I had a character get the titanium version. He had a cover identity as a stunt man. Unbreakable bones are needed for some of those more extreme stunts since simsense got big.

I should be more specific.

I failed memorizing physics equations. Physics fundamentals and practical applications I passed. For basic physics at least, they wouldn't let me advance because I could memorize the equations.

I thought it was great that the player picked up the garrotte, and one of the things that are so nice about having green players in general: they come up with atmospherically cool concepts, instead of the grognard minmaxing that seems so pervasive here.

Yes, you can surprise someone with a monowhip, but unless you're so balls-out proficient with it that you can yank off someone's head at range (and if you've ever messed around with a whip, you'll know how hard this is), they're going to make a sound. This is why soldiers today still garotte people instead of hitting them in the head with something sharp from behind.

.... no reason you can't garrote someone with the monowhip, too ...

Seriously. You just hold onto the finger that's used as an anchor, extract as much as you need for garrote, and you're set. Plus it has the added benefit of being an actual weapon in normal combat.

Pax...I'm not saying cyberscanners are useless. I'm just saying that they hardly negate the setting if you apply real world logic to them, and take them for what they are. And a lot of things shouldn't even be counted when calculating this. Wired reflexes, or most headware for that matter? too deep, would never find. even your cranial bomb would go unnoticed. All forms of bioware would be unnoticed for the most part

The way I read the chart is that its based off of the number of items you don't want to be found. You don't care if they see the datajack or the cybereyes. It shouldn't even have the opportunity to find the simsense booster since that's a deep implant and would never be found by a millimeter wave scanner, and it doesn't matter if they do since its not even restricted. So you have a milspec commlink, a pulsar taser, and a skinweb array (which i don't know what that is). so thats 3 things. So a top of the line, R6 cyber scanner would get 7 dice to find your stuff. Yeah, its probably going to find all of it.

Scanners do their job, but they are ways to get past them without having to hack them. Because of the way the threshold for grades works, it can get pretty easy to defeat them. If that skin pocket were beta ware, I'd rule as a GM, anything in it would have the same threshold to be found by a cyberscanner, 3. If you replaced the taser with a Deltaware implanted shock hand (would cost about 10k and .125 essence) or a deltaware implanted Holdout cybergun with external clip port loaded with SnS(for about the same cost) that would have a threshold of 4.


AND even if it manages to get the number of hits needed (lets say it manages to get 3 hits on your betaware), it finds its general location and type. it needs more hits to identify function, model, grade, etc. So if you have a highly illegal mod on your betaware cyberarm, when it gets 3 hits, they'll see "oh you have a cyberlimb replacement for your right arm" thats all they'll see. Some social skills, and some good fake licenses/SINS will take care of that.

Yes that gets expensive if your entire loadout of stuff is betware or better, but you shouldn't need to worry about it for your wired reflexes or move by wire system. Just for certain utility things that at very low price points can take the deltaware grade price mod very well.

RAW, the scanner sees right through you, trivialising any efforts to ever hide anything.

Realistically, the scanner won't penetrate your epidermis, rendering it next to useless for it's intended purpose.


(a) Says who?

(b) How is the scanner to know the intent of my character? I read that as items which COULD be found, whether that bothers you or not.


It still (inexplicable) gives the scanner an extra die to find the things I do care about.


Not a bad house rule, but thats still what it is, a house rule. RAW, the grade of the pocket doesn't change the difficulty for the scanenr to find things inside it.

And, extension to the extreme: that would imply that high-grade Dermal Sheathing would conceal everything in your body ...?


Um. Adept. Remember? 0.125E would drop his Essence from 5.1 to 4.975 ... and his Magic from 5 to 4 ... and cost him more than one ability. Not an option.

Which doesn't change anything, really. The entire idea of those scanners being hand-held at all is, IMO, the problem.

So, Don't allow them as Hand-Held devices. Fixed and Done, Easy Peasy.

Yeah, as large, immobile installations, maybe. Even then, I tend to be of the opinion "if it's under your skin, it's hidden, have a nice day". IOW, I see them more as airport / subway security things, like the big "x-ray screen" in the old Total Recall. At best.

Which works for me.

Which evokes such great imagery.

That imagery is the primary reason I'd tolerate 'em.

Funny, I was informed I'd set off metal detectors naked now that I'm buying the Stainless Steel Bone Lacing on the Installment Plan...

This just leads to an increased need of security assensing personnel (Mages, Adepts, etc.), as they can see through your skin too.

but with Awakened beings numbering only 1% of the overall population, having a mage/adept onhand for EVERY security checkpoint, or even Every Law Enforcement team seems unlikely & implausible.

For the more shady ones, take Ghouls. Or Hellhounds, Barghests, whatever.

the Awakened Animal population seems larger, training an animal with assensing seems like the better option as Nil mentioned, then being able to essentially "sniff" out the problems.

Er, yes.. And one very important one, too: A garrotte has two rings for your fingers. The monowhip is only attached in one end, so you'll lose a finger joint every time you kill someone.

The Monowhip has a weightened tip on one end (the fingertip on the implanted version). Although i am inclined to add gremlins 4 if one wants to garrote someone with a monowhip in this fashion.

If you read my quote in full, you should realize that is exactly what i'm saying. Realistically, the scanner won't penetrate your epidermis rendering it next to useless when scanning anything internal.



"To determine if the detector scans cyberware or a
prohibited item, roll the Device rating and compare the hits scored to
the thresholds given on the Cyberware Scanner Table."

which i agree is silly that it would matter at all, but regardless it only cares about prohibited items and cyberware. And if that cyber (by applying our realistic concepts) is invisible to the scanner, then it wouldn't count toward that number right?
Which is to say, I'm not here to argue RAW, i'm here to provide my opinion on creating a playable interpretation of the rules.



Wouldn't matter since it would be below the skin anyway if you tried to apply RAW to my house rule.



depends on if you have more essence lost from cyber or bio, since whichever is lesser is cut if half. if you have more bioware than cyber, it would only cost .0625 essence. If essence is an issue otherwise, try increasing grades of other cyber?



I agree, I think the above type of scanner would work ok as a handheld device, but anything that did something deeper like the book would have you believe would have to be a walkthrough unit that would have to use a composite of ultrasound, millimeter wave scan, MRI, and or some other form of low energy imaging. MRI in particular would be relatively safe and could give a very deep image, but would most definitely be a stationary device.