[Frostriese]

I agree it is silly, I think it was added as some kind of example of how the Corps try to keep employees working as long as they can and how they dehumanize people.

I understood from your description it just... doesnt work. Because, I mean, this would be such an obviously useful and beneficial technology...

...ah well. Time to integrate that in my setting then Who would be good producers of it? Oh, I know, Proteus has far too few products for a corp of its size :p

Also, I'm pretty disheartened by the amount of sexism in gaming in general. I like to play a mix of male & female PCs (when I'm not GMing), but in some groups it's just unbearable to play women, between the obnoxious roleplaying and the obnoxious stereotypical rules for things like menstruation, pregnancy, and such.

I must say, fortunately I havent encountered that much in playing here. But maybe Im just sheltered

[Bradd]

Luckily, it's not bad everywhere! I've also been in some really great groups, including my current one. I just hate it when people decide to make an issue out of sex or gender. While it might not be realistic to completely ignore them, I think most attempts to capture the real differences blow things way out of proportion, and pile on stereotypes. People vary a lot! I've had friends who were pretty much disabled for the last trimester of pregnancy, others who worked active jobs up until the last week or two.

But as for the bigger topic, I think player surprises are great. It's easy to react defensively, I know I often do! But ultimately I would rather turn it into a fun surprise than try to squash it. One of my least favorite things is when players come up with a neat idea that fizzles.

[FoxBoy]

You guys think you have it bad when some of those high jinks happen...

FoxBoy is based on my tabletop character, about the same in most regards except for the name. And in the table top, he's now settling down 'cause an another fox shifter (an npc) the gang rescued in our first mission ended up bearing his kits. I had enough warning though to build up a bit of cash, so now he's on family leave for the next few months in game. Considering how fast foxes grow up... the GM made the joke that everyone could pick a kit and play them as the next runner group, with adepts, shamans, mystic adepts aplenty.

And the guys thought that was a fun idea, even started pitching in with their current characters to help train their next characters.

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Ho boy.

[Nomad Zophiel]

As for magic and tech, I agree, but no amount of magic or tech short of a surrogate or or an artificial incubation womb is going to make a pregnancy a "zero deal let's just continue as before" experience at any lifestyle level much less a low lifestyle as defined in SR.

Mind, as its 2071, I kinda wonder where artifical uteri are. I mean, good god, at the upper end of the richness scale they have rejuvenation treatments that make one practically immortal! And yet nobody thought of such an obviously useful medical appliance like artficial uteri?

That could make for an interesting run in itself. Runner gets pregnant, gets the team to help her steal an artificial womb to tube her baby in. Then you have to find a street doc to hold it for you, one you can REALLY trust.

As to other previous comments that women outside the industrialized middle class can and do lead active, even dangerous lives while pregnant: Sure, and a desperate enough Shadowrunner can do it, too. Any character sheet modifications aside, though, it still won't be easy. Is the team ok with having a pregnant person along with them in a firefight and risking the baby? How about the Fixer who calls up the talent in the first place? How's Mr. J going to react to your maternity armor? I guess the flip side of that is that corp security will do its best to disable rather than kill a pregnant mother. All of these are generalizations, of course. There are surely plenty of people in the shadows who are callous enough to say "your baby, your risk". These are the kind of things that should be made clear in advance. Players have no way of knowing how Shadowrun society differs from their own except the books and the GM. Its only fair to fill them in on things their characters would know.

As a GM, though, I do not want to be the one to run the angst-ridden scene where momma gets shot up, calls Doc Wagon for resuscitation and finds out the baby didn't make it. Maybe Dumpshock can do a little three fold flyer called "so you're pregnant in the shadows" to let mothers to be know what to expect.

Once the baby is born, of course, the character has a new Dependant. So that's easy enough.