🧠Humanity & Cyberpsychosis
“Everyone’s got a little chrome. The trick is knowing when to stop.”
Every piece of cyberware chips away at what makes you you. It’s not the metal — it’s the distance. The more you replace, the harder it gets to see other people as people. Conversations feel like data exchange. Relationships become transactional. Eventually, everyone around you is just… meat. Slow, fragile, irrelevant meat. That’s when the city sends MAX-TAC for you.
This isn’t abstract — it’s the core tension of Cyberpunk. Chrome makes you powerful. It also makes you less human. Every upgrade is a calculated risk.
Core Mechanic
Starting Humanity = EMP Ă— 10
When you install cyberware, you roll the Humanity Loss (HL) dice listed for it and subtract from your current Humanity. Your EMP stat is always the tens digit of your Humanity (rounded down).
Example
You have 44 Humanity → EMP is 4. You install Wolvers (HL 2d6, roll 5). Humanity drops to 39 → EMP drops to 3. The threshold is blunt: you lose that EMP point the moment you cross below 40.
EMP Thresholds
| Humanity | EMP | What It Feels Like |
|---|---|---|
| 30+ | 3+ | Normal — you’re still you |
| 20–29 | 2 | Dissociation. Emotional outbursts, trouble connecting |
| 10–19 | 1 | People are obstacles. Violence is the first answer |
| 1–9 | 0 | Barely human. Cold, mechanical responses |
| ≤0 | — | Cyberpsychosis — you’re gone |
Cyberpsychosis
When Humanity hits zero, there is no saving throw. The character becomes an NPC under GM control — potentially turning on former allies, obsessing over more chrome, viewing organic people with contempt. There is no cure. MAX-TAC exists specifically to hunt down people like you.
Roleplay Warning Signs
As Humanity drops, lean into these behaviors:
- Dreams of being more machine than human
- Forgetting loved ones’ names
- Finding other people “too slow”
- Violence as the first and last solution
Recovery: Therapy
Therapy can restore lost Humanity. The therapist makes the roll (not you) — it’s a professional service, not a skill check you can brute-force.
| Type | Cost | DV | Recovery | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 500eb | 15 | 2d6 HUM | Current HUM ≥ 40 |
| Extreme | 1,000eb | 17 | 2d6 HUM | Current HUM < 40 |
| Addiction | 1,000eb | 15 | Cures addiction | Has addiction |
Therapy takes at least 1 week. On failure, try again after another week. You cannot exceed your starting Humanity (EMP Ă— 10 at creation).
Removing Cyberware
The other option: take the chrome out. Removing cyberware restores half the HL it originally cost (rounded down). Requires the same facility tier as installation. Some borgware may be permanent.
🌆 Optional: Environmental Effects (2070s)
Source
These rules are from the Edgerunners Mission Kit and add monthly environmental factors for Humanity — making lifestyle choices mechanically meaningful.
Monthly Humanity Loss
Calculated at the start of each month, after paying for Lifestyle.
| HL | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1d6 | Living on Kibble |
| 1d6 | Non-Fresh Food + major city (information overload) |
| 1d6 | Primarily slept in a Cube Hotel |
| 2d6 | Worked for a Corp (directly or indirectly) |
| 2d6 | Loved one died and you haven’t held a ceremony |
| 2d6 | Mortally Wounded 1+ times OR Seriously Wounded 3+ times |
| 2d6 | Imprisoned for more than a week |
| 3d6 | Experienced starvation |
| 3d6 | Trapped in war zone or disaster area for 1+ week |
Monthly Humanity Gain
| HG | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1d6 | Interacted with at least one true friend |
| 1d6 | Interacted with family (found or otherwise) |
| 2d6 | Took 1+ week off (no downtime activities, no healing) |
| 2d6 | Spent most of time outside major cities without hardship |
| 2d6 | Lived a Fresh Food Lifestyle |
| 2d6 | Primarily slept in Corporate Conapt or better |
| 3d6 | Qualified for 4+ Gain effects while having fewer than 3 Loss effects |
Incident-Based Changes
| HL | Humanity Loss Incident |
|---|---|
| 1d6 | Killing for the first time |
| 1d6 | Extreme physical or mental trauma |
| 2d6 | Loved one dies away from you |
| 2d6 | Participating in murder of an innocent |
| 3d6 | Witnessing murder/violent death of a loved one |
| HG | Humanity Gain Incident |
|---|---|
| 1d6 | Defeat a hated personal enemy |
| 1d6 | Gain catharsis via symbolic victory |
| 2d6 | Reconcile with estranged family |
| 2d6 | Make a true friend or save a life |
| 2d6 | Party with up to 10 friends (1,000eb communal, 1/week) |
| 3d6 | Major life-affirming event (marriage, childbirth, dream fulfilled) |
| 3d6 | Epic party with up to 10 friends (10,000eb communal, 1/month) |
đź”— Related Topics
- Cyberware — Chrome catalog and installation
- Starting Cyberware — What chrome you pick at character creation
- Money — Affording chrome and therapy
- Improvement — Spending IP to improve your character
(Core Rules: Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook, pp. 228-231) (Environmental Effects: Edgerunners Mission Kit, pp. 28-29)