There ought to be artifact or experimental cbm’s, which of course are just artifacts that you can install into your body. Part of the cbm loot tables only super rare or located in chained up lab vaults with warnings begging not to be used. Here’s why you would gamble on them:
-Like artifacts they can be extremely powerful but always a double edge sword
-Can be self-installed, but cbm is permanent which could be a godsend or curse. (cant remove)
-Don’t need anesthetic kits, but self-installing causes a lot of pain.
-The risk comes from not knowing what it does til installed. Adds gambling element.
-Perhaps can be chosen as starting trait.
The idea is to give the player a rare chance to find one of these artifact cbm’s, and being able to install it anytime, but doing so will be a huge gamble. Although negative could be bad, the chance at getting something very useful permanently could be fun or save your life in a bad spot. Lore wise I can imagine dark, twisted entities have corrupted or fused with these cbm’s turning them into artifacts.
I like the gambling element this would be bring to the table, and unlike using mutagens you can’t just use purifier to fix bad luck.
Exactly the reason why nobody uses artifacts.
I didn’t build a deathmobile to get eaten by a Mi-Go while asleep just for some features I don’t really need.
Also gambling is fine IRL, but in the game we can just use save scumming, so that won’t work.
The artifacts are flawed for sure. For test cbms, i was thinking the negative effects weren’t of the crippling nature, but more of the gameplay ‘alteration’ kind. For example:
~Jolted cbm - passively grants electric attacks which might as stun. Downside, getting wet can stun you.
~Ghost cbm - active to enter ghostfield, invisible to everything. Downside, inflicts attention on use
~Forcefield - chance to reflect bullets. Downside, weaker to melee.
The idea is create cbms that change your gameplay a bit, much like the way traits do, but not give you crippling ‘im ending my run’ effects. Unlike artifacts, obviously they would have to be balanced in way to make them worth gambling on.
It would be gambling in the way one does when taking mutagens where some people take them not knowing what they will get. Sure, the difference is you can’t purify the cbm away, but the idea would be to create negative effects that only alter gameplay not cripple you. Balance would be needed for sure, like anything that could summon mi-gos would be active related to avoid sleep ambushes.
And forget save scumming, one can easily just enter debug menu.