| From: | Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Extreme Essence Reduction <LONG> (was: SUPER EPSILON Cyberware |
| Date: | Sun, 3 May 1998 00:19:08 EDT |
pal@**.BROWN.EDU writes:
> On Sat, 2 May 1998, Jonathan Andrews wrote:
> > I don't know... I _could_ see the possibility of 99% essence reduction,
> > and here's why:
> <speaking up for the first time on the matter>
> I certainly can, as well. However, it would seem to me that it wouldn't be
> something that you could really just *buy*.
>
> > Now also take as a given that essence might not be the only drawback to
> > cyberware. Sure, you can attune your cyber to match your aura better--I
> > can see that as plausible. Heck, you might even be able to attune your
> > aura to match the cyber better, down the road. But what's that going to
do
> > to your aura? And what's that going to do to you?
>
> (For those who don't like Earthdawn, please ignore the terminology used.)
>
> As far as I understand things, the 'party line' for essence costs is that
> the addition of cybernetic implants disrupts your pattern, such that it is
> different from your aura, or what your 'more true' pattern is. This
> dissonance is what can eventually cause death, when mana becomes incapable
> of flowing into you.
This doesn't entirely float with me, but that's okay. The basic idea makes
sense.
> Now, what if a piece of cyberware were especially designed to minimize
> this dissonance? I'm not talking about technological, but magical means...
> for example, constructing parts of the implant from objects that are
> greatly synchronized with the aura of the recipient. This route is quite
> different than that taken in Cybertechology, in which the 'sympathetic
> objects' are destroyed; instead, if the implant could be better
> synchronized with the aura by, for example, melting down a wedding ring
> and incorporating the metal in the implant.
Wow, hey Mike, this stuff sounds familiar...
> What I'm basically suggesting is a way of making the cybernetics itself a
> 'sympathetic object', or Pattern Item. This would most probably require
> the incorporation of previous sympathetic objects, and a great deal of
> magical work.
Yep, very familiar...
> <breaking into Earthdawn-style magical theory here>
>
> Indeed, the implications of these actions could be rather immense; not
> only have you made the cybernetic implants congrous with the patient's
> aura, and then possibly less magically invasive, but you have made parts
> of the patient's body pattern items in themselves. The patient, or someone
> else, could then create magical connections to these objects, perhaps
> strengthening them further.
>
> <Earthdawn theory off>
This has some relavance to ED I'll grant you, but it also has a MASSIVE amount
of relavance to SR as well. It is just not written up with the same
terminology.
> Of course, there would be a limit to this sort of operation; one can't
> just keep on creating sympathetic objects. However, for one, or perhaps
> two implants, I could see it being possible. This begins to bridge the gap
> of the magical/technological barrier... a datajack that is, in essence (no
> pun intended) a personal Focus?
We have had rules for that in the past. If a magician made a "Personal Focus
3" for example, and it was a Beta Grade Datajack 4 (.25 essence loss base), it
would gain the individual receiving the implant an additional 3% reduction in
essence loss on top of the Beta Grade reduction. So, IIRC, that would make
the DJ-4 (BG) come out to 0.145 (if you kept to the nearest thousandth of
course). It wasn't much, and it made a requirement of at least 3 point of
karma on behalf of the "to-be-implanted-individual".
> The approach taken in Cybertechnology seems slightly different; by
> destroying these objects, or people, that are synchonized with the aura of
> the subject, then one can (hopefully) have a greater deal of freedom with
> what sort of warping the aura can sustain.
>
> I don't envision this ever being available to player characters, unless
> you run a game of extremely high proportions; in my eyes, this sort of
> effort might be done for a Prince of the Tir, or perhaps a highly
> initiated member of a Tir na nOg path. A datajack, for example, not wired
> reflexes.
I agree with the level of whom it would be done for, but not the examples,
especially given certain penchants for their outlooks on "Essence Loss"
(excluding the Path of Warrior, which is strange in many ways).
Now then, as for why I think this stuff sounded familiar...I sent the
suggested directions to one person who asked, now I'll give a hint to everyone
else...
http://members.aol.com/hhackerh/intro.htm
Magic link
Enchanting link
Then "Aura Symmetry" link...
Have fun...
-K
