In Wire-Fu, I wrote a bit about how every PC needed an excuse to kick ass, some
source of
wire-fu mojo that explained why they can leap across rooftops, through people
through
walls, and take massive punishment without breaking a sweat. However, there's no
need to
create a separate Trait for it _if_ you're always gonna use it for combat. Just
know where
your character's power comes from & use that Combat Trait for all your dice
rolling needs.

I think you can apply the same reasoning to cybertech & netrunning tech.
Characters
should have Traits that reflect _what_ they can do, not necessarily _how_ they
do them.
For example, my street sam needs a combat Trait like Kendo, Street Sam, or
Cuttin' Up
Punks. It doesn't really matter if they've got wired reflexes, cybernetic limbs,
a nano-
edged katana, or cerebral computer with combat skill software. Of course, they
can feel
free to make those things up & use them as Details, but they don't need to be on
the
character sheet.

The same goes for your hacker types. They should have Traits like Hacking, Net
Ninja,
Virtual Virtuoso, Investigator, Cybercrime, etc. During play, they should
improvise Details
about their software, their deck, their implants, their avatar... anything that
adds to the
delicious cyberpunk flavor of your game. Then, they roll those dice against
their general
hacking Trait.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Say you've got a corporate spy who's got
Traits like
Sharpshooter, Eagle Eye, & Master Manipulator. On the one hand, he could get his
mojo
from advanced technology: cerebral targeting systems, smartguns, pheremones,
cyber-
eyes, etc. However, he could also be highly trained: years of military
experience, covert
ops training, raised by a con artist, corporate contacts, law enforcement
authority, and so
forth. They all feed into the same actions, and therefore the same Traits, just
the Details
differ.

Having said all that, I do think players should choose their excuse to kick ass
before the
game starts, even if they're improvising the specifics during play. For
instance, it may
become important to know whether or not out sharpshooter has cyber-eyes if the
GM
wants to use a Nemesis who can hack people's implants. All I'm sayin' is that
you don't
need a Trait for your cyber.

--Dan