Well, someone made a thread with an idea for a critter run. That thread got me thinking about spraying the PCs with sticky paralytic goop; perhaps in a lab setting with experimental bioengineered animals of doom.

These are my thoughts on why hosing people down with very sticky paralytic goop could be interesting in game terms.

1.) Hand grenades unexpectedly stick to your hands.
2.) Enhanced chance of misfire with weapons. Perhaps while firearms are fouled with goop after every attack the GM rolls a d6. On a roll of 1 the weapon has jammed after that shot and the chamber needs to be manually recharged.
3.) Every time someone is hit with goop the GM rolls a d6. On a roll of 1 the goop has gotten under armor and is impossible to remove without taking off armor and clothes and using the emergency shower that's in some of the labs.
4.) Everyone thinks paralytic goop is all fun and games because it only causes 10L stun per combat turn. However, after the goop paralyzes major muscles it begins to work on the lungs and heart. In other words, after you take a D stun you continue to take 10L stun which just keeps filling up your Physical condition monitor after you've gone down.

Thoughts on description of sticky paralytic goop: I'd describe it as having the thickness and consistiency of Japanese natto while having the sticky qualities of sea cucumber intestine.

Have it gradually thicken as it oxidizes. It could start off fairly thin, maybe like cooking oil but it rapidly moves to a gravy consistency, then molasses, before finally settling at around jello. A horrid color like greenish-orange is a must.

Under SR3 At the end of each combat round the affected character loses one dice from his combat pool

Under SR4 At the end of each combat round the Character is tagged with an additional -1 die penalty for any skill linked to a physical attribute.

Cap each at -3, so round of hit no modifier, following round -1, then -2, then -3.

I just made these up on the fly, they can probably use some refinement.

I really like the idea of the rapid oxidization. I think that it makes it more mentally horrific.

Personally, I was always cautious when it came to subtracting dice from the combat pool. The reason is that since combat pools come in all different sizes it's difficult to make an effect consistient by subtracting from combat pool.

I'd rather do it by TNs. Make the goop become extremely stick and heavy so that it can begin to affect TNs. Maybe by the 2nd combat turn it gives a general +1 TN penalty and by the 4th it maxes out at +2, in addition to stun mods. That would be quite debilitating so you'd need to describe it's total flesh-numbing loathsomeness.

If it is critters doing the spraying you have to wonder what they'll do with the paralyzed characters if they get a chance. Will they eat them? Will hey save them for a rainy day? Will they lay eggs in their abdomens? In their skulls?

Do you really want to know what Freud would say about you spraying your players with sticky goop?

If your assailants are making hip thrusting motions and grunting alot when spraying said stuff, that might be another...issue.

when you mentioned it, I was thinking of the black blobs that eventually surrounded Mr Incredible. A sticky, expanding foam that lowers your movement and quickness till it overwelms you. Or are you meaning something more along the lines of what was left on Venkman, when he was slimed by slimer from ghost busters.

I would want to include something about it that makes spell casting more difficult. Otherwise it's just one more spell that hurts mundanes without levelling any penalties against magic users.

Also, does the goo burn? Burning goo means the PCs are more likely to burn away the goo, and thereby more likely to accidentally catch themselves on fire.

Dual-natured goo could provide modifiers by acting as an astral barrier.

Right, that's really the only thing I could think of.

Next time, on Gross Out Your Fellow Dumpshockers, Shrike30 talks about automobile-related traumatic partial face avulsions...

The bot flys don't tend to eat that much of you. It might be screw worms that you are talking about which are a different critter all together. Thankfully the US population was eradicated in the 60s or 70s.

One of the treatments listed for botflies is alcohol. Never would hae figured a parasite would avoid drunk people.

There's some disease in Africa (I can't remember what it's called) in which the larvae actually make their way into the person's eye, where they grow and cause blindness. I think the idea of seeing the murky worms living inside of your eyeballs is much more interesting then having to dig into your skin to pop out a (spiny) fly larvae.

for SR3 I'd treat this as adding impact armor, and perhaps a ballistic every few impact points if your feel it fits. this would eventually remove combat pool due to armor stacking rules. and as for slowing them down have it increase in weight, burden them, perhaps work in a mechanic that reduces the run multiplier. keep in mind trolls may have an easier time than dwarfs.

I suppose it could have neurostun built into the compound as well or some similiar toxin. though I'm sure versions would be sold without it as well. I would imagine using fire extinguishers or some chemical could stop its effects for game balance, don't want it growing to far, we might have a blob movie.

nice death trap item.

sounds to me as this thread is about "freeze foam".

you will find the stuff in m&m, page 112...

It actually started as a discussion of peeing rodents, but turned in to paralytic freezefoam that drains magic, weird huh?

Around here? I'm just surprised nobody's added any swordfish to it yet.

True, swordfish mustardball spitting chuck norris ninja AWESOME MechaShiva drop bears doing Dikoted AVS Ally Spirits and marked by Verjigorm would be the logical endpoint.

Been a long time since I've seen the old Thwapping Carp broken out, since 1997 at least.

yeah, it had a nostalgeac feel to it as well. I missed the old incarnations of the shadowrn boards. I think 1997 was the last time that I used it actually.

When I was searching for it, it was bull asking if anyone had it stored... on the old lists.dumpshock.com archives.

Ah, the good old days.

Well how good is mixed, I was getting the email list on Dial-up with Compuserve........Still It was fun times.

I remember how excited I got when I found the chrombook conversions and plastic warriors. People like Robert Hayden, Gurth and Paolo Marcucci were household names. and shadowrun was Gritty. I fostered my hatred for immortal elves back then.

..Sniff..

For those of you who have no idea what the hec we're talking about...

Some of it lives on here http://archive.dumpshock.com/ some of it sadly is lost to history, format changes, and harddrive failures.