enabling the user to act with amazing speed and move with unnatural smoothness. The move-by-wire-system is based on similar systems used in aircraft, drone, and vehicle control and has proven to be highly effective—if sometimes debilitating to biological subjects. Move-by-wire users frequently suffer from slight, but uncontrollable, muscle tremors in certain muscle
  groups when they are at rest, mostly due to errors in the system’s seizure compensation.
• Smart Articulation: This system modifies the body’s skeletal joints, replacing connective tissue with high-tensile smart materials, neural contact maps, and shock-gel sacs. The resulting combination allows the recipient to set his or her own skeletal rigidity.
• Dermal Plating: Dermal plating consists of hard plastic and metal fiber plates bonded to the user’s skin. The plates are clearly visible and can be stylized for surface texture and color.
• Orthoskin: Weaves an energy-diffusing material just beneath the skin provides the equivalent of personal armor, while being virtually indistinguishable from unaugmented skin.
• Adrenaline Pump: This small, muscular sac is implanted in the lower abdominal cavity and connected to each of the two suprarenal glands. When dormant, the pump serves as a reservoir for adrenaline and noradrenaline. When activated, the sac contracts, sending a surge of concentrates into
  the bloodstream.
• Suprathyroid Gland: Placed on top of an individual’s existing thyroid gland, the suprathyroid gland supersedes the metabolic functions of the thyroid, optimizing catabolism and anabolism. The altered metabolism produces more energy and effectively supercharges the recipient.
• Symbiotes: These tailored microorganisms introduced into the user’s bloodstream greatly enhance its regenerative functions. To fuel the symbiote activity, the character must increase her consumption of food and drink.
• Synthacardium: Artificially enhanced myocardium enables the heart to perform at higher levels.
• Synaptic Booster: With this bioware, the nerve cells making up the spinal cord are encouraged to replicate and lengthen, providing a wider “datapath” for the transmission of impulses and decreasing the amount of time required for the signal to traverse the distance.

You might also consider nanite colonies or genehacks in addition to or as a substitute for some hard mechanical or biological implants. Post-implantation process will probably involve as much tweaking of the hardware specs as anything else.

(i'm in viva's thread theftin ur ideas kyber)

[Victoria Valadeus]

From "All Tomorrow's Bodies"...

"You know that Skids has a quickdraw implant," he said.

Stuff exists. I imagine just make it up.

brb, reading

[Desiderya]

Some things have been quoted by Z.Sinraali already. I'd encourage trying to get hold of the Augmentation sourcebook for Shadowrun. In case you don't know someone who owns one you could always sneak into a local shop and browse through it to get some inspiration.
Anyway, there's much fun to be had with sense enhancements, too,  like increases of the visual spectrum (IR for example), vision enhancements, integrated recording devices, echolocation.

[Victoria Stecker]

One thing to consider is why you would do this. While the technology for it probably exists, Victoria is a capsuleer. You can afford the best personal security money can buy. You already fly some of the most destructive weapons known to man. As a capsuleer, you're probably too valuable for anyone to want to use you as a front-line soldier. Unless you plan to get into deadly hand-to-hand combat on a regular basis, it seems a little excessive.

Note that it is a heinous acto of hypocrisy for me to say that, but Stecker's a slightly different case. Aaaanyways...

It's a big cluster, the technology exists, have fun. Just make sure you can come up with a justification for it when someone asks what the point is. IC, that is. OOC, "because it's shiny" is a good enough answer for anything.

[Desiderya]

I agree to some extent. You certainly shouldn't overdo it.
In the end it's the same question: Why carry a gun, knife, you name it.
There are three things to consider: Capsuleers are
a) Insanely wealthy,
b) "optimized for/attuned to" and already equipped with a variety of cybernetics
c) probably a little insane.
The reason why you'd do such a thing may vary. Ancestry and/or pre-capsuleer background, paranoia, trying to be the meanest dog in the cluster, megalomania...

And there are lots of cosmetic, social or useful non-combat augmentations imaginable as well.

[Kybernetes Moros]

I agree in that there'd need to be a decent reason for a capsuleer, of all people, to get combat-oriented  stuff installed (at least, from an IC standpoint). Most of my past consideration of cybernetics has either been in the context of dem Sansherz or non-combative roles, though, which don't seem so relevant here. One possibility would be replacing entire organs with stronger / more efficient / whatever cybernetic replacements, though: the artificial hearts of today taken up to eleven, say.

Ze'ev, being the rogue and rapscallion he is, stole most of my shinier ideas as though they were a cloud of innocent cytoserocin, however.  

The surgeries themselves, I'd largely handwave, if only because I've no real idea how they'd be handled, particularly for any more extensive procedures. The post-op stuff, you could probably lift from comparable RL operations or common sense; as a random example, something altering the legs would lead to not being able to walk properly for x period of time. vOv

[IzzyChan]

If you need ideas I'd recommend reading the manga called "Battle Angel Alita."

[Gottii]

I wrote a blog story trying to touch on what it might feel like to have military cybernetics within you.  And yes i ripped off many of the same sources as Z. 

check it out if you would like:  http://gottiieve.blogspot.com/

[BloodBird]

If you need ideas I'd recommend reading the manga called "Battle Angel Alita."

Aaaah, Izzy... you don't spread the info about one's treasure-trove with so little  care...

Oooops...

Wait, I can fix this... Oh dear...

Anyhow. With the sillyness out of the way, if you read it and like it, go BUY IT. I'd go buy it - again - if I had a source that would get me my books in hard-copy format.

Also, for the love of all holy things, read the first 9 books THEN the Last Order follow-up.

[Nmaro Makari]

To the semi-naysayers in the audience, I think you should probably bear in mind some recent developments.

Wether we like it or not, Incarna is the way things are going.

We WILL be turfed out of our pods as a matter of routine.

Seeing people face to face in the dark corners of planets and stations IS NOW IMPORTANT.

For these reasons, the argument of "you dont need it" is completely nullified.

Bear in mind that many capsuleers already frequent the "bars" of New Eden, such as the Last Gate or the Skyhook, and they act IC as if they were there in person.

[Kybernetes Moros]

FTR, my sometimes-objection to the issue of capsuleers getting heavily augmented for (or even trained in) personal combat is that they're a class of ultra-wealthy nutcases: I'd have thought it much more sensible for them to invest an infinitesimal portion of their fortune in personal security than it would be to spend however long learning how to punch people.

[Nmaro Makari]

FTR, my sometimes-objection to the issue of capsuleers getting heavily augmented for (or even trained in) personal combat is that they're a class of ultra-wealthy nutcases: I'd have thought it much more sensible for them to invest an infinitesimal portion of their fortune in personal security than it would be to spend however long learning how to punch people.

Again, the realities of PF and gameplay means this is not really meaning much. Though you do have a point. Although I would say this new shady-sneaky-darkdealy-covert-stabby ethos that CCP seems to be going for would mean that private security when you want to handle something personally but covertly would just be making a target of yourself.

[Victoria Valadeus]

This seemed to be the most obvious way to RP being a Cyberknight. I'm afraid I haven't really seen a lot of extra Cyberknight resources to give me some clue as to what to do.

I picked those particular implants because I thought they were cool, and I like the idea of being armed and dangerous without appearing to be so.

I have an additional RP motivation in that Victoria has seen a capsuleer friend beaten and maimed and doesn't want to see that happen again to her or people she cares about.