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Message no. 1
From: stormknight@*********.net (Ian Feinberg)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:40:10 -0600
Hi all. I have 3 questions regarding creating a new character that I hope
someone(s) can help me with.

1. Is 1 mil nuyen the maximum amount of starting Resources? Is there an
Edge that can increase that starting amount?

2. I know this is somewhere but I can't find it. What is the maximum
equipment Availability that a character can start with, including buying a
better grade of cyberware (ie. Beta)?

3. If I have a character that begins with cyberarms and cyberlegs, ie. all
natural limbs replaced, then what should his naturally bought Strength stat
be? Zero? One? If his cyberlimbs are somehow disabled, then what is his
Strength considered to be? What should I buy his starting Strength at if
cyberlimbs for human's begin at 4 (and can then be enhanced)?

Thanks for your time and input.
Message no. 2
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:04:46 +0200
According to Ian Feinberg, on Monday 30 August 2004 10:40 the word on the
street was...

> 1. Is 1 mil nuyen the maximum amount of starting Resources?

Yes. It should be sufficient unless you want some _really_ expensive stuff.

> Is there an Edge that can increase that starting amount?

Not AFAIK.

> 2. I know this is somewhere but I can't find it. What is the maximum
> equipment Availability that a character can start with, including buying
> a better grade of cyberware (ie. Beta)?

The max. Availability is 8; since betaware increases Availability of
regular cyberware, IMHO all you need to do is figure in that modifier, and
you can work out which betaware you can buy.

> 3. If I have a character that begins with cyberarms and cyberlegs, ie.
> all natural limbs replaced, then what should his naturally bought
> Strength stat be? Zero? One?

I think this is up to you; you wouldn't use his natural Strength for much
(except maybe things like bite attacks), so I'd say you could safely take
it at 1 or 2. You can't have an attribute rated at 0 -- dropping that low
usually means you are incapacitated in some way related to the
attribute...

> If his cyberlimbs are somehow disabled,
> then what is his Strength considered to be?

His natural Strength, I'd say, but he wouldn't be able to use his arms or
legs for anything so that's a bit of a moot point most of the time :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 3
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:39:08 +0200
According to myself, on Monday 30 August 2004 11:04 the word on the street
was...

> I think this is up to you; you wouldn't use his natural Strength for
> much (except maybe things like bite attacks), so I'd say you could
> safely take it at 1 or 2.

Reading this back, it occured to me that you'd also your your natural
Strength if someone cast, say, a Decrease Strength spell on you, in which
ase they'd need very few successes to incapacitate you with a Strength
that low. However, this is a fairly remote possibility -- unless your GM
is the type who builds NPCs to exploit the PCs' weaknesses anyway :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 4
From: graht1@*****.com (Graht)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 05:39:29 -0600
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:40:10 -0600, Ian Feinberg
<stormknight@*********.net> wrote:
>
> 3. If I have a character that begins with cyberarms and cyberlegs, ie. all
> natural limbs replaced, then what should his naturally bought Strength stat
> be? Zero? One?

I'm not sure about the official rules, but in my game characters
require a minimum of 1 in their stats.

> What should I buy his starting Strength at if
> cyberlimbs for human's begin at 4 (and can then be enhanced)?

It depends on how much you want to lift or carry. Cyberlimb strength
is used to determine how much punch/kick damage you do, and doing
things that are based purely on the cyberlimb being used (like the
grip strength of a cyberhand). But if you're going to do anything
that requires your entire body then it defaults to the weakest link.
So, if your character's base (torso) strength is 1 then that's what he
uses for lifting things and carrying things, even if his cyberlimbs
are strength 4+.

--
-Graht
Message no. 5
From: Jeffrey.T.Dougherty@********.edu (Jeffrey T Dougherty)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:53:57 -0400 (EDT)
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004, Ian Feinberg wrote:

> Hi all. I have 3 questions regarding creating a new character that I hope
> someone(s) can help me with.
>
> 1. Is 1 mil nuyen the maximum amount of starting Resources? Is there an
> Edge that can increase that starting amount?

I've heard about some GMs that let players make multiple Resource buys-
i.e. buy a million nuyen with 30 points, then buy more with some extra
points- but that was IIRC a house rule for *really* high-powered
campaigns. Talk to your GM, but realize that he's probably going to say
no.

And just out of curiosity- what were you planning on buying?

> 2. I know this is somewhere but I can't find it. What is the maximum
> equipment Availability that a character can start with, including buying a
> better grade of cyberware (ie. Beta)?
>
> 3. If I have a character that begins with cyberarms and cyberlegs, ie. all
> natural limbs replaced, then what should his naturally bought Strength stat
> be? Zero? One? If his cyberlimbs are somehow disabled, then what is his
> Strength considered to be? What should I buy his starting Strength at if
> cyberlimbs for human's begin at 4 (and can then be enhanced)?

I'd have it at 3 or 4, since some spells drain Strength and could thus
incapacitate you pretty quickly if you only had 1 or 2. You're not going
to be using your nautral Strength for much if you have all cyberlimbs,
since you're pretty much screwed if all the cyberlimbs cut out at the same
time.

> Thanks for your time and input.
>
>
>
Message no. 6
From: graxius@*****.com (Graxius)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:20:13 -0500
First I would like to appologize for breaking List ettiquette!

On the topic of Resources. When I am GMing I set the tone of power
level by the method of Character generation (e.g. Regular A-E, 10
points total, etc) and will sometimes double resources to reflect
experienced runners. I agree with the posts so far that anything
outside the scope of regular rules will be a GM judgement call.

In the current game I am setting up I have doubled their resouces.
IMHO that can affect balance but I am an oldschooler and remember the
age old words of CP2020 (I paraphrase)
If a PC gets out of hand just kill them :) Now to me that just means
the GM givith the GM takith away. As long as the players and myself
are having a good time that is all that really matters.
Message no. 7
From: dghost@****.com (dghost@****.com)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:10:48 -0500
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:40:10 -0600 "Ian Feinberg"
<stormknight@*********.net> writes:
> Hi all. I have 3 questions regarding creating a new character
> that I hope
> someone(s) can help me with.

> 2. I know this is somewhere but I can't find it. What is the
> maximum
> equipment Availability that a character can start with, including
> buying a
> better grade of cyberware (ie. Beta)?

I believe somewhere it says Alpha is the max a starting character can
buy.

> 3. If I have a character that begins with cyberarms and cyberlegs,
> ie. all
> natural limbs replaced, then what should his naturally bought
> Strength stat
> be? Zero? One? If his cyberlimbs are somehow disabled, then what is
> his
> Strength considered to be? What should I buy his starting Strength
> at if
> cyberlimbs for human's begin at 4 (and can then be enhanced)?

You might be surprised how much your full body is used to just about
anything. Just lifting with one arm uses chest muscles that aren't
neccessarily replaced by a cyberarm. A good punch is a full-body activity
(Thus I would use the avergaed strength for punches and kicks). Not many
athletes have beer bellies, and it's not for aesthic reasons (usually ;))
... Move around, perform a few actions and try to see what muscles are
being used.

My reccomendation is to make your character's starting strength equal to
what he wants in a cyberlimb, unless you are making a couch potato who
slapped on some cyber arms to get a strength boost, or after an accident,
etc. =)

Have fun,

--
D. Ghost
Profanity is the one language all programmers know best
- Troutman's 6th programming postulate.

________________________________________________________________
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Message no. 8
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:11:55 +0200
According to dghost@****.com, on Monday 30 August 2004 18:10 the word on
the street was...

> I believe somewhere it says Alpha is the max a starting character can
> buy.

Maybe it's just my players/campaign, but I tend to ignore that kind of
restriction on the basis that with it, nobody will ever have any betaware
ever at all, ever. In the roughly 7 years I've been playing SR with my
current group (OK, with people coming and going every so often, but there
are still 3 of us who've been there all the time) the number of characters
who ever bought any implants at all, I can probably count on the fingers
of one hand... Just yesterday, one of the veteran players was somewhat
surprised that a new player (who's been with us for about five months now)
asked me whether she should get boosted reflexes 1 or 2 for her character
-- not because of the type of cyberware, but because she was thinking of
getting it at all after character creation.

OTOH, with the people I gamed with before this group, getting cyberware
installed and removed was much more common. I can't really put my finger
on the reason for this, though.

> You might be surprised how much your full body is used to just about
> anything. Just lifting with one arm uses chest muscles that aren't
> neccessarily replaced by a cyberarm.

Well... since the arm as a whole has a certain Strength rating that is used
for everything you do with the arm, I would think that getting a cyberarm
is not just the arm that ends at the shoulder, but also involves putting
the necessary muscles in the chest, shoulder and back to actually give the
arm that Strength rating.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 9
From: msde_shadowrn@*****.com (Mark S)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:40:08 -0700 (PDT)
--- Gurth <gurth@******.nl> wrote:
> I can probably count on the
> fingers
> of one hand... Just yesterday, one of the veteran players was
> somewhat
> surprised that a new player (who's been with us for about five months
> now)
> asked me whether she should get boosted reflexes 1 or 2 for her
> character
> -- not because of the type of cyberware, but because she was thinking
> of
> getting it at all after character creation.
>
> OTOH, with the people I gamed with before this group, getting
> cyberware
> installed and removed was much more common. I can't really put my
> finger
> on the reason for this, though.

The reason our groups tended to avoid this was because of paranoia and
recovery time. In general, we didn't have a level 2+ contact dedicated
to cyberware installation and refused to trust anything less (too easy
for the GM to do something cliche like install an additional unknown
device), and none of us wanted to spend months out of commission
playing a temporary character or missing sessions while we were
recuperating from surgery.

> > You might be surprised how much your full body is used to just
> about
> > anything. Just lifting with one arm uses chest muscles that aren't
> > neccessarily replaced by a cyberarm.

Not surprised here! If I ever injure something, even something as
minor as a stiff back from sleeping poorly, I can certainly feel it.
:) In addition, most martial arts and athletics, including my own
experiences, always make a big deal out of training "core strength".
I'm not sure what else it is called, but it's the technique of putting
the entire body into an action, and the training of the abdomen to
increase the strength of the action.

> Well... since the arm as a whole has a certain Strength rating that
> is used
> for everything you do with the arm, I would think that getting a
> cyberarm
> is not just the arm that ends at the shoulder, but also involves
> putting
> the necessary muscles in the chest, shoulder and back to actually
> give the
> arm that Strength rating.

I certainly recall reading fluff that the central structure is
reinforced to support any additional load that is placed on the body as
a result of the limb. However, my interpretation was that it was
primarily skeletal reinforcement so that you wouldn't injure yourself
using the limb to your full strength, not an increase in overall body
strength. To use the arm as an example, lifting an object off the
ground or throwing a punch would generally involve the entire body, but
a situation where you can brace your shoulder would let you use just
your arm.

I suppose the real question is whether muscle groups connected to the
arm are included in a cyberarm, such as the pectoral and oblique
muscles. I don't see how it can be avoided, but a composite strength
rating still seems applicable for a lot of situations.

Mark




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Message no. 10
From: dghost@****.com (dghost@****.com)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 00:55:52 -0500
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:40:08 -0700 (PDT) Mark S <msde_shadowrn@*****.com>
writes:
> The reason our groups tended to avoid this was because of paranoia and
> recovery time. In general, we didn't have a level 2+ contact dedicated
> to cyberware installation and refused to trust anything less (too easy
> for the GM to do something cliche like install an additional unknown
> device), and none of us wanted to spend months out of commission
> playing a temporary character or missing sessions while we were
> recuperating from surgery.

I tend to avoid that as a GM because I want cyberware (and bioware) to be
fairly prevailaint in my Shadowrun games (I even make bioware safe for
mages).

> > > You might be surprised how much your full body is used to just
about
> > > anything. Just lifting with one arm uses chest muscles that aren't
> > > neccessarily replaced by a cyberarm.

> Not surprised here! If I ever injure something, even something as
> minor as a stiff back from sleeping poorly, I can certainly feel it.
> :) In addition, most martial arts and athletics, including my own
> experiences, always make a big deal out of training "core strength".
> I'm not sure what else it is called, but it's the technique of putting
> the entire body into an action, and the training of the abdomen to
> increase the strength of the action.

Some call it Chi or Ki. But yes, that's what I was thinking of when I
wrote my post. (That and sculpting miniatures =)) .. If your footing is
off, you punch will suck. If your arms are in the wrong place you won't
be able to kick with your full strength as it throws you off balance. And
let's not get started on throws ... ;) Of course, combat is hardly the
only place where this is evident, just one of the easier to spot. You may
"lift with your legs" but your back has to support the weight.

> To use the arm as an example, lifting an object off the
> ground or throwing a punch would generally involve the entire body, but
> a situation where you can brace your shoulder would let you use just
> your arm.

Yeah, only when you can brace the cyber arm or cyber leg (like at a
shoulder/elbow or knee/hip) could you use the straight cyber strength.

> I suppose the real question is whether muscle groups connected to the
> arm are included in a cyberarm, such as the pectoral and oblique
> muscles. I don't see how it can be avoided, but a composite strength
> rating still seems applicable for a lot of situations.

It is likely that the full muscle group is replaced by the cyberlimb.
However, while it is hard to imagine a partial muscle replacement with
gritty pneumatic systems depicted in some of the SR art, it seems more
likely that a system similiar to Muscle Replacement would be used in
cyberlimbs. If so, then a graft of artificial to natural muscle systems
becomes more feasable...

--
D. Ghost
Profanity is the one language all programmers know best
- Troutman's 6th programming postulate.

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
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Message no. 11
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 10:51:33 +0200
According to Mark S, on Monday 30 August 2004 19:40 the word on the street
was...

> The reason our groups tended to avoid this was because of paranoia and
> recovery time.

Recovery time is the main reason quoted in our group, too. This was never a
problem in earlier groups, but in the current one nobody seems to want to
be out of action for a month -- even at times when the other PCs can
easily afford to do so.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 12
From: nichlas.hummelsberger@*****.com (Nichlas Hummelsberger)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:11:11 +0200
On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 10:51:33 +0200, Gurth <gurth@******.nl> wrote:
> According to Mark S, on Monday 30 August 2004 19:40 the word on the street
> was...
>
> > The reason our groups tended to avoid this was because of paranoia and
> > recovery time.
>
> Recovery time is the main reason quoted in our group, too. This was never a
> problem in earlier groups, but in the current one nobody seems to want to
> be out of action for a month -- even at times when the other PCs can
> easily afford to do so.

In my game i sometimes give the players some downtime even though they
don't ask for it.. then they usually comes up with different projects
they've been stashing in their mind for some time, like getting stuff
installed, or taking a holiday with their parents or something :D

Sometimes this is good for advancing time to the next batch of usable
metaplot, or just getting over the lazy summer :)
Message no. 13
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:21:51 +0200
According to Nichlas Hummelsberger, on Tuesday 31 August 2004 13:11 the
word on the street was...

> In my game i sometimes give the players some downtime even though they
> don't ask for it.. then they usually comes up with different projects
> they've been stashing in their mind for some time, like getting stuff
> installed, or taking a holiday with their parents or something :D

My players have recently discovered that they don't need to wait for
Johnsons to come around and hire them to do stuff; however, is it just me
or do other GMs also experience that if you don't give the players some
kind of mission or deadline to work to, they will sit around discussing
things much more than when they're working for someone?

My group has (well, actually "had"[1]) cause to make a trip to New York
City, in order to grab someone they've already made an enemy of earlier in
the campaign. They decided to make some money on this trip by turning it
into a smuggling run at the same time, but have now already spent about
three sessions mostly working out what they want and how they're going to
do it -- whereas if a Mr. Johnson had given them a mission of "Go to NYC,
grab person X, deliver him/her here for payment", they'd probably have
gotten the whole run over with in those same three sessions... Is this
typical of my group, or do others work the same way?

[1] Their reason for going to NYC was that the parents of one of the PCs
had been kidnapped by someone associated with the bad guy, and because an
unknown-to-them woman had told them her organization could help the PCs
find the parents if they'd be so kind as to deliver the bad guy to her.
(None of the PCs seems to care about why she wants the bad guy... *EGMG*)
However, the PC with the kidnapped parents has recently been killed in a
firefight with another bad guy involved in the kidnap case, so there
really isn't a reason for the PCs to go to NYC and take the bad guy to
Seattle. They still want to go and get him, though.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 14
From: mestre_bira@***.com.br (Bira)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 10:15:20 -0300
Gurth wrote:

> My group has (well, actually "had"[1]) cause to make a trip to New York
> City, in order to grab someone they've already made an enemy of earlier in
> the campaign. They decided to make some money on this trip by turning it
> into a smuggling run at the same time, but have now already spent about
> three sessions mostly working out what they want and how they're going to
> do it -- whereas if a Mr. Johnson had given them a mission of "Go to NYC,
> grab person X, deliver him/her here for payment", they'd probably have
> gotten the whole run over with in those same three sessions... Is this
> typical of my group, or do others work the same way?

I don't think that's bad, actually. It shows they're really involved in
whatever it is they're doing.



--
Bira
http://compexplicita.blogspot.com
Message no. 15
From: stormknight@*********.net (Ian Feinberg)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:35:04 -0600
First of all thanks for all the replies. Much abliged...


> From: Jeffrey T Dougherty <Jeffrey.T.Dougherty@********.edu>


> I've heard about some GMs that let players make multiple Resource buys-
> i.e. buy a million nuyen with 30 points, then buy more with some extra
> points- but that was IIRC a house rule for *really* high-powered
> campaigns. Talk to your GM, but realize that he's probably going to say
> no.

How would this work? Like if I wanted to *shudder* start with 2 mil
nuyen, I'd pay 60 points? Or something else?

> And just out of curiosity- what were you planning on buying?

Well, I *was* planning on buying lvl 2 Move-By-Wire, until I read Gurth's
response that starting max Availability is 8 (and M.B.W.'s is 12 out of the
box, before grade increase), and other cyberware. I suppose I'll just have
a cyber-body, torso and limbs and all that stuff, with wired reflexes. I
wanted to try something new, but oh well, that's life in the big city...

--Wally
Message no. 16
From: stormknight@*********.net (Ian Feinberg)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:38:32 -0600
> [Original Message]
> From: Gurth <gurth@******.nl>

> > I think this is up to you; you wouldn't use his natural Strength for
> > much (except maybe things like bite attacks), so I'd say you could
> > safely take it at 1 or 2.
>
> Reading this back, it occured to me that you'd also your your natural
> Strength if someone cast, say, a Decrease Strength spell on you, in which
> ase they'd need very few successes to incapacitate you with a Strength
> that low. However, this is a fairly remote possibility -- unless your GM
> is the type who builds NPCs to exploit the PCs' weaknesses anyway :)

Really? I thought that since the person pays Essence for their cyberware,
it becomes a part of them and thus is subject to the draining influence of
the spell from their total strength. Hmmm, what say you all?

--Wally
Message no. 17
From: nightgyr@*********.com.au (Smoke)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:44:08 +1000
> Really? I thought that since the person pays Essence for their cyberware,
> it becomes a part of them and thus is subject to the draining influence of
> the spell from their total strength. Hmmm, what say you all?

If you have a cyber enhanced attribute (in this case strength) then the mage
needs the decrease cybered attribute spell to affect you, otherwise the
decrease attribute spell.

According to the rules, cybered attribute modifications are not considered
"natural", since this is one of the advantages/disadvantages of bioware.
Cyber enhancement may cost essence but the real flag as to whether it is
natural or not is that the cybered attribute level isnt the level you look
at when paying karma to increase the stat after character creation.

Smoke
Message no. 18
From: msde_shadowrn@*****.com (Mark S)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 17:35:50 -0700 (PDT)
--- Ian Feinberg <stormknight@*********.net> wrote:
> First of all thanks for all the replies. Much abliged...
> > From: Jeffrey T Dougherty <Jeffrey.T.Dougherty@********.edu>
> > I've heard about some GMs that let players make multiple Resource
> buys-
> > i.e. buy a million nuyen with 30 points, then buy more with some
> extra
> > points- but that was IIRC a house rule for *really* high-powered
> > campaigns. Talk to your GM, but realize that he's probably going
> to say
> > no.
>
> How would this work? Like if I wanted to *shudder* start with 2 mil
> nuyen, I'd pay 60 points? Or something else?

That's usually how the house rule works. Again, this is a house rule,
which means it works however the GM wants it to.

> > And just out of curiosity- what were you planning on buying?
>
> Well, I *was* planning on buying lvl 2 Move-By-Wire, until I read
> Gurth's
> response that starting max Availability is 8 (and M.B.W.'s is 12 out
> of the
> box, before grade increase), and other cyberware.

Beta MBW2 is well into munchkin land for the power level of campaign
I'm used to seeing... Doesn't it have a x5 cost multiplier or so,
making it out of budget even for 2 mil?

I would suggest talking to your GM, not bringing a single sourcebook or
equipment/cyberware list, and start explaining your character concept
to them. If your GM likes it, only afterward offer some suggestions on
what cyberware matches your vision of the character. If the GM still
hasn't shot down the idea, ask them whether you'd like the GM to assign
stats/skills/equipment/ware or whether they'd like you to do it,
hinting that you'd like the GM to do it.

If you're looking to play someting along the lines of the Escaped Lab
Specimen Archetype, which is the impression that I have, you're better
off having the GM create the character and never giving you the full
character sheet anyway. Beta MBW2 isn't exactly something that hits
the streets as anything less than an escapee out of the top research
labs, missing special ops (they don't exactly get a retirement plan
with the amount of gear installed in them. Please leave your badge,
sidearm, and cybertorso at the door when you leave), or one of a large
organized crime syndicate's best handful of fighters.

Bending the rules is best left to the GM.

Mark




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Message no. 19
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 10:56:49 +0200
According to Ian Feinberg, on Wednesday 01 September 2004 00:35 the word on
the street was...

> Well, I *was* planning on buying lvl 2 Move-By-Wire, until I read
> Gurth's response that starting max Availability is 8 (and M.B.W.'s is 12
> out of the box, before grade increase)

Our group has a house rule that each character gets an "Availability pool"
at character creation. It has 4 points in it, and each point allows you a
+1 Availability for one item -- so you could buy a single item with
Availability 12 for your character, one of Avail. 11 plus one of 9, two of
9 plus one of 10, and so on.

This works pretty well, because it allows players to buy that one
normally-unavailable item that many want in order to put the finishing
touch on the character. Before we started using this, for example, we had
a sniper who didn't have a sniper rifle -- the player wanted his character
to be, well, a sniper, and then had to settle for a sport rifle because
the rules wouldn't allow him to buy a sniper rifle.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 20
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: 3 questions...
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 10:57:44 +0200
According to Ian Feinberg, on Wednesday 01 September 2004 00:38 the word on
the street was...

> Really? I thought that since the person pays Essence for their
> cyberware, it becomes a part of them and thus is subject to the draining
> influence of the spell from their total strength.

It is, but if you're the subject of a spell that affects your _natural_
Strength (or Body or Quickness), you won't be able to use the bonuses you
got from the cyberlimbs.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
"Als ik efficiënt wilde zijn dan nam ik om te beginnen niet eens
de moeite om vandaag aanwezig te zijn" --G. de Vader
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998

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