Rangefinders, it's about 10 metres isn't it? Options

[Xirces]

I finally got hold of Man and Machine yesterday (I've been looking for one since about August last year and obviously the re-print has finally hit the stores) so I plonked myself in the garden with a crate of Becks (it seemed the most appropriate alcoholic beverage for a Shadowrun theme) and read it.

No doubt I'll have more questions after my second reading today, but the first thing that struck me (about the rules and enough to prompt a question) is regarding smartlink 2 and rangefinders. I've had CC for an absolute age so I'm aware of the rangefinder weapon accessory and know that it's required to get the benefit. However - in the old SSC there was a rangefinder eye mod which would allow you to have the benefit without needing the weapon modified (of course, back then there wasn't a huge benefit in having a rangefinder, other than for use with a GL). The question is - is that mod still valid? It seems to be one of the few 1st edition things that haven't been brought forward so I assume that's a deliberate choice. I can't see it as a game breaker (you still need to pay essence and money just to avoid having each of your weapons modified) and in some situations it's worse (you need to see the target and not just be pointing your gun at him).

I can see that there are problems with the way it works/should work, but I was wondering what people's thoughts are on allowing it or not?

[TinkerGnome]

That accessory no longer appears to be available. The one in M&M is a coprocessor for the Smarlink-2 system from all indications.

Allowing one isn't a big deal, and might be a reasonable side effect of ultrasound vision or an eye laser modification.

[kevyn668]

I come from the camp that believes a Smart Link must already have some rangefinder tech already in the package. Since I don't like to mess with canon too much, I figure it as the rangefinder is an aftermarket upgrade of sorts.

[D.Generate]

I believe in one of the books it mentions that almost anything can be a cybereye acessory. Where its at I can't say right now I'll have ot look fora positive ID but something in my head tells me i read that in a 3rd ed book. Sorry for the vaugness its 3 am and i'm a bit off kilter.

[Demosthenes]

When in doubt, you could always just stick in 2MP of dedicated headware memory and say your cybereyes run interferometry software (not that it's likely to be really good with such a short baseline...anyone know more about optics?).

Otherwise, you could get a low-power eye laser to use as a rangefinder.
Or you could arbitrarily say that the Rangefinder implant has been carried over.
Or you can assume that the rangefinder is included in the Smartlink II package...

It's kind of difficult to believe that cybernetics of SR sophistication wouldn't be able to improve upon the basic human ability to judge distance accurately...

:cyber: