|
|
An Optional Super Soldier Experiment!
The Juicer is considered to be from the Experiment Super Power Category or in a more clear understanding, another option rather than the traditional Super Soldier. Other options will be presented later in this section specifically for the Super Soldier option. But for now we will concentrate on the Juicer Process. The powers and side effects will be noted for each of the Juicer Variants. Any character making this type of Experiment character will not need to roll for side effects or super abilities, they will be provided here in full detail. However, rolling for a sponsor and the status for that sponsor can and should be rolled for, even then specific tables have been demised to see who, what and why had to do with the character becoming a Juicer.
The Origin and where it’s at now.
The original Juicer process (now known as the Alpha Juicer) was originally created by German scientists, but the process proved to be “too experimental”, the people of Germany revolted against it. Claiming that it was just too dangerous to attempt, since when it was created so many people died in its experimentations. Its corporation that created the process fell to extreme protests, but not before selling the process to the United States Military.
American scientists got a hold of the actual schematics of the process and its “Owners Manual”, so to speak and when that happened, “Project Juicer Augmentation Enhancement Program” (a.k.a. Project: J.A.E.P.—slangly pronounced Jay-Ep) had begun. Americans quickly experimented in all the right places, at all the right times. It was tested in various ways and was actually approved to be tested on humans in the short amount of time of 6 months! However, the Government knew that it would bestow a short life span on a human and they very well informed their test subjects. So, in turn, they only took in subjects that were mentally viewed and approved by a number of different psychologists and therapists and deemed stable by all of them. Even then, the subject is asked to go over all the paper work with his or her own lawyer! With security like that the United States Supreme Court couldn’t say one word! They just simply shrugged their shoulders and watched.
The Government pays for all expenses regarding the test subjects’ health and well-being. If (and when, the government claims) the Juicer undergoes detoxification, they will pay all the hospital, physical and mental therapy bills. And as an extra bonus, they will even compensate the subjects’ immediate family, whether or not the subject is completely healthy or has died! With compensation like that not many people complain. In fact they even encourage.
The only draw back to the process (yes, besides the short life span) is that the subject undergoing the process, must be in the military and serve as term as a Special Forces agent, for what ever branch of the military they are in. For this reason, the Government made special variants of the process to accommodate the branch of the military the subject is in (hence creating the Phaeton Juicer for the Air Force, the Mega, Titan and Hyperion Juicer for the Marines and Army and the Delphi and to a lesser extent the Genetic Juicer for the Navy and Coast Guard), but usually any Juicer process can be performed on any subject in any branch of the military. The subject in question just needs to be deemed “profitable” for performing that process on them; otherwise they will get the Alpha process or the process originally proposed.
The actual process is still “under wraps”, so to speak. But the information about a Super Soldier being made and still remaining human leaked! No one really knows the extent of the information; they’ve only heard that “it makes you one of the toughest muthafukers on the planet.” And with that being said, only a handful of people even know about America buying the process 10 years ago. And like all of the things the government hides many paranoid conspiracy groups and the occasional “I was here at the right time at the right place” guy, believe the government is plotting something against them. However, people like that are never taken seriously. So many write off their claims as myth or paranoia. Still they rant and rave about other things like dimensional rifts and all. (Huh, who would really believe that? Teehee.) The only real thing known about the Juicer Process that the “general public” has heard is that they are called “Juicers” (they have no idea about the variants) and that these “Juicers” are still human. In reality no one has ever seen an actual Juicer in person. Or in the more likely case, have seen one but didn’t know they were a Juicer. In any case, Juicers are a not rare but not uncommon in the military, they are sort of in the middle.
Juicers on the Black Market
It is uncommon to encounter a Juicer that is not part of the U.S. government/military. But it does happen, frequently. Apparently the Juicer Procedure has already leaked into the hands of very powerful underground/criminal organizations. They usually offer the Juicer Procedure for a high price or a term of service to them. The volunteers that do want to be Juicers usually are never told that their life span is about to be cut by nearly 80%. They are blindly serving a powerful employer that knows in a few years they will never be a liability shortly after their term of service ends. Likewise, those scientists who have learned the steps and procedures to create Juicers are told that they are doing so for the benefit of medical purposes or other similar lie. And even those who do know why they are performing the procedures are just paid handsomely (somewhere in the neighborhood of ¼ to half of the money paid to get the process), so they really don’t care who dies, they just wanna get paid. No one knows exactly how the process got into the hands of the wrong people, but one thing is for certain. Juicers that have the process illegally won’t give up any names and usually have many side effects from the process. Indicating that those responsible for the process have not perfected it, so they’re still experimenting.
In any case, if a player wants to make a Juicer without being associated with the government or the government/ military, they will receive a process that may and in the more likely case will be flawed. The doctor performing the procedure is at -10% in addition to any other penalties he might have (the Juicer process in this manner is considered unfamiliar, doesn’t have proper skills and is also considered alien technology). This can lead to all kind of problems.
The character can also opt to get the process by buying it however, this is still risky and after performed (assuming the character didn’t die), they will be on their own when “the shit hits the fan”. When they need refills on drugs (which will be every year) they will need to purchase more from the doctor or find some one else. This can be dangerous. Especially if the character needs repairs to there bio-comp or other things related to their systems.
Education
and Background
The characters background will be limited since they are a Juicer. It will either have something to do with the military or some underground and/or criminal organization. And since coming from that line of background a special table was demised to determine the characters education according to his/her background. For each education level there will be a side note indicating just how they were connected to the Juicer Conversion and how they got it. This is only a general note that will assist in creating and tailoring a truly unique and real character. The following is a list of education levels suitable so that it was possible for the Juicer to actually get the Juicer Conversion. No matter what Education Level/Background the Juicer ends up with, the events surrounding their recovery and conversion can (and should in my opinion) be played out to add some additional flavor and background. One final note for all is that picking an education level is an option and will not affect game play (unless the player abuses this right). So, fell free to let the fantasies fly!
Education Level and General Background (Roll Percentile or Pick One):
01-20 Street Schooled: The Juicer with this background is usually connected to, if not involved with a criminal organization or similar underground/private faction. They will have probably (likely chance) served or will now serve a term for the party in order to pay for the Conversion. In another likely case, the Juicer may be the experiment of that organization and they are still “testing the waters”, on the Juicer! This will increase the chance of being flawed (10%-60%!).
Skills: Automatically gets Streetwise and Find Contraband (+20%), W.P. Knife or Auto Pistol, can select three from among Rogue/Espionage (+5%), two from among Domestic/ Technical (+5%) and they also get 8 Secondary Skills.
21-40 On the Job Training/Self Taught: In this case, the Juicers’ background is just as broad as the choice of skill programs available (any and all!). This can be pretty difficult, when one considers the fact that the character could have literally come from “any walk of life”. This can range from, training oneself to be an assassin to going to trade school to be a mechanic to being a police officer that wants to be “enhanced”. It can literally be anything. However, keep in mind that the background should make since in accordance to the skill programs selected.
Skill Programs: Select two Skill Programs from anywhere (+15%) and they will get 8 Secondary Skills also.
41-60 Military: In this case the character was probably selected to be in a special program that will experiment on the Juicer for Super Soldier purposes. But many other, possibilities are still out there. For example, the character may have been an outstanding cadet and they selected him/her to be a Juicer as a result of the characters’ outstanding patriotism/leadership/ bravery for his/her country. Use your imagination; this level of education can be very flexible.
Skill Programs: Basic Military Skill Program (+15%), plus one additional Military/Communication/Espionage Program of choice (+15%), one additional Skill Program of choice (+10%) and 8 Secondary Skills of choice.
61-95 Military Special Forces: This is probably a big percent of Juicers all over the world and most likely the least flexible. Those who fall into this education level will already be part of a Special Forces team that are all undergoing the conversion or all of them already have the conversion and the character in question just joined. This can lead to all kinds of background info regarding government/military cover-ups, scandals, black ops, etc. Go crazy with this one.
Skill Programs: Basic Military Skill Program (+25%), two additional Military/Espionage/Criminal Programs (+20%) four Modern and/or Ancient Weapon Proficiencies of choice, one additional skill program of choice (+10%) and 4 Secondary.
96-00 High School Graduate/College Student!: This is the least likely way to get a Juicer Conversion. It means that the character probably had bought the conversion on his/her own and they must now fend for themselves. This education level also has a broad potential for many different backgrounds (probably has the most potential). Imagination will play a big part in making a plausible, yet cool background for the Juicer.
In any case, this one is special. Roll on the following table to see what education level the character actually has or is going through, then consult the education level table in HU2:
01-16 High School Graduate
17-28 One year of College
29-40 Two years of College
41-52 Three years of College
53-64 Four years of College
64-78 Bachelors Degree
78-90 Masters Degree
91-00 Doctorate/PhD
About
the Sponsor
The party that sponsored the character doesn’t necessarily have to still be around or still help the character at all or they may be a nuisance to the Juicer, always trying to get the Juicer to do things for them. This can lead to all kinds of adventures related to the characters background. Depending on who gave the character the process and why, can sometimes lead the character into life or death situations or maybe the exact opposite! In which case, for game purposes and for an easy way to come up with background, yet another table was made to outline the types of party(s) the Juicer was affiliated to, that made him/her a Juicer. For each Education Level there will be a sub-table to roll on. This part is completely optional and left solely up to the GM if they want to include it as part of the process in making a Juicer.
Street Schooled: Most parties related to this category will be either a Private Organization or (in the more likely case) a Criminal Organization. But with this education level, the Juicer could have been made by anyone.
On the Job Training/Self Taught: This education level is pretty broad. So, any party could have made (and trained?), the Juicer.
Military: This one is pretty obvious. In any case, the motive behind the experiment may be different. Still that will only limit the Juicers background to “Medical Purposes” and the very obvious “Military Purposes”.
Military Specialist: Most Juicers will have come from this path. And it only has one Sponsor, for one motive. Military.
High School Graduate/College Student: This is just like “on the job training”. It will not limit the Juicer to any certain party.
Contrary to popular opinion, the Juicer process is neither painless nor instantaneous. It requires 2 surgical procedures and a period of adjustment. Some Juicers come out normal, while a small percent come out with serious problems.
Undergoing the Juicer process can take as long as two months and some Juicer variants take even longer. First, the operations for installing the bio-comp and Internal Robot Medical Surgical System (IRMSS) each take 2 to 5 (roll 1D4+1 for each) hours to implant and the patient must convalesce for at least two days (5 days average) in between the operations. Rushing the procedure increases the chance of catastrophe by 15% or 20% if both operations are performed on the same day. After the bio-comp and nano-machines are in place, the new Juicer must undergo a period of adjustment as his body is modified and enhanced by the drugs. Over the first week the Juicer will get one half of his final bonuses. Initial combat and initiative bonuses are likewise half those provided by the end of the procedure. It will take 2D4 weeks for the full benefits to manifest themselves.
A competent doctor with the proper equipment can perform the procedure (provided they know what the process is and how it works) with percent equal to that doctor’s Medical Doctor skill -10% (99% chance for the military) without ill effects. If the roll succeeds, the Juicer procedure is performed normally, with only the common dangers and side effects listed under “Dangers and Side Effects”. If the roll is not within 5% of the doctors’ skill percent, then the Juicers, begins his new life with 1D4 Juicer Psychosis (i.e. M.D. skill of 75%, and a roll of 71-75 will mean the Juicer gets the insanities). If the roll fails (over the skill percent), however, a mistake has been made! If the Juicer survives, he or she will have acquired 2D4 Juicer Psychosis’ and roll on the table:
01-30% Reduced Bonuses: Reduce one of the physical bonuses (PE, PS or PP) by half! Everything else remains the same.
31-50% Poorly calibrated bio-comp: The bio-comp system overdoses the Juicer, increasing his attributes, but greatly reducing his life span! Add 1D4 to any two physical, but reduce the characters life span by 1D4 years!
51-60% Narcolepsies: This strange phenomenon is caused by a faulty bio-comp will think circuit in charge of monitoring the Juicer’s health level. Occasionally, the bio-comp will think the Juicer is severely injured and will place the victim into a temporary healing coma! Consequently, the Juicer has a 1-5% chance of suffering Narcolepsies (sudden states of unconsciousness) for no apparent reason, every day! This chance is reduced to 1% during combat or strenuous activity. Roll at the beginning of each day; 1-5% means the Juicer will suffer an attack of Narcolepsy during the day; roll 4D6 to get the time of the day (military time; i.e. 0400-2400 hours or 4:00 am to 12:00 am) of day when the Juicer will, for no apparent reason, lapse into a coma. This period of unconsciousness will last for 2D4 minutes. A sudden impact (like being struck or attacked) has a 50% chance of snapping the Juicer out of this state.
61-75% Hyper Strength Syndrome: See the HSS table.
76-85% Metabolic Induced Voracity: See the MIV table.
86-90% Psychosis: Roll on the Random Insanity Table or the Juicer Psychosis Table.
91-97% Roll on Last Call Effects Table. The Last Call Effects will affect the Juicer from the beginning.
98-00% Near Lethal Backlash: The victim rejects the poorly administered drugs. The bio-comp needs to be removed and the patient suffers the effects of undergoing detox! All physical attributes are reduced to 8+1D4 (or the original, which ever is lower). The process can be attempted a second time, but reduce the chance of success by -10%.
Even during the first one to three years of a Juicers life, they are not exempt from side effects, possible malfunctions their bio-comps and other dangers. Power always has a price and the more powerful the Juicer is, the steeper and more lethal that price becomes. A significant percentage of Juicers are never able to lead lives unless therapy is sought out.
Among the following are the most common side effects of those who undergo the Juicer Conversion:
This condition is common among Juicers with a PS of 30 or higher or any Juicer with supernatural strength. HSS sufferers are not always able to control their strength and often end up breaking things and hurting people without meaning to. The condition comes about when the Juicer’s nervous system doesn’t develop well enough to cope with the increased strength of his body. Symptoms include clumsiness when handling fragile objects, sudden bouts of trembling, muscle spasms and uncoordinated movement. About 27% of all super strong Juicers are afflicted with this syndrome, but among Titan Juicers the chance is even greater; studies have shown that a 40% of all Titan Juicers are afflicted with this syndrome.
During character creation, the G.M. or the player may roll (at the G.M.’s discretion) to determine if a super strong Juicer suffers HSS. A roll of 1-27% (or 1-40% for Titan Juicers) means the character suffers HSS. Roll on the following table for HSS sufferers:
1-20% Tremor/Spasms: The character occasionally gets muscle spasms as his muscles start to tremble uncontrollably, causing the character to drop objects knock things down, etc. This condition is not overwhelming or paralyzing and adrenaline controls the spasms, to some degree, so combat is unaffected. They tend to occur during quiet moments. The chance and time of an episode is the same as suffering a Narcoleptic episode. Episodes last 1D4 melees, during which the Juicer is at -20% to any skill roll and will accidentally inflict 1D6 damage to anything or person in his grasp (drop, crush, bump, knock over, etc.).
21-40% Severe Tremor/Spasms: As above, but the muscle spasms are more frequent and may happen any time, even in combat! Every day there is a 15% chance the character will have an episode, roll four times per day! Time is determined like Narcolepsies. Episodes last 2D4 melee rounds and the effects are the same as above, except that Juicers are -30% to skill rolls and -4 in all combat rolls.
41-55% Clumsiness: When handling fragile objects, the character may accidentally break them or crush them between his fingers. A save vs. the Juicers PS damage bonus. So a 30 PS would mean a roll to save of 15 or higher. The only bonus that applies is the Juicers ME bonus if any. A bonus of +2 to +10 might apply if the player notes that his/her character is being very careful.
56-70% Major Clumsiness/Danger to Others: Like above, but the Juicer also sometimes hurts others when hugging someone, bumping into people or even showing affection. A bonus of plus two applies to this aspect, but may be eliminated under certain circumstances. On a failed save the victim will take 1D4 damage plus PS damage bonus. Characters with a PS or PE of 22 can withstand the damage. As well as characters with supernatural or superhuman strength. Similar powers, traits or natural abilities will also mean the character takes no damage from this accident.
71-80% Tremor/Spasms and Clumsiness: Like it says. The Juicer is blessed with both of these syndromes.
81-90% Severe Tremor/Spasms and Clumsiness: Like it says.
91-95% Tremor/Spasms and Major Clumsiness: Like it says.
96-00% Severe Tremor/Spasms and Major Clumsiness: Well, this Juicer is lucky. He is racked with the worst two of the four HSS symptoms.
This condition is common among Juicers with exceptional speed and reflexes (Spd of 80 or higher or a PP of 26 or higher). 20% of all Juicers with the exceptional speed and/or reflexes will contract Juicer Gluttony. 30% of all Hyperion Juicers will have Juicer Gluttony, regardless of attributes.
Basically, MIV is caused by the bio-comps demand on the body’s metabolism. The body now uses huge amounts of energy requiring huge amounts of calories a day. 10,000 calories a day or about five or six meals a day and that’s a minimum! The usual is about twice the above. The Juicer will seem like he is always hungry, unless he has something to eat every hour. Despite the incredible amounts of food eaten, MIV sufferers never gain weight! In fact, most are very thin (at least for a Juicer).
If they should miss a meal (consumes less than 10,000 calories) in a day, he experiences a feeling of coldness, light-headedness and weakness. Reduce all combat bonuses by –1. If the Juicer sees food, at this point he will have an urge to stop everything he is doing to grab the food to feast. A roll to save vs. hunger (12 or higher, with ME bonuses) will determine if the Juicer shook the urge. If not, then the Juicer will eat until there is no more food or the Juicer consumes enough food for a day’s meal. The save is usually necessary during combat or similar situations.
Eating less than 10,000 calories but, more than 2,000 a day severely weaken the Juicer. A cumulative penalty of -1 applies to combat rolls for each day. If a Juicer spends a day without eating anything (to a Juicer that’s less than 500 calories a day) all his bonuses and attacks per melee will be halved and the Juicer will be in pain. After a second day without food the Juicers bio-comp will slow the metabolism to save his life. If this happens half the Juicers PP and Spd and the Juicer loses his reflex bonuses, until food can be obtained. On the first sight of food the Juicer must make the usual save vs. hunger or will end up flying towards the food to get his hands on all of it. If a failed saves, then the Juicer will rush to the food and will fight and possibly kill to eat the food. There are accounts of Juicers who resorted to cannibalism, because of starvation!
Insanity is always a problem, as the Juicer cannot cope with the enhancements of his physical body. Although, some inanities are hard to differentiate form overconfidence most Juicers will develop an insanity by their third year. By the end of the first year the Juicer will have a 10% chance of developing an insanity and this increases to 15% at year two, 25% at year three, 45% by year four, 85% by year five and 100% by year six. The military has nearly perfected the process, meaning that Juicers made by the military will see that the chance of gaining and insanity drops by 15%. So, in turn, they will not have a chance of gaining an insanity until there third year and even then it is only a 5% chance. If the Juicer does not detox he will eventually become hopelessly insane, as all insanity rolls are cumulative. So a very unlucky player could end up with a sixth year Juicer with six insanities! Roll on the following table if the Juicer got an insanity:
01-10 Obsessed with death. This Juicer loves to fight and likes to kill; it gives him a rush as good as any chemical release. Some even become serial killers or mass murderers who slaughter people without hesitation, as if trying to murder as many people as they can, because they like the thrill.
11-20 Fascination with death in all its forms. The Juicer is not necessarily obsessed with killing, but with the subject of dying. The Juicer tends to examine and study all the ways a person can die (and kill), implements of death, how the human body reacts and responds to the threat of death or fear reactions, tolerance to pain, survival responses and even philosophical concepts of death, the soul, life after death and so on. It is interesting to note that the Juicer is not afraid of death and is not morbid about it, simply fascinated with it. Others may find the Juicer a bit disturbing and creepy.
21-40 Super Species Syndrome: A common symptom among Juicers is that think they are a “separate, new race” or the “next human evolution” and that non-augmented humans are inferior. They are not worthy of much, except maybe little respect and consideration. Their regard for the lives of “these people” is minimal.
41-50 Superman Syndrome: The Juicer thinks he’s better in every way than everyone else. He tends to respect only brute strength, power, ruthlessness and other Juicers. As a result, the character will accept foolish dares and risks and always underestimates his opponent or the chance of defeat/failure. If it’s any consolation, the Juicer is usually cheerful and positive.
51-55 God Syndrome: The Juicer believes he is “God” and as such, above the law, judgement and comprehension of all creatures. The least offensive are cocky, arrogant, bossy, condescending and trivialize everything that does not directly involve them (they are the center of their universe). The most extreme actually believe they are a demi god and act accordingly as directed by their alignment, so some are reasonably benevolent “gods” while others can be cruel, vengeful and malicious.
56-60 They’re out to get me: The Juicer believes that most people fear and hate him out of jealousy. So this guy believes “they” are out to get him. Usually blames all of his misfortunes on everyone else. Tends to be a loner with little friends and other Juicers being understanding people.
61-65 Ordinary laws are meant for “ordinary” men: The Juicer thinks his sense of superiority is such that he ignores laws and rules. He isn’t mean about it, nor blatant or deliberate about breaking the law, he just does not think about them and refuses to pay the consequences when they are broken.
66-70 Cocky Daredevil—“I can do anything”: This Juicer is usually friendly and cheerful, but accepts any challenge, takes stupid risks, will fight at the drop of the hat to defend his honor or the honor of friends and allies (even if they ask him not to), he brags and showboats. His antics often get him in trouble and endangers those around him.
71-80 Manic Depressive: Severe mood swings every week. One week suicidal, -10% to skills and combat bonuses are halved. Next week perfectly fine, +5% to all skills and +2 on initiative.
81-87 Hysterical aggressive reaction: The Juicer reacts in anger and violence to a particular thing or occurrence. The trigger is usually something that aggravates the character, criticisms, accusations, etc. The trigger can also be something from the Juicers past, such as witnessing a child being beaten, seeing some one attacked by a monster, etc.
In most cases, the Juicer will fly off the handle ranting and ranting like a lunatic, shoving and threatening or challenging his accuser or perpetrator of the trigger action—i.e. “How would you like it if I beat the shit out of you dick??” Shove. Shove. “Why don’t you hit me, punk? What’s wrong I’m not that little kid you hit?” If the source even slightly antagonizes, aggresses or intolerates the Juicers actions he will attack the source with full force.
88-94 Hysterical aggressive reaction to fear/phobia: Works like a phobia, except that the Juicer will react to his phobia through hysterical aggressions. For example, if the phobia is bats the Juicer will draw all weapons and attack a bat on sight, jumping over things and shoving people just destroy the bat! All the while screaming things like “Did I get it? Did I get it?” If the phobia is something like afraid of the dark the Juicer will fight and if need be kill those trying to put him in a dark place.
95-00 Jekyll and Hyde: The Juicer has powerful emotions and constantly hears voices in his head that always say things contrary to his alignment. There will be moments that the voices and/or the emotions are so strong, especially when drunk, angry or under stress, that the Juicer will respond to them. This can often be scary and horrific, seeing the Juicer be a completely different person. When returning to normal the Juicer will usually regret his actions, but can do nothing about it. An example of this is in the heat of battle or under stress, the Hyde personality will surface killing someone if the Juicers alignment is Good or showing complete mercy if the Juicers alignment is Evil.
If the Juicer does not undergo detox, he will die. No exceptions. His end can come suddenly or may even last several weeks. Sooner or later symptoms become present that indicate that the Juicer is near death. The symptoms may be mere inconveniences or might have crippling effects. This stage in a Juicers life is commonly known as “Last Call”. Last Call will occur when the Juicer is in the last year of life. Every month of the last year there is a 15% chance plus 1% per month after the first that a symptom will occur. Roll on the following table if Last Call occurs:
Last Call Symptoms Table:
01-20% Headaches: Pounding migraines plague the Juicer during the small amount of time the Juicer has left. Reduce all skills by -15% during the times of the headaches. They will also become short tempered, sometimes lashing out at the first provocation. These headaches will usually occur 1 to 6 (roll 1D6) times a day and will usually last 1 to 4 (roll 1D4) hours. The Juicer has a 60% (+5% per month) chance that they will awaken with a headache.
21-40% Memory Loss: As the Juicers starts to burn out; some sections of his brain will deteriorate. Commonly, Juicers start to forget details about their early lives, although 90% retain full memories of the last five to ten years for their lives until they die.
41-50% High Blood Pressure/Nosebleeds: As the bio-comp pushes the body well past its breaking point, many Juicers suffer high blood pressure levels, enough to kill a normal human. Nosebleeds are a common indication of this symptom and they occur usually when the Juicer is upset or tense about something. Acrobatic and Gymnastic skills are performed at -20%; they tend to make the Juicer dizzy and faint.
51-60% The Shakes: As the body is pushed beyond its limits, the Juicer develops a slight, but constant body tremor. Reduce skills that require a delicate touch by -5% and aimed shots and targeting ranged attacks are done at -1 to strike.
61-70% Reduced Healing: The body starts to reject the unnatural effects that create the Juicers healing factor. Reduce the healing factor by half, heals only twice as fast and has only a bonus of +10% to save vs. coma/death.
71-80% Muscle Cramps: Eventually the whole system that instills enhanced abilities will deteriorate the Juicers muscles, because of drug abuse. The indication for this symptom is muscle cramps. All physical skills are reduced by -5% and reduce the speed attribute by 10%.
81-00% Addictions: As the human body naturally creates immunities to drugs, chemicals, and viruses and similar that enters the human body, the dosage of drugs increase. Until it gets to the point were the Juicer is immune to a certain drug/chemical. They will start to undergo the effects of withdrawal and as a result will need a replacement chemical. The Juicer will eventually become an addict to some kind of drug, tobacco, alcohol or cigarettes.
A Juicers only chance at longevity is to attempt to cleanse his body of the chemical system and the drugs that are pumped into his body. However, this must be attempted within the first 3 years of life as a Juicer. After 3 years the success ratio is severely reduced and eventually becomes impossible. Unfortunately, those who get the conversion on the black market have no knowledge of detoxification (or in the more likely case, they do but either don’t believe they can die or don’t care). Simply because the doctors who perform the conversion don’t know of detoxification or do know of it, but don’t know how it is performed. So, those Juicers, who get the conversion via the black market, will have a great (97%) chance of dying. However, doctors (black market doctors) who even have the slightest idea of how detoxification would work, are at –75% to perform it! And that’s just to so that the Juicer will be able to roll on the “Detox Success Ratio” table. Those who are familiar with the conversion, are at –50% to perform detoxification! However, the military has only a 25% chance to perform it and they have been doing and researching it longer than anyone else!
The process of detoxification is painful, terrifying and both physically and mentally debilitating. The character will need a safe, quiet place and the support of friends and doctors to survive. The worst pains of physical withdrawal will last 1D4 weeks. During this time the character will convulse, vomit and burn with fever. The individual is completely helpless (no combat abilities, even for defense). That’s the easy part.
The next step is fighting the mental and emotional dependency. This complicated by the fact that the character is, by comparison, a mere shadow of his former self.
1. Removal of the Bio-Comp System. To free oneself from the drugs, the character must forever forsake being a Juicer! The bio-comp system must be removed (the thousand microscopic data implants can remain with no ill effects) and the drug harness destroyed. The removal of the bio-comp system is critical, because even without the drug harness, the system stimulates the body to create natural hormones and chemicals to unnaturally and ultimately deadly proportions. Surgery is necessary.
2. The Price of Drugs. Penalties!
First, all the Juicer bonuses and powers are permanently gone! The character must be effectively rebuilt and will never come close to his former life as a Juicer.
Second, reduce all physical attributes to eight regardless of bonuses from previously selected skills, then add 1D4 to each. These are the characters new physical attributes. To the ex-Juicer this is a nightmare. Reflexes and speed will seem like a snail’s and strength like a baby’s. Such is the price of drug abuse. Unless physical therapy is sought out, the character will remain this way.
Third, the character looks ten years older than he really is for every one year as a Juicer. Reduce P.B. attribute by 1D4.
Fourth, S.D.C. is reduced to 5D6. Hit Points reduced to normal.
Fifth, poor reaction time and reflexes. Remember, all the Juicer’s chemically enhanced powers no longer apply. Attacks per melee are normal as per Hand to Hand combat training and nom is -2 on initiative. Physical endurance and fatigue are also normal.
Sixth, roll on the following table for permanent side effects:
01-10 Lucked Out! No side effects.
11-30 Permanent stiffness and pain in body joints; -1 to strike, parry, dodge and roll with punch/fall/impact.
31-50 Immune system is weakened; -1 to all savings throws and -10% to save vs. coma/death.
51-70 Memory retention is poor; reduce all skills by -5%.
71-90 Dependant on some other drugs or alcohol.
91-00 Roll once on the phobia table and once on the neurosis table.
Lastly, if the detox is happening within the first or second year, the character is not quite as ravaged by the drugs and gets the following bonuses: +6D6 to S.D.C., +2 to P.S., P.P. and P.B. and +2D6 to speed attribute. Also, do not roll on the previous table for side effects.
The player must roll two out of three successes to purge the character of the drugs. The character can try again and again, as often as once per week, to see if he can shake the body’s craving for drugs until successful or gives up. The chance of success depends on how long the Juicer was a “Juiced”.
Percentile of Success: Year one: 1-89%, year two: 1-76%, year three: 1-59%, year four: 1-27%, year five: 1-9%, year six: 1%, year seven: ZERO.
A failed roll means the character is in misery and craves drugs. Roll on the following table:
01-40 Becomes addicted to other drugs or alcohol.
41-80 Depressed, despondent, racked with chills, fever and the shakes. Also terrorized by the thought that he is insignificant and a failure. Skills are all at half proficiency, attacks, combat bonuses and speed attribute are reduced by half. Tends to be moody, withdrawn and drinks heavily. This a permanent condition unless the character actively tries to shake the drugs again.
81-90 Wants to become a Juicer again, even if it means his death.
91-00 Cannot bear to live this way and commits suicide.