Shadowrun Earware
Earware
Like eyeware, earware can be installed within a complete cyberear replacement (costing Capacity) or as an inner ear modification (costing Essence). Upgrades usually involve both ears, so the user’s hearing is not unbalanced.
- Cyberears: These implants usually just replace the inner ear(though sometimes the auricle as well, if the user desires), and offer perfect hearing within normal ranges. They include a sound link and an ear recording unit (at no extra cost), as well as capacity for various enhancement systems.
- Audio Enhancement: An implanted version of audio enhancement. Audio enhancement allows the user to receive a broader spectrum of audio frequencies (including those outside the user’s normal audible spectrum, like high and low frequencies) while experiencing finer discrimination of nuances and blocking out distracting background noise. Audio enhancement adds its Rating as a positive modifier to the user’s Listening Perception: Search Tests.
- Balance Augmenter: The balance augmenter enhances the inner ear’s natural balance mechanism. The user receives one bonus die on all tests involving balance, such as climbing, walking across a narrow platform, landing after a jump, and so on.
- Damper: This implant protects the user from sudden increases in sound as well as damaging sound levels. The damper adds a +2D modifier to resisting sonic attacks.
- Ear Recording Unit: The ear recording unit connects to the user’s auditory nerves and records all data directly into unlimited data storage that can be accessed by the user’s PAN. To prevent data theft, the user can also opt to make this storage only accessible by special means (datajack, etc.).
- Select Sound Filter: An implanted version of the select sound filter audio enhancement. This filter allows the user to block out background noise and focus on specific sounds or patterns of sounds (including sound, word, or speech pattern recognition). Each rating point allows the user to select a single sound group (such as a conversation or the breathing of a guard dog) and focus on it. The user can only actively listen to one group at a time, but she may choose to record the others for later playback or set them to triggered monitoring (such as sounding an alert if there is a variation in the breathing pattern of the dog, or if the conversation brings up a certain topic).
- Sound Link: The sound link plays audio (recordings, movie soundtracks, music, etc. ) from linked sources (PAN, datajack, etc.) directly into the user’s (cyber)ears. Commonly used for AR sound.
- Spatial Recognizer: An implanted version of the spatial recognizer enhancement. This accessory pinpoints the direction from which a sound is coming. The user receives a bonus of +2D modifier on all Perception: Search Tests to find the source of a specific sound.
| Earware | Essence | Capacity | Availability | Cost |
| Cyberears | ||||
| Rating 1 | 0.2 | 4 | - | 500 |
| Rating 2 | 0.3 | 8 | 1 | 750 |
| Rating 3 | 0.4 | 12 | 1 | 1,000 |
| Rating 4 | 0.5 | 16 | 2 | 1,500 |
| Audio Enhancement (Rating 1–3) | 0.1 | [Rating] | [Rating] | Rating x 1,500 |
| Balance Augmenter | 0.1 | [4] | 2 | 5,000 |
| Damper | 0.1 | [1] | 1 | 750 |
| Ear Recording Unit | 0.1 | * | 1 | 500 |
| Select Sound Filter (Rating 1–6) | 0.1 | [Rating] | [Rating] | Rating x 1,000 |
| Sound Link | 0.1 | * | - | 250 |
| Spatial Recognizer | 0.1 | [2] | 2 | 750 |