Shadowrun Bioware and Cyberware Help and Discussion (4e)

[Conners]

This thread is for discussing Bioware and Cyberware of 4th edition Shadowrun, as well as helping people with setting up their cyber/bio-characters.


Here's a topic-starter: What's the best cyberarm for a (400BP) soldier-type character? Also, how worthwhile is Alphaware at character creation?

[NPCMook]

I'm still reading through most of the Core Rulebook, but I also have Augmentation, and Runner's Companion, while the other 3 are on order.

Augmentation adds a lot of new Cyberware, one of the Positive Qualities you can take allows you to treat a Bio/Cyberware as a Delta grade at Character creation, unfortunately it cost like 30 BP to take x.x It also allows you to take get certain physical enhancements from Troll Horns, if your character is has the "Poser" quality

On Topic: I don't have any of my books with me atm, but yes, Alphaware is great for taking at first level, just try not to go overboard and end up with a dead character x.x

Personally I'd go with one of the Concealed-Gun Cyberarm, since they would be slightly easier to conceal when wearing gloves

[mabriss lethe]

well, I'm not terribly familiar with the 4e changes, but in most of the other versions, alphaware was always preferable to standard when you can afford it.

[Thrud]

well, I'm not terribly familiar with the 4e changes, but in most of the other versions, alphaware was always preferable to standard when you can afford it.

Most of the changes (as far as I remember) are combat related in some way or another, to cut down lethality a little.

Skills now cannot be raised above the governing attribute.

Best change, however, is to initiative. Everyone rolls init. Go down the init in sequence from highest to lowest. Subtract 10. Everyone who still has a positive number goes again in order. Rinse and repeat.

This means that every poor schnook with an init of 9 might actually survive to get a single shot off, instead of being shot 4 times by every character before he even gets to go.

That being said, sorry to the OP, I can't find my dang books anywhere, so I can't help you. Now I just have to figure out who I loaned em to.

I will say, however, that going with alpha cyberware early on is always preferable, to save you essence. But I usually try to go mostly with Bioware early on if I can. This is because unless you are magically active bioware doesn't cost you essence. Yes, you will be less effective to begin with, but over time you can save up the cash to get the really good cyberware you want and make it beta grade, to save even more essence. (We also had a gamma grade in our game, but I can't rememeber if it was house ruled or not. Gamma cost 20x but reduced essence to half base)

Alternately just make a physical adept, initiate, and thumb your nose at the poor pitifully slow street samurai's who can't do deadly damage just by touching someone.

Hmm, think I may be mixing up editions there. I mostly played 3rd ed.

[Conners]

@NPCMook: I'm still finishing the corebook-rules myself. On the subject of the books, which ones should I bother getting?

30 BP? OUCH! Do you still have to pay the full-price for the cyberware?
....How are troll horns on a human head useful ?

OK, Alpha it is! But, one thing I'm not certain on: When you have to pay double the price for your cyber gear to make it Alphaware, do you also have to double the price of the non-essence costing upgrade to the cybergear (like gyromount)?

I was going for that, but then my cyberarm ran out of space... Oh well, it wouldn't make so much sense for Ares corp. to give my character a means to sneak guns around, anyway .


@mabriss lethe: I can afford it!..... barely . That stuff is darned expensive, I'm glad I'm not shooting to buy Delta-grade (it'd cost me more than the arm I'm having replaced).


@Thrud: That's a good thing I'm guessing?

Huh? I didn't see that in the rules... Maybe I need to look over skills again.

??? I do know of initiative passes, where cyberware/magic/bioware allows you to take another turn before the next round, but I haven't heard of this rule. I haven't read over the combat rules so I guess it is there, but it makes the initiative-passing equipment seem much too expensive.

[See above paragraph.]

You can borrow a few of my ninjas, if you like. They're GREAT at getting back your stuff--and some extras .

My character is mostly Bio, but I decided to give him a cyberarm to be interesting. I looked over bioware, and it does cost you a bit--just not very much (0.2 for some of the cultured stuff, I think). I was actually planning to do something along those lines, I'm certainly not getting any more cyberware than the arm and it's upgrades. (In the core rulebook, they mention Deltaware, but I don't know how good it is yet.)

I think there are shocker you can build into your cyberhand--so they CAN deal deadly damage just by touching someone . For this character anyway, I've decided not to use magic. He is my first.

It's quite possible you are, since I don't recall an amount of the rules you mentioned (now that I think about it, the example text had characters getting their skills higher than their attributes). Still, I haven't read the whole book yet.


Thanks for the help guys !

[NPCMook]

@NPCMook: I'm still finishing the corebook-rules myself. On the subject of the books, which ones should I bother getting?

30 BP? OUCH! Do you still have to pay the full-price for the cyberware?
....How are troll horns on a human head useful ?

I'd recommend all the books

Nope, you get a Delta Grade Cyberware(though I could be wrong, it might be Bioware) for free, though you still have to pay the Essence cost of the item. Augmentation is pretty much a book for really designing how your character looks, includes rules and costs for getting stylings on your Cyberware cases. Augmentation also adds in a new addition to your character, Gene Therapy. Haven't read to much into Augmentation, been busy reading Runner's Companion.

As for Troll horn's on a human, its pretty much just for looks and intimidation, but if you had a player take the Orc Poser Quality, he may have gotten his teeth worked on to give him Orc-ish tusks

Street Magic might be a bit hard to find, its apparently not being reprinted till 2011

[Emperor Tippy]

It's delta grade bioware. The trait is Type 0 System. You can get any non cultured bioware at delta level for the price of basic level. Combine it with the flaw that doubles the essence cost of cyberware and you're fine.

I mean most of the cyber really isn't worth it anyways.

[NPCMook]

It's delta grade bioware. The trait is Type 0 System. You can get any non cultured bioware at delta level for the price of basic level.

Thank you for the clarification, I keep my books at my work so while I'm at home, I can't exactly look at them heh

[Emperor Tippy]

Thank you for the clarification, I keep my books at my work so while I'm at home, I can't exactly look at them heh

It's just a trait I almost always grab, and when combined with the cyberware flaw it ends up only costing 15 BP.

[Conners]

You can get Delta-grade BIOWARE ? It doesn't seem to say anything about that in the core book...

I've nearly finished my first character sheet. Any advice for changes to make my character better?: http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=78464

EDIT: Note that the 30,000 nuyen is the money I haven't spent on starting-gear, yet. I'm wondering whether I should buy a shotgun, more ammo, some different toy (a vehicle might be nice) or more cyber/bioware.
Perhaps I should just get the maximum possible bonus on my starting money roll? Or should I exchange the money back into points for me to spend on skills?

[NPCMook]

Its a Positive Quality in Augmentation, each of the books adds more and more new qualities... With Runner's Companion you can pretty much define your character down to a "T"

[Xuincherguixe]

If the play style is such that carrying massive weapons around draws a lot of attention, you'll want to have some kind of hidden weapon. But that could easily take the form of ceramic throwing knives. You've always got your fists... well... GENERALLY you always have your fists.

Either way though, building sneakiness into a Shadowrun character is never a problem.

Chances are good that killing people isn't going to be a problem, it's the sneaking you need to think about.

Come up with a series of good lies about why you have all the modifications. ("I'm work for a private security agency!" might work. "Secret Agent" is one further on the list. That one might be a bit more believable after they've seen through your other lies. If they see through all of them? Well that's why you took those tai bo classes...)

Everyone will almost certainly have all kinds of killing skill. What you need is lying skill. You may be in situations where the designated liar isn't around.

Also, make sure to have some good non lethal options. The unconscious are generally more useful than the dead. If they do become a burden you can just kill them later. That, and unconscious victims have fresher organs to sell...

...what? It makes good economic sense! Stop judging me! *twitch*

But yeah, you probably don't need to be a master of a dozen different ways to kill. Throwing Weapons gives you a lot of different options. You'll probably have a fair amount of strength for range if you go that way. If most fights are at a close distance, you should be fine with it. On the other hand, there's a lot of different kinds of bullets. So a sub machine gun or heavy pistol isn't such a bad choice.

If you grab blades, you can stab people with that throwing knife. Unarmed Combat means you'll never be without a way to hurt things. Even if your limbs have all been hacked off, you can still bite people!

Spending a few points on backup weapon skills isn't a terrible idea, but I found there were few situations where one could use unarmed combat that they couldn't use a sword. I haven't really *played* 4th edition (whoops! secrets out!) but this isn't something that's going to change.

Even if you are going to playing the guy who gives things brutal deaths, make sure you have some good "sneaky" skills(infiltration, Palming, maybe Locksmith/Hardware (for the breaking part of breaking and entering), and "lying" skills (Intimidation, Con, maybe Negotiation, and every Shadowrunner needs Etiquette.)


In otherwords, your primary focus in the words of in the words of Futurama should be how to "break into peoples houses and wreck up the place". Also, you don't want to get caught like the example character did. You don't want to drive a tank into a building and start killing everyone (okay, you probably want to, but it's still a bad idea), you want to pretend to be someone that works there, choose some careful phrases designed to extract information, hide the briefcase full of knockout gas in the air vents, hack the speakers and tell your target to jump out the window (or lie in such a way they would want to jump out the window). There may or may not be a soft landing depending on what the goal of the mission was, and how well the team has thought things through. But hey, their liver might still be in tact anyways.


I've only just finished reading the Cyberware section in Augmentation. There's some nice sneaky stuff in there. Sure the laser you can hide in your eyes is very short range, and not very powerful in the slightest. But if your target isn't suspecting anything? You might be able to kill with it. Though you may be insane for even trying.

[Conners]

Oh yes, I've started a recruitment thread for a Shadowrun game (4E). I still need a DM, though... maybe one of you guys are able to? Here's the link: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...91#post4840191

Thanks for the advice, Xuincherguixe.

[Xuincherguixe]

Here's another piece of advice. Never call the Gamemaster a DM.

If you're playing Shadowrun in dungeons you're doing it wrong ^_^