From:	dbuehrer@******.carl.org dbuehrer@******.carl.org
Subject:	So many questions
Date:	Thu, 22 Jun 2000 12:44:42 -0600

Phil Smith wrote:
>Something one of my players was talking about a while ago that I wanted to
>see what you guys made of; can cyberarms be grounded?

Anything can be grounded. All you have to do is run a conductor from the
item to the ground.

> Obviously this would take a little more than a wire.

It would take a wire that could handle the maximum voltage/amps
expected. For example, the ground wire on a house can handle quite a load.

> I see it as being a small wire from the arm to the ground allowing the
> technician on the other end of the arm to work on electrical devices
> whilst there is still a current going through them.

Uh... a technician working on a cyberarm may want to ground himself to
prevent electrostatic discharge from damaging the cyberarm. However, if
the cyberarm has a significant amount of electricity powering it, then the
last thing the technician would want to do would be to ground himself (as
he would be inviting the electricity in the cyberarm to ground out through
him and electrocute him). FWIW, I assume that cyberware requires very
little voltage to operate and would assume that technicians would want to
ground themselves.

>What I would like to know is: 1/ Would the device being opeated on be
>short circited ie. stop working?

If you ground out the electricity that is powering cyberware, then it will
probably stop working. I actually don't know how cyberware works, so I'm
guessing. If it's bioelectrical, then grounding out a piece of cyberware
may not be possible.

> 2/ Would the arm get damaged by this?

The possibility exists. I would have the cyberarm make a damage resistance
test of some sort.

> And 3/ If this is possible for cyberware how would an adept power work
> which grounds all electricity-based attacks?

I would not recommend this, as the adept may find himself grounding out
naturally occurring electricity (aka lightning), or nearby powerlines.

The best way to protect yourself from electricity based attacks is to
insulate yourself. Electricity based attacks cause damage by grounding out
through people and objects (traveling through the person to the ground).

A better electrical resistant power for an adept would be a power that
increases his resistance to electricity (i.e., prevents it from grounding
out through him).


To Life,
-Graht
http://www.users.uswest.net/~abaker3
--
"Warm nights, good food, kindred spirits....great life!"