Peg Legs, hooks, and other non-robotic prothetics.

[Captain Gecko]

Currently, all prothetic limbs are robotics. That makes them all, I assume rather expensive, even the unbranded ones. I think it should make sense to have non-robotic options as far as prothetic limbs go, it could most likely fit characters that would somehow not want robotic limbs, would not have the funds to choose robotic limbs over cheaper options, and do not have the will nor the ability to get Dionae nymphs as an option. Thus I propose non-robotic limb options! These would be cheaper options, generally with drawbacks, though some would be craftable in rounds (helps when you need something quick and the Robotician isn't there.)

Here's what I have in mind so far:

- Non-robotic/mechanical prothetics:

- For legs, feet, arms and/or hands.

- Your standard non-robotic prothetic. It's purely mechanical, which means that it should not be knocked out by EMPs. Perhaps they could be made less effective than normal prosthetics to balance them however, perhaps just making them more fragile?

- Running/Blade prothetics:

- For legs AND feet.

- Similar to the previous ones, just a different look.

- Peg leg:

- For feet.

- An actual peg leg. It should slow down your walk speed. Also, it should be craftable! With just wood planks, steel sheets, and other materials... Plastic? Minable materials (phoron peg leg anyone???) and so on. Because it's a bit goofy, and unrealistic to barge at work with this, these would not be part of the prothetic selection in the character setup menu, the only way to get them would be through crafting.

- Hook hand:

- For hands.

- An hook for your hands, yarrr! Renders your hand basically useless. You can no longer grab, carry, hold things in your hand, and so on. You do get to dish out some bonus slashing damages on attacks, though, much like a Unathi/Tajara's claws. Just like the peg legs, the only way to get them would be through crafting, you cannot spawn directly with these to avoid having John MacHook, Assistant (NT) spawn in every games to do a little bit of trolling.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Captain Gecko

[greenjoe]

maybe non-robotic prosthetics would be freely attachable/removeable, since rather then being grafted on, they're literally just strapped on/slotted over a stump

[DatSamTho]

That sounds like a good idea. Though I think that characters running around with peg legs and hook hands is a bit silly, and shouldn't be something selectable in the loadout, and rather a temporary in-round thing, or something for antags to mess around with.

Also I feel that non-robotic leg/arm prosthetics should have some drawbacks, as having them be not be disabled by EMPs just makes them a straight upgrade from robotic ones. I think that having them be *slightly* worse would be a good idea, e.g. having the legs be a bit slower (prosthetic legs are not optimised for running, prosthetic running blades are not optimised for walking, but I don't think you can change the walk speed individually for walking/running.) I'm unsure what the downside for non-robotic arms could be though, first thing that comes to mind, is not being able to operate complex things with that arm, but I don't think that's mechanically possible.

Edited October 1, 2023 by DatSamTho

[Flpfs]

I like the idea and find it cool.

It should be limited to offstations, antags, could be made manually if an emergency requires it (no robotics knowledge) but people should not be able to spawn with them.

This is just my two cents, though.

[ChevyChevron]

Pirate style peg legs/hook hands should probably be limited to making them in a round or for antagonists. Modern style hook hands (with grasping action!) and prosthetic legs/feet should be available. Always thought it was kinda weird they weren't.

[Lent23]

I genuinely really like the idea. There are plenty of people who are morally against having robotic portions of their bodies (dominians/unathi) and there are plenty of people who are simply too poor to afford higher quality robotic limbs. We have people aboard the Horizon who can't afford a living situation, so they simply sleep in cryo - these poor people aren't going to want to spend all their earnings on a new limb if they lose one, are they? I really don't think this needs to be limited to antagonists.

1 hour ago, Captain Gecko said:

These would be cheaper options, generally with drawbacks

I really like the idea of limbs that have drawbacks as well - look at how the aut'akh augmentations fare when compared to "standard" augments. They all have some sort of drawback or otherwise "bad" component, but they make for a compelling story. I think fully mechanical/non-robotic limbs makes total sense.

1 hour ago, Captain Gecko said:

Also, it should be craftable! With just wood planks, steel sheets, and other materials... Plastic? Minable materials (phoron peg leg anyone???) and so on.

Being able to craft a peg leg from a stack of wood because there's no machinist makes sense as a temporary solution in-round too!

1 hour ago, Captain Gecko said:

- Hook hand:

I could see these being kinda goofy and maybe a bit overplayed down the line, but I still think it's a cool option to be able to have. You could even limit them to pirates.

[Carver]

Echoing that the hook hands/peg legs should only be craftable in round and available to raiders/third parties. But the non-robotic/variant prosthetics should certainly be available to any and all crew.
 

As for balancing the non robotic prosthetics so they are not merely better than robotic ones, I propose to consider them having notably lower durability overall. Instead of malfunctioning, they might simply risk breaking entirely at similar damage thresholds. This way they come cheap and are replaced just as readily.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Carver
mobile autocorrect makes my hair grey

[greenjoe]

1 hour ago, Flpfs said:

but people should not be able to spawn with them.

I'd feel they should be able to, for poor characters who might not afford/want a robotic prosthetic

[FearTheBlackout]

I'm totally on-board with these being an option for those who cannot or do not want robotic prostheses. The only thing I would say should be different is that there should be two different kinds of hook prosthetics: A "pirate" hook hand, like you described, and a body-powered hook that can be used to hold things but lacks dexterity for some tasks when the relevant hand is selected.

[Lent23]

1 hour ago, Carver said:

Instead of malfunctioning, they might simply risk breaking entirely at similar damage thresholds.

A mechanic like this already exists with diona limbs, so I imagine this would also be pretty easy to implement. Instead of a diona nymph dropping to the ground, it's just some pieces of X material.

[greenjoe]

26 minutes ago, FearTheBlackout said:

but lacks dexterity for some tasks when the relevant hand is selected.

i'm not sure how much aurora has in the way of dexterity mechanics, I think the PRA taj FBP has something that means some stuff can't be used by it..?

edit: on further inspection that seems to just block the use of guns and is applied on the species rather then prosthetic.

Edited September 27, 2023 by greenjoe

[Captain Gecko]

I agree with the goofy side of hooks and peg legs. I've updated the OP to incorporate what some of you guys said.

[greenjoe]

Nebula has systems for prosthetic types having different levels of dexterity
perhaps non-robotic prosthetic hands could be less dexterous then robotic ones as a drawback for them being immune to EMPs