Arsenal confusion., Just how common *are* cyborgs? Options

[Meatbag]

I don't have a specific problem with the mechanics here, since the whole cyborg thing is made of solid unobtanium, but I'm finding the fluff a little wonky here.

I was under the impression that cyborgs were rare, on par with cyberzombies. Rare to the point that they make Technomancers look common. Am I right here, or is there actually a large Cyborg community out there?

I ask because Arsenal has three drones that come with Cyborg Adaptations as standard equipment. They're very expensive, mind you, but corps are presumably manufacturing them in decent numbers. At least one of them (the Mitsuhama Akiyama) is explicitly developed as "an ideal form for cyborg assassins".

Which raises the question, how many cyborg assassins are out there, exactly? Seems like they're the very definition of a fringe market, and these things can't be cheap to manufacture.

Am I missing something here?

[DireRadiant]

It's a very rare limited catalog only available to exclusive buyers. Think of it as early release.

Also note that the fluff will contain items the shadowrunners may encounter on their little excursions into places where these exclusive limited edition catalog items may be being researched.

Think of the big nasty stuff in the source books as items that haven't actually been released yet, but that the runners may encounter,a nd the write ups are how the stuff will be cataloged when it is in general release.

[Stahlseele]

Cyborks are the new Cyberzombies.

[Dr. Dodge]

Cyborks are the new Cyberzombies.

tell me about it, you can't turn a corner without running into a cyberzombie these days. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

[TBRMInsanity]

I don't think you will see a cyborg on every corner but you can bet that every AAA Corp has at least a handful of them. They would be used as the last line of lethal troubleshooting. Some governments (Aztec as an example) may also have cyborgs in stock as well. Freelance cyborgs will be ultra rare though (you could probably count all of them on one hand).

[Stahlseele]

Considering that Handy in Shadowrun are not limited to a mere 4 Fingers, that's not saying much.
But as i said: They are where Cyberzombies were with Hatchetman for example.

[TBRMInsanity]

Considering that Handy in Shadowrun are not limited to a mere 4 Fingers, that's not saying much.
But as i said: They are where Cyberzombies were with Hatchetman for example.

I would say Hatchetman was an exception and not the rule. IIRC he actually advised against becoming a cyberzombie.

[Stahlseele]

Well, who did NOT advise against that?

[Knight Saber]

I don't have a specific problem with the mechanics here, since the whole cyborg thing is made of solid unobtanium, but I'm finding the fluff a little wonky here.

I was under the impression that cyborgs were rare, on par with cyberzombies. Rare to the point that they make Technomancers look common. Am I right here, or is there actually a large Cyborg community out there?

I ask because Arsenal has three drones that come with Cyborg Adaptations as standard equipment. They're very expensive, mind you, but corps are presumably manufacturing them in decent numbers. At least one of them (the Mitsuhama Akiyama) is explicitly developed as "an ideal form for cyborg assassins".

Which raises the question, how many cyborg assassins are out there, exactly? Seems like they're the very definition of a fringe market, and these things can't be cheap to manufacture.

Am I missing something here?

All of those cyborg adapted things are a marketing ploy! Companies without cyborgs will see those ads and wonder the same thing you did... "Are they that common? Maybe we should buy some ourselves!"

[Stahlseele]

It's as if you were to try and market a new mainboard next year without USB3.0 and eSATA that does not need another power-source.

[TBRMInsanity]

Marketing is one of the evillest tools that the coprs can use.

[Stahlseele]

Only because they can use it without any pretext of it being something else and can use it out in the open without problems.

[Larme]

Cyborgs are about as common as cyberzombies, but it's more because the technology is new. The numbers will rapidly increase as it gets better -- by 2080, I'd expect full cyborg to be a viable, if perhaps not common, option for normal people. Cyberzombies will never be common because they are created by secret corrupted black rituals that involve trapping the soul of a dead man inside a body that can no longer sustain it. Cyborgs by contrast are pure tech, just a piece of cyberware that keeps the brain alive without the body and can be plugged into whatever body you feel like. But as it stands, they're still pretty uncommon because the current version of the CCU requires all sorts of special care and feeding that prevents cyborgs from becoming the new foot soldiers.

I think the commonness of the cyborg drones indicates that the corps are already where they need to be in terms of drone tech. They already know how to make an awesome anthroform drone that looks just like a people, now all they need are a few more generations of CCUs to where it's more of a viable self contained system. The semi mass production of the drones could be attributed to their use by riggers as well as by cyborgs.