[Reaver]

Remember, Shadowrun doesn't do the whole hit-location thing really. A piece of armor that has armored legs added to them raises your armor in general, not only when your legs are targeted.

You don't need to explain this to me
I know that
(I've known this for appr. 15 Years )
And I appreciate these rules I even endorse/advocate it to New SR Players
But (But ! ) I estimate that a lot of (new) Players
expect an appropriate Ingame secondary effect from a CALLED SHOT .
If there is an exact location (Ear,Foot,Hand) that you can shoot at and hit, then there is( or should be) an exact collateral Damage

HokaHey
Medicineman

I get your point, but there's a certain "that way lies madness" element to things, where if the called shot can destroy a qi focus then players simply have their qi foci in places that called shots don't target, rather than in places appropriate to the character.

"You want be to tattoo what, where?"

[SMDVogrin]

Oooh, I just got a evil-GM image of a Qi-Focus equivilant of a Cortex bomb (yes, I'd have to make up the focus) being tattooed onto internal organs during surgery...

[psycho835]

Oooh, I just got a evil-GM image of a Qi-Focus equivilant of a Cortex bomb (yes, I'd have to make up the focus) being tattooed onto internal organs during surgery...

...Is that even physically possible...?

[martinchaen]

I'd say that in real life that would depend on the method used, but unlikely.

In Shadowrun, nanotattos and all kinds of crazy shit is reality, so why the hell not.

[psycho835]

I'd say that in real life that would depend on the method used, but unlikely.

In Shadowrun, nanotattos and all kinds of crazy shit is reality, so why the hell not.

I don't know, wouldn't nanotats have too high resistance threshold to make this worth the effort? Cortex bombs and auto-injectors w/ nasty toxins sound more efficient.

[martinchaen]

psycho835
The question was "Is "[tattooing something] onto internal organs during surgery" even possible?" We're pretty far out of "cost effective" territory here, don't'cha think?

[psycho835]

Right, sorry. Got a little carried away.

Oh, and, umm, "psycho" will suffice.

[Sendaz]

Plus you gotta figure a qi-style tattoo wont show up on most MADscans or similar and not so easy to 'defuse' by purely technical means.

The only downside I could see for the Tattoo bomb is what about Background Count? 

High BGC could deactivate this, so I suppose a former Triad member on the run could hole up in a high BGC region to extend his lifespan.

[Reaver]

Tattoo Focuses have been around for a while (lore wise, the Ink masters of the Triads gave them out). But we never had rules for personal tattoo foci..


You are right that a MAD scanner would be worthless.... but it could be worthless on a lot of other foci too.... my Power Foci is actually a wooden Celtic cross carved from English White Oak... no metal to set of off a MAD there

And just like any other magic, a high back ground count does affect it

(which is one of the reasons going after a Toxic in his domain is near suicide! The background count fries your own magical support while his is at full strength, if not augmented!)

As for law enforcement... well, the only way they could control something like this would be to disenchant it.... which means kiss that Foci, cash and karma good-bye

The other options are.... a little less forgiving.

[SMDVogrin]

Oooh, I just got a evil-GM image of a Qi-Focus equivilant of a Cortex bomb (yes, I'd have to make up the focus) being tattooed onto internal organs during surgery...

...Is that even physically possible...?

Eh, they ought to be able to at least etch something onto a bone...   I recall a bone actually being turned into a focus (or, rather, a spell lock, at the time) back in Harlequin.

And yes, I figure something of that nature being used as a nearly-completely undetectable kill/pain-switch - perhaps as part of a brainwashing/conditioning program that the evil conspiracy uses on it's secret assassins....

[Sendaz]

Eh, they ought to be able to at least etch something onto a bone...   I recall a bone actually being turned into a focus (or, rather, a spell lock, at the time) back in Harlequin.

Jane Foster has a spell lock woven into her right thigh bone (pg 121 Harlequin) so yeah there are some fun ways to do it.

[psycho835]

Eh, they ought to be able to at least etch something onto a bone...   I recall a bone actually being turned into a focus (or, rather, a spell lock, at the time) back in Harlequin.

Jane Foster has a spell lock woven into her right thigh bone (pg 121 Harlequin) so yeah there are some fun ways to do it.

Had. Then it blew up when Ehran and Harlequin threw down, using it as a two-way ritual link. Which begs for the question, what the hell was Ehran thinking?!

Back on the topic - yeah the bone focus does sound pretty good. A question though - if a focus is inside the body (and thus, it's aura is inside another) would it make sense to give it a degree of astral camo? You know, making it more difficult to find and examine in astral?

[Reaver]

Given how in 5th edition 2 astral bodies can't overlap, would the focus even work.

[Sendaz]

Given that your aura already covers foci worn on the surface and you bond the foci to your aura via Karma spent, I would say it would operate on the inside as easy as on the outside.

The question of how well it would be masked by the main body aura is a good question, but I think it would still be detectable/targetable though there should be some modifiers applied in such a case.  Spells targeting the foci would still synch up, otherwise you risk unbalancing the game with 'untouchable' foci.