 Costs for a hospital grade breast pump, Single mothers on the run. |
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  Feb 11 2006, 09:10 AM
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#1
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Midnight Toker  Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456  |
Considering the dystopian nature of shadowrun and the fact that most runners are working their way up from the barrens, it is sad that one important character concept is underrepresented in the Shadows, the single mother running to make a better life for her baby.
As a chracter concept it should be far more common than hot young lesbian elves yet it is rare to see compared to the sapphic stereotype. This concept provides the full breadth of the dependant flaw by forcing the character to take into consideration such things as daycare (and nightcare) at the odd hours a shadowrunner has to work and, perhaps, maintaining a legitimate cover lifestyle to avoid the suspicions of nosey babysitters. The single mother character concept is sure to provide great longterm roleplaying experiences. However, it does raise on every important childcare question. What would be the nuyen essence and capacity cost of a DNI cyberbreastpump? |
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Feb 11 2006, 11:26 AM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 22-September 05 Member No.: 7,770 |
I'm not up on modern cyberware costs, so I won't be able to suggest a price for that. However, I am willing to comment on the excellent character concept.
Great idea and well designed to work with the dependent flaw. I would also suggest that she be a certified nanny. How do you kidnap the Johnson's children? Simply find the correct person for the job. :evil: |
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Feb 11 2006, 02:27 PM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 751 Joined: 7-June 02 From: Hamilton.LTG.on.ca Member No.: 2,853 |
You want some insite on a booby pump? well they are found in drug stores in the baby ile care section. if not look it up on the net. then ad what ever inflation you would like. |
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Feb 11 2006, 03:20 PM
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#4
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Low end $150. High end, well over $1000.
The range is too extreme to be of much help and more importantly, it doesn't list essence costs for one installed internally. A completely internal model would be impossible, but an implanted pump with in and out ports would be more convient than dragging a giant pump on runs. |
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Feb 11 2006, 03:22 PM
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#5
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,479 Joined: 6-May 05 From: Idaho Member No.: 7,377 |
Most single mothers have children by accident, and arent prepared for them. In a world of cybernetics, bioware, and magic, I would sure hope they make better rubbers...
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Feb 11 2006, 03:22 PM
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#6
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Let's not forget trying to find out its conversion into nuyen. Which is almost impossible, since some items seem to be far more expensive than they should be, and some items seem to be far les expensive than they should be.
(Example: Survival Knife. I can get one for maybe $50. In game, it's 450 nuyen, which suggests a 1:9 ratio of USD to nuyen. Whereas a standard knife in the real world is $30 for one that'll get you through a lot before breaking up, one in SR costs 30 nuyen, which suggests a 1:1 ratio on cost. So, basically, you may want to just fudge the numbers and ask your GM if that's OK.) |
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Feb 11 2006, 03:42 PM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 488 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Austin, TX Member No.: 90 |
You're forgetting the cost factor of that Trauma Patch that comes standard in the handle of that survival knife. |
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Feb 11 2006, 04:11 PM
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#8
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
And it comes standard in the real world knife I was referring to. |
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Feb 11 2006, 04:54 PM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 751 Joined: 7-June 02 From: Hamilton.LTG.on.ca Member No.: 2,853 |
I just have this nasty vision of a nursing mother with a cyber pump pulling a " Got milk" like in BaseketBall.
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Feb 11 2006, 06:38 PM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 944 Joined: 19-February 03 Member No.: 4,128 |
You know of a 50 dollar survival knife that comes with a dose of a drug that can put you in artificial hibernation? I'd love to see a link for that. |
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Feb 11 2006, 07:06 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 204 Joined: 27-October 05 From: Waterloo, ON Member No.: 7,900 |
One that can suture wounds with nanites?
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Feb 11 2006, 07:14 PM
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#12
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Trauma patch doesn't put you in hibernation, it just wakes you up and helps you ignore the pain. As per the SR3 rules, it comes with a compass, lighter, night-glow stick and a trauma patch. I've seen knives with those in the handle before for around $50. |
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Feb 11 2006, 07:34 PM
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#13
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
I think the point, Hyz, has been missed.
Nobody wants to play a single mother. Hell, some of us may know, or worse, BE, single mothers. We play to escape reality. Not have it shot up our noses. Hence, the hawt sapphic elves. An infant child would be far too much of a vulnerability for a Shadowrunner. And most Shadowrunners would, if nice, give it away for adoption, probably to some very rich people, or at least some very nice ones, or if not nice, abandon it, and if horrible, abandon it in the barrens with a round through it's head. |
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Feb 11 2006, 08:53 PM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 388 Joined: 24-October 05 Member No.: 7,885 |
No those are stim patchs. Trauma patches are last ditch things that you put directly over someones heart that releases powerful Coagulants and other helpful things for say, TRAUMA. err here let me read what sr3 said about it "trauma patches are a last ditch alternative for stabilizing characters in danger of imminent death. These adhesive patches are placed against eh patients skin directly over the hearts. the patch administers controlled doses of high powered medicines designed to stabilize and injured body. .." To sum the rest up, it enables a person a second chance at stabilization that they don't normally get. It also fucks the body up soo much it pretty much auto zaps a point of magic, and increases the chance of permament injury from these nearly/really fatal wounds. No, they are hardly anything found in a current survival knife at Kmart for 50bucks. Maybe you're thinking about something like this? a 50 dollar survival knife, that's well priced Notice the lack of a trauma patch, or even stim patches. Snake venom stuff? check, ability to suture some wounds check, stuff meant to stabilize mortally wounded people!? err, nope. Stabilization of the wounds that the trauma patch handles in SR is something that skilled paramedics with a vast array of tools do currently. There is no equivelent on todays current market, so yeah he's correct, 450bucks for this miracle patch is just having a knife thrown in for free, don't try and compare it with the current knives and medical supplies in them. |
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Feb 11 2006, 09:06 PM
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#15
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Shadowrun Setting Nerd Group: Banned Posts: 3,632 Joined: 28-June 05 From: Pissing on pedestrians from my electronic ivory tower. Member No.: 7,473 |
I guess this mean you can call me Nobody. And I guess the ones who play single fathers, too. I mean, really, who'd want to actually role-play in Shadowrun, anyway? I guess I've just been wasting the last two years role-playing a single mother character. God, I'm such an idiot. Thank you, SD, for enlightening me as to the error of my ways. Hey, next time you make a generalization you might want to stick your head a little further up your ass. |
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Feb 11 2006, 09:25 PM
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#16
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
There are people who want to play characters that go insane, pluck out their own eyeballs, and get eaten by extrademinsional horrors. There are people who want to play cahracters that go out in a blaze of glory rather than succumb to their uncurable terminal illnesses. Surely, there are people who want to play single mothers.
And although most single mothers have children by accident, there are plenty that don't. Some want children to fill a void in their lives. Enough single women and lesbians want children to keep the sperm banks in business. While lesbians are overrepresented compared to single heterosexual women, I don't think that would be the case in reality. Some single mothers are widowed or divorced. Being single one moment doesn't mean one was single the moment before. You could even have widowed or divorced hawt lesbian elf single mothers. And, of course, when you can barely afford food you can't aford condoms. Surely, there would be more single mothers in the barrens than anywhere else. Adoption wouldn't be an option for the SINless, they couldn't go to a reputable agency. Besides, most rich people would want a child with their own genes rather than a stray. Selling the baby as ghoul feed is a possibility, but some parents actually bond with their infants. A baby is only a liability if an enemy decides to attack you through your friends, family, and contacts. At that point you are already screwed. :nuyen: 150 x rating up to rating 12 seems reasonable compared to current prices. A high rating would not confer any statistical benefits, but neither would a low rating (unless the GM enforces pain penalties for uncomfortably full breasts). Essence and capacity for implanted versions is still up in the air. Implanted, it would just be an electric pump with two intake ports and at least one (probably more) output port. The ports would accept rubber tubing of a standard diameter. Cups attach to the in, bottles attach to the out, and DNI control combined with ahdesive cups would mean handsfree operation that would be appreciated by runners and wagemommies alike. |
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Feb 11 2006, 10:20 PM
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#17
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Don't patronize me, Liper. I was showing USD:nuyen ratios, which seem to be utterly random at times depending on the item and when the item first showed up in the Shadowrun universe.
I mean, sure, there aren't trauma patches or equivalent in today's world. Has that stopped anyone else from doing comparisons of real world items to SR items? Nope. So it won't stop me now. Want a different example, then? How about cell phones? Today, a cell phone, on average, will cost you $60USD+$50/month for service (and that's if you get the all-inclusive service with some stupid amount of text messages and minutes, not to mention free nights and weekends). In SR? 500 nuyen. So that's somewhere around a 5:1 ratio on USD to nuyen. Included inside of lifestyle, of course, is your cell phone bill, if you choose to get one. So that means it's really $60USD:500 nuyen ratio, which is roundabout 8.5:1 ratio. I'm so sorry I brought up the dreadful Survival Knife, which has caused GMs heart attacks due to the free trauma patch inside the handle. How unbalancing that knife is. |
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Feb 11 2006, 10:38 PM
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#18
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Shadowrun cellphones are 80's cellphones. 500 nuyen is cheap.
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Feb 11 2006, 10:40 PM
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#19
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,008 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Can I get a page reference for either a direct claim that cell phone bills are accounted for in Lifestyle or a statement that cell phones cease to work if a character doesn't have a Lifestyle?
~J |
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Feb 11 2006, 10:46 PM
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#20
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Do you make your players pay a monthly cost on a cell phone plan? If so, then you consider lifestyle as being different than I do. Lifestyle is anything and everything your character uses in everyday life. Trideo, Matrix, cell phone, gas, utilities, food... Any number of things that aren't considered "expendables" in the gear section. |
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Feb 11 2006, 11:17 PM
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#21
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,008 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
No. However, neither do I deactivate their cellphone should they find themselves with no Lifestyle (Street Lifestyle). As such, their cellphone is a one-time cost—there is no subscription, hidden or otherwise. I'm asking if you have evidence that this is not the case.
Gas, likewise, I do not consider part of Lifestyle. This opinion is backed up by the Vehicle Maintenance rules—while higher Lifestyles do provide certain discounts, they do not account for all of Maintenance, and changing fuel grades alters one's Maintenance cost, not one's Lifestyle cost. Matrix and Trid service are explicitly covered, though higher service levels need to be purchased independent of Lifestyle. ~J |
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Feb 11 2006, 11:29 PM
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#22
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
It also states that lower-end lifestyles get a monthly bus pass. People without the pass pay a fee (though it never quite says how much). While not explicitly stating "cell phone bills", the core book does say, on page 62.
(Emphasis mine.) That leads me to believe that, under that blanket statement, it includes cell phone bills if the character has one. If the character doesn't have one? Well, they get a softer couch. Ed: OK, it doesn't say they get a bus pass. I may have read that in another book at some point. |
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Feb 12 2006, 12:23 AM
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#23
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,008 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Which returns to the question: if someone has Street Lifestyle, do you deactivate their cellphone?
~J |
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Feb 12 2006, 12:33 AM
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#24
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
If they didn't pay a certain amount per month, yes. But that's just me. In the modern world, nearly everyone has a cell phone. Sure, there are lots of people who don't, but most people have one and a fair percentage in that amount use it as their house phone, completely ignoring their houseline and even cancelling that phone line to save more money. (Said people either don't have internet or have cable internet. DSL requires a phone line.) |
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Feb 12 2006, 01:26 AM
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#25
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
For the record, here's how I see Shadowrunner's cell phone bills being handled.
Step 1: Get in touch with at least a Level 1 Matrix Fixer contact. Step 2: Pay Level 1 Matrix Fixer a nice fee (probably 2,000 :nuyen: if he's level 1, less if he knows you) to deck-phreak your service into the carrier of your choice. Step 3: Don't worry about your cell phone service ever again unless the carrier you chose goes through an internal audit, your phone is captured by the Star or someone else, or someone has otherwise potentially compromised your service. If step 3 happens: Go back to Step 1. |
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