One of the core themes of cyberpunk is transhumanity. The struggle of defining the human condition amid the development of technology that blurs the lines between tech and flesh. These themes are ever-present throughout most landmark stories found within the genre. Unfortunately, it often feels as though some like to ignore this in favor of focusing more upon the aesthetics of cyberpunk…which is, I don’t know? It’s… unsatisfying? As much as I enjoy shiny doodads, pink mohawks and mono-wire katanas, these alone do not quite scratch the same itch that more substantive themes such as transhumanity may evoke.

With that in mind, one could imagine my disappointment with the coverage 4th edition gives to technology such as mind uploads and psych implants. Among the several pieces of mind-altering tech that Ultra Tech discusses, the book devotes about 6-7 pages worth of text to these technologies. Gurps: Transhuman Space also briefly touches on the concept of altering human minds (Py 3/15, 30), though it’s focus is more centered upon memetics and subtle manipulation, rather than directly inflicting mental traits onto people. Point being, I have always felt as though many pieces of tech could benefit from a bit more exploration into their potential uses, how they may impact the setting, and more specifically your game.

Today we’ll specifically be discussing mental implants which directly alter one’s mind with disadvantages/advantages or allow for memory alterations. For example, the ability to neatly edit memories(UT109) and imbue people with disadvantages is huge. You could cure neurological disorders, relieve people of phobias and PTSD, or mentally condition a civilian into a stone cold killer(UT217). In any dystopian future I can conceive, any authoritarian regime worth it’s salt would love to utilize such a technology to solidify it’s control over the populace. Even without state-enforced coercion, many might be reasonably pressured into undertaking such procedures for the purposes of employment. I can easily visualize an entire society that considers personalities to be wholly malleable, interchangeable things which are swapped out at a moment’s notice for the sake of convenience.

If that becomes the case, what makes one unique? What sets one apart from a crowd when everyone’s minds are essentially a pile of lego-blocks waiting to be configured in the most advantageous way possible at any given moment? We already see that people often attempt to optimize their lives around what appears to be successful in the real world. It seems reasonable to assume that if such technology is widely available, then a “meta” based around specific personalities types may begin to emerge.

However, because I am specifically talking about a dystopian cyberpunk future, there would of course be some manner of class divide which takes place here. The obvious, go-to idea would be that the wealthy would have first dibs on any shiny new piece of technology. Upper class citizens could quite literally become an army of homogenous husks who have shed their individuality in favor of flexing their wealth and status through mental cyberware. On the opposite end of the spectrum, perhaps such changes are forced upon lower class workers. It seems to be a given that certain traits lend themselves better to monotonous labor than others. I could easily envision some mega-corporation attempting to augment it’s work force with such tech to instill traits such as Sense of Duty(B153), Compulsive Behavior(B128), Easy to Read(B134) or even Killjoy (B141). Alternatively, a corporation could could utilize Cognitive Enhancement procedures to imbue workers with Single-minded for the low, low cost of $25,000, which seems rather cheap at TL10. Especially when you force the employee in question to pay for the procedure, with interest. Aside from these incredibly obvious cases, one could see this tech cropping up in just about any part of society where trust might be required.

Point being, once you begin introducing tech like this into a given setting, it becomes almost criminal to not acknowledge how it shapes the wider world around them. Social media and touch screen cellphones were released all of five minutes ago, yet very few would argue that they have had a large effect upon how we relate to one another today. These are just a few ideas off the top of my head, but one could go crazy with this type of stuff.

Mind you (heh), these are all narrative/setting implications which may not have anything to do gameplay itself…or will it?

Roleplaying within a setting with such technology prevalent may present a slew of unique challenges for players. The often under-utilized acting skill would get a lot of work for any PCs unwilling to drink the Kool-Aid of society. Extreme fanaticism may also be highly present in some authoritarian regimes, making extracting information far more difficult(B136). In settings that have moved away from incarceration-based criminal justice models, we may see various entities forcibly inflicting these procedures upon those who do live within the accepted norms of society. Imagine all of the interesting shenanigans that may ensue if a member of the party gets the Honesty disadvantage(B138) foisted upon them. That’s an entire arc onto itself, assuming the other players want to fix it. On the other hand, pacifistic PCs may elect to mete out their own neural programming upon some enemies, assuming they have the skill and gear to do so.

Such technology may also impact how security procedures are designed. If one can essentially reprogram another person’s mind, any human element of a given security system becomes a huge liability. Important CEOs and politicians may conduct regular brain scans on themselves to ensure they haven’t be compromised, VIPs may undergo specific training to resist being reprogrammed. All of this would reasonably need to be accounted for if the PCs were committed to tampering with a well connected person’s mind.

As Basic Set cautions, the GM will likely want to avoid making heavy use of anything that significantly limits the agency of players. The degree to which a GM may want to encroach upon a player’s autonomy with campaign inflicted mental disadvantages is an extremely precarious balance. Changing Times mentions simply informing players of instances where they are being mentally influenced. This may be a decent alternative here as well. If one plans to use something like psych implants on players, I would recommend disadvantages such as Paranoia and Flashbacks. I consider these ideal because they offer a decent amount of flexibility in how a player may react towards their new mental state. If you’re feeling particularly sadistic however, Non-Iconographic gets my vote for best pick. That’s the quickest way to turn a techno-mancer into a drooling cave-man.

I could gush on a bit more, but I feel as though I’ve made my point. There is a great deal of opportunity to be found within these pieces of technology, and relatively little effort is required to craft a nice setting around them.