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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: John Banagan <jvbanagan@*******.BITNET>
Subject: Animal Augmentation
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 11:27:32 PDT
Does anyone have any information on how to augment critters? I'm new to
Shadowrun and haven't had much experience save for playing a few times.
And as such, I was wondering if augmentation of animals was feasible.

I've heard about dragons being able to deck, but what about more 'mundane'
animals such as dogs, cats, or even dolphins and chimpanzees? My question
therefor is, how much would it cost the critter in price and in essence
to become modified? Can any type of cyber item/augmentation or bioware
be 'installed' in the critter? Do animals suffer greatly from cyber-
psykosis?

A friend was telling me that the price could be a percentage of what it in
humans, for example:

Wired Reflexes takes 3 essence away from humans (50% essence loss) from
a start value of 6. (BTW, Wired Reflexes II). For a dog who has 4 essence,
the loss would be 2 essence (50% from original value).
The price would be a different matter. If the dog is smaller in size, then
wouldn't it need less nano-circuitry running through it than a human for
instance. And if this was the case, then it would cost less (an assumption
of course).

Think then of the possibilities of cybernetic creatures...

... Guard dogs with wired reflexes and increased strength for their jaws
... Attack dogs with built-in weapons and internal bombs
... Spy-cats with cam-corders and recorders

... etc...

And if this was the case, who would be leading this type of technology?
Who would be the proponents (Ares and their war industry) and the
opponents (Elven nations against the abomination man has created on
the animals by force)? Any type of comments would be of interest to me.
Thanks in advance.


>>>> Tex <<<<
Message no. 2
From: Seth Scott <seth@***.UOREGON.EDU>
Subject: re: animal augmentation
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 12:11:53 -0700
On Oct 13, John Banagan writes:
>Does anyone have any information on how to augment critters?

In FASA products, there is some precedent for decking dragons, but let's
stay away from that one on the wider bands (I've got players on here, and
they haven't met 'ol Eliohann or Dunklezahn yet... )

Don't recall what the rules say, but I know that critters don't take cyberware
too well. In the literature, I remember Gibson's modified dogs-- hounds with
sensory hoods attached to their heads, giving IR vision, motion sensors, and
a locator of some sort, if I remember correctly (_Count Zero_, right?) In
general, I think that altered critters are interesting, but I'd watch using
them as a common occurrence-- cyberware mods are expensive, it's easier to
use creatures that are naturally/paranaturally nasty...

Tho I'd bet that the prototypes for human wired reflexes were first tested on
something else... say, dogs or cats? Heh heh heh....

--- Woodsy, Owl Shaman extraordinaire
"Hand me that 2-million block, pal."

Further Reading

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Thwap!