HONEST JOHN'S
Honest John's is a chain of cheap cyberware stores that cater
to the lowest common denominator of "cyberpunks" and
wanna-be shadowrunners. Want to know where people get horn implants
and Kid Stealth style legs at prices anyone can afford? Look no
further.
The Emporium is always located in a rundown part of the town and can be easily located by it's gaudy exterior (think Frys Electronics on acid) and of course a 500% size replica of Honest John Himself (usually sprayed with gang graffiti for that down-home look)
Inside there will be more wierd cybercrap then you can shake a stick at. Want a cyberleg coated with fake snakeskin and rhinestone toenails? Check aisle two, they're on sale! Looking for that Gurth's Do-It-Yourself Cybermancy kit? The one with the 'real life' spell components? Those are in the kids section along with the "Little Dvixen's First Improvised Explosives Kit".
Good luck trying to find even standard grade cyberware here though! Honest John has suppliers in several of the Chinese fiefdoms as well as scattered knock-off factories in California and Quebec (you know those French can't make anything that works). This sweatshop construction leaves much to be desired of course so to reflect that fact we introduce new negative quality grades! Yes that's right folks, now even the lowliest gutterpunk can get him some Wired Reflexes...well, if the implantation does not kill him!
So without further ado!
CHEAPWARE ("Made in Taiwan")
This is the opposite of Alphaware. Cheapware may be new but it's
hard to tell. Fiddly bits such as micromotors are replaced by
larger motors or old style neo-nitinol myomer bundles. Motor control
is limited at best and physical sensations are either too jacked
up in certain areas or totally dead to sensory information.
As a plus-side they tend to be simple to repair and you could even rip up some old appliances to do some on-the-spot maintenance.
Unlike alphaware various components of a cheapware system do not need to be cheapware as well. However cheapware may not be combined with any betagrade and above systems.
BADWARE ("Made in China")
You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point.
This is usually old cyber cobbled together from several different
manufacturers as well as some bailing twine and bubblegum holding
some of the parts together. The unit is usually at least spraypainted
a single color but that is not always the case.
Feedback on these units is usually done through cheap processors with the gain cranked WAY up so you feel anything at all. Because of this apply an effect similar to "Jack Itch" while the cyberware is active, but the effect takes twice as long for target number increases.
Badware is actually hard to repair because in most cases the parts are no longer produced, or it is a cludge that noone can fix easily.
Badware cannot be combined with any other grade except Frogware.
FROGWARE ("Made in France")
The lowest of the low. Take the castoffs from the trash outside
the reputable cyberware manufacturers, a little tinkering with
some 1990s era ciruit boards and feedback units that failed quality
control and you have Frogware!
Frogware tends to be incredibly bad tempered and can even be painful to operate. Apply the full "jack itch" Flaw while frogware cyberware is active. Turning off frogware often involves hitting it with a blunt object until it stops sparking or starts on fire though.
On the plus side frogware is insanely cheap and common, you might even be able to get a unit free if you check the trash! Heck a character with some Electronics (B/R) and associated skills can whip up his own frogware.
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| Cheapware | +20% (x1.2) | .6 | -2/x .8 |
| Badware | +40%(x1.4) | .4 | -4/x .5 |
| Frogware | +60%(x1.6) | .2 | -4/x .4 |
Cheapware
All cyberware with the exception of BattleTac, Cranial Cyberdecks,
Tactical Computer, and Smartlink-2 can be bought as Cheapware.
Cheapware synthetic limbs suffer a -2 Concealability. You may never purchase over 5 levels of any rating enhancement for a cheapware limb (ie Quickness and Strength).
Cheapware starts with 1D6/2 permanent Stress Points. Cheapware has a -1 modifier on the Surgery Table (p. 146 M&M).
Badware
As for cheapware but no Riggerware, Bone Lacing or synthetic limbs.
You may not purchase over 3 levels of any enhancement for a badware
limb.
Badware starts with 1D6 permanent Stress Points. Badware has a -2 modifier on the Surgery Table. ANY negative option from implantation results in Scarring in addition to any other effect.
The Jack Itch effect does not apply to reaction enhancers, but double all (even MBW) other negative modifiers from this type of cyberware.
Badware requires maintenance every 6 months. Badware only leaves an Essence Hole of 50% of its implanted cost. The other 50% may never be recovered by any means.
Frogware
As for badware, but may not purchase Move-By-Wire or ANY
system past level 2, including limb enhancements. No encephalon
or internal GPS.
Frogware starts with 1D6+1 permanent stress points and requires maintenance once a month. Implantation is at -4 and always results in at least Scarring. The target number for the Scar test is also increased by +2.
Jack Itch does not apply to reaction enhancers but double all other negative modifier for that type of cyberware. Frogware only leaves an "Essence Hole" of 25% of it's original cost if removed. The other 75% percent may never be recovered by any means.