non-military bionics

[GAZKUL]

I was curious as to how you would use bionics which were designed for civilian or industrial use rather than war, things like civilian bionic arms, artificial hands with scientific eqiptment build in, heavy mining drills implanted into rugged bionic limbs, eye implants which detect certain minerals or ores.  that sort of thing. stuff which would be too bulky or delicate to be used effectivle in combat but might be usefull in specialist circumstances.

[Swarbie]

Well, in my opinion, certain bionics required for industrial work could be quite effective in combat. For example, a cargo-unloader might be expected to lift huge weights, so be fitted with a pair of bionic arms that operated like a forklift's . . . um, forks. If he was attacked, he automatically has a pair of blade-like instruments powered by strong bionic arms.

[Kallidor]

Something that is never really covered is how bionics are attached to a person and this would go doubly for anything industrial. Even with enhanced strength there is a limit to the amount of weight a human body could lift without numerous serious injuries being inflicted. Imagine someone with a pair of bionic arms trying to a lift up a ton weight, the arms may well have the strength to lift it but about the person's back and legs, what about the way in which the bionics are attached, they could well end up ripping the bionics right out of the sockets or else popping all their joints and tearing ligaments and muscle right of the bone.

If you look at the various models that are available you see hammers, saws and drills, equipment that an ordinary person could use, except it is connected directly to a servitor et cetera. In the background and novels when equipment starts to become plant servitors stop being humans with bionic arms and end up hardwired into a chassis.

As to how to use such equipment, well there's already the breacher implant, you could adapt the rules for gunsights et cetera to represent medical scanners. A bionic hand won't do much but perhaps it would mean a character is less likely to drop a weapon or lose their grip, or if they have equipment built in, scalpels, saws et cetera you could use the rules for an armoured gauntlet or scythian venom talon (or whatever it's called).