Ok, first question, and the most pressing for me: with the Enhanced Pheromone Receptors there are fun social bonus rules that I absolutely love. But can the same be applied to the cybersnout? They're basically accomplishing the same goals, but is there a difference between the data that they give? And it didn't say if the EPRs were incompatible with the olfactory booster, and if it isn't, can you just block out or tone down the nasty city smells? Could you do that with simsense?

With the blood circuit control, it mentions that. if needed, the circulation could be cut from wherever the wound is. But wouldn't that cause some bigger issues, like losing a limb because it dies? Does the system have safety parameters built in so an organ doesn't fail because its in an area where there's massive bleeding that's about to stop, or is that the way the cookie crumbles?

The book mentions astral photography. Will this every be talked about in more than passing? Because, call me crazy, I tend to think that magic-technology interfaces are a big deal. But hey, that's just me...

can you truly kill a cyberzombie? I mean, the soul's bound to the shell, so it seems like while you can shoot the thing to hell, it won't really be dead, only very, very damaged. And almost all damage can be repaired, especialy if its mechanical. Would splatting a CZ's brains all over the room permanently disable it (leaving the soul trapped in/on the components it was bound to), or would it actually kill it?

And as for CZs suddenly getting good press when it finaly comes out, I'm pretty sure that the fact that those who undergo the procedure all are trapped in some existential crisis, or giving their ruger some head would spoil the deal a bit. That and the nasty marks they leave on the Astral. People are stupid, but I don't think they'd willingly thrust themselves into generations of private Hell.
The cyborg thing holds more potential in my mind, but maybe because I've just been reading Richard K. Morgan again. Yeah, they aren't able to have everyone implanted with a cortical stack, but people said that they wouldn't be able to clone and genetically modify people. So why isn't brainswapping all that far off (in gametime, that is)? Considering how far they seem to have before cybermancy is "perfected," say that getting put into a new sleeve (to totally jack Morgan's term) might happen sooner. A metal body is preferable to your own body when every cell in your being is screaming for the sweet release of death.
Yeah, I don't see CZs as playable. Eventually you'll either top yourself, or have a complete nervous breakdown. Mmmm, THAT'S a fun session, now isn't it?


Oh, and leave the orgasm spell alone. My mage/face has that spell, and it's damn useful. When you need to disable someone, which is better: causing them impossible pain, or giving them one hell of a ride? And for faciness, nothing is more useful than shaking a woman's hand as you're casting orgasm at force 1. For some reason they'll be thinking of you in a very different light. "He just touched me and...oh, I'll gladly tell him when I saw [insert important character here]."

Zeitgeist: I suppose that blood circuit control does what the rules say it does; it saves you instead of kills you. Notice that BCC only reduces damage, it doesn't eliminate it, so obviously the system is making trade-offs regarding bleeding.

You can assume that if they can implant a computer in your head, they can make BCC smart enough to be the help it's meant to be.

Unless I've missed something, Brain Hacking was dropped between Man and Machine and AUG, is it slated to appear in Unwired or is it gone for good?

Also while I'm thinking about Magical LOS and cyberware, since they aren't really "vision" per say Ultrasound Sensors and the new Radar Sensors do not allow for Magical LOS even if they display their data as such, correct?

Astral photography is kirlian photography.

Link for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography

Perhaps the fact that less then 1% of the world's population are Mages puts a damper on the research?

Not directly a rules question.

I bought the Augmentation PDF from battlecorps.com for 25$. Do I have the permission to legally print the PDF for personal use?

Because reading Augmentation in the bath tube is a little bit problematic with a 19" monitor

SYL

i would personally rule that installing cyberware into a flesh form inhabitation, you're going to cost the spirit essence, which means force... which means the spirit isn't going to be happy, to put it mildly =S

1% if six billion is sixty million. It isn't exactly a small number.

There are fewer dedicated professional research scientists in the world than there are mages in the world.

Sixty million Awakened people, not sixty million Mages, you have to account for the Adepts, Mystic Adepts, Mages, Astral Sight, Spell Knack, Spirit Knack.

And then after weeding out the Awakened Population who simply can't do what you want them to do you have to find the ones who have the drive and talent to make good researchers.

Which, when you factor in the face that pretty much every major Science and Engineering University has developed a Thaumaturgy program, would be about as common as mundane research scientists.

I disagree because simply being Awakened doesn't mean you will become more driven or smarter then Joe Average down the street and I have yet to see anything that says magic favors smart and driven people.

Percentage wise? Sure you will have the same percentage of Mages who become research scientists as you have mundanes who become research scientists, but the actual raw numbers are going to be much, much smaller because you start out with a much smaller population to begin with.

*Edit*

Slight clarifaction.

The actual number of people who attend excellent engineering colleges like MIT is limited not by the drive of the individual but by the capacity of the school. The same will be true when it becomes MIT&T. People get turned down, left and right, because of limited capacity.

Sure, but you have to remember that the population of people who can apply to any given mundane classes are more then 100x the population of the people who can apply to any given magical class, and not everyone who Awakens is going to have the background, intelligence, drive, or even desire needed to excel as a magical research scientist just like not every Joe Mundane could handle being a researcher either.

Sure, but post-grad thaumaturgy programs will have about as many open slots of postgrade molecular biology programs and the like, and there will be more applicants than there will be slots.

Awakened individuals have more opportunities, per capita, than mundanes have.

Yeah I agree, Mages and Adepts do have more opportunities per capita then mundanes do. Where I disagree is with the notion that with more then a 100x population gap the increased opportunities will result in anything close to an equal number of magical researchers as mundane researchers.

Percentage wise there are roughly just as many idiot Mages as mundanes, and just as few exceptional ones. If you disagree with that then we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Dinnae forget theoretical thaumaturges.

Hmm, excellent point as always Ancient History.

Sorry to interrupt, but I have yet to hear an official reply to the Type O quality.

Does it affect cultured as well as basic bioware. At 30BP it is steep and for good reason, it allows you to fit twice as much bioware. However, it only seems like it would be a problem after a long time since it doesnt actually give you the bioware cheaper.

Still, a response please?

I've got a question about the new eyeware:

With the Eye Tool Laser being listed as a sub of the Eye Laser System, am I right in assuming that to have the Tool, you have to have the System in your cybereyes and [9] capacity to spare?

My guess is that Type O doesn't affect cultured-only bioware. On page 61 they equate cultured-only bioware with neural bioware, and apparently it has to mesh just right with your brain and nervous system to even work right, so it's not just a matter of blood type matching and immune suppression.

Since respirators only seem to negate the penalties associated with using the EPR in a strongly-scented environment, and apparently don't affect the positive aspects, there'd be little reason to take it off unless you were somewhere you knew to be "safe". With the high levels of pollution, threat of bio/chem attacks (or simply paranoia of same), deadly airborne diseases, and allergies generally being the rule, rather than the exception, walking around downtown with a respirator on is fairly common. They've even been incorporated into 6th World fashion trends.

As for compatibility between the implants - unless they errata it later, there doesn't seem to be any reason for them not to work together. From the text, it seems that the Olfactory Booster is largely focused on pre-processing and the EPR is post-processing. The OB breaks-down and analyzes scents before they hit your brain and sends the information along (or blocks it, depending on your settings). Then it's up to you to interpret the data it presents you with (which is why you don't get the social bonuses - interpretation and integration is a one-off affiar). The EPR, on the other hand, appears to enhance your brain's ability to work with that data once it gets there. And so, the cut-out ability of the former would seem to be perfectly suited to filter out distracting odors.

Am I reading you right, or are you saying that implants like the Olfactory Booster don't actually boost your olfactory capabilities? That it's just a sensor shoved in your nose and displays a read-out on your image link. That's about the only way I can see it working as you described, because if it actually sent the enhanced data to your brain, your brain would still be the main processor. The Olfactory Booster would simply be augmenting that capability in the same end fashion as the EPR would. The only difference would -- and should -- be how the sensor itself worked.

And if you are saying its merely a sensor and that sends visual data to an image link... well, that's pretty silly because then you're essentially implying that that's how everything else works, too. That cybereyes don't actually send images to the brain, it sends a text read-out of what it sees. That cyberears don't send sounds to the brain, it sends a text read-out of what it hears. etc.

It's not like a real eye is a data-processing machine, either. It's not all "okay, I see a bird; brain, you see a bird." It just sends the image it sees to the brain and the brain interprets and processes it as appropriate.

> You see a patrolling guard *sounds of the guard's footsteps*
Hide

> There is no place to hide
Shoot

> Shoot what ?
Shoot the guard

> You shoot the guard *sound of the gun*

I hope this question wasn´t ask before (just point me to the answer if it has been answered):

Do we add or multiply percentages in SR4? Is there a hard rule? For example alphaware and adapsin:

10% + 10% = 20% reduction

or

x0,9 x0,9 = x0,81 multiplier?

This question becomes important with the many different reductions or increases you have in augmentation.

The rule of thumb is 10% + 10% + 10% = 30% = x0.7. It's not 10% of 10% of 10% or x0.9 x0.9 x0.9. You can find an example of this in Street Magic when they discuss the reductions to Initiation costs.

Synner,
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. A few questions:

1. Regarding bioware sensory improvements, shouldn't AR (with a sim module) be able to tune out unpleasant odors? Especially considering AR can create things like Virtual Weather?

2. To repeat a question from before, does Daradrenaline give a +1 modifier to Drain resistance?

3. Another quick repeat, does Simsense Boosting stack with a technomancer's Overclocking? Does the Encephalon's bonuses to the Cracking and Electronic Groups work for a technomancer?

Thanks,

JKL

I'd rule it the other way, because that 10% difference is big enough to bother me.

That question was already covered in the original Augmention thread.

It indeed simply adds up, to 30%.

Yes.

I sometimes do my bio-compatability backwards. In other words, how many "virtual" essence points does this cost reduction give me? It breaks down when you mix grades, but it gives a basic idea.

Multiplying multipliers, you get a "virtual" essence of 14.8 (inverse of 40.5% is 247%, of 6). Adding multipliers and then figurin it, assuming everything was deltaware, means you get a virtual essence of 20 ( Inverse of 30% is 333%, of 6). Serious difference.

Math notice: the first is a percentage reduction, the second is a cost multiplier.

For the following examples, let us say you have a cyberimplant that costs 1.0 Essence, and you apply three modifiers (percent reduction/cost multiplier) to the Essence cost - the implant is deltaware (-50%/0.5) and you have adapsin (-10%/0.9) and biocompatibility (-10%/0.9)

If you add the reductions before applying, then (-50%) + (-10%) + (-10%) = (-70%), giving a final Essence cost of 0.3.

If you apply the reductions seperately, then ((1.0 x (0.5)) x (0.9)) x (0.9) = 0.405 Essence.

So a character with Biocompatibility (cyberware) and adapsin who only took deltaware implants would receive a (-70%/0.3) if adding or (-59.5%/0.405) if multiplying.

[/edit] In other words, you do better to simply add the percentage reduction than to apply the modifiers.