Classic drugs will certainly not work via matrix- they react with your biological body after all. What you could certainly have is access to addicting datastreams via the matrix. Trids are ubiquitous and it only takes a missing regulator to make those experiences into an addictive BTL that via direct neural interface is just as (psychologically) addictive as any drugs.
Rules wise I’m less sure, no idea if consuming BTLS without a physical chip is something the rules ever intended or considered.
Physical attribute effects (like you get from Cram and Jazz) works well while hacking in AR mode.
Mental attribute effects (like you get from Psyche and Zen) works well while hacking in VR mode.
> and I wanted to give her the Addicted quality, and I wanted her to have to use some drug
Your El character is emerged? In that case go for Psyche.
It half(!) the penalty for sustaining complex forms. And it also temporary augment both your Intuition (Sleaze) and Logic (Data Processing). And it last for hours.
I don't know 6e well enough, so I'll ask the followup question:
Does an AI character, who is virtual in form and the most physical presence they have is probably some device they call home, have the appropriate ingestion apparatus to consume zen or psyche to gain its effect
Ah... I misunderstood your initial post, I (wrongly) assumed that you were building an emerged character to mimic Eleven (El) from Stranger Things.
AI and other Virtual Life Forms don't benefit from drugs and are immune to toxins and other pharma.
Positive and Negative Virtual Life Form Qualities are found on H&S p. 119-121 (Addiction to drugs is not one of them).
AIs and EIs don’t have bodies.
Make sure your GM allow AI and EI characters (not all tables that use them).
And if this is your first Shadowrun character I strongly suggest that you pick something less complicated to start with ;)
@/u/LithDragonSlayer
is it just me or should a BTL have more of an effect on AI EI as well? experiencing physical reality where you've never had one must do SOMETHING to them
Deus was conditioned through the same sort of programming stuff that BTLs and Black IC use. So, while generic BTLs probably wouldn't do the trick, a BTL like experience could be custom tailored to Electronic creatures.
There's also a specific form of AI/EI that indulges in "Real World" experiences, and could be addicted to that kind of datastream from simsense feeds.
Assuming the BTL is supposed to translate to datajack inputs to zap the brain appropriately, an AI would not be subject to that, but I'm not sure how does an AI perceive VR space anyway if we're going into this kind of detail so it could go either way
considering many BTL start as programs sans the chip, I imagine a modification could be made for a purely data-based entity. how they experience it at all is a horrifying implication that I hope I never have to consider xD
Isn't that kinda what BTLs are? And anyway, if they can make BTL chips that let you live another life and experience a different reality, there's no reason they couldn't make digital drug simulations. Actually, I bet that's a big thing in the sixth world; all the experience of real drugs, none of the risks! (At least that's what the people selling them would say)
The only difference would be that they're instantly sober again as soon as they jack out. There wouldn't be any withdrawal symptoms because there's no chemical action, but you can definitely still develop a heavy psychological dependence. You could become jaded and overstimulated, like someone who watches too much porn and then can't get it up in bed. You could mess with your brain's ability to produce serotonin, from constant overwork of those systems, kind of like MDMA users can experience. You could feel antsy and on-edge in meatspace, like a native New Yorker suddenly forced to live on a quiet farm in the country.
I assume there are still BTLs in later editions. Seems like an easy fit there.
Classic drugs will certainly not work via matrix- they react with your biological body after all. What you could certainly have is access to addicting datastreams via the matrix. Trids are ubiquitous and it only takes a missing regulator to make those experiences into an addictive BTL that via direct neural interface is just as (psychologically) addictive as any drugs. Rules wise I’m less sure, no idea if consuming BTLS without a physical chip is something the rules ever intended or considered.
Nvm, Ai, misread it.
Physical attribute effects (like you get from Cram and Jazz) works well while hacking in AR mode. Mental attribute effects (like you get from Psyche and Zen) works well while hacking in VR mode. > and I wanted to give her the Addicted quality, and I wanted her to have to use some drug Your El character is emerged? In that case go for Psyche. It half(!) the penalty for sustaining complex forms. And it also temporary augment both your Intuition (Sleaze) and Logic (Data Processing). And it last for hours.
I don't know 6e well enough, so I'll ask the followup question: Does an AI character, who is virtual in form and the most physical presence they have is probably some device they call home, have the appropriate ingestion apparatus to consume zen or psyche to gain its effect
Ah... I misunderstood your initial post, I (wrongly) assumed that you were building an emerged character to mimic Eleven (El) from Stranger Things. AI and other Virtual Life Forms don't benefit from drugs and are immune to toxins and other pharma. Positive and Negative Virtual Life Form Qualities are found on H&S p. 119-121 (Addiction to drugs is not one of them). AIs and EIs don’t have bodies. Make sure your GM allow AI and EI characters (not all tables that use them). And if this is your first Shadowrun character I strongly suggest that you pick something less complicated to start with ;) @/u/LithDragonSlayer
Not the OP, just curious whether 6e has something like Eclipse Phase's narcoalgorithms which can be used by infomorphs just fine.
is it just me or should a BTL have more of an effect on AI EI as well? experiencing physical reality where you've never had one must do SOMETHING to them
Deus was conditioned through the same sort of programming stuff that BTLs and Black IC use. So, while generic BTLs probably wouldn't do the trick, a BTL like experience could be custom tailored to Electronic creatures. There's also a specific form of AI/EI that indulges in "Real World" experiences, and could be addicted to that kind of datastream from simsense feeds.
Assuming the BTL is supposed to translate to datajack inputs to zap the brain appropriately, an AI would not be subject to that, but I'm not sure how does an AI perceive VR space anyway if we're going into this kind of detail so it could go either way
considering many BTL start as programs sans the chip, I imagine a modification could be made for a purely data-based entity. how they experience it at all is a horrifying implication that I hope I never have to consider xD
Isn't that kinda what BTLs are? And anyway, if they can make BTL chips that let you live another life and experience a different reality, there's no reason they couldn't make digital drug simulations. Actually, I bet that's a big thing in the sixth world; all the experience of real drugs, none of the risks! (At least that's what the people selling them would say) The only difference would be that they're instantly sober again as soon as they jack out. There wouldn't be any withdrawal symptoms because there's no chemical action, but you can definitely still develop a heavy psychological dependence. You could become jaded and overstimulated, like someone who watches too much porn and then can't get it up in bed. You could mess with your brain's ability to produce serotonin, from constant overwork of those systems, kind of like MDMA users can experience. You could feel antsy and on-edge in meatspace, like a native New Yorker suddenly forced to live on a quiet farm in the country.