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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Dan Turek)
Subject: curing hmhvv
Date: Thu Nov 22 13:55:01 2001
>>Er, what if the player in question decides that he likes the idea
>>That'd throw a slight spanner in this "infect him so he'll roleplay
>>and find a cure" plan, wouldn't it?

>Maybe his friends or a secret research organization want to cure him
>So now he has to roleplay to stay out of the hands of his buddies /
>labrats and try to convince them to leave him alone.

I think ShadowRun Companion has rules for contracting and curing the Ghoul
variant of the virus, though I believe it has to be done during the onset
time (around a month) to be effective. I would think there could be similar
remedies for the vampire and nosferatu strains. Nanobots that can target the
virus, or anti-viral viral agents should be able to cure it in the early
stages, or at least help delay the transformation.

Since it gives Regeneration power, I would think once its manifested it is
pretty much incurable (at least without killing the host) as it must affect
every cell in the body. It also would cause cyberwear rejection, possibly
bioware rejection (certainly nothing new is going to be implanted) and if
the afflicted doesn't feed it would make sense for their Magic rating (if
any) to down with their Essence (at least temporarily).

There are bounties on HMHVV people in most countries and if the person was
admitted for treatment and was not cured the proper authorities would be
notified. I'm sure they'd be told anyway so they could ask questions about
how and where the infection occurred.

Everything that has Essence Drain seems linked to the Enemy. To cure
something of that magnitude past the normal point of no return would require
more than just a major ritual (possibly known to a Great Dragon or IE) but
also the person's purity of spirit. If he NEVER acted as a vampire, really
went of his way to be cured, etc. I might allow it. If he Once drained
Essence, I'd say he's too tainted for the ritual to succeed.

If he decides to remain a vampire, the rules from Vampire:Masquerade can be
adapted for SR :)

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Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (shadowrun)
Subject: curing hmhvv
Date: Thu Nov 22 14:30:01 2001
Derek it all depends how you view vamps in your campaign ,
if you think of them in a interview with a vampire(V:tm)
type scenario , then well the rigger is already dead , he
just doesn't have the courage to acknowledge it yet ,

if on the other hand you remain pure to the Srun books then
your victim ( much like a fly in some spiders web ) has
become infected with an insidious virus which alters his DNA
, his personality changes ( after all he is a hunter now ) ,
the virus would do this and he could barely control himself
and his cravings for blood , this virus sustains itself and
perpetuates itself by the act of blood drinking , infecting
more people , ( this ain't like V:tm where you can say i'll
just take a sip ) everyone the vamp bites would in theory
become infected also , it isn't like he has a choice ,

i would use essence rules so that after a little while the
rigger ( already a low essence type of person ) is running
on empty and grabs the first liquid refreshment he can find
, this could be reflected in GT as every time the characters
essence falls below 0 he/she/it looses control , until the
essence level is restored , who he infects is something for
his more moral (human) side to deal with , as a further hook
they could come back to bug him later , ( nice flashbacks ,
good for dark nights , make sure to only drink bloody mary's
that night )

the unfortunate thing is drinking the blood isn't enough ,
in SR he needs a live victim , people donate blood all the
time and are healthy ( thankfully ) soon after , vampires
drain into the soul , yep this is nasty , if the party
thinks it's cool to have a rocking regen monster who only
comes out at night , and thinks well we don't need to have
him cured , have him go berserk on the wizzer , drain 3
points of magic infect him with something nasty , and well
the party will see that hey we need to get this problem
solved ,

to explain leonization idea , most characters invest in doc
wagon , presumably before infection , this give the
genengineers a litttle something to work from , that hasn't
been infected , if not just say bye bye rigger , someone
mentioned something about ares , hmm yep the place that does
the leonization is universal omnitech , little to do with
ares but i'm sure a sadistic gm ( like only SR makes) could
find some way of loaning the character sufficient funds to
get the op done ( after a lot of favors and bootlicking )
minus any annoying cyberware that has been bugging him ( oh
we couldn't install that tissue degradation was too nasty we
had to use hydrochloric acid and your **** parts
disintergrated also ) for what ? eternal servitude to the
corp , too easy ,i was going with , a simple run with
minimal complications against a dragons lair

Kanniemeernie Korperaal
" her lips were red , her looks were free
her locks were yellow as gold ,
her skin was white as leprosy
the nightmare Life-in-death was she
who thicks man's blood with cold "
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- the rhyme of the ancient mariner
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: curing hmhvv
Date: Sat Nov 24 08:55:01 2001
shadowrun writes:

> this ain't like V:tm where you can say i'll just take a sip ) everyone the
> vamp bites would in theory become infected also , it isn't like he has a
> choice ,

I always thought that it was only possible for a "bitten" person to become
infected in SR if their Essence was drained all the way down to zero. Then,
24 hours later they would awaken as a ravenous, blood thirsty vampire with
only the thought of feasting on their mind (this was also, incidently, how a
critter with Essence Loss behaved once their Essence got down to zero). Once
they had gotten their Essence above zero, they could act "rationally" again.
I also seem to remember (but this may have been from shadowtalk or novels)
that a vampire could choose not to infect someone who he'd drained all the
way to zero, and just let them die instead. And also, obviously, if the
vampire didn't drain the person all they way to zero, then they don't become
a vampire themselves.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
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