Ok, dumb question... Is there any way to pick up more Initiative dice aside from either being an Adept and picking up the power, or Move-by-wire?
I understand there are many ways to improve Reaction, but i'm looking for adding more dice.
Full Version: More Initiative Dice?
Boosted Reflexes (standard cyberware)
Drugs, Assorted (will kill ya if you rely on them for more than a short while)
Improved Reflexes (adept power)
Increased Reflexes (health spell)
Move-By-Wire (deadly cyberware)
Synaptic Accelerator (neural bioware)
Wired Reflexes (standard cyberware)
Those are about the only sources I can think of off the top of my head. The only ones beyond drugs that are compatible are Boosted Reflexes and Synaptic Accelerators, and only with themselves. Drugs are compatible with everything. Everything else dosen't work with any other initiative boosting mods.
Drugs, Assorted (will kill ya if you rely on them for more than a short while)
Improved Reflexes (adept power)
Increased Reflexes (health spell)
Move-By-Wire (deadly cyberware)
Synaptic Accelerator (neural bioware)
Wired Reflexes (standard cyberware)
Those are about the only sources I can think of off the top of my head. The only ones beyond drugs that are compatible are Boosted Reflexes and Synaptic Accelerators, and only with themselves. Drugs are compatible with everything. Everything else dosen't work with any other initiative boosting mods.
A VCR can improve a Rigger's initiative while jacked in to a vehicle, as can Response Increase for a Decker in the Matrix. Just to be complete.
| QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein) |
| Drugs, Assorted (will kill ya if you rely on them for more than a short while) |
Which drugs? What book can I find them in so that I can make a character who, at the end of his short life, overdoses.
Man/Machine
Man & Machine has the drugs, and Kamikze and Jazz are the two big candidates. I think there's one street drug that also gives a 1D6 boost, but I'm not 100% certain on that one. And trust me, with the addiction rules the game uses, you *will* have a short career. Even the "Borrowed Time" flaw gives you way too much time if you're a druggie in Shadowrun.
Cram's the one Doc forgot. And yes, you can take all of them at once for a cumulative increase in dice. Considering how suicidal that move is, I really don't find it unbalancing at all.
LOL, wow that sounds fragging sweet! Thanks. I figured it'd be in there but wasn't 100% sure.
Jazz is absolutely horrible...It has and edge of like 2/5...
I remember one of my PC's "cop buddies" gave him some combat amphetamines once to fight some wired sammy. They worked, but within a few month he had a body of 1, and a wound meter with only 9 boxes. I think he tried to quit a good 7 or 8 times...It ended with me walking in the middle of the street talking to my "agent" on an imaginary cell phone about an imaginary movie deal. I got run over by a bus....that was funny.
I remember one of my PC's "cop buddies" gave him some combat amphetamines once to fight some wired sammy. They worked, but within a few month he had a body of 1, and a wound meter with only 9 boxes. I think he tried to quit a good 7 or 8 times...It ended with me walking in the middle of the street talking to my "agent" on an imaginary cell phone about an imaginary movie deal. I got run over by a bus....that was funny.
Dwarves, Orks, and trolls tend to last longer, due to having more Body dice to play with. But even they succumb eventually.
I've got an ork druggie playing in my game. Addicted to Cram. A month passed in off-time recently. His response: "Jeez, you're killing me here!'
He'll have to try to detox sooner or later if he wants his character to live. The SRun drug death spiral is not a pretty one.
On a side note, I once had a character who kept an inhaler of Kamikaze with him on runs, as a last-ditch "Oh Frag!" device. Went to alot of trouble to find alternatives to using it. Never did use it.
On another side note, I had a character do some wetwork by Hypo-tagging a troll going into a bar with a Kamikaze/Jazz/Hyper/LSD cocktail. The target was already on Nitro and Cram. The SWAT team was supposed to end it for us. Actually, the target was taken out by a lucky shot from a troll factory worker with a pool cue, just as the SWAT team arrived. The target had already cleared the bar of everyone who was better armed, but had been shot up in the process. More collateral damage than usual for us, but nothing that lead back to us. Fun to watch too. The intra-team betting was heavy.
I've got an ork druggie playing in my game. Addicted to Cram. A month passed in off-time recently. His response: "Jeez, you're killing me here!'
He'll have to try to detox sooner or later if he wants his character to live. The SRun drug death spiral is not a pretty one.
On a side note, I once had a character who kept an inhaler of Kamikaze with him on runs, as a last-ditch "Oh Frag!" device. Went to alot of trouble to find alternatives to using it. Never did use it.
On another side note, I had a character do some wetwork by Hypo-tagging a troll going into a bar with a Kamikaze/Jazz/Hyper/LSD cocktail. The target was already on Nitro and Cram. The SWAT team was supposed to end it for us. Actually, the target was taken out by a lucky shot from a troll factory worker with a pool cue, just as the SWAT team arrived. The target had already cleared the bar of everyone who was better armed, but had been shot up in the process. More collateral damage than usual for us, but nothing that lead back to us. Fun to watch too. The intra-team betting was heavy.
Ugh, the drug rules need to be taken down a notch. You'd think that if everyone who took drugs whithered and died within a month, the market would pretty much disappear. The only reason I can see FASA making those addiction rules so tough was to prevent their game from being connected with drug use. Anyone have any good house rules on how you can make them more reasonable? They could be a savior in street level games.
| QUOTE (nezumi) |
| Ugh, the drug rules need to be taken down a notch. You'd think that if everyone who took drugs whithered and died within a month, the market would pretty much disappear. The only reason I can see FASA making those addiction rules so tough was to prevent their game from being connected with drug use. Anyone have any good house rules on how you can make them more reasonable? They could be a savior in street level games. |
A character doesn't risk addictin untill taking a number of doss equal to his body, or twice his body, or 1.5x his body, whichever works best for you. This limit resets after a certain period of time with use. Perhaps a month. Enforce crash strictly.
Addicts can avoid crash by taking maintainance doses. As long as they have a regular ammount in their system, they can still function normaly and constantly recieved the drug's bonus, but that bonus is reduced by 10% every month of addiction, as they build up a tollerance. If they miss a dose the crash effects are doubled. After a 10 months of addiction, the character needs a dose just to function normaly. Body loss, condition moniter, and essense loss only sets in after that point, but it sets in quickly. If the character survivies detox, he can regain lost condition moniter boxes after a year (per box) of outpatient physical thearpy at an alpha grade or better medical facility and regain lost attributs after 6 months (per point) of therapy at any clinic that provides it, paying the karma cost he would spend if he hadn't lost the attribute. If the a troll addict had a body of six and lost one point through addiction, he''d have to pay 14 karma to raise it back to 6 and 16 karma to raise it to 7, ect.
Initiative is based on Reaction, which is composed of Quickness and Intelligence. So you can also raise those.
Increase Attribute Spells - Quickness and Intelligence, Reaction
Reaction Enhancer - cyberware
Adrenal Pump - bioware
Enhanced Articulation - bioware
Muscle Toner - bioware
Suprathyroid - bioware that increases Reaction and Quickness directly (Quickness increase may further increase Reaction indirectly.)
Cerebral Booster - cultured bioware
If you are using some of the optional rules in Cannon Companion, check on Small Unit Tactics. Some GMs let you use it on yourself to increase Reaction. IIRC, every 2 successes on the skill test gives a +1 Reaction.
Increase Attribute Spells - Quickness and Intelligence, Reaction
Reaction Enhancer - cyberware
Adrenal Pump - bioware
Enhanced Articulation - bioware
Muscle Toner - bioware
Suprathyroid - bioware that increases Reaction and Quickness directly (Quickness increase may further increase Reaction indirectly.)
Cerebral Booster - cultured bioware
If you are using some of the optional rules in Cannon Companion, check on Small Unit Tactics. Some GMs let you use it on yourself to increase Reaction. IIRC, every 2 successes on the skill test gives a +1 Reaction.
Counter that addiction with an RAS override.
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