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Message no. 1
From: The Powerhouse <P.C.Steele@*********.AC.UK>
Subject: Zero essence
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 16:41:28 +0100
Zero essence characters have just been mentioned. How do you all feel towards
such characters in campaigns ?

I was always of the impression <mainly from SR 1> that zero essence was
impossible then after a disucssion with a player <who turned out to be a rules-
lawyer> I discovered <after I'd checked> that zero essence characters are
allowable in SR 2. In the end though I ruled against the player, who wasn't
pleased <even though he was playing a shaman with 5.x essence :) >.

So, do you think they should be allowable ? After all you're talking about
someone with no lifeforce left at all ?

Phill.
--
Phillip Steele - Email address P.C.Steele@***.ac.uk | Fighting against
Department Of Electrical & Electronic Engineering | Political Correctness !
University Of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England |
Land of the mad Geordies | The Powerhouse
Message no. 2
From: What ? <MCM@***.BRIGHTON.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 16:56:00 BST
[Stuff on Zero Essence]

It depends on how you look at Essence. If you take it to be "lifeforce"
then obviously The big Zero means yer Dead, chum. However if it is a form
of Humanity rating (some of the shadowrun novel's characters have mention
the implantation is a lose of one's humanity, thus become more machine than
man) then it would be possible to cross that Zero threshold, but at a massive
risk to the individual involved, depending on the individual of course.

What would be the outcome of a total loss of one's humanity -
lack of personality, chaotic actions, a sharp decline into madness or a form
of re-birth into a world of pure logic ? Ref choice as in most cases.

The point is what is Essence to you ? Work it out for yourself and then
make rulings on that.

-WHAT
Message no. 3
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 12:03:29 -0400
>>>>> "Powerhouse" == The Powerhouse
<P.C.Steele@*********.AC.UK> writes:

Powerhouse> So, do you think they should be allowable ? After all you're
Powerhouse> talking about someone with no lifeforce left at all ?

Zero Essence doesn't mean zero life force, it means a lifeforce that has
been reduced to a point where it's connection to the body is nearly
nonexistant. If you could find a way to keep that lifeforce connected to
the body you could theoretically have a "negative" Essence rating.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> |"Drop a chicken!" --Xuxa
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox|
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! |
Message no. 4
From: Gian-Paolo Musumeci <musumeci@***.LIS.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994 11:15:57 -0500
Makes me think of Armitage/Corto in Neuromancer (William Gibson) - if you hve
not read that book yet, read it. Good book. No lie.
Message no. 5
From: Stuart Skabo <sj_skabo@**********.UTAS.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 16:38:13 +1000
The Powerhouse started,
>Zero essence characters have just been mentioned. How do you all feel towards
>such characters in campaigns ?
SNIP
>So, do you think they should be allowable ? After all you're talking about
>someone with no lifeforce left at all ?

I am suprised by this response as we have always had zero essence chrs in
our campaigns (this applies to several independant groups in my area). The
Street Sam in SR1 (hardcover) for eg has negative essence, a mistake
obviously, but they were trying to *fill* him up with cyberware.

Our interpretation has always been that zero is the minimum essence that a
PC can have and still remain a PC. After that (and we say it is possible,
nasty! but possible) he gets cyberphychosis (a term we borrowed from
Cyberpunk 2020) so badly that he can no longer be a PC.

It is part of the role playing of a cyberpunk game, man meats machine (or
vice versa), and often fits in with some players homicidal/paranoid style.
it adds flavor especially when other players,notably shamans, play their
side up too by refusing to heal these "polluted monsters" etc.

Sure they have no essence but they are still, ever so slightly, this side of
having no life force and no humanity. The metaphysical ramifications are
interesting but so is life on the very edge.

I back myself up with the example of a character in the adventure Elven
Fire who _had_ gone over the edge and a disturbing exploration of the
result was the second last encounter. Or of Gian-Paolo's mention of
Armitage in Neuromancer another great example.

Any way that is my HO, Yours enigmatically nghtchld

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|
Email: sj_skabo@**********.sandybay.utas.edu.au |
Phone: (002) 241450 (in Australia of course!) |
Message no. 6
From: Alexander Borghgraef <Alexander.Borghgraef@***.AC.BE>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 09:01:28 --100
>Makes me think of Armitage/Corto in Neuromancer (William Gibson) - if you hve
>not read that book yet, read it. Good book. No lie.

Absolutely! It's a classic. READ IT!!!!




________________________________________________________________
| | |
| Listen to them, | Am I evil? |
| The Children of the Night. | I am man, |
| What sweet music they make! | Yes I am! |
| | |
| Dracul. | Diamond Head/Metallica |
|__________________________________|___________________________|
Message no. 7
From: A cohort's CoHort <cohort@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 06:00:51 -0700
On Mon, 1 Aug 1994, The Powerhouse wrote:

> So, do you think [zero-essence characters] should be allowable ? After
> all you're talking about someone with no lifeforce left at all ?
>
I think on this one, I'd go with the rules from CP2020. In there, you
have x percent chance of going totally insane or even dying, dependent
directly on how much hardware your body is packing. If your roll
succeeds, you go on...

cohort@******.connected.com
-----=====-----
Bradley's Bromide: If computers get too powerful, we can
organize them into a committee -- that will do them in.
Message no. 8
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 09:43:10 -0400
>>>>> "Stuart" == Stuart Skabo
<sj_skabo@**********.UTAS.EDU.AU> writes:

Stuart> Our interpretation has always been that zero is the minimum essence
Stuart> that a PC can have and still remain a PC. After that (and we say it
Stuart> is possible, nasty! but possible) he gets cyberphychosis (a term we
Stuart> borrowed from Cyberpunk 2020) so badly that he can no longer be a
Stuart> PC.

By the book, if his Essence goes below zero, he dies. Period. Essence loss
has nothing to do with sanity, either. Cyberpsychosis from CP2020 is a game
balance hack; it's not genre (read Gibson, Williams, etc., and you won't
find it). Unfortunately all the other cyber games have adopted something
similar, so now everyone thinks it is genre.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> |I don't care; I want the Green Ranger's
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox|flute!
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! |
Message no. 9
From: Rob Simmons <tyr@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 09:51:57 -0700
All of Gibson's books are must reads for anyone playing Shadowrun. No
offence to any of the writers of the Shadowrun series of books, but
Gibson's are much better written.

+-----------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| Rob Simmons | tyr@******.com | anon2e44@***.cs.du.edu |
| rsimmon@***.cs.du.edu | tyr@***.compulink.co.uk | tyr@****.cs.pdx.edu |
+-----------------------+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| "I am Clinton of Borg. Your incomes will be assimilated." |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

On Tue, 2 Aug 1994, Alexander Borghgraef wrote:

> >Makes me think of Armitage/Corto in Neuromancer (William Gibson) - if you hve
> >not read that book yet, read it. Good book. No lie.
> Absolutely! It's a classic. READ IT!!!!
Message no. 10
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 13:54:17 +0100
This is how I've always played the kludgy essence rules in SR.

Nothing happens until you go below (yes, you read that right) zero. Zero
represents the maximum amount of curruption your body can take before you
start going bonkers.

From 0 to about -1, you start getting mild hallucinations and phobias.
from -1 to about -2, you can suffer larger delusions and some physical
problems (siezures, tunnel vision, etc). Below -3, and basically you
turn completely into a veggie.

In addition, once you reach -2, the damage you have done is no longer
recoverable.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@******.mankato.msus.edu
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Message no. 11
From: A cohort's CoHort <cohort@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 14:03:54 -0700
On Tue, 2 Aug 1994, Rob Simmons wrote:

> All of Gibson's books are must reads for anyone playing Shadowrun. No
> offence to any of the writers of the Shadowrun series of books, but
> Gibson's are much better written.
>
Which says alot about the SR novels, considering that, literarily,
Gibson's novels are pieces of shit. The plots are crap, the climax flat,
intermixing of subplots through the main story finely woven together by a
master bricklayer... Sorry guys, cool tech, shitty stories...

cohort@******.connected.com
-----=====-----
Bradley's Bromide: If computers get too powerful, we can
organize them into a committee -- that will do them in.
Message no. 12
From: Gian-Paolo Musumeci <musumeci@***.LIS.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 16:47:23 -0500
Hey, frankly, I like Gibson's novels...

> The plots are crap, the climax flat, intermixing of subplots through the
> main story finely woven together by a master bricklayer...

The plots are decent.

I like flat climaxes. I dislike stupid "Heroic Confrontation" climaxes. It
reads more like the text of a good SR-sorta chronicle than anything else I have
seen recently (any ideas?)

I just disagree with the subplots.
Message no. 13
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 19:08:54 -0400
>>>>> "A" == A cohort's CoHort <cohort@*********.COM>
writes:

A> Which says alot about the SR novels, considering that, literarily,
A> Gibson's novels are pieces of shit. The plots are crap, the climax
A> flat, intermixing of subplots through the main story finely woven
A> together by a master bricklayer... Sorry guys, cool tech, shitty
A> stories...

I like Gibson. His stories soar while still having roots in that often
ignored quantity known as reality. I also happen to like Zelazny and
Williams; I hate Sterling (he just totally ruined _The Difference Engine_).
BTW, have you read _Virtual Light_ yet? It's out in paperback...

Some of the Shadowrun novels are good (Secrets of Power trillogy), some are
utter crap (Striper Assassin), and some are just ok (2XS). None that I've
read (or tried to) are exceptional, though.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> |There are very few personal problems which
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox|cannot be solved with a suitable
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! |application of high explosives.
Message no. 14
From: Darth Vader <j07c@***.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
Subject: Re: Zero essence
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 1994 12:10:50 +0100
> Which says alot about the SR novels, considering that, literarily,
> Gibson's novels are pieces of shit. The plots are crap, the climax flat,
> intermixing of subplots through the main story finely woven together by a
> master bricklayer... Sorry guys, cool tech, shitty stories...

I suspect that you are going to be flamed for that and so I'll just
leave the flames to others and just say my oppinion. The original pster was
right Gibson books are masterpieces - they trully embody the cyberpunk spirit.
As for plots, climax and all that stuff. You either have absolutelly no idea
what you are talking about, or we have radically different tastes, Gibsons
plots are the most complex, interesting, original and cubepunkish I have
ever read (I am talking about Neuromancer here), Gibson practically invented
cyberpunk.

--
Strong am I with the Force... but not that strong!
Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall.
That is the way of things ... the way of the Force.

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Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Zero essence, you may also be interested in:

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