 Bioware Birth Control? |
 Dec 21 2003, 11:58 PM
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#1
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Target  Group: Members Posts: 75 Joined: 28-September 03 From: Somewhere in the CAS Member No.: 5,657  |
OK, here's a question. There are descriptors of Aztechnology producing bioware birth control and sterilization in the Bioware section of M&M. No mention of price, though. So what do you think in the Sixth Age a good bioware birth control method
might be priced at? Not the cut-rate ones that the Azzies want to pass off on the metas in their racism, that is ;) |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:10 AM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 348 Joined: 20-June 03 Member No.: 4,782 |
Install a chemical gland that produces strawberry flavored spermicide. :)
This gland was featured in the movie "Dicote Dan Does Dallas". |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:19 AM
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#3
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Immortal Elf Group: Validating Posts: 7,999 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,890 |
I'd use the costs for Clean Metabolism myself, despite the fact that if the Availability of Tailored Pheromones is any indication, anything relating to sex and sexual attraction in the Sixth World is not in demand enough to lower it below 12. :please:
Sorry, pet peeve on that last part. :) Clean Metabolism is definitely what I would base it off of, though. Sure, it has an insane price, but so do most implants in Shadowrun. |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:24 AM
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#4
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Target Group: Members Posts: 75 Joined: 28-September 03 From: Somewhere in the CAS Member No.: 5,657 |
Yeah, I thought that was pretty weird too. I guess the Dietware could be dual-installed for the ladies to insure that they don't have to worry bout the birth control's weight gain, lol |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:27 AM
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#5
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 348 Joined: 20-June 03 Member No.: 4,782 |
Last I checked, Miniguns were in demand too, I'd like to see the availability numbers go down on that too. |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:36 AM
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#6
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Immortal Elf Group: Validating Posts: 7,999 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,890 |
Miniguns are not going to be as in demand to the general public as something like Tailored Pheromones. In case you missed it, sex has a tendency to sell rather nicely to the public in the real world. Hardcore military-grade weaponry... not so much outside of rednecks and gun nuts.
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Dec 22 2003, 12:46 AM
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#7
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Target Group: Members Posts: 75 Joined: 28-September 03 From: Somewhere in the CAS Member No.: 5,657 |
HAVE to agree with Tha Doc on that one. And besides, sex can be a very potent weapon as well. Puts the SHADOW in Shadowrun, heh. |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:47 AM
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#8
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
SR tends to skim the casual cyberware that would appeal to the general pubic.
To expound on Funk's point, the "Mr. Studd" implant would be a wonderful seller. :grinbig: -Siege |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:51 AM
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#9
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Target Group: Members Posts: 75 Joined: 28-September 03 From: Somewhere in the CAS Member No.: 5,657 |
From Cyberpunk, right? So what's the price/essence on that? Don't have that book anymore. edit: But I was more leaning towards such gear for the distaff side... /edit |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:54 AM
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#10
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Yep -- I'm sure someone's converted it, but I don't have the numbers. I'm not even sure if it would be cyber or bioware...:grinbig: Although the batteries could be stored in some interesting places... -Siege |
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Dec 22 2003, 01:05 AM
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#11
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Immortal Elf Group: Validating Posts: 7,999 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,890 |
If it's using batteries, it's not going to be Bioware now is it? :P
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Dec 22 2003, 03:02 AM
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#12
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,901 Joined: 19-June 03 Member No.: 4,775 |
I believe the Mr Studd was cyberware? Saw a Shadowrun conversion of it on a site a few months ago. Anyway, chances are availability and price would be incredibly low for something like that. A semipermanent, safe, reversible, and entirely reliable form of contraception would quite simply be the best selling piece of consumer bioware ever, assuming it's not obtrusive.
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Dec 22 2003, 03:17 AM
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#13
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
It's not a radical concept -- hell, they already have implantable birth control that's supposed to be effective for...five years?
Although that would be more along the lines of cyberware -- a form of prolonged chemical release. As for "Mr. Studd", it's technically cyberware. Although I would have to imagine that if you really wanted a cloned and subsequently augmented replacement, you could get a 13" penis grown and attached. -Siege |
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Dec 22 2003, 03:25 AM
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#14
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Immortal Elf Group: Validating Posts: 7,999 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,890 |
Not according to canonical suggestions. Even several cosmetic... cosmetic!... bioware implants such as Sensitive Skin (which would be quite popular I'd imagine) are more difficult to get your hands on than, say, Enhanced Articulation or Platelet Factories. And again, every other Bioware implant is more popular and easier to acquire than Tailored Pheromones. Every.. single... one. Oh, and not even a Chemical Gland (Insulin) let alone a Chemical Gland ("The Pill") are legal in the Sixth World. You can't even get a license/permit for them, they're illegal, period. But you can get a permit/license for combat-oriented implants. (Is it obvious that I'm a little perplexed by the design philosophy here?) |
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Dec 22 2003, 03:34 AM
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#15
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Bah, since when does logic and game mechanics ever mix? And obviously, surviving VITAS and Awakenings changed the priorities of people in 2060. Although you'd think repopulating would be a priority... :grinbig: I think all of this will end up getting lumped under "well, in my game..." -Siege |
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Dec 22 2003, 03:56 AM
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#16
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
Well, looking at the big hoorah over AIDS medication nowadays, I think the high prices of health products wouldn't be such a puzzle. Especially if the world was ruled by megacorps driven by profit.
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Dec 22 2003, 04:03 AM
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#17
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Immortal Elf Group: Validating Posts: 7,999 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,890 |
Yes, because the pills/shots you need to take for your Platelet Factories should be way cheaper. Hooray for combat!
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Dec 22 2003, 04:07 AM
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#18
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
AIDS has been cured by 2060.
Drugs are indeed expensive, particularly in North America as evidenced by the number of people eager to buy their medical supplies from Canada and Mexico. However, demand will drive price and availability -- at the risk of getting into a lecture on economics, the cyberware market is by no means exclusively held by any one company and demand for cosmetic enhancements will only increase. Look at minor cosmetic procedures like face peels, lifts and so on. Hell, stomach stapling is becoming the new and popular shortcut despite the risks involved. Judas Priest, people are having botox parties for pity's sake. If a society has the technology to create feasible brain implants (cerebral boosters), wired reflexes and functioning cyberlimbs, I would imagine the demand for boob jobs, dick enhancements and that flawless complexion would have driven down price and increased the casual availability of such cosmetic procedures. As I have said before, it galls me to agree with Doc Funk but he's hit the nail on the head for this one --> the prices in the book are geared towards game balance and written from the perspective of keep runners in check and _not_ with a reasonable progression of human interest. Although I will grant that it is possible that societal interest may have swung wide, bypassing the development of casual, cosmetic upgrades. Not unlike Star Trek's aversion to personal enhancement technology. :cyber: -Siege |
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Dec 22 2003, 04:53 AM
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#19
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Target Group: Members Posts: 63 Joined: 8-November 03 Member No.: 5,803 |
Why would you want bioware installed to turn off your ability to get pregant?
If you want to remove all chance of getting pregant for the rest of you life (for whatever reason), then it would be easier to get your tubes tied (or some other 2060 equivilant), rather than have a cloned peice of tissue producing ant-pregnancy hormones. The other option, for short term pregnancy already exists in the form of Implomen(sp?), which is simple enough to be inserted in 20 minutes by a doctor (not a surgeon, just a GP) and has enough hormones to last 5 years. Once again, the 2060 version would be more reliable and longer lasting. I doubt this would be intrusive enough to cost essence. And if you want to get pregnant, it is once again much more simple to remove than a bioware implant. |
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Dec 22 2003, 06:01 AM
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#20
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,901 Joined: 19-June 03 Member No.: 4,775 |
leemur, the entire point is to have a semipermanent form of birth control. The implant could be removed when you're done clubbing and want to have kids, and until then, all's fair in fun and war. The practical upside to the bioware implant is that it's more reliable, can last indefinitely, and isn't a liability in any extremely physical situation, which is not something you can say of Norplant or any 2060 equivalent.
Anyway, I completely agree with the Doctor, but I'll go one further and say that I can't agree with the assertion that the book prices and equipment were designed with balance in mind. The fact that tailored pheremones are so ridiculously difficult to get while the AVS, Mnemonic Enhancer, etc remain relatively simple to acquire leads me to think that Mulvihill was thinking less about game balance or sound world design and more about methadone. |
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Dec 22 2003, 08:57 AM
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#21
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Target Group: Members Posts: 63 Joined: 8-November 03 Member No.: 5,803 |
And so can Norplant (it's called Implomen in Australia, but I will bow to sheer force of America numbers)
Since they are both introducing the same hormones, they are going to have the same level of reliability. Personally, I would say that bioware, having the associated stress problems, would be less reliable. Granted the bioware will last longer, but so what? Even if you need 10 Norplant modules installed over your life, its still cheaper and less time consuming to have them installed than a single peice of bioware. Your average 2060 wageslave isn't likely to encounter too many extemely physical situations, and even then the likelyhood of the implant breaking is pretty small. It's a tiny little thing. For your average combat orientated shadowrunner, the bioware might be a good idea, but for the mass market, bioware is not really worth it. |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:41 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 400 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 825 |
He's got a point, there.
I mean, who's going to pay 20,000 nuyen for permanent pheromones when you can just buy a perfume/cologne bottle of them for, say, 50? |
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Dec 22 2003, 12:49 PM
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#23
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Cause people have more money than sense?
If you base your value on your attractiveness to the opposite sex, 20k for a guaranteed edge in the War of Roses. Not to mention people who depend on social interaction may consider it well worth it -- reporters, high-end hookers...mental shut-down happening... Having worked in Buckhead (the expensive part of Atlanta), I have no doubts that all the rich 30-something's would cheerfully invest in this, just to keep themselves feeling good about themselves. -Siege |
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Dec 22 2003, 01:42 PM
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#24
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,548 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
I have the conversions. These are both cyberware and were converted by Gurth. You can get a copy online somewhere, I'm sure.
Contraceptive implant: Essence: .05 availability 6/4 cost $1,000 Street index 1.25 works up to 5 years. Mister Studd Implant (Also Midnight Lady available for the women): Essence: .35 Availability 3/48 hours Cost $3,000 Street index 2 I'll definitely agree, Shadowrun seems to come into this with the idea that the only people who buy cyber are people who kill other people (or surf the matrix). I like all of this stuff Gurth was kind enough to convert for us, and I'll probably start pushing it on my players. Get my Troll a 'Mr. Studd' :ork |
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Dec 22 2003, 02:53 PM
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#25
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Target Group: Members Posts: 75 Joined: 28-September 03 From: Somewhere in the CAS Member No.: 5,657 |
Heh, this thread got long in my absence :)
Would have made some comment sooner, but the droogs showed up for game. It went surprisingly well, despite their lack of big guns. Thanks to Nezumi for the post on some of the, uhm, devices I was looking for. As to the debate over bioware vs. Norplant/Implomen. I’ve known a few women who have had these things and they can be screwed up too easily. These ladies could be considered wageslaves in the ‘60s, and all of them have had problems with their implants. While the tech is probably much better in the Sixth Age, I still point to my original quote from M&M on Aztech’s bioware birth control being cheap and accessible. So where’s the stats? I don’t think this is something that just shadowrunners would be interested in, and the potential for profit would probably make them quite common. My players actually made some suggestions on this last night and I am working on the particulars (funny how none of their hardcase shadowrunners want to be burdened by screaming babies at the moment :rotfl: ). I can post them when I get the chance if anyone’s interested. |
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