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EMP and the Cyberpunk
The Techie - A treatise
When I do get to play, I tend to play Techies, simply because I fancy myself as one in real life. As such, I have noticed that there is a lack of real use for a Techie in the CP 2020 rules as published. The Solo has his Combat Sense, the Fixer has Streetdeal, but the Techie only has Jury Rig. Basically, the only time he becomes useful is when you only need something to last for a short period of time. All you need is for everyone in the party to have a tech skill of some sort and you are covered.
Absolute crap.
The Techie specializes in technology the same way a Solo specializes in combat, and should therefore get some kind of bonus for spending all that time sucking solder fumes. Here's what I did to cover this flaw:
If you are actually Jury Rigging something, add your Jury Rig + (appropriate skill) + 1D10 vs. (difficulty) For any other tech roll, add 1/2 of your Jury Rig skill to the roll, even though it is a permanent repair/alteration. This reflects the specialization of the Techie; this is what they do every day of their lives, so they will have a much greater knowledge base to draw from than someone who can just do the math.
This will also affect the speed at which the task is accomplished - the Nomad with Electronics skill can figure out that they will need several small components to affect the repair and will hop on the bike headed for Radio Shack to get the stuff. The Techie, being the packrat we tend to be, will probably have those parts in a jumpsuit pocket, along with solder and a butane solder iron. If the repairs are taking place in the Techie's own shop or garage, the chances of the parts being on hand are directly proportional to the Tech's skill level: roll 1D10, if the result is under your Jury Rig level , then the parts are handy. They may not be brand new parts, since Techies tend to keep all the broken devices in the hopes of salvaging parts from them in the future, but they will work.
EMP, or Electro-Magnetic Pulse, is a burst of electrical energy that can be generated a number of ways. (A nuclear blast generates EMP, for example). Since the pulse travels as a wavefront, it will generate current as it passes through wiring. While this won't do much to a person except give them a mild tingle, this can really wreak havoc on unshielded electronics. Your car (if running) will die, your computer may crash, and your cyberware may fry.
Cyberware gets its control impulses from the body's nerve network, and these are usually amplified for use by the microcontrollers in the 'ware. That part of the system is usually ok, as are myomar musculatures. Those limbs that use hydraulic rams, popup guns and other implanted cyberweapons (excepting wolvers) will have storage batteries and 5 to 12 volt circuits that are susceptible to EMP.
Neural processors, due to the extensive network of wiring, are highly susceptible to EMP. Even more so if you use reflex boosters and interface plugs mounted away from the head (such as wrist sockets).
This can be very bad for the average, unshielded 'punk who gets nailed by an EMP grenade. Damage can range from a few minutes spent twitching on the ground to permanent brain damage, depending on the blast and amount of augmentation in your braincase. Your myomar cyberarm may twitch a bit, but there's a real possibility of that Minami 10 in your forearm suddenly burning off all of its ammo through your hand. Or your Russian hydraulic arm may start to twitch, causing one-half punching damage to the owner (roll 1d6 for location, re-roll affected arm locations).
These systems will, about half the time, recover from the EMP without doing more than switching them off and rebooting. Other more delicate systems may be fried and require replacement. For unshielded neural processors, this may mean that the character has suffered permanent damage to the nervous system resulting in a loss of 1/2d6 REF points. Since the nervous system is the one part you cannot replace, the only chance you have of repairing this damage is going full 'borg, without a lifepod.
Now for the good news: it is possible to shield your electronics. Those who received their implants from the military will most likely (75%) have this done as standard equipment. For those that got it on the street, figure an increase of 40% in price to shield it before install or 70% of price to shield it after the install.
Might as well call this the Rant page, although I will try to restrain myself from going off on too many tangents. Here you will find articles I wrote in response to questions or discussions on the rec.games.frp.cyber news group.