[Darkeus]

   I am gleaning for ideas here.  I am debating on where to take a current run and Dreamchipper seems to still be a relevant adventure.  Of course personafix technology is well known now and used but is it used alot in the Military or Espionage world?   The intent of the chips laid out in the adventure itself would still hold true.  I am just thinking the chips need to do something "else" that make them dangerous now.  In the adventure, they were prototypes of untested new technology.  In 2072, it is a known tech.

What is that something "else"?  

Does it need a something else?

Any suggestions fellow Runners?  How easy is it to convert Dreamchipper?

PS:  Oh yeah, converting Global Technologies Matrix map to 4th edition standards.  What would be the best way to tackle that hurdle.  I only mention it because it is the only damn one mapped out in the game! 

[Darkeus]

Really?  Nothing?   

[FastJack]

I'm away from my copy of Dreamchipper right now. Once I get to it this evening, I'll see what I can put together.

[Darkeus]

That would be appreciated Jack!  I am starting to get some ideas of my own but I would love to hear what others think.

[Flycatcher]

To be honest, my first instinct was to suggest methods of tweaking the established simsense timeline to fit your campaign needs, or possibly just making personafix a newer tech than is implied or shifting public awareness of the technology forward a few years, as our group has done for story purposes. One could argue that the personality and awareness overrides inherent to personafix make it more complex than other forms of BTLs, which always struck me as simple simsense programs with the addiction-damping protocols entirely stripped away.

I've come under the impression you want to stick as close to canon as possible though, and since I lack a copy of the adventure, I've kept quiet until now.

To answer a few of your questions though, I didn't see any recent canon reference made to personafix regarding the military. I did find passing reference made to personafix being used to attempt to cut down on training time for new cyborgs with child brains, with limited success (Augmentation, pg. 159) and multiple books talk about bunraku parlors and all their disturbing business, so the technology has seen some canon corporate as well as street usage. Doesn't look like anything strict or set in stone though, so it all feels like an open sandbox for some interesting (and possibly unsettling) plotlines. Much luck to you in converting the adventure however you choose to do so, it does sound like an interesting one.

[Darkeus]

Yeah, in the adventure, personafix tech is being developed for military purposes.  Now is Seattle 2072, they have some short write ups on the two companies involved in Dreamchipper.  Global was bought by Novatech and Hollywood kind of got taken over by the Mob and makes porn.

They also mention that Global is now working on personafix software that not only rewrites with skills but can enhance the users natural intuition and insight.  Now that seems like something to build on.  So what if these chips not only write a personality, they make natural attributes better.  So a talented killer with the Jack the Ripper chip becomes the ultimate assassin.

They just haven't got that whole "Mind and Machine" part quite synchronized yet.  That is why the chips are flawed in their current condition.

Hmmm.....

[The Cat]

Yeah, in the adventure, personafix tech is being developed for military purposes.  Now is Seattle 2072, they have some short write ups on the two companies involved in Dreamchipper.  Global was bought by Novatech and Hollywood kind of got taken over by the Mob and makes porn.

They also mention that Global is now working on personafix software that not only rewrites with skills but can enhance the users natural intuition and insight.  Now that seems like something to build on.  So what if these chips not only write a personality, they make natural attributes better.  So a talented killer with the Jack the Ripper chip becomes the ultimate assassin.

They just haven't got that whole "Mind and Machine" part quite synchronized yet.  That is why the chips are flawed in their current condition.

Hmmm.....

It's been a while since I ran Dreamchipper in any games (it's so based around the concept that once personafix became common enough that every brothel was using it it seemed a bit to much of a chore to rework it).  That said, you could stick fairly close to the original by changing the "big secret" to "and these chips were specifically modified with a subtle psychotropic reprogramming routine to permanently induce those who have used them to work for Corp-X or Government-X for espionage purposes" and make them a series of specifically ordered chips going to (in your world) famous and powerful NPCs.  It maintains the basic integrity of the module and minimizes the rewrite time.

[Nomad Zophiel]

If you want to make it scary and go beyond Personafix, try this -

Chipping a personality for undercover work was fine for the 50's. These days, though, it takes something more. Forget a few active skills at low levels, these days you need James Bond in a chip: skills, attributes and all. Works great for the mob, too. So the companies got together, pulled out the old Dreamchipper files and said "how do we take this to the next level"? What they came up with would chill a sane person's blood.

The new personafix has it all. Just slot it in and you become the person on the chip. Mental Attributes change, skills shift to match the chip with no maximum. Its a dream come true. . .almost. There are a few things about the new persona chips that the corps don't want to become public:
The new chips have nothing to do with personafix chips. Instead, they are a highly compressed artificial intelligence. Put the chip in a commlink and its nothing special. Slot it into someone's head or a a commlink running a BTL capable sim module and it unpacks itself. . .into the user's BRAIN. Certain key components stay on the chip but the user's spare brain processing capacity is used to do all of the heavy lifting. So far the initial tests show that the chips can simply be removed bu there just hasn't been time to study those pesky long term effects. What are the AI's goals? Can they eventually take over the users? Do they really have the parent company's interests at heart?

[Darkeus]

If you want to make it scary and go beyond Personafix, try this -

Chipping a personality for undercover work was fine for the 50's. These days, though, it takes something more. Forget a few active skills at low levels, these days you need James Bond in a chip: skills, attributes and all. Works great for the mob, too. So the companies got together, pulled out the old Dreamchipper files and said "how do we take this to the next level"? What they came up with would chill a sane person's blood.

The new personafix has it all. Just slot it in and you become the person on the chip. Mental Attributes change, skills shift to match the chip with no maximum. Its a dream come true. . .almost. There are a few things about the new persona chips that the corps don't want to become public:
The new chips have nothing to do with personafix chips. Instead, they are a highly compressed artificial intelligence. Put the chip in a commlink and its nothing special. Slot it into someone's head or a a commlink running a BTL capable sim module and it unpacks itself. . .into the user's BRAIN. Certain key components stay on the chip but the user's spare brain processing capacity is used to do all of the heavy lifting. So far the initial tests show that the chips can simply be removed bu there just hasn't been time to study those pesky long term effects. What are the AI's goals? Can they eventually take over the users? Do they really have the parent company's interests at heart?

Now this is going in a direction I am digging.  I was thinking of something on similar lines.  I was also thinking of experimentation on Technomancers somehow thrown in.  Your idea is interesting indeed.  These chips just don't make you someone else, they merge you with another persona.  An AI would be an interesting way to think about achieving that goal.

[Nomad Zophiel]

AI, Dissonant Free Sprites, alien pod people, whatever works for you. Come to think of it, the Inhabit (for the chip) and Posession (for the people) powers would fit just fine as either spirits or Sprites. They inhabit the chip and slotting it induces a brief BTL sequence which both counts as "ritually prepared" and does its best to override the user's Willpower before the spirit possesses him. Which might also mean someone is passing off magic (or technomagic) as technology. Maybe some of those Technomancers who are captured and experimented on have been turned into chip manufacturers, summoning Sprites and putting them in the chips. In that case, when the Services wear off, the personafix personality is replaced with the sprite's.

[Darkeus]

Hmm....   

[Crossbow]

The one thing I will add to this conversation is remember that Jack is still a "BossFight" and upgrade him as such.  When I ran 'Chipper in some of the later editions, he took a total rewrite to include bioware, probably do genetech now too.  Bleeding edge, batshit crazy sammy with a platinum card.

[Nomad Zophiel]

The one thing I will add to this conversation is remember that Jack is still a "BossFight" and upgrade him as such.  When I ran 'Chipper in some of the later editions, he took a total rewrite to include bioware, probably do genetech now too.  Bleeding edge, batshit crazy sammy with a platinum card.

If its a spirit possession then the extra attribute points and Immunity To Normal Weapons make a real good start. You could even make that work with the odd technoshamanic Sprite possession (note that this is totally bending the rules to begin with). Its easy to boost a body's attributes when you're not worried about it working for another 50 years.

[FastJack]

Sorry I didn't respond yesterday, got busy preparing for my game session today and just didn't have a chance to open my book. Looks like a lot of good ideas here.

The changes I'd make are the to the three runners you're going after. Do complete re-writes of them to bring them up to Equal/Superior status (SR4A, p. 285). Maybe change Val/Cleopatra to a technomancer, and (as Crossbow said) upgrade Jack to be a mean SOB. Upgrade the chips themselves, so that somehow, they alter Attributes as well: Cleo - Boost Charisma/Lower Logic; Khan - Boost Logic/Lower Willpower; Jack - Boost Intuition/Lower Charisma.

[Darkeus]

Yeah, I was thinking along the lines of either letting the chips add to existing skills, having them add to attributes, or letting them ignore skillwire requirements.

Or all three.  The chips are faulty and will not last past this missions.  No worries on PC's slotting them and we will see if my group has the morality to destroy the chips.

I forgot how good Dreamchipper is as an adventure.  I also forgot how legwork intensive it is.  There are what, two or three scenes where combat can happen and two of them are sure things?  Yeah, more of a brains type adventure.