[mjack]

A player of my group recently asked me if it might be possible to convert the Boosted Reflexes augmentation from SR4 to SR5 and introduce it to MyGame™. As I am a fan of this augmentation myself and heavily used it for my characters back when SR3 was topical I stupidly agreed. As far as I know it had not been officially converted yet and as it was introduced to SR4 with one if not the last publication for 4th edition it might take some years or might never happen for 5th.

When "The Way Of The Samurai" was released I was pretty happy to read about Boosted Reflexes again and I of course considered it for my last player character in SR4. Back then I did not care too much about the conversion from SR3 to SR4, pricing, effectiveness and such. But now, I spend several hours thinking about and calculating shitloads of factors and contingencies to make this converted augmentation fair and attractive.

It would be great if a few of you guys can give me some feedback. Here is what I considered and finally came up with:


First of all, this is just for MyGame™ and I unfortunately like this augmentation which both might be a drawback when trying to flesh out a good conversion.

In SR3 Boosted Reflexes primarily provided additional Initiative dice and secondarily a modifier for Reaction (since SR4 known as Initiative). The SR4 conversion was inverted and only provided a maximum of one additional Initiative Pass (SR3 and SR5 again treat this as dice) but higher Initiative modifier. I experimented with both variants for a SR5 conversion, currently favoring Variant 1 (see below).

Boosted Reflexes are described as a less invasive electro-chemical treatment which is not compatible with Wired Reflexes, Move-by-wire, Synaptic Booster and Control Rig (SR3), but fully compatible with Reaction Enhancers. Biggest restriction in SR3 was this augmentation being permanent, means you could not remove or replace it. We allowed "upgrading" it in our game then, but this short sentence alone made us waste a lot of time discussing about how it is meant to be handled. The description in "The Way Of The Samurai" reveals Boosted Reflexes to be "a holdover from an earlier generation of augmentation" which now is outpaced by modern technology. All this should somehow be reflected in the augmentation's values and restrictions.

• Boosted Reflexes are not a permanent treatment. As with all augmentations in SR5 it should be easy to replace, remove or upgrade
• An electro-chemical treatment with no invasive electronics does not sound as if reuse is possible. Thus, Boosted Reflexes are not available in Used grade.
• For sure chemicals in SR5 can be wireless But Boosted Reflexes are meant to be a throwback augmentation with absolutely no wireless capabilities.
• Boosted Reflexes are compatible with Reaction Enhancers up to an Initiative modifier of +4. Only applies to Variant 1 (see below).
• This augmentation is not compatible with Wired Reflexes, Move-by-wire, Synaptic Booster and Control Rig.
• The SR4 conversion lists Boosted Reflexes Rating 1 with a very high Essence loss (3x Reaction Enhancers). The +1 Initiative has more importance in SR5 now (Base Defense), but this value is still indefensible. This does not apply to Variant 2 (see below).
• A comparatively higher Essence loss might come from being older technology which is not actively developed/optimized anymore. Nevertheless, implant surgery was refined and there should be a fillip to give Rating 1 a try.
• The SR4 conversion lists Boosted Reflexes Rating 1 with Cost higher than Reaction enhancers or even Wire Reflexes (SR4). This again makes it unattractive to use.
• Higher costs might come from a lack of (mass) production since this augmentation became less popular. Docs and Clinics prepare the chemicals for this treatment on demand and players have to additionally pay for the production/laboratory time.
• High Availability reflects the facility of treatment and the easy provisioning of required chemical components.

VARIANT 1

Rating    Essence    Avail.    Modifier    Cost
1         0.4        3R        +1           8000
2         1.8        3R        +2+1D6       42000
3         2.4        3R        +3+1D6       66000

* Incompatible w/ Wired Reflexes, Move-by-wire, Synaptic Booster and Control Rig
* Compatible w/ Reaction Enhancers (up to +4 Initiative)
* Not available in Used grade

VARIANT 2

Rating    Essence    Avail.    Modifier    Cost
1         1.2        3R        +1D6        26000
2         1.8        3R        +1+1D6      32000
3         2.4        3R        +2+2D6      78000

* Incompatible w/ Reaction Enhancers, Wired Reflexes, Move-by-wire, Synaptic Booster and Control Rig
* Not available in Used grade

Feedback is very appreciated, because I raised my player's expectations and now running out of time for a decision. Thanks for your time reading.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

I don't recally Boosted Reflexes being compatable with Reflex Enhancers in SR3, actually.  I thought it was compatable with the bioware 'synaptic booster', the theory being that synaptic booster widened the signal path, while boosted reflexes improved the point-to-point signal capacity; both of them worked on the flesh, while Wired Reflexes got to work with Reflex Enhancers.

My recommendation is to keep the synergy between the biological-plus-chem-based Boosted Reflexes and Synaptic Booster; leave the Reflex Enhancement + Wired Reflexes to the cyberbunnies.

Other than that, though, I would keep with v.1.  The story would be that Boosted Reflexes fell out of favor when combat drugs got so cheap; all you had to do was carry a popper, shoot up as you were going into it, and bam bam bam, kill people.  It doesn't make BR any less effective, but its primary target - gangers and other low-end bargain-budget pseudo-samurai - have mainly gone with standard combat drugs, risking the addiction factor instead of spending more and getting something reliable.

[mjack]

Thanks for your feedback! 

I don't recally Boosted Reflexes being compatable with Reflex Enhancers in SR3, actually.  I thought it was compatable with the bioware 'synaptic booster', the theory being that synaptic booster widened the signal path, while boosted reflexes improved the point-to-point signal capacity; both of them worked on the flesh, while Wired Reflexes got to work with Reflex Enhancers.

Can a character have both a synaptic accelerator and boosted reflexes and gain the bonuses from both? What about a synaptic accelerator and reaction enhancers?
Yes to both.

Source: SR3 FAQ
We were both right. Augmentation compatibility was more flexible in 3rd edition, but this already changed in 4th. By now all reflex enhancers are incompatible with each other and I do not think it is a good idea to make Boosted Reflexes an exception here in 5th edition. It would then get possible to gain up to +1(5)D6 for an Initiative roll already at character generation with Synaptic Booster 2 and Boosted Reflexes 2 with less Essence loss than Wire Reflexes 2.

My recommendation is to keep the synergy between the biological-plus-chem-based Boosted Reflexes and Synaptic Booster; leave the Reflex Enhancement + Wired Reflexes to the cyberbunnies.

This is not a bad consideration, but as said above it might get quite unbalancing if Boosted Reflexes provide a bonus die for the Initiative roll. Providing only an Initiative modifier to balance it would make this augmentation much more different from what it was than I want. I rather see them being compatible with Reaction Enhancers making them a bit like the Adept Power combination of Improved Reflexes with Combat Sense and Danger Sense.

Other than that, though, I would keep with v.1.  The story would be that Boosted Reflexes fell out of favor when combat drugs got so cheap; all you had to do was carry a popper, shoot up as you were going into it, and bam bam bam, kill people.  It doesn't make BR any less effective, but its primary target - gangers and other low-end bargain-budget pseudo-samurai - have mainly gone with standard combat drugs, risking the addiction factor instead of spending more and getting something reliable.

A very nice addition to the story of Boosted Reflexes. Combat drugs is something I overlook everytime, because my players and me make not much use of them. Memo to myself: Boost more NPC gangers with drugs to tease players!

I was lucky to get the chance to talk to another gamemaster in person today. Actually I was repeating all the considerations I already made yesterday, but an intensive exchange of views with live feedback on all ideas is always nice to have … After all we were back at Variant 1. But we agreed on raising Availability to reflect Boosted Reflexes becoming rare on the market and - at least for OurGame™ - we will give it a try to introduce them without a limitation for the Initiative modifier in combination with Reaction Enhancers. This might end up in terrible Defense pools, but hopefully one or two players are then motivated to pick this augmentation to get some play-testing. Here is what we got so far:

Boosted Reflexes
Boosted Reflexes are an electro-chemical treatment designed to increase reaction times without implanting invasive electronics. They are an holdover from an earlier generation of augmentation which were made largely obsolete by advances in biotechnology and the availability of cheap combat drugs in the streets. Nowadays this augmentation is not mass-produced anymore, but if one can find a Doc or Clinic still managing the treatment the chemical components are easily available and Boosted Reflexes can be prepared on demand. They are not compatible with Wired Reflexes, Synaptic Boosters, Move-by-wire systems and Control Rigs, but can be effectively combined with Reaction Enhancers. A reuse for another host is not possible, thus Boosted Reflexes are not available in Used grade.

Rating    Essence    Avail.    Modifier    Cost
1         0.4        6R        +1          8000
2         1.8        10R       +2+1D6      42000
3         2.4        14R       +3+1D6      66000