Implant for mages, Its a security thing Options

[Thane36425]

A while back I mentioned reading in an old, published mission that included an implant or mages. Tonight I was reading over some old missions and I foudn that reference. It was in Celtic Doublecross. Visiting mages to Tir Nan Og were required to give a material sample and have a tracking device implanted next to some spinal ganglia. Not exactly a bomb, but close to it.

[Ravor]

Aye, and I seem to remember reading somewhere in 4th Edition (Yes I know some people don't like the new edition mentioned on this board.) about how they have implants that can detect when a Mage is trying to use magic at all, but now I can't seem to find it with a quick search through my E-Books so maybe I simply dreamed it up...

[Backgammon]

[Thane36425]

[Ravor]

*EUREKIA*

I FINALLY managed to find the passage I was looking for, although I was wrong, it wasn't in 4th Edition or in any of my Shadowrun E-books, the passage is in my dead-tree copy of 'Target: UCAS' page 15 in a bit of 'shadowtalk' by 'Legal Beagle'.

"... In some extreme circumstances (especially if you're SINless), you may even be subjected to special medical programs designed to burn out your magical ability "for the greater good." Usually these programs involve regular dosages of stims that overload the nervous system and wear down the delicate neural balance required for channeling power. I've also heard of cyber-implants keyed to the unique brain activity of using magic. Try to call up any power while you've got one of these in your noggin and it'll blow your head off. Reportedly, a few places still use neurosurgery and electroshock to "lobotomize" the parts of a magician's brain that enable him to perform magic. Of course. no one really knows exactly what those parts are, so these lobotomies are a hit-or-miss proposisition. ..."


Now of course, it is located in the middle of shadowtalk so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and begs the question that if they don't really know exactly what parts of the brain allow the usage of magic then how can they be sure to only measure for magical activity and not either get false positions or negatives, but if I remember correctly Legal Beagle was also one of the more level-headed shadowtalkers as well, so I always took this tech as granted, although not perfect by any means...

[Deschain]

[Ravor]

Aye I agree, but only to a certain point, too many false positives and they won't have any more disposable, err I mean deniable recruits to send into the meat grinder. After all mages are only ~1% of the population so if the tech wasn't at least somewhat realible then I can't see it getting much use...

[fistandantilus4....]

mages are important to corps, SINless or no. They're a commodity that can't be readily produced. Even if they set up bredding camps it would take 15+ years for any kind of pay off.

[hyzmarca]

Its shadowtalk. The device is purely rumor and probably doesn't exist at all. That's the way shadowtalk is. Some characters believe crazy drek that isn't true because they are characters and not omnipotent GMs.

[Ravor]

Hmm, as an aside, has it ever been stated what the chances of two full mages having kids that are also full mages vs merely awakened or even mundane?

*Edit*

hyzmarca, true, you have a good point since I don't believe it has ever truely been stated out. However, given that we know that magic use does require some heavy duty concentration at the very least I think that it doesn't stretch the bounds of possiblity for such a device to exist in some form or another.

Besides, since I don't much care for the idea of Technomancers being 'Awakened', this gives me an answer to the logical question as to why you can't have both Magic and Resonance, both require the brain to be 'wired' slightly differently in addition to whatever else makes them both special...

*Edit 2.1*

Also something else to consider is that although in the begining of just about every book you are reminded that you can't take everything that appears in 'shadowtalk' at face value that doesn't mean that you can just brush everything in there away as mere rumor and crazy drek either.

Besides, if I remember correctly "Legal Beagle" was one of the more level-headed ones, I mean its not like I was quoting the 'Lone Gunman' or some crazy slot spewing about Winternight, AIs, Bug Spirits, IEs, Okuta, Horrors, or anything really crazy and impossible. :wobble:

[Platinum]

Isn't the point of shadowtalk to stir the GM's imagination? This is just something to give a GM an evil plot idea, and other gm's that don't fancy the idea just skip over the paragraph.

[Garrowolf]

I think that magic users are too valuable.

How about this idea:

implant a personality chip (loves this megacorp - must protect at all costs), biomonitor, and a tracer. Stick him out one side of the megacorp facility and let him go survivalist defending that area. If they pick up any real spikes and then a flat line then they go on alert.

Magical security on one side with little if any upkeep.

[Ravor]

Hmm, if you are willing to risk mindbender chips then why not go all the way and use the Mage in a more pro-active role? As a lone nut in the wilderness I think it would be better to use Spirits & or para-critters as they are less likely to be lost to the elements.

[Garrowolf]

Well personally I make spirits more intelligent and they wouldn't follow an implant controlled mage because they would see it in the aura. I would allow them lots of spells though.

An interesting possibility is that the mage overcasts and fries the chip. That would be an interesting way to start a game. Your mage wakes up with no memories of the last 5 weeks in the middle of combat trying to defend a megacorp he hates.

And he doesn't know about the tracer!

Sounds like fun!