INTRODUCTION

Schizochromia; Prosthetists Induced Psychosis; Ironskin Sickness. All of these are terms used to described one thing: Overchrome. Overchrome is a byproduct of install one too many prosthetics, and it begins at any given time; everyone is subjected to it differently. One thing is for sure: It cannot be cured.

Overchrome Syndrome written by SirMothington, Kmwot and Aylesiz! Big thanks to them.

LEVELING SYSTEM

• Overchrome works as a Skill Tree. The Skill Tree has three branches, each with three unique levels and one unique starting skill when choosing a branch, alongside 3 optional skills.

• There are a total of 15 skills, and each Overchrome recipient may go down one path with a joint skill

• To level up to Tier 3 and Tier 4, the member must request to level up by messaging a HR+ their character development through the span of their current level, or gain a new vault item from attending high-risk hosts.

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

Although Overchrome works on a spectrum, there will always be similar changes to the body as a result of their deteriorating condition. They start off mild, and get exponentially worse the more one pushes their body to the limits. The initial signs of OCS are found in the root cause of the disease- the cybernetics.

(PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS ARE UNIVERSAL, THESE MUST BE ROLEPLAYED ALONG WITH THE PATH YOU HAVE CHOSEN, THEY DO NOT ADD ONTO YOUR SKILL COUNT)

40% - LEVEL 0 | FIRST SIGNS

• There is no visible rotting of the skin, however the skin around the prosthetics is often discolored/bruised-looking

• Prosthetics will begin to secrete minor amounts of fluids, often oil, from their joints. Depending on the quality of the chrome, it can secrete blood—causing the prosthetics to rust at the joints

50% - LEVEL 1 | GROWING PROBLEMS

• The unnatural green hue continues from the previous level, and spreads along unchromed limbs like a vine along the veins

• Patients will begin to develop mild flu-like symptoms such as nausea, muscle fatigue and aching, etc.

• The border between skin and metal is blurred, as the skin begins to rot and decay from the body. This is hard to notice due to its early stage

60% - LEVEL 2 | VISIBLE ROT

• A growing lack of blood in the body results in the skin becoming much more pale, almost ghostly

• The first layer of Chrome on cybernetics is often visibly rusty, and requires more maintenance than usual

• Unless patients maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, they become sickly and skinny

70% - LEVEL 3 | NECROSIS

• In short, Chrome remains the same, but the body begins to fail

• Tissue and flesh sloughs off as the amount of blood in the body is staggeringly low, unable to keep repairing it

• Wounds received, even minor, are double the potency

80% - LEVEL 4 | HUSK

• Chrome is distinctly rusty and "fatigued" in a sense, but not hindered internally

• From what is known, the flesh-like portions of the body remain necrotic and weak as the disease continues

• Documentation of this stage is practically unheard of, because of the fact that most unfortunate souls to reach this Level are almost entirely lost or had died long before they reached it

PHOBIA

The first and most common branch of OCS, resulting in the patient becoming far more paranoid, irrational, and distant over its progression. 

LEVEL 0 | PARANOIA

At level 0, OCS patients are more paranoid than their previous self. Due to this sense of irrational fear, OCS patients become more perceptive than others, catching and noticing differences in characteristics.

• Members of the PHOBIA path have +1 to perception rolls, as they are more paranoid

• At level 0, the recipient must roll a 3 or above to keep their composure during gunfights

LEVEL 1 | PUNISHMENT

At level 1, the symptoms of PHOBIA become far more noticeable.

Anyone who isn’t a close friend is a possible threat, and therefore should be feared. This leads to heavy mood swings and an overall unstable mental psyche which continuously battles against itself.

They tend to see their disease as a punishment rather than a side effect.

• All previous effects apply

• Must roll a 10 or above to accept someone as a new ally if they are completely new to the patient

LEVEL 2 | MISANTHROPE

Level 2 is where the effects really amp up. The Overchrome patient begins to develop a new form of understanding, built up by their fear of society.

They grow a disdain for humanity, becoming isolated and antisocial to those who they don’t immediately recognize.

• All previous effects apply

• The recipient twitches and convulses when engaging in conversation

• Must roll a 15 or above to accept orders if given from a foreign entity. Can still deny orders if given a good reason to

LEVEL 3 | TACET

“You’re above everyone. Why waste your throat on people who are dirt under your mighty heels?”

Decomposition reaches the throat, causing decay to the vocal cord and voice box. The victim of PHOBIA will usually gaslight themselves into thinking they’re above others.

• All previous effects do not apply

• All twitching will stop as the individual has made amends with their mental ailments

• Due to the Tacet's egotistical frame of others, they tend to not even respond to non-friends

• Tacets are unable to talk, but can speak via sign language or a medium of their choice

CONSCIOUSNESS

This branch is the most unique of the three, being a form of Dissociative Identity Disorder, thoroughly amplified by the effects of OCS. It is linear, rather than separate.

LEVEL 0 | SHIVERS

When in quiet conditions, the Overchrome patient will hear faint whispers. Although optional, many are inclined to respond, or look around in search of the voices.

• Members of the CONSCIOUSNESS path have +1 to dexterity rolls, as they are more erratic and therefore move quicker

• At level 0, the recipient must roll above a 3 to be able to do any Medical actions (Cutter work, Self-Healing, MedRP), due to having shaky hand movements

LEVEL 1 | DAWNING TUMOR

Whatever whispers have manifested into fully-fledged beings, taking their sentience through a metallic medium. This means that portions of Chrome are fully sentient to the individual, acting separate and partially uncontrolled.

There can at this stage be just one voice, but it varies from patient to patient.

• All previous effects apply

• • At random times, a limb may act differently, move in unexpected ways which the individual did not intend for, but will eventually get the job done. This depends on what consciousness takes control of the limb. I.e a more violent identity would complete the objective robotically or more aggressively

LEVEL 2 | ANCIENT CONSCIOUSNESS

At this point, there are very few colliding consciousnesses, being two at most which will bicker in-between one another.

There is to say the least an almost constant interpersonal struggle at this stage as at every step of the way the individual has to fight for control over their own body.

• All previous effects apply

• • Recipients may begin to speak in different languages or use different terminology, a side effect of having several personalities become fully believable characters

LEVEL 3 | EXITUS HUMANITAS

The fight is over in most cases, the recipient commonly has rot reach their brain at this point, leading to a practically new person being born from this.

Whatever personality has taken up a nest in their chrome has been granted administrative access over their soul.

Anybody who had a relationship with people at this stage have been forgotten, as the recipient at this point is practically a blank slate.

Although feeling less pain, the recipient now has far weaker unchromed limbs. This is because of how volatile the rot is, which reaches all around the body.

• All previous effects do not apply

Anyone at this level must roll a 5 or above to not give into violent actions whenever spoken to for the first time. This is because of the consciousness being born from a non-human descent

• • The recipient’s old personality is nearly completely gone, replaced with a fraction of what once was a person

  • The body acts as a vessel and therefore has a lack of understanding of pain. Pain is partially nullified, although in its place is an increased weakness of bone matter

DELUSION

The third and final branch- DELUSION- is the most radical of the three, changing the electrochemistry of the patient and their mental psyche the most, leading to the most diversifying results of all of the branches.

LEVEL 0 | INCUMBENT

At this stage, individuals gain a surge of religious beliefs, taking upon any sort of belief spectrum to encompass a diverse range of ideas.

Many take up reading, writing and promotion of their own belief system to satiate this questionable change.

• All rolls involving intelligence are boosted by +1 as a byproduct of this newly found knowledge

• It’s hard to disassociate your belief system from passing conversation

LEVEL 1 | ZEALOTRY

From here on out, your path to divine retribution has begun. The recipient has decided on a primary deity to serve, commonly aligning with their personal aims or goals. 

Although not a true savior of this conceptualized religion that you just made up in your head, you’re not far off! Promoting your belief system is nearly top of the agenda, and even in active gunfights, you’re spouting out one religious quote after another.

• All previous effects apply.

  • Many at this stage change their name in preparation for some sort of retribution of their soul

• • Any rolls involving perception use a -2 modifier due to your focus straying from whatever is at hand to your thoughts of religion.

LEVEL 2 | SALVATION

The individual at this point begins to perform more radical actions to prove their allegiance to their deity. This includes more physical actions than just book-talks or speeches.

Some actions include self-grafting, religious war cries, and using Raw Chrome as a substitute for Cruelty Chrome.

• All previous effects apply.

• • The individual sees themself as the only true follower of the belief they have fabricated

LEVEL 3 | GODHOOD

At this point, the recipient has evolved into an egotistical maniac. Although clinging onto what humanity remains, it’s merely a facade to your true intent of becoming the one and only messiah of your faith.

You see yourself as a sort of god for transhumanism and attempt to “save” others into your cult of an ideology.

• All previous effects apply.

  • You are most likely aggressive to anyone who insults your convoluted belief system

• • You gain a +2 roll modifier for charisma rolls involving your religion

  • You gain a -2 roll modifier for charisma rolls involving anything else

JOINT SKILLS

These are skills which are optional and separate to the base development of each disease. They come with interesting character modifiers if chosen and are situational enough to not deserve to be a part of the primary skill trees.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: How would OCS work among droids?

A: Droids do not have a fleshy body to decay, and therefore do not suffer from any physical ailments from OCS. However this does not render them immune to the mental effects. A mirror condition named "Droid overload syndrome" or DOS for short occurs in the cheap bodies of Chromeskull droids, where too much overlapping software, firmware and hardware cause the mental aspects to be corrupted and malfunction or "Overload", causing similar symptoms to that of what a human would endure.

Q: How much chrome do I have!?

A: The chrome percentage chart can be found here in the Chromeskulls Discord server.

Q: Can I swap paths in the middle of going down a path?

A: If you are at level 0, then yes, but if you are above that, no. You must stick to the path you have chosen, the two joint skills do not allow for this either.

Q: I want to progress my OCS, but I don't want to give myself too much chrome! 

A: Thats fine! You can progress your OCS by simply doing IC development/feats that pertain to your symptoms.

Q: Is there a percentage where you must have Overchrome? 

A: Yes, any perentage above 60% requires you to have at least level 1 of any branch of OCS. However, if you want you can have Overchrome before that at any unspecified percentage. This is because tolerance to chrome differs from person to person, but there's a limit where you can no longer suppress symptoms.

Q: Is there a way to get around OCS?

A: No, as long as you continue to gain more chrome the symptoms will continue to worsen. Technically, the only way to 'get around' OCS is a Chrome Compressor from the vault, and even then, it only pushes back the effects on a small scale and the technology is few and far between.

Q: Do I have to follow the Overchrome guide step-by-step and its rules?

A: Although you do need to at least follow them to some extent, creative freedom is allowed! The branches aren't completely set in stone and give some leeway for you to build on your pre-existing characters if you wish to do so.

Q: Is it possible to reach 100% chrome?

A: No. Even with the advanced pre-flash prosthetic and medical technology, fully borging yourself out was impossible, and locked to rumors and crazy theories.

Q: Is it even possible to reach Level 4?

A: It depends. It must be voted upon by HRs with the majority of the votes being in agreement, and you must have climbed up all three levels beforehand. Level 4 is generally restricted to story events, extremely trusted individuals, or bounties.

Q: Can my OCS be revoked?

A: If you consistently act out of line and break rules/powerplay OCS, and don't heed any warnings you were given beforehand. Your character will be killed off via HR sign-off, and you'll be moderated within the server. This system is a privilege, and it will be revoked from you if you misuse it.

Q: Can I have other people join my cult in the "Delusion" tree? 

A: No, the delusion tree is for yourself and yourself alone. Other people are heretics. Especially other delusion patients. The only exception to this is if you are the leader of a streetgang, this will be allowed to happen as long as it stays within the streetgang and no outsiders are following the religion, and the members of the streetgang are properly indoctrinated and don't overthrow you...