given that normal tattoos are permanent, do you REALLY need a hive to make nanotattoos permanent? or could you have it...'stick' on whatever the last image was when it degrades? (it is after all only cosmetic...thinking specifcally of a flourescent blue static image..i get that keeping it flexible for camo needs a hive tho).

Feel free to negotiate this with your GM... I assumed the nanites themselves where providing the colour, so they would slowly be eliminated from the body = no tatoo remaining. One could have a faint image remaining, but no fully visible tat.

I could be talked into having nano-tats degrade slower. For those players who have their whole body done, the required nanite hive requires a way to high rating.

I haven't read that entry recently, but I thought nanotats were just like normal tats, just with special effects.

Maybe the "nano" part is just marketing? Maybe it is installed with nanites? If the image is made by true nanites, but they are embedded in the skin, why would they be eliminated? The tiny particles of whatever in normal tattoos don't fade. (Well they do, but over decades.)

I get the idea that nanoware degrades because it has to float free in the bloodstream to do it's job.

Nanites need a hive to stay. Nanotatoos can be reprogrammed completely- no image, another image, your choice.

On the other hand, nanotattoos that move all over the body, changing shape .. you could probably make a case for those being subject to the degradation rules.

I had just sorta assumed that people who want nanotattoos just incorporate the few thousand nuyen per month into their lifestyle cost.

Can nanotattoos aid a disguise?

It can be astonishing the degree of change you can create with just makeup, hairstyle, and posture changes, no prosthetics required. Just messing up your hair and walking differently can make you look like a different person if someone isn't looking too closely. I remember a story where A guy being chased turned a corner, messed up his hair and reversed his jacket, began walking with a hunch and limp, and headed back the direction he came from. The people chasing him finally turned that same corner and ran past the guy, didn't give him a second look.

Normally tatts are obvious and flashy, but a nanotatt can do subtle as well as flashy. Adding a fake five o-clock shadow, or slight "virtual" shading changes to alter how thin or fat facial features appear should be fairly simple. Even changing one's overall skin tone and color should be easy.


-karma

AltSkin is better for that kind of thing.