Humanity is a Derived Stat based on EMPathy.
If you're familiar with
Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. you'll remember how that game subtracts Humanity from your character the more implants they get. The fewer Humanity points you have left, the closer you are to becoming a sociopath.
In fact, in the world of Bubblegum Crisis, the common public perception is that this is true, which is why cybernetic replacement has fallen out of favor since in last decade. The truth of the matter is that Genom propagated this myth in response to unlicensed knock-offs and third-party designs by independent makers cutting into Genom profits. Genom switched their emphasis to "natural" genetically-engineered biological replacements, which couldn't be built with street-level 3D printers.
In this game, you won't necessarily be penalized for getting cybernetics, but instead other traumatic stimuli will affect your Humanity scores, such as killing people (Boomers maybe not so much, unless your character considers artificial intelligences to count as "people"), witnessing horrific things, being tortured (or torturing others), and so on. Getting a cyberarm isn't necessarily traumatic; getting a cyberarm with a concealed gun or retractable blades in it may threaten to affect your Humanity.
There are five types of psychological trauma you can suffer:
- Violence. How you handle violence, whether inflicting it or suffering from it.
- Unnatural. Things that fall outside the status quo, beyond the human experience.
- Self. Internal conflict, especially guilt. Commit a crime, injure someone you love, lie to your best friend, and acting against your own moral convictions.
- Isolation. Being abandoned or betrayed.
- Helplessness. Your reaction to traumatic events that you can't control.
Whenever you're faced with traumatic stimuli, you'll make a WIL roll to see if you resist the psychological shock of it.
If you fail at your roll, you gain a Failed mark, and must immediately flee, freeze up, or fight (your choice). When you gain 10 Failed marks, you become afflicted by a mental illness directly related to the trauma category.
If you succeed at your roll, you gain a Hardened mark. This will make it easier for you to resist that type of trauma in the future. However, the more Hardened you become, the colder and more sociopathic you become. Every Hardened mark afflicts you with a -1 penalty to EMPathy rolls.
When you face a difficult psychological situation, you'll make a Stat check to see how your character deals with it.
Violence [(Sense + Equilibrium)]. Your instincts kick in to preserve your skin in a circumstance that is clearly unsafe. A razor-thin margin between using animal instincts to survive and succumbing to animal hysteria.
Unnatural [(Mind+Equilibrium)]. Unnatural events and entities are beyond common experience, and the only hope for putting it into a framework to which a character can relate is logic and abstract thought. Even if the reasoning turns out to be mistaken, it's better than nothing.
Self [(Command + Equilibrium)]. The same force of belief that bends others to your will can help you stat the course even when you no longer recognize yourself.
Helplessness [Empathy + Equilibrium)]. Just as compassion for others allows you to relate and forge connections, understanding your own needs and trials can maintain hope, keep you from shutting down in despair, and keep you from turning into a ruthless automaton.
Recovering Humanity
You can recover lost Humanity points by engaging in therapeutic activities. This can mean actual therapy, which is the most potent way to recover points, but other activities can also help, depending upon the nature of your character's psychological trauma.
Violence: Therapy,
Unnatural: Therapy, doing "normal" things, religious observations,
Self: Doing charity work, religious observations, performing
Isolation: Socializing with friends, going on a date, spending time with loved ones
Helplessness: Completing mission objectives, rescuing people
[Medication also helps. So long as your character is currently on medication, you gain a bonus to your Humanity. However, if you go off your meds, you lose the bonus (and may have withdrawal symptoms).]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:20, Thu 28 June 2018.
