Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Essence loss
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
BlackRabite
I can't find anything in my source book that covers this and I just wanted to know if it was covered in a previous edition. (My group started playing with 4th)

Is essence loss because of cyber/bioware because you are melding foreign material with your body, or because you are losing a piece of your natural body?

If you suffer an accident and lose a limb does that cost essence, or would you be fine as long as you refrained from attaching a cyberlimb. On a side note, do cloned replacement limbs drop essence?
Moon-Hawk
QUOTE (BlackRabite)
If you suffer an accident and lose a limb does that cost essence, or would you be fine as long as you refrained from attaching a cyberlimb. On a side note, do cloned replacement limbs drop essence?

You do not suffer essence loss from losing an arm.
You do suffer essence loss from attaching a cyberarm.
Attaching a cloned replacement limb in place of a lost limb does not drop essence.
Attaching a cloned replacement limb in place of a cyberlimb does not reclaim essence.

All clear? smile.gif
Buster
Unfortunately that's debatable in SR 4. There's nothing in the current book that talks about an "essence hole" and my thought was that they did away with the idea. My thought is that when you remove a cyberarm and replace it with a cloned arm or a higher grade cyberarm, you get your essence back.

Others here hold to the previous editions that said that you permanently have an "essence hole" after getting a cyber implant. Their rule is that you can take the cyberarm out and replace it and add more stuff that adds up to the old essence point value, but you can never get the essence loss back.
Rotbart van Dainig
You don't get essence back in SR4. But everytime your implants change, you recalculate total essence loss and go from base 6.
odinson
If you recalculate every time your implants change then you could end up with more essence than you previously had and that would be like regaining essence.
Sterling
Well, they don't address essence loss beyond the blurb on page 73, saying it can never be increased.

So what I would go with (as it's worked this way in previous versions) is that you get a cyberarm installed. Bam, lose a point of essence. Down the road you replace it with an Alphaware cyberarm, which is only .8 essence. Your essence is still at 5, but now you have a .2 'hole' to put other cyberware in at no additional essence loss.

The very brief blurb about 'never increasing essence' would lead me to believe if you upgrade your arm, you wouldn't get the .2 back. If you were a combat monster with only an essence of one (and a girlfriend who's a toaster, since you relate better to her than real people) and you decided on a whim to have all our 'ware removed and replaced with cloned limbs.. you wouldn't get your essence back.
bait
SR4 pg 61, Essence

QUOTE
Lost essence can never be regained be regained (Short of the Essence Drain critter power).


So, no you can't get essence back.

Another way of losing essence is addictions as your abusing your body, which can result in essence loss if it gets to extremes. ( Hot VR is also potentially damaging if it gets to the level of addiction.)

The addiction quality at Burnout for instance reduces Essence by 1 and if the character doesn't take steps to deal with it the GM is encouraged to determine Essence loss over time until its corrected.
Adarael
Severe toxic poisoning, being heavily irradiated (esp. beta rays), drug addiction of the 'is a junkie' variety, severe malnutrition, chronic self-abuse (as in self-mutilation, poisoning, etc... Not masturbation)...

All these things lower essence, eventually. some faster than others.
Dancer
Meaning the sammie with 0.1 essence needs to be really careful about his health.
Strobe
QUOTE (Dancer)
Meaning the sammie with 0.1 essence needs to be really careful about his health.

Hey no problem! I've got a BTL of me working out so I'm cool…

-Strobe
Jaid
QUOTE (Strobe)
QUOTE (Dancer @ Jul 12 2007, 11:58 AM)
Meaning the sammie with 0.1 essence needs to be really careful about his health.

Hey no problem! I've got a BTL of me working out so I'm cool…

-Strobe

better make that a P-fix =D

(smithers, release the richard simmons robot!)
PlatonicPimp
I've got this house rule that, if you have an essence hole, you can get rid of it by paying the karma to increase essence as if it were any other attribute. It represents you putting time and effort into regaining spiritual wholeness.

But that's because I love redemption stories.
Moon-Hawk
QUOTE (PlatonicPimp)
I've got this house rule that, if you have an essence hole, you can get rid of it by paying the karma to increase essence as if it were any other attribute. It represents you putting time and effort into regaining spiritual wholeness.

But that's because I love redemption stories.

If a magician does it does his Magic attribute automatically increase along with it?
Dread Polack
QUOTE (PlatonicPimp)
I've got this house rule that, if you have an essence hole, you can get rid of it by paying the karma to increase essence as if it were any other attribute. It represents you putting time and effort into regaining spiritual wholeness.

But that's because I love redemption stories.

I like this. I'm gonna steal it smile.gif

Dread Polack
X-Kalibur
I'd say Karma and a LOT of time...
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012