I'm a little curious about the Loup-Garou Infected.

Why would someone take this? I mean, you have all the penalties of being Infected for 28 days but no powers until you PMS uncontrollably for a couple of days.

I can understand taking something that is somewhat debilitating for the sake of flavor, but even this seems like a massive "why bother".

They are an option for players who want to play a feral wolf man type of character. They do get a significant Strength increase to go along with their natural weapons. Like wolf shapeshifters, they are not horribly underpowered, but the other infected/shapeshifter options are a lot more optimal.

That strength increase comes when they change, it isn't on them when they're walking around as a human.

I don't think these are supposed to be 'why bother' choices. Being Infected (or Drake, or paracritter, etc.) isn't picking a rational power-up (and thank god). As far as I'm concerned, 'Advanced' options aren't even for PCs.

The idea of a werewolf, or hell ANY of the Infected types, is cool and I think adds a lot to the game and as I said I'm not against making character decisions that are mechanically disadvantageous for the sake of flavor or an interesting character. But when it's a poor choice mechanically AND flavor-wise, I have to question what the point of it is.

What is the definition of 'a poor choice flavor-wise'?

They don't "walk around as a human". They are covered with fur, and have fangs and claws, all of the time. During the violent part of their monthly cycle, they are also treated as if they had a rating: 2 adrenaline pump, which can boost their Strength still further, although it is not really worth it considering all of that unresisted stun damage (and Loup-Garou don't have regeneration).

They get a bonus to body, strength, and willpower at all times. Along with limits on their maximums. The only thing that happens during the "cycle" is they go a little bonkers and have an adrenaline pump effect. But the rest of the time they get some bonuses.

And stand out like a sore thumb and possible shed evidence everywhere.

Also, they rock at high school basketball.

Well, they can get cosmetic surgery like a ghoul....so its just another flavor of crazy you can mix in your game

Don't make me ask for Shadowrunner Bronie Artwork, Squinky.

Good gawd. No.

Stahl is supposed to be accosting you for some, actually.

Except that they will only ever have to worry about 3 boxes of damage... Ever. Since it is a Threshold 3 Test, of which you only beserk from 0-3 rounds, dependant upon resistant hits. Good boost for up to 9 Seconds or so (but likely less). Though they would have to worry about constant rolls. Their triggers are pretty brutal. I have a pretty interesting idea for a Loup-Garou. Unfortunately, I will likely never get to play it. No worries though. He was interesting to stat.

Then throw it up here. Maybe someone else can give it a test-drive around the block.

Doesn't a rating two adrenalin pump have the ability to cause 1d6 x 2 points of damage every time it goes off?

Depends on the duration.

Going berserk will trigger the adrenal pump equivalent, but there is nothing stating that it is the only possible trigger for it, nor that the duration of the adrenal pump equivalent is tied in to the berserk state. It would be pretty useless if that were the case. Hey, you get a bonus to these Attributes, but only when you are spasmodically flailing about attacking everything in sight!

During the 4–6 day peak of its 28-day cycle, a loup-garou will become savage and go berserk as a Bear shaman (see p. 192, SR4) and is treated as if it had a rating 2 adrenaline pump (p. 338, SR4).
Emphasis mine

And yes, an Adrenal Pump works for Rating * 1D6 Turns (not Rating D6 turns) and after those turns hits the poor character with an equivalent amount of damage, so I'm not sure where TJ got the "no more than 3 boxes" from...

From the fact that you only go Beserk for the duration of your roll (0-3 Rounds). WHILE YOU ARE BESRERK, you have the equivalent of a Rating 2 Adrenal Pump. Pretty cut and dried, actually. You Go Beserk and get the Benefits of Adrenal Pump. When you are not Beserk, You do not get the benefits of an Adrenal Pump. A Loup-Garou will only ever go Beserk for 0-3 Turns at a time, according to the mecahnics. What more needes to be said?

You could, of course, ignore the mecahnics and do what you want, but then you have drifted from the rules at that point.

And yes, the normal Adrenal Pump functions as for 1D6 x Rating Turns. However, The Loup Garou does not have a physical pump. His boost is dependant upon his Beserk State. If he is not Beserk, he gets no boost.

That's not what the sentence says. It names three things which happen to a Loup-Garou during his period, namely:

• he becomes savage
• he goes berserk as a bear shaman
• he is treated as if having an adrenal pump

It doesn't say anything about the Adrenaline Pump only being active during the berserker rage or vice versa, both are effects of his period but not limit each other in any way. Otherwise the sentence would read "During the 4–6 day peak of its 28-day cycle, a loup-garou will become savage and go berserk as a Bear shaman (see p. 192, SR4). Additionally, it is treated as if it had a rating 2 adrenaline pump (p. 338, SR4) while going berserk."

Sengir, you just described most Shadowrun PCs when they go out to get SoyMilk.

I can see either interpretation pretty easily. 'And' in English is tricky like that. You can decide for yourself. The Adrenal Pump is already such a well-known mess that I'd think you people would *want* the limited version, and there's nothing nonsensical about it being active during the Berserk—it seems like kinda the point. Once again, 'is this useless?' is not a valid scratch test in SR4: many things aren't, and then you can't assume the rules were written well.

Kind of like a religious text... RAW is frequently "open to interpretation"

I would use it as only active during the Beserk period. Makes the most sense, and is, as Yerameyahu pointed out, kind of the Point. For the character I was working on, I took a Totem where Beserk is also "Kind of the Point," which would activate the pump effect more often, on general purposes. So now, the character has to actually watch what he does, or be in the throes of Beserk constantly in combat. Was a fun twist, I thought. He really tries to mitigate his baser nature. Interesting roleplaying challenge. *shrug*