Bioware is so much cheaper essence-wise even than delta-grade, and it's on average about 5 times as cost-effective nuyen-wise compared to delta grade. Most of the time, its availability isn't even higher.

money?

Cyberware can do some things bioware cannot.

True. Like store guns in your arms and stuff.

Agreed.
Plus, Cyberware is shiny and cool. It's also about image.

But bioware is always more efficient magic-point wise than even Adept powers; it's like they're encouraging burnout.

Bioware had better be more efficient than getting Adept Powers on a magic-for-magic basis - it has additional costs. It costs Essence and in addition to just Magic, so if it cost the same or more in Magic it would be an insultingly shitty deal.

-Frank

Don't forget that when you calculate Essense loss for bioware and cyberware, you take the highest one, then half of the lowest one. So if you go mostly for bioware, what cyberware you do take will cost half of the normal Essense cost.

Here it is. Bioware used to cost something called bio-index or something.having a high bio-index made it so you never healed.Or slowed you down so much that if it was a big as essence you would take a light wound and having it for week unless you were healed with magic.

In forth they got rid of that. They did not change the cost of a lot of cyberware. But they change what bioware cost your characters. I see this as one forth ed biggest flaw. The only cyberware you want is the thing that bio can't do. They need to rework the costs of cyberware. Sorry but wired reflexs need to cost way less money and essence. This is a legacy issue, and one that need to be fixed. I do not think bio or cyber should be hand down better than the other. I do not think that if given a resouce that the players can't refund that there should items that are provably better in every way. you have 6 point of essence and you don't get them back. I am just sorry if something bio or cyber and do the same thing they should both cost about the same in money and essence. I do not mind if bioware is basically higher grade.Hell you could make it even slightly less money, under the idea that you have to put some much just to get it or something. So if the cyberware cost 2 essence and 30K.. The bioware should cost no less than 1 essence, and something like 300K(maybe 280K). That would make them different enough that the poor man would get cyberware and the rich man would get bio. That would also make them balanced..As the man with cybware could get delta grade and bingo pay the price for his crome.

Bioware costs less essence, but some of the cyberware is an incredible steal in terms of the raw, "how tough can I make this character on 50 points of resources" power. Take muscle replacement - horrible deal on essence but it costs 5,000 and gives +1 to Agility AND Strength. 1 Build Point spent on Resources gets you 20 in Attributes!!! The Reaction Enhancer (in addition to costing so little essence it might as well *be* bioware) is almost as good - 2 build points to get you 10 points worth of stat. The fact that the stat in question is Reaction (useful for going first and not getting shot) and the essence hit is low make this item a must have. Hell, a decent car costs more.

Synaptic booster is 80,000 per level. That's 16 Build Points - more expensive than buying Reaction naturally! Muscle Augmentation and Muscle Toner are okay - the exchange ratio works out to something like 7 to 1 in each case - and the low essence hit is nice. The only bioware that's an actual steal, however, is the oft-maligned Adrenal Pump, which gets you 40 BP in temporary stat boost for every 6 BP you put in.

Finally, cyberware costs very, very little. The old (2nd Edition) Street Samurai archetype needed 400,000 (Resources B) to get his cyber - Wired II, Dermal Plating I, Muscle Replacement I, Retractable Spur, Cybereyes and Smartlink if I remember right. You can do the same build on less than 50,000 today. I.e. that's only 10 BP on resources - leaving you a lot more for contacts. Take the stuff as alphaware (saving at least a full point of essence) or sub in only the most attractive bioware, and you get a build that's just as powerful as an all bioware guy, but on only half the points.

Why cyber? It's all about style and flavor! I'm sorry but Muscle augmenttation just doesn't have the eyepopping wow factor that a shiny chrome cyber arm has. If the only thing you look at when building a character is the power fot build points ratio, in my opinion you're missing a big part of the game.

I'll second stevenbugge. Chrome can help to intimidate people, bio, can't.

The social modifiers table even says so.

Are you a chromed monster? +2 to Intimidate!

Plus, didn't this reasoning begin with comparing bioware to DELTA-grade Cyberware?

The other downside of Bioware is that it can't be turned off. You switch off your Wired Reflexes when you're not on a run but that Synaptic Accelerator and Adrenal Pump are there all the time. So, anything that gets you excited triggers that stuff! Going to that hot new Concrete Dreams concert?

"WhoaManThisIsReallyCoolILoveThisBandSoMuchICan'tWaitToHearMyFavouriteSong!ChummerTheyTotallyRockI'mGoing..." <BANG> 5 points of stun damage! "I have a headache, I'm going home..."

While this may may be true for the Adrenal Pump, the only real disadvantage of having an Synaptic Accelerator is that you'll have a penalty while trying motion sensors really slooow.

Not per the RAW, Rotbart. That'd be strictly GM-induced flavor penalties.

Oh ho, DireRadiant FTW!

well that one is under motion sensors, so idealy everything about motions sensors are under one topic

or should that particular part be under the various reflex enhancers?

thats the great thing about a relational database, you can link everything left right and center...

You can search in the PDF?

Sure.

Yea, that's the advantage to having an official, company made .pdf instead of scanned and dumped on Kazaa.
You can search, copy, paste, add bookmarks, all kinds of cool stuff.

Not to mention the kazaa version carries a prison sentence and up to $50,000 pricetag if you get caught...

If you live in America. In Australia, it'll just get you sued unless you start trying to make money off of it.

That's IF they catch you.

And if the copyright holder doesn't just have you killed as an example, which is cheaper than a trial anyway.

That's WotC.

Would it be legal to download the Kazaa version if you already owned the dead tree version? What if you had already purchased the .pdf. (I know you wouldn't, but it's just a legal question) I'm more interested in the first one. I own the dead tree version. Can I legally download it? I know I could legally scan and make my own .pdf, provided I don't distribute it, but that's a pain in the butt.

Depends if the judge really really wants to make an example of you... and if you piss him off in the courtroom. So be on your best behavior!

So just buy the darn book and don't illegally download, it's not worth it.

But why is the .pdf version illegal if you've paid for the dead tree.
For example, I know it's legal for me to download an .mp3 of a song, provided I have the CD at home, because I have paid for the song. Therefore, I can have it in multiple forms without stealing.
It seems to me that downloading a .pdf while owning the dead tree is the same situation. The only reason I wonder is that in the second example I'm comparing a digital media to a physical one, and the first example is two digital. Of course, I can always legally make my own .pdf, so I really don't see how downloading it could be illegal; again, provided the downloader already owns the material in some form
Don't get me wrong, I won't do it if it's not legal; nobody better be stealing from Shadowrun, but it would be convenient to have both.

The PDF version can do things the hardcopy version can't, and it also costs less money but more Essence.

Wow. Okay, I guess that answers my questions. So I can't even legally scan my dead tree and make my own .pdf? Bummer.
Thanks!

Well, I don't think the question should be: to cyber or not to cyber.

The question should be: how can I get the MOST cheese out of the things, and I think the answer to that is using BOTH cyber and bio.

That little rule that says that the lower of your cyber and bio essence costs is halved is very meaningful. (page 301, sidebar, section: "essence cost")

Wired reflexes is almost a no-brainer for anyone not magically active. It's just that simple. Once you have those, even if you get little other cyber, your bioware essence costs go down.

I think the two things are fairly well balanced. Sure, if you have endless money, bioware versions of cyber things are more essence-friendly, but they are often way more expensive.

And once you are out of character creation, adding cyber/bio means going under the knife of someone who is likely a criminal and likely someone you can't totally trust, not to mention mainly at GM discretion. Scary? Should be.

Zach

my 2

Laws blow.

Never leave home without them - friends! Escpecially not when going under the knife of a street doc (who lives of his reputation and won't kill every customer/ patient he has, btw).

i know that if you play music in a public place you have to pay fees. A lot of restaurants don't bother, since it's rarely enforced and the fine you would be forced to pay if caught is negligible.

Oh just so you know, wired reflexes comes with a trigger to turn it on and off. You would then pretty much have to assume that the synaptic booster bioware stuff would come with something similar. Just a thought, plus we have always let the physical adepts turn their initiative boosters on and off.

Though I do have to agree with the adrenal pump, I've never really found it worth it.