Platelet Factory and Drain Options

[Scandalous]

So if a mage has platelet factories and takes drain either physical or stun is it still reduced by one?

[Eleazar]

Correct, but your also decreasing your magic attribute by 1 due to essence loss. While your at it you might as well tack on a cerebral booster and a sleep regulator. Get as much from the -1 magic as possible. Or, you could go cerebral booster and damage compensators.

[Scandalous]

Eh.... I think it will be worth it with:

(A) Platelet Factory
Enhanced Articulation
Damage Compensator lvl 3

(A) Skillwires lvl 3

=)

[Glyph]

Although it doesn't specify the type of damage, the descriptive text seems to be describing physical rather than stun damage. A lot of GMs might run it as only affecting physical damage.

Also, keep in mind that it only comes into affect when you have taken 2 or more points of damage. If you only take one point of damage, it does nothing.

It's still a nice piece of bioware, though, and its effects on mundane wounds can't be discounted, either.

[lorechaser]

It just seems horribly wrong to me to allow platelets to kick in for drain.

But I can't see any reason they wouldn't.

[Blade]

Because the drain is an internal stress and platelets only deal with bleeding ?

[Jaid]

there is some grounds to argue it won't.

after all, you can't magic drain away, so perhaps drain is different enough from damage that platelet factories don't work.

[Scandalous]

from description of drain ie blood coming out of ears. bruising. headaches etc I am thinking it would but hey I am conformist so popularity wins just wanted to see what everyone had to say on the subject.

[bibliophile20]

This has been my thinking too, in terms of physical Drain, that it's actual physical damage to the body that comes from channeling too much energy through one's self, sort of like a moderate electrical discharge: cells get fried and fun stuff like that, while minor blood vessels may burst from pressure. That sort of thing--small but systemwide damage--seems ideal for the platelet factories to be working on.

[fool]

the peice of ware that mages must have is the pain editor..... no dp modifier for stun damage and no passing out from stun damage. Especially useful when combined with a adrenal pump.. inc. will etc.

[BishopMcQ]

Or you could just port over Trauma Damper. Bump one box of physical to stun, or one box of stun away entirely.

[Serbitar]

Anybody who uses RAW adrenaline pump is in serious problems.

[djinni]

[ornot]

I wouldn't have a problem with the platelet factories affecting physical drain. Stun drain is a slightly iffier matter, I feel, but if you don't treat them both the same then people will overcast "because physical is easier to heal".

IIRC the FAQ stated that there was no means to heal drain damage, other than rest, which would suggest that the platelet factories don't work.

Ultimately I think it's whatever the GM decides for their game.

[Garrowolf]

I always thought of drain as sort of damage to the person's aura. It would heal and it had the same effect as stun so they were combined to keep it simple. If it is just damage to the body then medical tech should be able to fix the damage.

[Thane36425]

My view on this has been to look at Mana like electricity. At safe, meaning your Magic rating or less, the aura is the conductive element and the body is insulated from the raw Mana. However, channeling the Mana and controlling it takes effort. That strain is reflected in stun damage and would be akin to physical labor, like lifting an object. A simple little spell might be as stressful as lifting large book while a powerful one might be like sprinting down the block. How well you resist drain is just like your physical conditioning for exercise: the better shape you are in, the more less it wears you out.

Overcasting is when you exceed your safe limits. That channels Mana through the body as well as the aura. Just like electricity, that's going to hurt. However, a mage can use their skills to try to reduce that damage. The mechanic of that is harder to picture than physical fitness as described above.

Does that mean those devices can affect drain? For physical damage probably. For stun, I would say that depends on if the devices work against fatigue like that generated by running.

[Jack Kain]

[Trigger]

[Jack Kain]

And I thought the FAQ refered to magical healing of drain. And checking the FAQ that is correct.

"No. Damage from Drain must be healed by regular mundane medical care and/or rest."

You can use a medkit to heal drain so should be able to use platelet factoies. Remember even a bruise involves broken blood vessels. Actually thats what a bruise is broken blood vessels.
Also its one point of damage and they had to give up a point of magic for it, and likely some other bioware.

Its much easier to draw the platelet factories at any injury then to try and think, when platelets are involved and when they aren't.

So it does come down to what does drain damage look like. Is it nearly invisible like a toxin or do wounds open and bruises appear on the mages body as result of the stress the body is under.

[bibliophile20]

[Blade]

[lorechaser]

[cristomeyers]

Would have to depend on how your GM views Drain damage. If your GM has Drain as physical and mental exhaustion, then platets aren't going to help.

[Spike]

I don't think it should matter how the GM views drain damage. The platelet factory doesn't say 'only if massive bleeding is involved'. It's cut and dried, if you take physical damage, the platelet factories can cut in to reduce the damage.

The real question is if the GM sees it as abusive and decides it won't work because it's 'cheating'. That was my first instinct, but...

You are giving up a magic point for this drain resistance. That can not be stressed enough. You INCREASE your need to take physical drain for a minor ability to abnegate a minor portion of it... Not so broken as all that.

[Moon-Hawk]

Just to chime in, until a very clear FAQ ruling comes out I would say the platelet factory helps with overcasting physical drain, but not with standard stun drain. If it gets explicitly addressed in a FAQ I'll go with whatever that says.