Let's face it - beetles are cool. Yet there are not enough rules for the effects of chipping, so we have to get inventive.

I've found that moodchips are sometimes good for keeping tied-up people mellow under the gun, as they lead their employers to a trap over the comlink. Street scum often likes to slot a chip or two on their free time, so they will have the means to do it. Also good for PCs getting into character for that extra touch of etiquette (overly happy receptionist comes to mind) when trying to blend in.

Personafix "puppet" chips might be nice for interrogations (and blackmail - those sex parlor chips are relatively easy to come by). Though not every office worker is going to have a datajack or a modified sim module.

I've also seen chips that make you fearless (identical effects to Guts), which come in handy with critters that use Fear.

What have you done with BTL Chips?
Evil plans and cool character ideas are most welcome, as well as house-rules about the effects of particular chips.

EDIT: For the new readers - my new BTLs can be found a few posts down

I was always partial to the Winternight God chips actually.

Then again I am an evil GM.

Mwuahahaha....

- J.

Our gm sprung a carrot top personafix on us, once. He made us all watch a bit of him before the game, since none of us had any idea who he was, being from a differnet country than the YOU-ESS-AY.

Mother of god was that horrible.

Hmm... Everyone avoids BTLs because they really, completely and immediately frag you up. You can't really shoot at guys if you think you're windsurfing in Maui. I'm thinking it might be fun to make some BTLs far less full-sensory. You're walking around in your reali life, you can still shoot at people and do your job, but sometimes you get boobies (I don't mean boobies grow out of you, they just appear, so you can appreciate them). Sometimes you feel awesome. Heck, I wouldn't mind giving characters a temporary +1 for certain actions, sort of like a morale boost, because their particular BTL pumps them up. I'm also considering reducing or eliminating stun penalties as well, because the BTL can reduce that sensory information. What else can we do to actually make BTLs a valid option for characters?

Well actually coming up with rules for moodchips immidiadly comes to mind.

BBB p250 : "After the chip’s program has run its course, the user crashes, usually feeling the opposite emotion of the BTL for an hour or two."

I find it quite easy to play off this (admittedly vague) description, though it would be nice to have some specific bonuses while slotting different things. Just mimicking Guts or giving a general -2 dice for the depression of Blue chips is far from optimal :) Got any ideas on bonuses?

Sadly, no i don't have.

Nothng to see here. Move along.

You could always link a moodchip to your smartlink system and run a program on your commlink so that the better your fire/hit/kill ratio the more intense the high.

I can't claim this idea as my own, but for the life of me I can't recall where it originated.

I came up with some rules for BTLs that give bonuses. These are mostly crazy ideas without much thought behind them. I tried to go for some kind of balance, but much of the time it's up to the GM to play up the addiction if players get out of hand. Long term use will cause strong side-effects.

Some of these would play out best as moodchips, with a couple of hours of the opposite emotion after running the program, while others are definitely reality amplifiers. A couple of the programs are a bit out there, testing the limits of what you can believably do with chips.

BTLs are dangerous, kids, so don't do these at home.


New beetles:

Cool White: +2 Willpower to resist intimidation, interrogation and judge intentions tests. Little or no emotional responses. Automatic success on composure tests. Some people might not like the sociopath, if they notice the effects. Possible after-use side-effects include nervousness and shakes.

Blue Passion: You feel like the star of a love movie. +2 Seduction tests. Can help or hinder other Charisma-linked tests at game master's discretion. (Maybe that fat Troll flirting with Lone Star is not helping you get out of trouble)

Red Meanie: Hulk smash! +2 Intimidation tests. Needs to make a Composure (2) Test not to get physical if aggravated.

Sunny Yellow: User stays joyful. No matter what. That puppy dying in the corner? Happiest thing I ever saw.

Sporty: Your body is totally coordinated and you feel like you could run for miles. +2 Athletics tests. At game masters discretion, -1 to all appropriate tests for 10x1D6 minutes when the effect wears off if the body was overtaxed.

Fireplace: Gives a warm fuzzy feeling, while making your muscles shiver and give out heat. +1 Survival against cold.

Ice Cube: Makes you feel comfortably cool while sweating a lot. +1 Survival against hot. Makes you very thirsty.

Spock: Activates the left hemisphere of the brains. +1 Logic, -2 Intuition. Unable to understand jokes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Sally: Activates the right hemisphere of the brains. +1 Intuition, -2 Logic. Heightened emotional responses.

Interest: User is filled with wonder and acts like a child, getting very interested in new things. Knowledge skills cost -1 Karma. -2 Int for the extended learning test (duration of learning) because of lack of focus.

Drunk: User gets drunk immediately; gains blood-shot eyes in under a minute, loses fine-motor control and starts to slur. Modified programs also exist where the outer appearance remains the same, without affecting mental prowess. The program can be switched off instantly, like any other reality amplifier.

Makeup: Reddens the cheeks, relaxes strategic facial muscles and dilates pupils. +1 dice modifier to all Social tests where appearance is a modifier. By itself, not as addicting as other chips, but it's often combined with other pleasure-enhancing programs to make users feel better and induce addiction.

Hard Times: Makes the user feel very depressed. By contrast, this makes you feel better about your life when not chipped, though on the long term the habit of feeling bad will spill over to every aspect of the users life. Very popular because it's advertised as unpleasant and not addictive.

Reality Amplifiers from Unwired p.189, for comparison.
Breakdown: -2 Willpower to resist intimidation and interrogation
Focus: Eliminates dice penalties due to distracting or stressful situations
Oracle: +2 Physical Perception tests
Red Alert: +1 Physical Initiative tests, extended tests' thresholds +3

Those are pretty cool.
also thanks for pointing out reality amplifiers in Unwired hadn't noticed those, too bad there are only four of those.

i remember what you are talking about. an illegal smartgun mod for the killer in us all. dont quote me on this but i think it was on black jacks site way back when.

I remember running a game years ago, where the runners didn't figure out til 3/4s of the way in that they'd never physically left the jackpoint where'd they'd all logged in to virtual-meet with a johnson at the beginning of the run. They'd been hijacked into a BTL-type hallucination and had to figure out how to get out.

I need to go find those game notes, mebbe re-write that game for 4E.




-karma

I suppose if you wanted to you could take the drug rules from Augmentation and use them with BLTs (minus the potential Essence losses). BLTs effect the brain much the same way actual drugs do and it isn't that far of a stretch to say they effect your body the same way as well. The best part of BLTs is that (unlike some drugs) they are relatively clean (ie no dirty needles) so I see more SINLess using them. The best part about BLTs is that they effect each metatype the same (unlike drugs where you need to make Troll/Dwarf versions of drugs that would outright kill a human/elf and really mess up an ork).

I've eaten BLTs. Though I tend to have only BLs, not too fond of tomato.

Wait. Wrong acronym.

I really like this... I can see my new character being addicted to Cool Whites...

- J.

Thank you.

The reality amplifiers in Unwired are pretty cool, although I was also hoping for a bit more.
Maybe we get a Digital Grimoire of BTLs for Christmas if we're really nice (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I imagine there are at least a few wage-slaves that use personafix chips to operate as Runners.

Femme Fatale chip+ Skillwires + Data Filter = running without those pesky conscience issues.

Rating 4 Skillwires at the local Cyberdoc - 8 000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)
Run-of-the-mill Data Filter to sleep at night - 2 500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)

Having a total stranger come up to you and gun you down on the street for something you don't remember doing - Priceless

What would be interesting are those moments when your character is caught between Cool Whites, not quite sure how to handle "all" the emotional responses. Make is subtle, like, when something mundanely pleasant happens, the character smiles, just a normal mundane smile, but then a confused look washes over his face.
...

Jo-jo was getting better at managing the shakes between Cools and a half smile pulled back one side of his mouth. Then, a look of confusion slid across his face, washing away the half smile.

Buster noticed and asked, "What's up?"

Jo-jo threw a quick glance at his buddy, then looked away, concentrating on his blank face. He felt it settle, but his hands started to shake again. Maybe his buddy wouldn't notice. "Nothing," said Jo-jo. "Why do you ask?"

Buster saw Jo-jo's glance up with wide paranoid eyes, then look away with eyebrows high. Jo-jo's breathing was short and quick and his hands were back to the usual shakes. Fragging BTLs, thought Buster. He said, "Nothing. You just seem quieter than your usual dead-pan self."

"G-good," said Jo-jo. "We meeting this Johnson tonight?" He really needed another hit, but he wasn't getting one until they pulled some nuyen from the Johnson.

"Yeah," said Buster, discretely calling Slow Eddie. Eddie always had plenty of Cool Whites and Buster always set aside what he called 'White money' for when Jo-jo was broke.

Two hours later, Jo-jo found a couple Cool Whites in the seat of the car. Buster will never know thought Jo-jo, as he fingered the small chip. And Mr. Johnson won't be scaring me into some stupid job tonight. Me and Buster will play this one cool and at our own pace for once.
...

What can I say: withdrawal is a bitch.

- J.