| From: | Paul@********.demon.co.uk (Paul Jonathan Adam) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Metamagic |
| Date: | Wed, 08 May 1996 20:37:51 GMT |
> Here is represented a little peeve of mine...
> Alpha-grade cyberware is readily available in 2057 (per Cybertechnology).
> Beta is easier to get than it was, but still not easy. Delta is all but
> unheard of. Bioware is also readily available and it seems as if cultured
> bioware is too.
>
> Now, due to costs and the limited resources of starting characters, I feel
> that normal and alpha grade cyberware should be available at character
> generation. I also feel that bioware should be too (cultured as well).
I do this too. Yes, you can have betaware. Yes, you pay full price for it.
If you want a delta-grade Smartlink II, you can have it, but it's thirty
thousand newyen. Make some hard choices :)
> If only base 'ware is used, too many people will drop their character into a
> template (wired 2, smartlink, eye mods, etc) and they end up just like every
> other cyber-schmoe out there.
Horribly true, in a game with reasonable amounts of combat. You need to
roleplay the samurai/mercs well to tell them apart :)
> What happens when you give 'em the ability to
> take more stuff and to cram more of it into them? They begin to create a
> character around the 'ware.
Tradeoffs. Choices. Decisions. Gaining strengths and weaknesses. In other
words, fun....
Also, good for background. Where *did* they get that delta-grade stuff from?
Who wants it back? (in or out of your body...) We always figured that the
good background was the key: Sasha, my other merc, had alpha and beta grade
stuff, but he was a Spetznaz defector... which bought him a *lot* of trouble
and several excellent runs.
> Another thing, magicians and physads and everything under SR's skies (and
> above them) can use any 'ware. So don't EVEN try to convince me that this
> is strictly a samurai thing. Alpha-grade makes for lower-essence costs as
> well, which makes cyberware more tempting for magic types, besides giving
> all those silly adepts with A resources a place to dump some cash.
Yeah, I always like watching mages wriggle over whether to get cybereyes or
not :)
--
"When you have shot and killed a man, you have defined your attitude
towards him. You have offered a definite answer to a definite problem.
For better or for worse, you have acted decisively.
In fact, the next move is up to him." R. A. Lafferty
Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
