I've been digging through a ton of face builds recently, and I've been surprised to find Clean Metabolism listed in so many of them. While I agree that it makes good roleplaying sense, in the munchkin-y sense that most of the builds were clearly built on, I don't see the in-game benefit. Did I miss something in an errata or elsewhere in the book?

No.

There is a "Not having the right look" penalty to social situations, however, so having a piece of 'ware that can keep you from being smelly even on a hot day can keep you from losing a couple dice every now and again, but that's about the extent of the benefits, particularly since a Face with a decent Etiquette skill is unlikely to unwillingly let one rip at the dinner table anyway. Really though, the 'ware is so cheap that it doesn't have to be amazing, although I'd sooner grab a skin pocket or something.

You mean you don't see the numerical crunch benefit.

Yeah, I dunno either. Maybe the munchkins went crazy and did something for a roleplaying reason.

It's the kind of implant that ordinary people would actually want. If the amount of deodorant commercials is any indication.

Thanks for the replies =)

I was just curious, because there were a few discussions I read on "squeezing as much value from one point of essence as possible" and almost all of them mentioned Clean Metabolism, but didn't say why, so I wondered if I was missing something.

In all honesty, I like Silky Skin and Sensitive Skin better. It puts the porn back in pornomancer.

Nope just like diet ware it is ware the most folks who actually live in the world would gut.

yeah it's more for character development

It's funny how the 'ware that ordinary folks would be most interested in (Penis enhancement, dietware, sleep regulator, clean metabolism, silky skin etc.) are pretty cheap in terms of money and essence.

I am curious how this one piece of bioware seems to have gotten such wide play in builds though. I mean, I see the draw (I wish I could order a round of it for everyone who visits my FLGS ) but for it to have captured players imagination to the extent it gets included in powergamer builds, that's damn impressive.

My impression was many powergamer builds are just copies of earlier powergamer builds often done with minor changes instead of learning what everything does and rebuilding from the bottom up. I could easily be wrong in this case as I don't know the collection the OP is referencing, but I've seen it often enough in the past.

That's because the cost is mostly based on mechanical advantages.

Bye
Thanee

Yeah, but look on the bright side: having all the ware for a normal schmuck is cheap

That's probably closer to the truth^^ And, just to clarify, it wasn't one specific collection I was referring to; I think I've read every thread that had any of the following terms somewhere in it - "Face", "Pornomancer", and "Social Adept". When I'm researching a new type of character to play, I like to be thorough^^ It was just a seeming oddity that I noticed while reading.

whenever the pornomancer gets called powergamer he may answer "i bought the clean metabolism bioware just for RP reasons!"

Or, you know, supply and demand.

Big demand, bigger supply. The other stuff (Gear with CRUNCH!) is military or security equipment that John Q. Wageslave would never think of getting. Even after being mugged. Eight times. And shot ten.

...

OK, maybe Orthoskin.

Powergamers want to squeeze every bonus they can. The basic designs tend to be similar.

Gamers in general would almost be forced to have clean metabolism installed before they would be allowed at conventions. I would not want to be the one doing sniff tests. lol

Besides, it also makes sense for combat-orientated characters too. Just imagine 8 men dressed up in combat-gear in the back of a poorly ventilated van for a few hours straight. Now tell me clean metabolism isn't the bioware for you?

Or a basement full of gamers...

gamer-ware would be dietware, clean metabolism and sleep regulator, chemical gland for caffiene and an implanted comlink that has all his books on it. Just think of the AR possibilities for table top gaming. No more poorly drawn maps or badly painted figures. AR dice(need 20 that don't look like the GMs).

Screw that, they've already got VR. I reality-filter your physical imperfections away.

I'm guessing this is part of it. When you munchkin you maximize your potential while minimizing the amount of ways the GM can screw you over. While most GMs aren't likely going to apply that penalty, it's most likely to be applied to munchkins. "You fart loudly while giving the speech. The room goes silent." "Nuh uh, I have clean metabolism, I'm not going to do that." This is likely the original reason for including it. All following builds that used the initial build probably just copied without knowing why it's there.

Munchkinism aside, it's a good thing to have from an RP standpoint.

As is a sleep regulator, and why your Ork from the Barrens is so well read.

Or even worse, you're sneaking into the corp compound, and the guard with his finger on the alarm button is walking past where you stand in a handy nook, when you suddenly get that bubbling feeling in your stomach, moving down your intestine and suddenly...

I think that would get you laughed out of every J meet for the rest of your life after that.

Yep.

It's just a slightly more sophisticated form of powergaming. Instead of maximizing benefit, that one is to minimize risk. Powergamers look for formulas, and they don't always need clear numbers to see them, heh.

Roleplayers wouldn't look for a solution to everything in the equipment section of the book.

Psh, that's a little broad. If you're roleplaying a character who would buy a certain thing (e.g., Clean Metabolism), you'll need to buy that. It's not that you're roleplaying someone without flatulence, but someone in a society when there's an anti-flatulence enhancement.

Unless they're playing a technophile or something similar.

Or a neo-luddite, or car enthusiast, or a B&E specialist, or any member of a highly-connected and gadgeted and augmented society, or…

I have a number of characters with Perception (Olfactory +2) - anyone with an olfactory booster, pretty much. Everyone else gets Aural. Just sayin' ^_^

There are several Freefall strips which illustrate the importance of smell pretty well, essentially showing how anyone with a dog-grade olfactory sense would see the world very differently (the main character is a genetically engineered sentient anthropomorphic wolf). Unfortunately I don't remember which strips specifically; they point out things like a different view of time and the annoyance of a freshly washed floor.

Perception based characters are fun. Someone else in our group has an olfactory specialization for perception. I personally take visual.

Visual : 5 Intuition + 4 Perception + 2 Specialization + 1 Synch + 3 Vision Enhancement = 15
Hearing: 5 Intuition + 4 Perception + 1 Synch + 3 Hearing Enhancement = 13
Olfactory: 5 Intuition + 4 Perception + 1 Synch = 10

I just need to pop on some Reception Enhancers (+3), Qualia (+1), and a Reflex Record (+1) (really resisting the urge to go with an attention co-processor to keep up the bioware freak) and I should have an Olfactory perception check that is on par with the guy with the Olfactory Booster. I just won't be able to identify odors. At that point I should be able to see, hear, or smell myself sneaking around.

Isn't there a bioware version of that?

Yeah, Reception Enhancer.

It's a cost issue.

Reception Enhancer: +1/+2/+3 Perception for 0.2/0.4/0.6 essence and 20,000/40,000/60,000 nuyen.
Attention Co-Processor: +1/+2/+3 Perception for 0.3/0.3/0.3 essence and 3,000/6,000/9,000 nuyen.

Consider that I have waaaaay more bioware than cyberware Attention Co-Processor comes out at 0.15 essence thus making Attention Co-Processor III have a lower essence cost than ANY version of Reception Enhancer as well has cost less than even a rating I Reception Enhancer.

Even add in that we ignore essence and bioware costs are halved (no magic setting).

Reception Enhancer: +1/+2/+3 Perception for 10,000/20,000/30,000 nuyen.
Attention Co-Processor: +1/+2/+3 Perception for 3,000/6,000/9,000 nuyen.

Though technically these stack by the rules, GM isn't allowing them to stack. So I need to choose between spending 9,000 nuyen and breaking a bit from concept or paying a 21,000 tax for a bonus just to get it as bioware.

Why would you use bioware instead of cyber if you aren't using essence? The benefit of bioware is the reduced essence cost. There are a couple of unique things, but not a ton.

It's thematic. It's harder to detect.