Note: Yep, I'm stealing this from Rifts.... Hope Kevin doesn't sue.

An abortive procedure to create an enhanced metahuman for security or military operations without the long-term effects, high cost, and invasive surgery necessary for cybernetic or bioware enhancement. The idea was to use controlled doses of known combat enhancing narcotics and chemicals, combined with a limited implantation of nano machines to "detox" the subject.

The first test subjects came to be known, colloquially, as "Juciers" (from the drug cocktail they used) or "Kamikazes" (from the street-name for the main chemical that they used). They are created through the near-constant application of a powerful cocktail of drugs and synthetic hormones, applied through a special harness that is worn by the Juicer at all times. This harness is regulated by a tiny computer implanted into the Juicer's body. This computer uses hundreds of microscopic sensors and nano-robots to monitor the Juicer's body, maintain peak efficiency, and even perform internal surgery in case of damage.

This process increases the Juicer's strength, speed, reflexes, and durability to well over that of normal humans.

Bodyware: Drug Harness Control Implant
Essence: 1.0
Capacity: -
Availability: 20R
Cost: ¥11,000 + Drugs

Small nano-machines introduced into the subjects bloodstream, and controlled by the systems computer, greatly aid the bodies natural ability to breakdown complex substances. The system adds +4 dice to toxin resistance tests, (see Toxic Substances, SR4 p. 245)

The system'simplanted computer also acts as an implanted version of the standard biomonitor.

The system injects drugs as a Free Action, because of the controlled and direct nature of their inject, the effects take hold immediately. The duration is 20 x 1D6 minutes.

The drug cocktail (a combination of kamikaze, sythentic hormones, caffine, nova-coke, and various other steroids and stimulants) gives the following effect: +1 Body, +1 Agility, +2 Strength, +2 Perception, +2 Willpower, +1 Initiative Pass, High Pain Tolerance 3. Completely eliminates the need for sleep.

Under the effects of their drugs, Juicers feel infused with energy, suffer from a greatly diminished attention span, and are filled with a sense of imperviousness and invincibility, exhibiting almost no regard for their own self-being. Tehy also have a tendency to talk incessantly (even to themselves).

All subjects of this implant are considered Severe Addicts, see Addiction, SR4 p. 248, and will need to get a "fix" several times daily.

The drug harness can hold four doses of the drug cocktail, and must be replenished after they are used up. Restocking the harness takes thirty-minutes and an average Cybertechnology test. Subjects of the implant learn - quickly - how to restock the harness, and may do so without a test. The typical price for the drug cocktail is ¥2,000 per dose, availability 12F. Creating the cocktail involves purchasing the proper amounts of Kamikaze, Long Haul, Nitro, and Cram, on the streets and mixing up the cocktail. It takes one dose of each of those drugs to make a single dose of the cocktail, plus a difficult Medicine test.


Note: Please critique honestly. At this point, I'm concerned about the Essence cost. It's a very big gain, for very little essence impact. I want to keep it low for "fluff" but need a way to balance that. I think the drug addiction penalties, and the difficulty/cost of upkeep should turn most munchkins off. What do you all think?

You are hereby ordered to go read John Shirley's Eclipse Trilogy. Return when you have found wisdom. Who knows, maybe Arsenal will be out by then.

First off please don't call them juicers. The term fills me with rage.

Secondly all the drug effects the character has to suffer when crashing and the like should help mitigate use as some of those drugs literally kill you.

I'd say this should be more the sort of things you see on security teams trying to deal with quarter million nuyen sammies and the like. A way to get an edge at a horrible price to themselves.

wasn't there an auto-injector implant before? and won't there likely be one again?

because really, i'm not seeing why this is in anyway not possible in SR3, more or less.

First, I'm not overly fond of the term "Juicer" myself... but that's what they've been called for 17 years in Rifts... and thats what I'm ripping off. I prefer to call them "Kamikaze" It meshes well with "Street Samurai," its one of the main combat drugs, and it reflects their mindset.

Secondly, there was an auto injector... think of this as the auto-injector's big brother.

AH--Is that an insinuation that Arsenal may have similar items?

Hmm, at 11,000 plus the cost to maintain a constant flow of combat drugs, this puppy and going with the prices for 'ware in SR4, the only thing you seem to save in the long run seems to be some essence. Only, this doesn't seem to be something with the longterm effect on the health of the person using it as the primary concern...

I liked the idea of security forces high on vile combat drugs as a cheap and cynical tool for the corps ever since I first read Shadowtech, but with all these nano-doodads, I kinda feel it defeats it's purpose.

I routinely give security guards and LS Jazz huffers as standard in my games. gives them an initiative boost, and yet the PCs don't get any encouragement to cart the bodies away to a chopshop to extract the wires. Funnily they never pinch the unused drugs to sell themselves.

Clearly dealing drugs is less ethical than bodysnatching

Rifts is the reason not to call them juicers. The rift juicer is essentially antishadowrun. Essentially they're complete retard combat monsters incapable of anything usefull outside of combat. And therefore they are the bane of any inteligent plot as they invariable turn it into a combat situation. (At least every juicer I've ever met.)

Shadowrun is about having player characters who ideally have an IQ higher than water.

Wow, you must play with some pretty crappy Juicers then. IQ, ME and MA are rolled with 3D6 and then you can roll another D6 on a 16, 17 or 18. I don't see how they are not useful outside of combat. Worldbook 10: The Juicer Uprising gave some pretty good ideas for them outside of combat all the time. I just treat them like a Sammie with his wired reflexes on all the time or someone with a synaptic booster. They're just faster and stronger, not retarded.

Good idea Thain, I had something written down about this same thing. I would probably change the name to Kamikazes though, for legal reasons but also because Shadowrun is highly influenced by Japanese culture. Kinda gives a nod back to that with misguided youths trying to capture the honor of the "Divine Wind."

Well for my 2 nuyens worth cyber has gotten alot friendlier in 4th so 1 essance is fairly beliveable.

I would have to say the max would be 1.5 essance but like I said 1 sounds beilveable with the new lesser essance costs in 4th.

Actually I would drop it more, remove some of the nanite stuff. Basically make a version based on a bracer or something like that. Then give it to gangers and make it fairly cheap. It makes gangers alot more dangerous.

And leave it called Juicers. THey are just druggies that have been pointed at the enemy (or friends or a sign post).

Just off the top of my head:

• It's hard to see this as an alternative to cybernetic enhancement. It's not significantly cheaper, nor safer, nor is it more convinient. It is essentially ANOTHER cybernetic enhancement and I think that's how it would be regarded by private security and military firms.
  
• Do you see Street Sams having this? Because I can't think of why any Street Sam wouldn't get this "just in case". Yeah, the addiction thing is annoying. It's a little unclear what "Fix" means though... does this mean one dose of the cocktail has to be expended each day? That's an expensive and dangerous altenative to cybnetic enhancement. (Not dangerous for the user, but to the firm supplying these drugs).
  
• There's no reason to have the availability so high except for the nanite thing. Why should the device be more rare than the drugs themselves? Why should starting characters not be allowed to have this when they can get the drugs?
  
• The drug device and the nanites should probably be considered seperate devices/enhancements. There's no need to build a "combination" enhancement. I could see someone just wanting the biomonitor/nanites. And I could see "juicers" that would have no need for it.
  
• How about having different grades for this device?
  
• What happens if someone takes the cocktail without this device? What's the cocktail's street name? I recommend the Black Cocktail.
  
• Why a harness instead of an internal device? Perhaps having an internal cybernetic version of this device might be a good idea? Something that can be installed in a cybertorso?
  
• Why is it so hard to refill the harness? It doesn't seem like it would be significantly harder than hooking up a IV. The plugs would likely be easy to access and tubes would run from the plugs to the distribution center of the device, and could likely be carried by supercharged red blood cells from there.
  
• I don't see a problem with the essence cost. It's not THAT big a gain, compared to just taking the various drugs. I know the device lets the drugs stack, but I'm not sure that the benefits of the drug are significantly better for having stacked than just choosing the best drug for any given situation.
  
• As far as fluff goes, I think you can lower the price and the essence cost and keep it as a harness like you have now. Gangers and the like could have this. I think players would want a more convinient implant-type version of this and so the essence and cost should be higher, but not out of range for a starting character. Either way, I don't think the device should hold ANY doses, but the character would simply have to apply a seringe containing the pre-mixed Black Cocktail to the device's external plug.
  
• I might consider allowing other types of drugs to be inserted and applied effectively using the device. In fact, you could really make these seperate devices: 1) the detoxification nanites (controlled through a biomonitor), 2) an implanted biomonitor with DNI interface, 3) the drug distribution harness, and 4) an upgrade for the drug distribution harness that allows it to process the Black Cocktail. I would imagine of these, only the Black Cocktail upgrade would be forbidden.
  
• I don't particularly like the name "juicer" or "kamikaze". But I can't think of anything better to suggest.

Personally, I wouldn't give it to my characters even if they asked. I might slap it on some screwed up corp goons to put my characters on edge, but for a PC, it's total paper-shredder business.

t's hard to see this as an alternative to cybernetic enhancement. It's not significantly cheaper, nor safer, nor is it more convinient. It is essentially ANOTHER cybernetic enhancement and I think that's how it would be regarded by private security and military firms.

This is why I consider it to be a "failed" technology. It is far more dangerous than cybernetic enhancment, and does still involve some level of implantation. I consider a technique that the corps developed, but never put into production... hence, I called it an "abortive" process in my first post.

The low availability, and high price, reflect the idea that the process is still available to the Black Market or to the corporations. To the corps, if they need it, the money is a pitance. To anyone desperate enough to seek it out on the black market... well, they're going to have issues.

Do you see Street Sams having this? Because I can't think of why any Street Sam wouldn't get this "just in case". Yeah, the addiction thing is annoying. It's a little unclear what "Fix" means though...

I wouldn't expect a "traditional" Street Samurai to go for one of these. The addiction rules make it a real pain for the player, and render life daRrn near impossible for the character. YOu need a dose of the drug every day, unless you are rolling insane amounts of dice on your withdrawal tests. And the drugs are not cheap!

What happens if someone takes the cocktail without this device? What's the cocktail's street name? I recommend the Black Cocktail.

I wouldn't give them the full effects if they took the Black Cocktail (Looove the name) without the harness; The Black Cocktail is a mixture of several drugs at lower doses, but through the machine they give a combined full effect. I'd say, cut the bonuses way down, but still apply the full side- and after-effects.

Why a harness instead of an internal device? Perhaps having an internal cybernetic version of this device might be a good idea? Something that can be installed in a cybertorso?

That does make more sense from a "Shadowrun" standpoint, but in the source material, it is a full-body harness and an implanted computer and nanite factory. I imagine, that in SR "fluff" reasoning, the harness was a prototype or a "proof on concept"... a production model would have been much smaller, and probably an implant or cyberlimb accessory. However, the project was deemed a failure, and not advanced beyond prototype stages. The Black Market got a hold of the prototype specs, and markets that... street-corner body chop shops are not known for their 'fashion sense'

I might consider allowing other types of drugs to be inserted and applied effectively using the device. In fact, you could really make these seperate devices: 1) the detoxification nanites (controlled through a biomonitor), 2) an implanted biomonitor with DNI interface, 3) the drug distribution harness, and 4) an upgrade for the drug distribution harness that allows it to process the Black Cocktail. I would imagine of these, only the Black Cocktail upgrade would be forbidden.

Essentially, I avoided this for a few reasons. First, this is a port of the Rifts Juicer: they get combat enhancment drugs. Nothing else. Secondly, the other devices already (or should already) exist in SR. The detoxification nanites were cribed from the toxin extractor bioware. The mplanted biomonitor is, well, the book standard biomonitor with the word "implant" added... most GM's would allow this, I think. (0.2 Essecne, [1] capacity?) The SR3-era "auto-injector" as mentioned above, allows you to dose yourself with a drug. If its not in Arsenal it would be very easy to port from SR3 to SR4.

I don't particularly like the name "juicer" or "kamikaze". But I can't think of anything better to suggest.

I prefer "Kamikaze" to "Juicer," but other suggestions are welcomed. I just said Juicer in the title and openning post so people would know what the heck it was I was trying to do.

Wait, are we talking about Rifts Juicers or Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds?

Sorry I'm late to the thread... Just read this one.

Two suggestions;

1. Have the cost of drugs relative to the character's Body score. It seems reasonable that a Big Fraggin Troll would need more of this juice to get the same effect. I had a good friend who played pro football as an offensive lineman; it took a LOT of booze to get that man loaded on his birthday I can tell you.

Perhaps something like: Cost = X(1+ Bod/10). That way, with a bod of 5 you pay 1.5 times the cost. With a body of 9 you pay 1.9 times the base cost. With a body of 2, you pay 1.2 times the base cost. Dwarves have a .2 penalty because of their innate toxin resistance.

2. The effects of the "juice" should not be on all the time, and they should not be instantaneous. Perhaps an activation of 1d6 rounds from when the user hits the "go" button? Or better yet, you could make it an opposed check between the rating of the injection system and the user's body, where the harness needs one success to juice the character, but each body success more than the harness adds one round delay. Again, dwarven toxin resistance would factor in here.

Just some thoughts.

One possibility would be to rework the combat drug costs to make them much more affordable. This would mean that Kamikaze's would be much more prevalent among poor gang bangers and low budget security goons. The idea that people are willing to do irrevocable damage to their bodies in desperate trade for an edge that might let them live another day strikes a very dystopian chord with me.

I don't agree with charging 2000 per dose, anyone who can afford that on a regular basis can afford to put those wired reflexes in and get some muscle augs, lower it to a cost of 200 or 300 and it'd make more sense that there would be a market for it. To offset the relatively low cost both essence and I'd make the addiction far nastier than normal drugs. Just thinking out loud here (and keeping in mind I've never played RIFTS) but perhaps something like this:

Starting with the first dose, any individual who makes use of a Kamikaze rig is considered a severe addict since the rig constantly feeds small doses of the drugs into the "patients" system to keep him functional. Since the rig monitors the bloods drug levels however a Kamikaze is not required to actually take one dose per day, he only needs to refill the rig once a week to avoid going into withdrawal and permit him to function somewhat normally. However, he must make a Bod+Wil test (edge applies) with a threshold equal to the number of months/2 since the rig was installed. Failure indicates that the toxic soup floating around their body has damaged a major organ and they permanently loose one point of essence. This means that it’s a perfectly viable option for people who don’t have anything to loose but most PC’s would want to steer well clear of it.

I don't mind the concept. If anything, I think that capitalizing on this aspect of the genre really brings out a bit of the grit and grime that makes this game system solid - Some of that good ol' fashioned Cyber/Gutterpunk to contrast this stupid (Urbanized Migrating Singing Sasquatch, anyone? Ugh. I almost retched when I read that) fantasy shit that keeps creeping in. However, to take it from a cool idea to impliment, and actually make it believable, you're going to need to do a bit of retooling.

First and foremost, we've got some huge glaring issues with the True-Cost to use. At 2k a pop, each day, we're looking at an average expenditure of 60k a month. That's almost three quarter's of a million yen, annually. And for what? A drugged out, dangerous and irrational Security Guard who'll probably be laying claim to some Corporate Life Insurance after a few years 'on the juice'?

Consider that not only are Wires -permanent-, and even at alphaware they are considerably less expensive, but wires can be used in more than one subject. When this little chemical cocktail is out of the system, it's done. At least with some cyberware, you're looking at the possibility of refurbishing and reinstalling it in the next Security Goon that happens to apply for the position of cannon fodder. Which means using this chemical system is like leasing a used car at ten times the cost to buy new.

Strictly from a financial standpoint, in the current incarnation, no corporation would ever use it, and neither would any individual unless they knew they were terminally ill, had a few thousand yen in the bank, and wanted to have a few laughs before they kicked the bucket. It's too expensive in the long term, with no value that's retained once it's advantage has been spent.

The Essence Cost, and the effects are all fine. But we've isolated the cash cost as unrealistic for the niche you're trying to target. So.

I recommend that your base cost be lowered to something more reasonable like 4k. And your daily cost of drugs be lowered to something more reasonable like 50 =Y=. Maintain any of the current addiction penalties.

Afterall, the overhead of better-living-through-chemistry isn't the cost of the materials themselves. It's relative to the demand the market will provide, the supply of the substances, and the overhead of the producer. In this case, the demand is low, because the market understands that it's being sold something that will likely kill them more often than save their life. Recreational Chemicals have a high demand (They're recreational, afterall) and they're much less likely to fry you to the core.

The supply is high because the required synthetic components are readily availably - particularly to corporate interests who do not face legality issues with their extraterritoriality. Meanwhile, to contrast, Recreational Chemicals have a low supply, as they maintain a much larger share of the market, and deserve more police attention.

Lastly, the overhead is minimal as you could probably cook up most of these little treats with a fifty dollar chemistry set and a bathtub by yourself - A corporation can probably pump this out by the metric ton, complete with cute little 'Evo' emblems stamped into the face.

Final Product?

Bodyware:
Essence: 0.5 (External), 1.0 (Internal)
Capacity: -
Availability: 4R
Cost: 4k + Chemicals*
*Subject will face addiction rules related to their chosen cocktail.