I figure that someone would have had a go at something like this- Proteus AG comes to mind.
Full Version: Bioware Gills
Have any of the books ever covered anything this? I know that Man & Machine has the OXSYS cybergill but that's cyberware which means it's detectable and you have to in for surgery to have the thing serviced every thousand hours or so. Knowing my luck there's probably a canon one that I've just missed through sheer obliviousness. I figure that someone would have had a go at something like this- Proteus AG comes to mind.
I figure that someone would have had a go at something like this- Proteus AG comes to mind.
Nah. Which is really too bad, since you can make a kickin' underwater chracter otherwise.
I can't seem to find anything about bio-gills in my NSRCG lists, but if it's any help, gills are a possibility with SURGE mutations.
Right, time to get the thinking hat on then. Since there's a already a cyberware version, it's not out of the realms of possibiity for a bioware one to come along. Since I know absolutely nothing about medical stuff or the like could probably use some help from someone more knowledgeable. Where could you located something like this? Neck, torso, other? And how noticeable might they be? :/
Yup there is a SURGE option, and it acts the same as Oxysys.
3 pt i think.....
3 pt i think.....
Reeeaallyy? 
| QUOTE (FlakJacket @ Jun 27 2004, 09:31 PM) |
| Where could you located something like this? Neck, torso, other? And how noticeable might they be? :/ |
For a high oxygen demand critter like a human? You'd have two conflicting issues: need for high surface area and need to resist heat loss.
Assuming you kept the natural lungs, you'll probably need an external mount. Something like the system described in this short story. Think: nymph wings.
| QUOTE (FlakJacket) |
| Right, time to get the thinking hat on then. Since there's a already a cyberware version, it's not out of the realms of possibiity for a bioware one to come along. Since I know absolutely nothing about medical stuff or the like could probably use some help from someone more knowledgeable. Where could you located something like this? Neck, torso, other? And how noticeable might they be? :/ |
I also was hoping that M&M would have bio-gills. I have been doing some research that is in the same area and thought I would give it a try. Here is what I have come up with so far.
The first question that comes to mind is do you keep your lungs and have the bio-gills augment you for underwater activity or are they replaced completely with the bio-gills. If you still have your lungs you could use them while on land and have the bio-gills go dormant. I think it would be way cooler though if the bio-gill could function out of water as well.
Unfortunately the bio-gills can’t be turned on and off the same way the cyber-gills could so, the bio-gills would have to be modified to work when the bio-gills weren’t submerged in water (complete replacement of lungs). Gills are composed of very thin high surface area membranes because a short diffusion path is needed to get a high flux of O2 from the water to O2 carrier (hemoglobin) in blood. Because the gills are composed of thin membranes they require the buoyancy provided by water to retain their integrity. If the bio-gills were stiffened like those in intertidal crabs the issue would be dealt with and they could operate while on land.
Heat loss would be an issue for a warm blooded runner. A high metabolism would be one solution so superthyroid gland might be the answer. The water could also be preheated before it comes in contact with the gills.
Another issue is that a terrestrial runner with gills would lose a lot of water very rapidly due from evaporation. Though this could be addressed by having the gills tightly seal to prevent water loss and kept wet with body fluids. And/or the runner could wear a hydrophobic garment around their throat to prevent water loss. The type of environment that you’re in would be important so dry environments would be bad and very humid very good. Your environment would also dictate your water consumption.
I specified the throat as the location for the bio-gills because they need to be were water can be pumped through them. Fish use their mouths to get convection across their gills but other locations might work as well (armpits, chest, feet, etc).
As far as game mechanics, maybe a Bio Index of 0.6 for augmented version and 1.2 for complete replacement of lungs with bio-gills. Well that’s my two cents.
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