I'm building a character for my current game, our group needs a caster and I since I rarely get to play I putting a lot more time and effort into creating a realistic (or genre-listic) character. The trouble I'm having is putting all the pieces together to make sure they don't contrast to badly.

Despite the essence loss, I have this great image of a Chumash Healer with one cyber arm named Eric One-Wing. Exiled from his native lands when L.A. shifted in ownership, he now runs the shadows, especially smuggling runs from Seattle to Portland or Denver.

I was planning on giving him an Avian spirit guide (Crow/Eagle/Condor or some such) and the Shapeshift power really stood out at me. Does anyone know what would happen to his cyber-arm when he shapeshifts? I know equipment doesn't transform with him, but the arm was payed for by essence, and I thought I read something about that changing it, its now "part of him" but I can't recall where.

I one winged bird, while very stylistic, would make the shapeshift beyond worthless, taking the one point essence hit for a cyber-arm is one thing, the image I have in my head is just too cool to pass up, but blowing a spell for cool factor is just silly

Ok I've clearly gone on to long.

AFAIK cyber changes with you and effectively vanishes. Thats how I run anyway. Any other option would IMO have been covered in the spell write up.

So, does that mean you could sneak a cyber-sammie past a cyberware scanner by shapeshifting him into a human (or other metahuman type), causing all his cyberware to transform into meat? It wouldn't function, and he wouldn't get any more essence, obviously, but might that work?
Now I'm thinking Colossus, from the X-men, using a sustaining focus and a fully 'borged out character.

@Moon-Hawk

Shapeshift specifically says you turn into an animal. Shapeshifting that sammie into a Barghest may imposing but may not help you get into a secured facility. Remember, too, that the rules is +/- 2 body for the critter into which you're transforming. The cyberlimbs increase someone's body making it more difficult to shift into a smaller animal. No trolls into mice transformations, I guess.

@ Raife

As for the cyberlimb, if you want to go for extra special flair, you could make it detachable. There's no rules in-game for it, but I don't see why Mr. One-Wing couldn't detach his arm and then shapeshift for a little flavor.

@Dashifen Are you suggesting that metahumans are mineral or vegetable?
I honestly always just interpreted that as you can't use the spell to turn into a chair. Granted, some people like to debate that humans are somehow 'special' and aren't animals, but unless the spell description says 'non-metahuman animals' it is debatable at best. Is that what it says? I don't have my book in front of me at the moment.

I happen to have Moon-Hawk's book in front of me. If he ever wants to see it alive again, I expect 200k certified nuyen at the usual dropoff point by midnight tonight. Come alone.

just remember, that while you may get to keep your cyber arm (you did pay for essence for it after all), you still don't get to take clothes/armor/weapons. So you may end up nakie on the otherside of a corp wall or something.

I miss the Fashion spell. It made improvised clothing so much more viable.

I always liked buying flats and then turning them into three-piece suits myself.

You mean I can't shapeshift into a semi truck and carry my team around?

Hey thanks a ton for the heads up guys

In other news, there's no reason why a mage can't turn into a porcupine and fling himself at people. If he weighs 6 kilos or less in animal form, there's no rule against it. Why anyone would want to, I don't know, because it's a -2 penalty from sustained casting and he'd be resisting the impact with low body dice.

I've always limited Shapechange to animals as well but there is a reference in the Sprawl Survival Guide (p 49) where someone quickened a Shapechange spell to change their sex.

JKL

If you're trying to sneak a sammie into a decent restaurant, I don't really have a problem with you shape-changing him into the face's seeing-eye dog. Personally, I think that'd be a sweet trick.

If cyberwear doesn't come along, this opens up a huge world of possible suck (shapeshifting people and stealing their cyber, anyone? Turn to Goo is bad enough for this...). You paid for it with essence, tons of other things involving magic use that as the "work around" for tech and magic mixing in your body (like mages with cybereyes), so I'd say it goes with the character when he shapechanges.

The question is, of course, does your nice golden retriever set off the security alarm at the restaurant because he's got wired reflexes and a cybergun in his left paw?

I agree with Shrike30 about the suck part if the cyber just drops out. Not just for stripping cyberware from the unconcious, because anyone unconcious is a valid voluntary subject, but because of anyone getting even a bit of cyberware effectively would no longer want to use the spell. Or there would be some goofy rule about it being held in place when changing back.

One thing I don't see suggested here as a possibility is the use of Object Resistance. This would mean that a mage would need to use a higher Force spell to convert someone with cyberware. Somthing like OR of 2, 3, 4, 5, or even 6 depending on the highest grade and complexity of cyberware or bioware you had installed. So you can convert implanted, but you really need a good mage to convert someone with something like a Deltaware Control Rig. Not so tough though with just Bone Lacing, and even less so with just Bone Density bioware.

No hard numbers on the OR in mind right now, just that bioware will have a much lower OR than cyberware, and higher grades of cyberware have a higher OR. I'm a bit torn on whether the higher grade of bioware would have a higher or lower OR.

so the sammy probably wouldn't be able to transform into a dog (too great of body differential, more likely your seeing eye tiger.
I would definitely say that cyber stays in teh body when shapechanged and could even be detected but that it would be inoperative.

I think it's mostly meant to provide a guideline. I'd probably base the -2 off of racial average (since Body is specifically written as not being body mass, exactly, but more like endurance). It gets kinda dumb otherwise... why can the big, outta shape desk jockey turn into a dog when our short, wiry, ripped street sam can't?

Or base could refer to the critter rating before adding 1 to base attribute ratings for every hit the caster gets.

Or it could refer to the base attribute rating of the critter before adjusting it for a large or small example of the species.

Go vageness!

I'm definitely gonna stick with species average, then.

Humans can be shifted into anything Bod 1-5, etc.