Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "MARTIN E. GOTTHARD" <s457033@*******.GU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Paranormals (and other animals)
Date: Sat, 10 May 1997 15:49:02 +1000
> I'm not an enormous fan of paranormal guard animals; to my way of thinkin=
g, a
> human being with 2050 tech (and/or 2050 magic) will usually be far more
> deadly even than a piasma or hell hound, and more cost-effective, too. IM=
HO,
> of course. I can see where it would be a nice change of pace for the play=
ers.
>

Some thoughts and points;

- The biggest crippler of any animal is its low reaction. Reaction is the=

basis for inititave, which should be +2d6 at least of give the animal a
chance, and it's also the basis for unarmed combat ability. The
nastiest critters use stealth (how _do_ you estimate that for a critter,
anyway?) and high reaction in concert.

-Hellhounds and Piasma to a lesser extent (and other paranormals) are
incredibly cost-effective for a corporation if they have breeding stock
and training facilities on site (or available). They reach maturity within=

two or three years, require no cyberware to increase reaction, and do
not need a salary of 30,000¥ per year. There are no death benefits to
be paid, or moral considerations about using them for suicidal missions
either. The one drawback for paranormals are their low intelligence;
You can't use them in delicate situations. Put them in a killing area
and they're the bees knees, though.

- Tactical computers can be used to increase the reaction of cybered
doggies. If a 'pack master' or animal handler has a tactical comp, and
the neccessary ancillary cyber to communicate with and control the
animals, he can give the pack a semblance of human intelligence and a
higher reaction.... A much scarier prospect than if they were 'normal'
animals. Add in cyber psychosis, and doggie armor and those doggies
ain't nice critters. Check out the cyberdogs on Paolo's site for ideas
(most of them are too expensive, but you can cut down the cost by using
things like boosted reflexes, etc.)

Marty

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Paranormals (and other animals), you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.