From:	Andy Butcher <Fiend@*********.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: HB Monsters
Date:	Fri, 2 Jun 1995 13:07:19 +0100

Jonas Gabrielson wrote:

>> This makes no sense to me. I mean, I'm no cyberware designer, but
>> the easiest way to make a Skillwire system must be to use the existing
>> nervous system for signal transmitting, not building a whole secondary
>> nervous system with electric wires. This means the wires from the system
>> intercepts normal neurons somewhere in the spinal or basal ganglia, and
>> reflex recorders come later, so they *would* add to the system's rating.

And Damion wrote:

>Ya, you are right. Skilwires (and skillwires plus) will highjack the users
>existing nervous system. It is skill hardwires which have their own set of
>"nerves". Although, on your reasoning, I can't see just why, but the diagram
>(in SSC) certainly indicates this is so.

Let's face it, very little of the cyberware in Shadowrun makes sense in
terms of essence cost and invasiveness. Why does a Decker need nothing more
than a datajack to use a deck, but a Rigger need a massively invasive system
to achieve much the same levels of input/output and control? Okay, you could
say that Riggers have the equivalent of a cranial deck, but what's to stop
one just having a datajack and putting all the electronics in a 'rigging deck'?

The Shadowrun cyberware system is one of the most poorly thought out and
inconsistent areas of the game - it's fairly obvious that the designers just
thought 'this would be cool, and this would be great, oh, and let's have
that as well' without any real thought about how it all related. It's a
shame, considering they then spent a long time trying to justify magic in a
coherent and logical fashion. Okay, it doesn't quite work and there are some
problems, but Shadowrun is still the only game system I've ever played that
sets out 'ground rules' for magic that let the players understand roughly
how things work. This has always been one of the system's strong points for me.

For ages I've been toying with the idea of creating an alternate cyberware
system based on the technical explanations in the Shadowlore book and
systems like Cyberpunk and Cyberspace, both of which have much more
'modular' cyberware systems (especially the later). Unfortunately it's
always ended up being too much work, plus my players would hate to have to
read new lists of essence costs, etc. If anyone's interested, though, I
could resurrect some of my doomed attempts for all to see (and flame
mercilessly, no doubt... ;)

Andy Butcher | "Whether you think you will succeed
PC Gamer Magazine | or not, you are right."
Fiend@*********.co.uk | Henry Ford