Are Psi Hounds Allowed on the Furniture?

[Bill]

Do the Dog Packs get garrisoned inside Chi-Town? Or is there a kennel for them outside the fortress city?

[guardiandashi]

Do the Dog Packs get garrisoned inside Chi-Town? Or is there a kennel for them outside the fortress city?

they get quarters inside the city.

[Bill]

Thanks for the reply! Where did you find the answer?

[Tor]

If it wasn't mentioned anywhere, I'd just assume it would be easier since you'd want them in the city to help monitor for supernatural invaders.

Although Psi-Stalkers could do that, if you rely too much on them then you need a greater food supply which means bringing mages/supernaturals or at least other psychics there to feed on.

Course I bet the psi-hounds get cramped quarters.

[guardiandashi]

If it wasn't mentioned anywhere, I'd just assume it would be easier since you'd want them in the city to help monitor for supernatural invaders.

Although Psi-Stalkers could do that, if you rely too much on them then you need a greater food supply which means bringing mages/supernaturals or at least other psychics there to feed on.

Course I bet the psi-hounds get cramped quarters.

I remember reading in one of the books where it talked about upper levels, low levels, and the penalties for defying dog boys in the city (while the dog boys are on duty)
I just can't remember what book it was in.

and from what I remember the dog boys don't cramped quarters per say... but they aren't huge either, from what I remember the impression I got was that they were in quarters a lot like enlisted/noncoms are in the military today. With that said because of their cited "energy levels" I am not sure I would want to cram dog boys into tiny quarters where they don't have any way to exercise and burn off energy, I know how MY dog gets when she doesn't get enough exercise and gets tired of just sleeping. Its not pretty, and she is a fairly "mellow" working dog breed as a Siberian husky. but if she doesn't get a chance to exercise she starts getting into trouble digging and stuff to try to deal with her excess energy on her own.

[Killer Cyborg]

RUE 148 describes Dog Boys' quarters, although it doesn't say where the quarters are located.
I'd assume that they're in the same areas as other soldiers, which would often be inside a city.

[eliakon]

If it wasn't mentioned anywhere, I'd just assume it would be easier since you'd want them in the city to help monitor for supernatural invaders.

Although Psi-Stalkers could do that, if you rely too much on them then you need a greater food supply which means bringing mages/supernaturals or at least other psychics there to feed on.

Course I bet the psi-hounds get cramped quarters.

Or just feed the Psi-Stalkers with the Psi-Hounds......

[Bill]

I don't recall how much PPE a stalker needs, but a whole pack should be enough to keep one going between missions. Probably helps cement the bond between the stalker and his/her pack too.

[eliakon]

I don't recall how much PPE a stalker needs, but a whole pack should be enough to keep one going between missions. Probably helps cement the bond between the stalker and his/her pack too.

The pack that feeds (on each other) together, stays together.....
*shudders*

[Bill]

Hmm...50 PPE per week minimum. Feeding on a psychic (without killing them) inflicts 1D6 SDC and temporarily reduces their ISP by half. On the one hand, I doubt the CS brass would condone the practice because it could negatively impact the effectiveness of an individual Psi Hound. On the other, most of a Dog Boy's abilities don't cost any ISP anyway and I can definitely see the need to protect pack members that have sacrificed their power for the wellbeing of their alpha strengthening the bond that the pack feels. The brass might frown on that too though. A pack that gets too tightly bonded might be unwilling to split up when ordered to do so.

[guardiandashi]

RUE 148 describes Dog Boys' quarters, although it doesn't say where the quarters are located.
I'd assume that they're in the same areas as other soldiers, which would often be inside a city.

dog boys get" a roof over his head, access to military facilities, food, clothing, medical treatment, basic supplies and equipment and all other basic needs provided in exchange for loyalty

The dog boy's quarters is a nice dormitory arrangement shared by 8 mutants, divided into pairs. Each pair of roommates get a bedroom/study complete with cd stereo system, television and VCD, mini refrigerator, desk dresser and comfortable bed.

which makes me think of something like:

http://www.kean.edu/~reslife/residencehalls.html but effectively "doubled up" IE instead of 2 bedrooms there are 4 attached to a "common area"

of course each individual bedroom might look something like: http://www.gripitt.org/?page_id=250

the point is they aren't quartered "badly" and since food and housing is provided only getting ~200-300 cr /month for "personal possessions" isn't all that horrible I mean sure its going to take any individual dog boy a while to get anything but the "pack" can also go together to buy things they all want, like replacing the tv fred and sid smashed last week, (or buying an upgraded and better model) or buying "treat foods" that are not rations, etc.

[Svartalf]

I don't recall how much PPE a stalker needs, but a whole pack should be enough to keep one going between missions. Probably helps cement the bond between the stalker and his/her pack too.

given that the stalker has to terrify his prey in fear of its life to feed, they certainly don't feed on the psi hounds, that would be a recipe for mutiny or major desrtion.

[Shark_Force]

I don't recall how much PPE a stalker needs, but a whole pack should be enough to keep one going between missions. Probably helps cement the bond between the stalker and his/her pack too.

given that the stalker has to terrify his prey in fear of its life to feed, they certainly don't feed on the psi hounds, that would be a recipe for mutiny or major desrtion.

i don't recall anything about fear. they need to be restrained, they need to be bleeding (a superficial cut is fine), and that's about it from what i recall. certainly it's unpleasant, but it doesn't require that the psi-stalker make them fear for their life.

[Killer Cyborg]

I don't recall how much PPE a stalker needs, but a whole pack should be enough to keep one going between missions. Probably helps cement the bond between the stalker and his/her pack too.

given that the stalker has to terrify his prey in fear of its life to feed, they certainly don't feed on the psi hounds, that would be a recipe for mutiny or major desrtion.

i don't recall anything about fear. they need to be restrained, they need to be bleeding (a superficial cut is fine), and that's about it from what i recall. certainly it's unpleasant, but it doesn't require that the psi-stalker make them fear for their life.

Seconded.
Restrained and cut, that's it AFAIK.

[Bill]

I don't recall how much PPE a stalker needs, but a whole pack should be enough to keep one going between missions. Probably helps cement the bond between the stalker and his/her pack too.

given that the stalker has to terrify his prey in fear of its life to feed, they certainly don't feed on the psi hounds, that would be a recipe for mutiny or major desrtion.

i don't recall anything about fear. they need to be restrained, they need to be bleeding (a superficial cut is fine), and that's about it from what i recall. certainly it's unpleasant, but it doesn't require that the psi-stalker make them fear for their life.

Seconded.
Restrained and cut, that's it AFAIK.

The phrase used in RUE is "physically capture;" which could be as little as resting a hand on the target, in my opinion. Fear is not mentioned as a requirement, and probably wouldn't be an appropriate one to have simply because many supernatural beings can't experience that emotion. Cutting the target is required.

[Svartalf]

Damn... It's right, it's neither in the nourishment section nor in the fluff in RMB (and I assume not in RUE either), I don't know where I got that the victim had to be in fear of its life to "open up" for its PPE to become available for the stalker to feed on, maybe a house rule I was exposed to, or a conclusion form a discussion on this subject on these boards years ago.

[Shark_Force]

Damn... It's right, it's neither in the nourishment section nor in the fluff in RMB (and I assume not in RUE either), I don't know where I got that the victim had to be in fear of its life to "open up" for its PPE to become available for the stalker to feed on, maybe a house rule I was exposed to, or a conclusion form a discussion on this subject on these boards years ago.

FWIW, it sounds *remarkably* similar to the shadowrun essence drain power, which requires that the victim be feeling a strong emotion (the emotion varies depending on what is draining you of your essence... but fear is a fairly common one) and typically that you consume some portion of the victim (wendigos eat flesh, vampires drink blood, etc). perhaps your GM stole the idea from there?

[Svartalf]

Looks quite possible, though, as a major SR aficionado, it may be that I'm the one guilty of mixing up.

Back on subject, I still don't think that regular manhandling, cutting, and draining the dog soldiers would be good for discipline... my guess is that illegal psychics and wizards are often kept prisoners to serve as stalker fodder rather than summarily executed.

[eliakon]

Damn... It's right, it's neither in the nourishment section nor in the fluff in RMB (and I assume not in RUE either), I don't know where I got that the victim had to be in fear of its life to "open up" for its PPE to become available for the stalker to feed on, maybe a house rule I was exposed to, or a conclusion form a discussion on this subject on these boards years ago.

The Psi- Slayer has to either kill its victim or make them fear for its life.

[eliakon]

Looks quite possible, though, as a major SR aficionado, it may be that I'm the one guilty of mixing up.

Back on subject, I still don't think that regular manhandling, cutting, and draining the dog soldiers would be good for discipline... my guess is that illegal psychics and wizards are often kept prisoners to serve as stalker fodder rather than summarily executed.

Maybe this is what they do with all the 'born mages' (like mystics and fusionists) that are born to CS parents. Instead of just killing them off....they recruit them as 'feeders' for their psi-stalkers?

[Bill]

Back on subject, I still don't think that regular manhandling, cutting, and draining the dog soldiers would be good for discipline.

Manhandling and cutting are considered very good for "discipline" in some subcultures...

[Tor]

The pack that feeds (on each other) together, stays together.....*shudders*

Don't get me started on all the theories I have about what happens behind-the-scenes off-camera between some Stalkers and their Hounds. There's keeping up public images, and then there's what people do in their off-time and what people will overlook for the greater good when you need to think of more important issues.

I imagine Stalkers have trouble with the dating scene since they're not only psychics, but all vampirey-looking. They could date other Psi-Stalkers and understanding mundanes, but it still probably leads to a lot of loneliness and frustration.

Someone brought up Tank Girl in another thread. Her punk look reminds me of the Psi-Stalker in the RMB images. A dog boy doesn't look any more different than a kangaroo...the main diff is just that you can't be all flamboyant about it. No different than how interracial/homosexual relationships used to be closeted due to bigotry, still happened.

[Mack]

I imagine Stalkers have trouble with the dating scene since they're not only psychics, but all vampirey-looking.

There was a reference in RMB that all CS Psi-Stalkers looked completely human, but I don't know if that was continued/dropped in subsequent publications.

[Tor]

It would've clashed with the artwork by Kevin Long on 160 since that guy has pointy-looking teeth and ears, no hair, and the blackened eye sockets. Not to mention the one on page 160 alongside the operator (although in this case the ears look normal and round and the mouth is closed so can't see the teeth, so only a testimony for baldness and blackened eyes) Is it possible an earlier edition with such a disclaimer lacked one or both artwork?

I'm not sure if they described that in words under later though. RMB had that fun 'can be human, or a D-Bee, or a mutoid" text at the start too Plus they're also called "psi-hunters".

[eliakon]

It would've clashed with the artwork by Kevin Long on 160 since that guy has pointy-looking teeth and ears, no hair, and the blackened eye sockets. Not to mention the one on page 160 alongside the operator (although in this case the ears look normal and round and the mouth is closed so can't see the teeth, so only a testimony for baldness and blackened eyes) Is it possible an earlier edition with such a disclaimer lacked one or both artwork?

I'm not sure if they described that in words under later though. RMB had that fun 'can be human, or a D-Bee, or a mutoid" text at the start too Plus they're also called "psi-hunters".

Mascara and bald heads don't make you look inhuman. Like a punk sure, but not inhuman....

[Tor]

Considering that some of the D-bees (Elves/Dwarves/Ogres) are basically Star Trek in terms of almost-human humanoids, it's probably enough.

Since RMB did not specify anything so far as I can see, it's entirely possible they looked normal and that they merely have a tendency to
1) shave their heads
2) sharpen their teeth
3) paint their eye sockets black
4) sometimes paint their skull white and their lips black (page 160 does this, page 106 does not)

I can't see there being a tendency to get pointy-ear implants, but since Psi-Stalkers could be D-Bees in RMB, this guy could've just been an Elf-Psi-Stalker or something.