Rules : Empathy

Maximum Empathy

Under the current rules in Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0, characters with high Empathy are the ones that end up with lots of cyberware. This is wrong. Nice people do not become cybersoldiers. A cold-blooded killer with low Empathy is more likely to adjust to cyberware. Since he has little humanity to start with, he does not care if he is more machine than man. A high Empathy character, on the other hand, can easily be traumatized by cyberware.

All characters hava a Maximum Empathy limit:

Max Empathy = 10 - Humanity Loss/10. Round fractions up.

If actual Empathy is lower than Maximum Empathy, there is no effect. If not, Empathy is reduced to the maximum value. As you can see, character's with low starting Empathy scores can have more cyberware before borging out.

Example: Deathskull is the enforcer for Evil Iron, a Satanic boostergang. He starts out with an Empathy of 3. After a few upgrades, he has full body plating, cyberlegs with hydralic rams and a Husqvarna Chainripp in his left arm. Total Humanity Loss for this package is 68. This means that his maximum empathy is 4 [10 - 68/10 = 3.2, rounded up to 4]. No effect. Cool! Deathskull can (and will) get more cyberware before borging out.

Replacement Cybernetics

Sane people do not cut of a perfectly functional meat arm just to replace it with metal. A person is more likely to adjust to cyberware if he has lost his meat limb first.

Game effect: If a character received a critical wound, the limb is effectively useless and must be amputated. In this case, Humanity Loss for the replacement part is halved. Therapy can reduce Humanity Loss further.