Bulldrek v3.0

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:50 am**

I scrawled this in the DSF (hey, now I know what it means!)

AK404 once wrote:And if all else fails, make cyberdoggies. For role-playing effect, the guards toss some grenades loaded with something that attracts dogs (say, a pheremone that makes a dog irrationally vicious, or just something that smells like food) and clear the hell out of the area while the sec rigger opens up rooms and locks the sec guards behind the doors so they can hide, then tries to lock the runners within the complex. The guards'll run and hide because they know what's coming, and it's a fair bet your players don't.

Then say "woof woof." Roll a six-sided die. Multiply that result by how many players are on the team. That's how many dogs you have.

Everyone who's ever GMd has probably thought about using them once or twice. your players may enjoy being psycho, but nothing out-psychos a rabid dog with zero Essence on Kamikaze.

Think of the biggest meanest most psycho doberman you can possibly piss your pants looking at. Slap a plastic radio-controlled collar on his neck with a pair of auto-injectors: kamikaze and neurostun X or laes: make sure one's kamikaze and the other'll knock the dog out because someone'll have the retreive them. Then give that fucker a set of cybereyes with low light, thermo, flare comp, the works. Pack a set of alpha-grade Wired Reflexes in him. If you want to be nice, use level 1. If you want to be mean, level 2. Dikote the teeth, lace the bones with plastic or kevlar. If you're using Wired 1, enhanced that nose a little. Then pack on the bioware: enhanced articulation, a chemical gland set to cost the teeth with something nasty like MAO or Hyper (make sure they've got bioware that makes the mutts resistant to it). Dikoted teeth'll get through whatever they're wearing, so the drug'll hit 'em right off the bat. If they've got anything left, either keep it clear or pack on an adrenal pump or trauma dampener.

I've pulled this trick a couple of times in SR2, I don't know how well it'll work in SR3 with the way cyber and bio interact (didn't check the sheets), but just because I'm a nice guy, I'll tell you what else to add. Cortex bomb. Set to go off on a radio command. Bite, chew, inject with hyper, it hurts, it hurts, get it off, get it off, ohmyfuckingod, it's eating my arm, boom.

Hell, compared to the guard, the dog's an investment, but who cares? Every group I've ever ran with who went on a series of kill-happy sprees, I gave the GM the sheets for the dogs. Any group who runs into them once never wants to run into them again.

Woof, woof!

AK404 also wrote:OK, here goes. Use a large dog as a template, but up the stats a bit, say body and strength up to 5, quickness up to 6, intelligence and willpower stay the same. you should find this info in your GM screen insert (critters).

Cyberdoggie cyberware and bioware:

Cortex Bomb [area], Cybereyes [low-light, thermographic, flare compensation], Auto Injector [neuro-stun x], Auto Injector [kamikaze], Wired Reflexes-2, Plastic Bone Lacing, Replacement Fangs [dikoted]

Essense Loss: 4

Chemical Gland [recommend hyper], Enhanced Articulation, Trauma Dampener

Essense Index: 1.6 (and there seems to be room for more)

It balances out. Just barely, but it balances out. Hell, you could probably use boosted reflexes and synaptic accelerators instead of just wires, but that might be overdoing it...still, that would be amusing to see once the mutt's been injected with Kamikaze...

Remember, strategy and brains first, brute force last.

I wonder if this helps me with that Evil GM thing.

What do you think folks? Would it work?

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 5:26 pm**

I hate you on so many levels right now.

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 5:51 pm**

or you could just use the slamhounds from Count Zero...

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 6:40 pm**

Or perhaps a Rat-Thing?

Edit: When I first read the line "Jack the sound barrier. Bring the noise." in a .sig in dumpshock, I thought the rat-thing it referred to was one of the rat creatures in the 'Bone' comics..

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 6:45 pm**

Ak- you're scaring me.

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 7:44 pm**

I think I can make 'em worse, but I'm trying to do it cheaply...

Know what'd suck if you were feeling sadistic? A pack of devil rats with cortex bombs that would detonate when you cut off a radio transmission from a lightly armored drone firing a minigun. Geek the drone and BOOM!

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 7:49 pm**

Or get really bad ass and use genetic engineering to mutate moths into fantatical stinging machines that go insane when they detect a certain syrupy pheremone.

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:14 pm**

I dunno. Just got finished watching Boondock Saints and thought exploding devil rats would be amusing.

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:27 pm**

Have you considered giving them internal storage tanks full of C14?

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 10:59 pm**

Ack! Bad ak!

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 11:12 pm**

What? What'd I do? Is it too evil or is it just stupid min-maxing?

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 11:14 pm**

ak404 wrote:I dunno. Just got finished watching Boondock Saints and thought exploding devil rats would be amusing.

Go read Schismatrix, then get with the moths.

Posted: **Mon Jun 30, 2003 11:24 pm**

After watching City of Lost Souls again, what I really want is a ping pong table.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 12:19 am**

Jesus, it been a while since I read the rules but yeah the guards should hide. IIRC, with that much cyber and bio enhancement they should have their intelligence bottomed out and be rabid killing machines ripping arms of anything within range.

Edit: And if you're adding in remote auti-injectors, add one with a really strong sedative in it for when you want doggie turned off.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 12:37 am**

FlakJacket wrote:Jesus, it been a while since I read the rules but yeah the guards should hide. IIRC, with that much cyber and bio enhancement they should have their intelligence bottomed out and be rabid killing machines ripping arms of anything within range.

Edit: And if you're adding in remote auti-injectors, add one with a really strong sedative in it for when you want doggie turned off.

Already did. Two of 'em: one with kamikaze, the other with laes (was thinking neurostun, but laes works faster).

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 12:39 am**

Damn. Missed that bit. May have to dig out Critters and see what you can do with this.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 12:48 am**

Well, I was thinking Boosted Relfexes + Synaptic Accelerators, grafted horns, climbing claws, mounting a frickin' laser on their heads, that sort of thing...

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 1:23 am**

Or get really bad ass and use genetic engineering to mutate moths into fantatical stinging machines that go insane when they detect a certain syrupy pheremone.

I'd just like to say that I read that as fanatical singing machines, and thought that sounded so cool. I was disapointed when I realized it said "Stinging".

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 3:43 am**

As a thought, if you're going to release them in closed areas without any of your own team about and no need to worry about the little bastards going gonzo on you, why just use dogs? Barghests, Cockatrices or Hell Hounds and the varied like have the same amount of essence to spend and extra powers to throw into the mix as well.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 3:54 am**

Because you're already paying a shitload for cyber, and don't need to pay for exotic animals as well?

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 4:30 am**

Yeah but if your going to introduce psycho enahnced animals from hell into the game to firghten the PC's, I figure you might as well not do things by half.

And besides, that cyberware must easily cost 30-40k so a little extra shouldn't be too out of line.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 5:32 am**

Not bad. But howabout:

Essence Loss:0.65
Cyberware:RAS Override, Radio RecevierAutoinjector (ACTH), Autoinjector(Mao)

Essence Index:8.35

Bio Index:8.1

Bioware:
Adrenal Pump (2) [+2 QUickness, +4 strength, +2 Willpower and +4 reaction for 2d6 rounds)
Enhanced Articulation [+1 reaction]
Orthoskin (3) [+2 Impact/+1 ballistic]
Pain Editor
Suprathyroid Gland [+1 to all physical attributes and reaction]
Synaptic Accelerator (2) [+2d6 initiative]
Thermosense Organs

Now then, when the doggies sniff something or theguards sense something (maybe the security rigger), they use the radio to hit the dogs iwth ACTH, activating the adrenal glands and turnign them into wee nasty buggers stronger than your average troll and immune to pain, with enough willpower to resist most spells. When all is done, the radio hits again, the doggies are hit with mao and the RAS override goes on. Doggies should be completely out of it, easy for pick-up.

The orthoskin give's em the ability to shrug off small arms fire and unarmed blows, the thermosense let's em get by invisibility and silence spells.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 6:07 am**

Hm. Why the RAS Override? Call me stupid, I don't see the reasoning behind that.

And yeah, I forgot how high Essence Indexes could go. Wicked.

I dunno, mix and match! Hell, keep those runners on their toes!

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 6:22 am**

RAS Override gives +8 modifiers to all their actions when activated. So they don't kill and eat the handlers. Kind of neural shut-off.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 11:46 am**

When I think of exploding rats, I am reminded of a scene in the game "Full Throttle" involving a mine field, a box of wind-up bunnies and Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyries".

As for making them better -- less cyber, more doggies, external armor. Area-Effect Cortex Bomb is about the only cyber you need. "Woof woof" *ping* bullet deflected by armor, *splat-boom* you killed one, *bite, bite, bite, boom, boom, boom* the rest got through your 8 actions per round and exploded on contact...

And, designed properly, the armor only needs minor repairs to be fitted onto the next dog, and they can be trained to bite at a specific height so when they explode it doesn't even damage the floors all that badly.

If you're going for a permanent system, then the exotics are worth the extra small initial investment, since they should, in theory, last longer and be more effective.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 8:29 pm**

Now I'm trying to think of other exotic kills people have used in the various cyberpunk books.

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 11:20 pm**

Three words:

Cyber Mutant Bear

Posted: **Tue Jul 01, 2003 11:36 pm**

Ah yes, how could I forget Animal Lover by Donaldson...

That book's got scary animal killers in it. Granted the cyborg's got an energy weapon.

Posted: **Wed Jul 02, 2003 12:55 am**

SS:: Nah...they die too easily, esp in Caz's games. *runs and hides*

Posted: **Wed Jul 02, 2003 4:04 pm**

There is an evil about you Cash.

Well actually, I think you're about 75% evil, 25% tiny.

Posted: **Wed Jul 02, 2003 8:11 pm**

I think the worst thing I ever put in a game was a mutated Kodiak that the players were smart to avoid.

Posted: **Thu Jul 03, 2003 8:08 am**

Here's evil. Wired reflexes-3 on hamsters conditioned to go for the eyes and/or genitals. With cortex bombs.

I mean, yeah, those bombs are gonna be really small because they're hamsters (maybe even the cute little golden hamsters), but even a half-pint-sized bomb to the gonads is gonna knock the biggest troll down.

"Go for the eyes, my minions, go for the eyes! AUGH!" So sayeth the crazed security rigger over the loudspeakers.

Posted: **Thu Jul 03, 2003 9:42 am**

Cazmonster wrote:There is an evil about you Cash.

Well actually, I think you're about 75% evil, 25% tiny.

*flexes*

I'm just making up for Adam and I feelling really bad about killing your mutant bear.

Posted: **Thu Jul 03, 2003 4:16 pm**

Don't feel bad, it was just a surprise that the bear didn't take a hunk out of any of you.

Posted: **Thu Jul 03, 2003 4:18 pm**

Is this AFMBE or Shadowrun we're talking about now?

Posted: **Thu Jul 03, 2003 4:27 pm**

AFMBE.

Posted: **Fri Jul 04, 2003 7:01 am**

Not bad on the cyber-doggies. You just need to add digestive expansion bioware so they won't get a tummy ache when they chew up the heavily-cybered runners.

Posted: **Mon Sep 29, 2003 1:43 am**

This is something I came up with way back when I was playing with cybered rabid-hounds. Enjoy.

I ussualy had it installed along with a high-grade "Happy Happy Puppy" Personafix via the cluster option. Say the emergency-command and Foamy goes catatonic.

User Detainment Program
Ussualy programmed into a dedicated chipjack, the UDP is a specialized BTL program that activates the RAS Overide, and feeds the subject "null" information on all sensory channels. Effectly the subject is paralized (+8 to all actions due to RAS Overide), and in total sensory deprivation.
If installed in a dedicated jack, the program's RAS Overide can be enchanced to truely paralize the subject, and it can be radio-activated.

Bulldrek v3.0

[SR3] Cyberdogs. So did I get the most out of them yet?

[SR3] Cyberdogs. So did I get the most out of them yet?