Tin Man, Because cyberlimbs are just plain cool. Options

[Tanegar]

Aaron Jackson. A man barely alive. They rebuilt him. They had the technology. Better. Stronger. Faster.

Yes, it's horribly cliched. Shades of RoboCop, the Six Million Dollar Man, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, probably others. Tin Man is an escapee from a super-soldier program. He doesn't really remember who he was before, what happened to him, or how he became more machine than man; all he really knows is that he's good with a gun and that doctors and medical equipment trigger horrific flashbacks.

Yes, I know he's missing some things, initiative enhancement high on the list. It turns out that four pimped-out alphaware cyberlimbs cost damn near the maximum allowable Resources investment. I justify it, fluffwise, by saying he escaped from the program before they finished installing his upgrades. Tin Man is a high-concept character, an indulgence of my love for cyberware.

[Jeremiah Kraye]

Don't you also need a cybertorso?

[Stahlseele]

No, a customized limb goes up to racial maximum and then you can add +3 before needing the torso.

[Jeremiah Kraye]

Seems like if you want the true potential max and the "shit sucks" outlook I'd definately go for the full cyberization and torso. Torso is the standard "mounting" for cyberlimbs I thought.

[Tanegar]

That's another avenue of advancement, but I couldn't afford it at chargen.

[Stahlseele]

Don't go all out.
2 Legs, Torso and 1 Arm will be enough usually.
It leaves free both money and Essence for other stuff.
Or leave the Torso out again and go for Eyes and Ears too.
And if you want him to look like he's all machine, give him an obvious Dermal Sheath. Or, better yet, Dermal Sheath with Ruthenium and Ruthenium Polymere Coating for the Limbs too.
Go from normal looking to IronMan/Colossus in seconds!
Then don't forget insulation against electric damage, and give him some ware against toxins too.
What good does it do for him to be mostly immune to damage, if simple tear-gas or sleeping gas would put down an entire army of these?

[Ryu]

You´ll need GM approval for breaking the rules anyway - Restricted Gear is required per implant - so ask for a "everything but the head"-cybersuite. Which you can then buy via Restricted Gear. (And make sure your GM knows the whole plan.)

[StealthSigma]

Don't go all out.
2 Legs, Torso and 1 Arm will be enough usually.
It leaves free both money and Essence for other stuff.
Or leave the Torso out again and go for Eyes and Ears too.
And if you want him to look like he's all machine, give him an obvious Dermal Sheath. Or, better yet, Dermal Sheath with Ruthenium and Ruthenium Polymere Coating for the Limbs too.
Go from normal looking to IronMan/Colossus in seconds!
Then don't forget insulation against electric damage, and give him some ware against toxins too.
What good does it do for him to be mostly immune to damage, if simple tear-gas or sleeping gas would put down an entire army of these?

You forgot the penile implant.

[Stahlseele]

No, i left it out on purpose.
It either takes up Essence or Capacity.
And isn't good for anything aside from detaching and leaving the part that could get really hurt at home . .

[StealthSigma]

No, i left it out on purpose.
It either takes up Essence or Capacity.
And isn't good for anything aside from detaching and leaving the part that could get really hurt at home . .

Just put it on your forehead and pretend it's a unicorn horn.

[Stahlseele]

Put a retractable Spur there

[Elfenlied]

Consider the "perception" skill; it's vital to survive in this game.

[Krishach]

other than cyberware, what direction are you taking this character, and what arctype are you closest to? An obvious streetsam will take different limbs and upgrades than an infiltrator, but I am not sure what direction this is headed.

I am also assuming your GM will not allow, or you do not want, a full brain-in-jar true body replacement?

[Stahlseele]

This seems to be a combat model.

[Tanegar]

Consider the "perception" skill; it's vital to survive in this game.

See, I knew I was forgetting a skill.

other than cyberware, what direction are you taking this character, and what arctype are you closest to? An obvious streetsam will take different limbs and upgrades than an infiltrator, but I am not sure what direction this is headed.

I am also assuming your GM will not allow, or you do not want, a full brain-in-jar true body replacement?

Tin Man is, alas, just an exercise for now. I am the GM in my Shadowrun group. He, or someone like him, may show up as an NPC, though.

[Umidori]

Personally I kinda wish full cyborgs were possible player options. It's just a pity that as they are now they're both disproportionately powerful and staggeringly short-lived due to all the psychological trauma. Maybe a toned down version could work? Probably not gonna happen officially, though.

On that note, I've written up a escaped clonal cyborg NPC for my runners to encounter. She's surprisingly sane, capable, and streetwise (considering). Normally growing up in a jar as a science project leaves a person rather... dysfunctional... The twist is the symbiotic relationship she developed with the rogue spirit of man who helped her escape from the lab that created her. Had to fudge things a wee bit to get her into the shape I want for the story (like allowing her to forgo her regular brain gel replacement by relying on a Nutrition spell to sustain herself via mana), but I'm pretty darn sure the team is gonna love the story options she opens up.

~Umi

[Tanegar]

What makes cyborgs so powerful?

[Blade]

There's been an epidemic of tin men PC for a time in a part of the French community.
Most players just decided that their full body replacement was a cybersuite they could take with "Restricted Gear"...

[Stahlseele]

What makes cyborgs so powerful?

They use Vehicle Rules.
Technically, a Cyborg doing a Tackle on you would be Vehicle Ramming.

[KarmaInferno]

Yeah, immune to poison/disease/etc, immune to stun, ignore weapon DV less than their armor, immune to Mana spells, etc.

With the Redundant Equipment Manufacturing mod, you need at least 8 hits to even affect them with Physical direct spells. Targeting them with Indirect spells is a bit better, but most are likely to have pretty insane dodge and resistance dice pools as well.

The cyborgs in Ghost Cartels, for example, were rocking 23 Armor, 15 of which is Vehicular Armor, and had 7 Body. Unless you were getting a dozen or so NET hits after the defense rolls, they'd probably just soak any remaining incoming DV down to nothing.

Many will be getting 5 IPs - all their actions, virtual or meat-world, are considered Matrix Actions. Plus most Corp-fielded cyborgs are elite class hackers on top of all that, and tend to have massive support teams and backup. Almost all of them are corp-fielded.

And unlike cyberzombies, it's possible to have cyborgs that DON'T have all the crippling mental problems or short lifespan.

They're walking army battalions. The only saving grace for their opposition is that they don't actually get sent out too often. They are hellaciously expensive to create and maintain, so they tend to get reserved to the really, really important jobs.



-k

[Stahlseele]

Technically, having only ONE BODY for the Jar-Head would be suicidal level stupid . .
Why do that, if you can have him plug into a Tank? or VTOL? Or Gunhead?

[KarmaInferno]

Heck, it's not hard to do this as a cyborg-rigger too.

Imagine you get locked in a running gun battle against a killer cyborg, expending massive amounts of ammo, spells, and generally getting nine kinds of shit kicked out of you before your team finally takes it down.

Only to have a van door roll open and three more identical drone units step out.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)



-k

[Jeremiah Kraye]

I think the point is that we want to have a Mostly cyberized (limbs, torso) person who is that way mainly against whether they want it or not... bourne identity/deus ex: HR/ etc.

IMO it's a cool idea and one that provides a good roleplay to explore without being to bad. Problem is that cyber limbs (Even basic stats) are expensive and sorta restricted.

I kinda agree on the cybersuite house rule also in lowering the price (since none of the cyber is gonna be particularly amazing) since your basically just getting artificial dmg cond for the cost.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Yeah, immune to poison/disease/etc, immune to stun, ignore weapon DV less than their armor, immune to Mana spells, etc.

With the Redundant Equipment Manufacturing mod, you need at least 8 hits to even affect them with Physical direct spells. Targeting them with Indirect spells is a bit better, but most are likely to have pretty insane dodge and resistance dice pools as well.

The cyborgs in Ghost Cartels, for example, were rocking 23 Armor, 15 of which is Vehicular Armor, and had 7 Body. Unless you were getting a dozen or so NET hits after the defense rolls, they'd probably just soak any remaining incoming DV down to nothing.

Many will be getting 5 IPs - all their actions, virtual or meat-world, are considered Matrix Actions. Plus most Corp-fielded cyborgs are elite class hackers on top of all that, and tend to have massive support teams and backup. Almost all of them are corp-fielded.

And unlike cyberzombies, it's possible to have cyborgs that DON'T have all the crippling mental problems or short lifespan.

They're walking army battalions. The only saving grace for their opposition is that they don't actually get sent out too often. They are hellaciously expensive to create and maintain, so they tend to get reserved to the really, really important jobs.



-k

Sounds like an OGRE!
Gotta play me some Ogre! when it is re-released later this year. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[StealthSigma]

The cyborgs in Ghost Cartels, for example, were rocking 23 Armor, 15 of which is Vehicular Armor, and had 7 Body. Unless you were getting a dozen or so NET hits after the defense rolls, they'd probably just soak any remaining incoming DV down to nothing.

Sounds like a job for a Thunderstruck gauss rifle... only 8 armor then....