If humans are any indication, the awakening rate is about 2% as far as actually having any magical powers. But if you include all the things which have metagenetic expression, that number goes up by 30%. Presumably, the expression of other critters is about the same.

So while relatively few crows become Storm Crows and relatively few dogs become Hell Hounds, nearly a third of those animals express as something that didn't exist in 2010. In 2007, there are 55 million dogs in the area of the United States - a number which is probably much unchanged in the fallout-like future that awaits the Shadowrun Northwest. That works out to over five hundred thousand dogs that are dual natured and breathe fire or have a fear causing howl - but that's 18 million dogs in the American successor region that are their equivalent of dwarves or trolls.

Think of it: Ingentis Mastiffs. Sure it doesn't have any magical powers, but it's a 300 kg dog. This area of metagenetic expression is, I think, highly underutilized. There's a lot of "non-magical" metaspecies available that are much smaller, much larger, or just much different from the normal critters available in the world we know.

-Frank

You're assuming that all species and breeds express equally, which is not the case-in many instances, the entire species might express a metatrait starting with the first post-Awakening generation, while other related species will not.

Then again, there is the paranormal dachshunds in Awakenings.

and the century ferret. as i recall, Patterson's Guide was selectively edited for its shadow releases (PANA/PAE), leaving in only the entries that showed strong paranormal abilities.

Hmm I wonder what kind of fearsome creature a Chiwawa could metamorph into.


The Chiwawa hellhound, it has no fear aura, its fire breath can barley light cigars, but its bark can drive a man insane.

Actually one of the books that mentioned the trimming referenced to metacows I believe. Something else too.

...same thing.

Of course the Taco Hell uses a dog for the mascot. There meat is about the same quality as dog food.

...tell me more, I have at least one empty magazine in the orbital drop platform

Not to mention that it might survive the fall thanks to the barrier.

And it might be packing an uzi.

...mmmm...cowz with gunz....ahhhhhhhhh...

Welcome to Taco Temple.
Prepare to sacrifice your tastebuds on the altar of flavor.
I am your high priest [Fill In Name].

---

The advent of Hell Cows underlines the inherent instability of animal husbandry in the Sixth World. One in hundred of [fill in blank] have access to some sort of real magical power. Once one percent of your chickens turn into cockatrices, you really can't have a Tyson style factory farm. And that's why everyone eats food made out of Krill, Mycoprotein, or Textured Soy. It's not that mankind is no longer wasteful enough to set aside many square kilometers to raising small amounts of animal food - they totally are. It's just really hard to make an economic success out of raising animals for food when a sizable portion have potentially deadly magical powers.

But over and above that, the Awakening did more than just let a single digit percentage of the world's animal population actively manipulate mana. It also caused flat out meta expression. Elves don't do anything magical, they just don't happen in the absence of magic. Similarly, there's nothing overtly magical about the flat cat or the quill mouse or the harpoon leech - they just didn't exist in the fifth world.

That's something I'd like to see more of. Really go deeper into the fact that fully one out of three animals you run into in Shadowrun are animals that do not exist in 2007. They breed true with animals that do, but the phenotypes expressed simply are not there.

-Frank

That would make for some interesting adventures. Simply finding hundreds of new meta-species. There could be missions from Zoological gardens to hunt down new rare species of insects or other creatures that aren’t yet in the “Animals of ……� simply because there are too many species to encounter.

Now I'm waiting for the appearance of flying, blue faced monkeys that enjoy wearing clothes and following the orders of the magically active.

Drop Bear adepts!!

...Drop Bear Ninja Adepts.

Also remember that while actual Sorcery requires sapience to use, even normal magical powers require sentience to acivate. If fungal protein mix happens to have the ability to shoot powerbolts you'll never know, because it can't choose to use that ability as it lacks the ability to make choices.

There is a whole crap tonne of magical abilities present on algae and soy beans that are presently not detectable because those creatures are incapable of making decisions and thus incapable of using those powers.

Also of course, the chances of a designed organism actually having any metagenic potential is more like 1:1000,000,000 than 1:3, so genetically engineered plant and fungal lines are safe relative to the crap that has actually evolved in the face of rising and falling mana levels over the last 2 billion years.

We don't just eat genetically homogenized peas because it's cheap (although it is). We eat them because the genetically engineered peas never defend themselves by putting out clouds of soporific gas.

-Frank

Flourescence isn't necessarily a magical power. That can easily be achieved "naturally".

My examples work, I believe, if you give sentience. Sapience is only required for Sorcery. I think.
To further confound the matter, previous editions of SR have used the word "Sentient" when they actually meant "Sapient". SR4 has corrected this, but it remains a point of confusion for some people.

....Drop Bear Ninja Mystic Adepts.

This reminds me of my old idea for a sentient magical tapeworms that compel infested fast-food workers to wipe their poop on burgers in order to spread its sentient tape-worm eggs to other digestive tracts.

The problem with metaexpression in dogs is the nature of dog breeds vs the nature of metetype. Dog breeds are created through human selection and can vary wildly, but two dogs of different breeds will produce a half-breed. While metatypes can also vary wildly in the same ways that breeds vary (such as size), one cannot have a half-breed metatype and it is unclear exactly which features would be dominant, the metatype features or the breed features. What if you had a toy poodle goblinize into a creature that averages a ten foot shoulder height and a two metric ton weight?

...sounds like it's time to load the Catnip Punch Grenades in the Sammy's Alpha.

Heeeere kitty, kitty, kitty...

But that said, it is incredibly easy to put together a campaign using Meta- or modified creatures. All you have to do is use them properly, and really think about the background/terrain you use the creature in. Giant scorpions? Try a small ravine (easily defensible, shady, and an obvious choke point in the surrounding hills).

Now Drop Bears, those are interesting critters...