 Anthroform Vehicles, Where are they? |
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 Jul 15 2007, 09:05 PM
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#1
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Target  Group: Members Posts: 28 Joined: 27-June 07 From: Liberty-Township, Ohio Member No.: 12,068  |
I'm a huge fan of bipedal tanks (Battletech/Mechwarrior and others), and was wondering where the anthroform vehicles were located. Am I missing them in the corebook? I see the skill listed, but don't see stats or descriptions of them. Are they listed in a sourcebook for fourth edition that is already out, or are they going to be in a soon-to-be released book?
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Jul 15 2007, 09:20 PM
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#2
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
I plead with the Spirits on a daily basis that this will not come to be. |
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Jul 15 2007, 09:35 PM
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#3
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panda! Group: Members Posts: 10,331 Joined: 8-March 02 From: north of central europe Member No.: 2,242 |
anthroform drones where available in earlier versions, but none where so big that they could be used as vehicles. most likely some type of anthroform will show up in arsenal. but how big they will be, we dont know.
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Jul 15 2007, 09:36 PM
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#4
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
So basically we'll just have to wait and see if we can pull them out of our Arse. :cyber:
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Jul 15 2007, 09:38 PM
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#5
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panda! Group: Members Posts: 10,331 Joined: 8-March 02 From: north of central europe Member No.: 2,242 |
hardy harr harr...
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Jul 15 2007, 09:48 PM
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#6
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Yeah, I know. It's the 'bipedal tanks' a la Mechwarrior that I am dreading. |
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Jul 15 2007, 09:49 PM
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#7
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
I hope and pray that we get at least three in addition to the one we have now (Kanmushi, yay!).
A 'Small' class walker, a 'Medium' human-ish one, and a larger combat type. These would be mainly drones or robots, with teh largish one possibly being human-piloted instead. These would be for SWAT teams and the like, somewhere between teh size of a large motorcycle and a small car, with firepower to match. Call 'em "Trollbusters" or the like, for when you have to pull out teh HEAVY artillery. But I'm not interested in 10 meter tall battletanks on legs ... I have Battletech for that. :) -- Wak |
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Jul 15 2007, 10:15 PM
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#8
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panda! Group: Members Posts: 10,331 Joined: 8-March 02 From: north of central europe Member No.: 2,242 |
sorry about that, it was mainly aimed at the original poster. |
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Jul 15 2007, 10:24 PM
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#9
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
I don't like the idea, but I wouldn't aim a Mech at him because he brought it up. ;) |
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Jul 15 2007, 11:09 PM
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#10
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Target Group: Members Posts: 28 Joined: 27-June 07 From: Liberty-Township, Ohio Member No.: 12,068 |
Well, I understand why some wouldn't like the idea of mecha in Shadowrun, it does fit. MechWarrior was originally Battletech, and if you have read any of the books you might see that, despite the lack of Magic and other non-human races, it's somewhat cyberpunk. After all, it did start in the 80's. It's not like friggin' Gundam or anything, it's bipedal tanks like AT-STs. They did have some humanoid, but I'm pretty positive they weren't doing any damned kung-fu techniques.
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Jul 15 2007, 11:24 PM
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#11
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Don't get me wrong. I understand the genre (and have read some of the books), and even agree that it could be somewhat 'cyberpunk'ish. That isn't my objection. I just don't want to see the two mixed together in any 'official' capacity.
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Jul 15 2007, 11:26 PM
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#12
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
Also recalling that 'ANthroform" doesn't mean "Humanoid" ... some subset of robo-critters could be rather nifty. Guad DogBots are a given, but having a runner team rounded up, let loose on private grounds, to be hunted down by a sleek prototype robo-panther ... you have to admit, it has cachet. :)
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Jul 16 2007, 12:34 AM
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#13
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,430 Joined: 10-January 05 From: Fort Worth, Texas Member No.: 6,957 |
I'm looking forward to troll sized anthroforms and rules to disguise them so I can make a rigger that goes on a run riding his drone. Sure, he won't be as beefy as a normal troll, but he'll be immortal (assuming a good cash flow).
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Jul 16 2007, 01:36 AM
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#14
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Target Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: 16-June 07 Member No.: 11,924 |
I'd avoid any large anthroform vehicles because they are unrealistic and not really in keeping with the Shadowrun theme.
A metahuman size drone could work, but wouldn't it be rather unstable? |
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Jul 16 2007, 01:57 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 410 Joined: 5-April 07 From: Vancouver, BC Member No.: 11,383 |
The large drones wouldn't really have a place outside of a merc campaign. I hope that there aren't players riding around in an actual tank in seattle, so I would expect that there wouldn't be any tanks on legs either. If there were to be another large war to break out and there was a campaign book specifically for fighting in the war then yeah, I would love to see the mechs rollin around, piloted by remote riggers, but not in a regular shadowrun game.
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Jul 16 2007, 02:53 AM
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#16
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Target Group: Members Posts: 27 Joined: 17-August 06 Member No.: 9,151 |
Is an anthroform liken to Cain from Robocop? If so, I believe there was one in a 3rd ed SRM.
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Jul 16 2007, 03:25 AM
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#17
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Slacker Extraordinaire Group: Retired Admins Posts: 337 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Ashburn, VA Member No.: 997 |
I agree with this actually. I don't think mecha have a place in a primary sourcebook (I'd rather as much page count as possible go to the core concept of shadowrun), but I've always been a fan of the idea of campaign books detailing alternate settings, or an expansion of the core one, for the Shadowrun campaign setting. I've never been a fan of the 20' tall mecha concept, but I'd accept them in a mercenary campaign guide. I do like the idea of power armor, although suiting up inside of an anthroform seems more dangerous than just controlling one remotely. I'd have to have a game mechanic reason why the character would do that. |
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Jul 16 2007, 03:40 AM
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#18
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813 |
1) immune to jamming 2) gets you physically present while providing *excellent* protection, including full protection from being directly targetted by spells (that is, you can't target a person inside a vehicle unless there's a clear window of some sort). even the vehicle itself will be fairly resistant to magic. 3) if you rig it in hotsim, you get: - 3 IPs - +2 dicepool for everything - 1 skill for all weapons, with some *extremely* broad specialisations - the athletics group is basically replaced with the vehicle skill - "vehicle" specialisations in certain skills becomes extremely effective - all attributes can be set to the response of the vehicle. - a cheap piece of cyberware provides +2 on all vehicle tests... including gunnery and your vehicle skill. - the ability to host a high rating pilot running a good clearsight autosoft... providing a bonus to your perception/sensor tests, or performing active sensor-assisted gunnery while you shoot. - the ability to mount a gun on the vehicle with a smart firing platform, load it up with a high rating pilot, and have it provide suppressing fire, etc while you dodge, or put a high rating pilot into the armor with a defense autosoft and have it dodge while you shoot. (and i'm sure there's more that you could do with this idea, this is just to give you a concept) 4) it provides "hardened armor" sort of (that is, it's immune to stun, and anything below it's armor rating is converted to stun) basically, i can think of all sorts of reasons why a player might want to have a power armor suit, or better yet, an anthroform robotic vehicle (ie you sit in a pilot seat, rather than wearing it) |
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Jul 16 2007, 04:42 AM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 519 Joined: 27-August 02 From: Queensland Member No.: 3,180 |
I believe 'Anthro' refers to humans, quadrupeds like dogs and panthers would be walker drones (from Rigger 2 & 3's vehicle chassis descriptions). |
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Jul 16 2007, 08:51 AM
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#20
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
Nope! Refers specifically to any vehicle which uses legs for transport, with emote operation, biped, and quadruped as specializations. The Kanmushi, for example, is a spider-drone about the size of a US quarter that can walk on walls. You could add Rigger adaptations to you Aibo and take it for a ride. :) |
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Jul 16 2007, 11:42 AM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 519 Joined: 27-August 02 From: Queensland Member No.: 3,180 |
Is that from SR4? R3 (p109) describes anthroforms as specialised walker drones with metahuman-shaped bodies. Some MSN 'net dictionary says; an·thro·bot·ics noun Definition: development of robots resembling humans: the study and development of robots that are intended to behave like or resemble human beings |
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Jul 16 2007, 12:20 PM
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#22
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Hoppelhäschen 5000 Group: Members Posts: 5,807 Joined: 3-January 04 Member No.: 5,951 |
Perhaps because 'Pilot Walker' would have sound like like you could use it to brain-hack Chuck Norris.
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Jul 16 2007, 12:42 PM
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#23
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,598 Joined: 24-May 03 Member No.: 4,629 |
From SR4, yes.
On a related note, one of the few times I had to use the "Don't be a dick" rule for chargen was a player whowanted to scrounge up a few more points and settled on "Incompetence: Pilot Anthroform." I had to kick him in the shin. |
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Jul 16 2007, 02:29 PM
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#24
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Creating a god with his own hands Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 30-September 02 From: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 Member No.: 3,364 |
You keep using That word. I do not think it means what you think it means. |
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Jul 16 2007, 02:35 PM
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#25
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MechRigger Delux Group: Retired Admins Posts: 1,151 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Hanger 18, WPAFB Member No.: 1,657 |
Well in reality, if we wanna get all technical and stuff- anthrÅ?pos is the greek for human; thus they would be human form bots...
It should probably read as pilot bioform, indicating that it has a biological locomotion vs a wheel/tread, hull 'n' motor, or wing (fixed/rotary) locomotion. Otherwise how would I pilot my Kanimushi around? |
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