Allergy Soy! Options

[Jack Kain]

I was thinking that an allergy to soy would work well in shadowrun. As most of the food products are simply flavored soy it be quite easy to get splashed with some and if its the right kind of allergy it could cause a rash. (some people you are allergic to peanuts for example break out on contact even if its not a deadly allergy).

So the allergy would be quite common that it could up in any run with out the DM coming up with an implausible excuse for it to be there. (such as sea water in a Denver campaign). But it also wouldn't be so common that it would ALWAYS come up such as sunlight or pollutants.

Edit: Hmm the explanation points !!!! kinda look like l on the topic titles

[DTFarstar]

I've had several characters with an allergy to soy, make sure to get survival or the ability to summon task spirits if you are out in the country for awhile you don't want to have to depend on others food stores as you will most likely be allergic to whatever it is and with survival you can live off the last, or make your spirit do it for you.

Chris

[Serial_Peacemake...]

A guy from the sprawl with an allergy to soy can actually be played as a mite creepy. Since he has apparently survived somewhere with soy being the majority of what is eatten, and this raises the question of what he got by on. I know the one guy I have done up with the severe allergy soy had the nick name "Rat Breath" for obvious reasons. Also a great reason to take the survival skill and give it an urban specialization.

[Jack Kain]

Hmm deep fried devil rats.

Keep in mind Soy allergy is one of the most common food allergies in the world today. So unless it was cured it still be a problem in the 2070's so obvious their are ways to deal with it. The most obvious would be maintain a high life style or an increased cost in nuyen for life styles of middle and below.
But if your a sprawl man hunting rats may be your only recourse.
Its also quite possible that after years of eating soy based food stuffs exclusively you could develop the allergy later in life.

In one humorous event my Face character had a plate of soy based food products splattered in his face. The Johnson couldn't even look my character in the eye. Chiefly because they were swollen shut.

[marghos]

Survival skill with urban specialization is good one but I would take one skill more for this char with allergy to soy. If you have allergy to soy that is one good reason to also take cooking skill so you can cook your own food. It helps ;)

[kzt]

Those rats are nasty raw. Chunked and cooked in chili, not so bad. :)

[Jack Kain]

[Fortune]

Knowledge.

[Ophis]

Unless you're playing a Teppenyaki chef at which point it's a specialisation of Blades.

[ElFenrir]

I also have used this allergy a couple of times. Its pretty harsh, so most GMs are happy with it(it relieves you of that excess nuyen rather well, having to pay more for food and lifestyle), its realistic(being a real world allergy), and its pretty easily controlled(GM tacks on some extra lifestyle cost, or makes it so you have to go out of your way for that real restraunt while the rest of the group eats McHugh's.)

While allergies to things like Seawater are pretty campaign dependent(its Common in a coastal campaign that has the PCs on ships once a week, Uncommon other places, and downright cheesy in a desert), Soy and Sunlight are two that always follow you. Sure, runners run at night, but Sunlight is still a pretty bad allergy to have. Pollutants in the 2070s is pretty bad as well; unless youre running a total back to nature in the middle of the Tibetian mountains campaign. Plastic is another good one.

[Kyoto Kid]

...@kzt you should have used the :lick: emoticon. :grinbig:

Yeah, Randi Rhodes ( #77 ) had an allergy to soy. She had to pay 1.5 x her lifestyle cost (middle) to support her diet. All her other lifestyle amenities were still middle level. She also did have Survival Skill and Cooking knowledge as in her backstory she was a wilderness guide.

Made for some interesting scenes when we were out on a run late night. Try to find an open Nature's Best outlet at 11:00pm. For some unexplained reason there was a rash of break ins at natural food stores in Seattle. :grinbig:

[Lindt]

I also had someone with a Soy allergy, and I also paid 1.5x for his primary lifestyle. Its something that is a nice double whammy for your flaw, costs your money on a consistent basis, and can REALLY screw you if something goes wrong. Like getting stuck in Chicago for a month.

[Karaden]

[raverbane]

[Fortune]

My feeling is that since Chemistry is a Knowledge Skill, then so is Cooking.

[Kyoto Kid]

...Artisan would apply if you wanted to be a Haute’ Cuisine chef.

[DireRadiant]

I don't need to rationalize why any PC has an allergy to any particular thing. If they got BP for it being common, it will have to be dealt with at least once a game session. It may be dealt with easily, or hard, but it's going to be an element in that session. I count taking precautions to avoid the substance IC when considering whether it is being dealt with.

If it's uncommon, maybe every third session, or there abouts.

Some one has a pollutant allergy but wears a gas mask and covers up all the time to avoid the effects? No big deal, maybe there will be some negative social modifiers at the Johnson's pool side party.

Choose some obscure challenging substance, no problem, the GM will be happy to let the imagination work.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, whenever you glitch, you will encounter allergens in the strangest places.

Trust me, I'm the GM, I'm here to help you suffer.

[Jack Kain]

My GM always forgets about allergies and addictions.
For my own character I treated soy an uncommon allergy as it was easily avoidable. (my character likes luxuries).

Chances are I'd never be effected by my allergic if I didn't volunteer its likely to occur

[Kyoto Kid]

...we were once on a stakeout and someone went on a food run forgetting that the Short One (#79)had an allergy to meat (which included meat byproducts). Well they brought back several bags of Big Mick's and when she opened hers up the smell alone was enough to give her a -1 to her pools for the next hour or two.

[Lindt]

[Jack Kain]

Its not the well accepted standard its the affordable standard. Most people (middle class) can't afford real food for every meal. Which is why under the life style it says maybe even real food once in a while. It need no be organic in anyway or even that healthy it just can't be soy based.

[Cardul]