| From: | Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: A question of Grand Scale (up front answers) |
| Date: | Sun, 10 May 1998 10:25:46 EDT |
IMO, and most likely colored by such :P
In a message dated 5/10/98 1:19:41 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
grota@*********.COM writes:
> * Jett hides from incoming thwaps once people read this message and then
> look at the subject again * Okay, here's a question for you.
>
> A team of PCs, but some miracle, killed an Eastern Dragon when the
> rigger crashed their transport plane into its head. The PCs proceeded to
> loot the corpse, taking blood, claws, etc from the corpse.
> Okay, so the question is this. Several PCs managed to get a hold of a
> bunch of scales. If you were to make a plated vest out of the scales,
> what would its rating be? I checked the critter table, and according to
> that, Eastern Dragons have a composite natural armor of 8. So would a
> vest made from said critter's scales be 8/8? Or less?
Okay, that method of attack isn't necessarily a miracle, just -VERY- extreme.
Yeah yeah, I know, a dragon requires extreme measures. I am just surprised
that the dragon didn't hear it coming or something.
Anyway, onto the looting....
As far as removing the body parts/appendiges from the overall corpse for use.
The standard "attribute ratings" for said dracoform, including the armor, are
not necessarily going to be usable. Without someone who knows how to remove
said material properly, I doubt seriously that anyone is going to be able to
gain the -full- benefits of said armor.
Also, as Nexx pointed out in his posting concerning the "Chunk Tosser" thing,
once it leaves the living body, its' aura is going to begin to deteriorate. I
bring this up, because, again IMO, part of the armoring power of a dracoform
comes from it's extremely complex (ie; Magical) nature. Granted, not all of
it, but a portion of it. And that may/may not effect the overall integrity of
"the Hide".
All determinable by the GM of course. ;)
On a slightly OT note from your posting, please remember that this is NOT AD&D
or any similar "purely magical" universe. This SR Universe has dracoforms
that may have other options to pursue.
For example. Did you and your friends realize that this critter is sentient,
and in SR's Universe, Sentient beings, especially those that have a SIN (as
long as it defeats the attempts to determine it's legality, it works) have
rights and killing such is considered an act of Murder???
That's right, you read me correctly. Murder. And certain other dracoforms
may or may not consider themselves "family" and decide to press charges,
obtain others to be arrested etcera.... Yes, this happened to some characters
once a LONG time ago in the games. I did it to prove a point. No matter
-WHAT- material I used, it was SHADOWRUN ... NOT AD&D/Middle Earth/etcera....
Back to your question though ... what exactly did they use to remove the hide
also? dikote circular saws? IF the armor value of the hide does not
deteriorate, that's stuff HARDENED, and simply hacking at it with a sword or
an axe in the hands of a troll is NOT going to work.
Additionally, if the dragon died via Plane Crash (to it's Skull no less :), I
doubt that any teeth are going to usable, let alone the tongue or brain.
Also, jarring may have ripped the region around the neck, rendering that hide
material unusable. The wings can be fragile (the membranes at least), and may
have torn, also they are not necessarily as durable as the remainder of the
body, and are not likely usable for "armor material" after your conflict.
The rest of the body, who knows.
Back to the legality and reputation problems ... if you will.
Any other dragon that sees material made from this is going to be a VERY bad
thing. Oh sure, Metahumans may think it's cool. But what about dragons and
their allies? Let's see, we no longer have the Big D, but that means didly.
Lofwyr, Arleesh, Hestaby, and Masaru are all major players in the Shadow
Markets. And their list of contacts are IMMENSE to say the least.
IMO (coming from actions I've had to do while Binder and Shiv over the years
now) is turn the body over to the appropriate authorities and contact the
nearest Great Dracoform. Be prepared with statements for the GD as to how the
fight happened and what occurred. Make certain you know your motives are not
going to get you killed as a retaliatory strike (most of the GD's are powerful
and emotional, but they are also sentient and may very readily understand).
Another option may be to contact the Draco Foundation, as they would probably
offer some kind of reward for a "more respectful disposal" of the body in
question. Not as cool as wearing "Dragon Hide Security Armor" I'll grant you,
but it could work out better in the long run.
In short, the armor may or may not work, but there are LOTS of other options
that are a HELL of a lot cooler for the role-playing aspects...
-K
