 Cyberzombie |
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 Nov 22 2005, 02:01 PM
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#1
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 600 Joined: 31-August 05 Member No.: 7,659  |
How do I go about creating one? How much free will do they have? Could I turn myself into one?
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Nov 22 2005, 02:31 PM
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#2
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Mystery Archaeologist Group: Members Posts: 2,906 Joined: 19-September 05 From: The apple tree Member No.: 7,760 |
Look in Cybertechnology or Man and Machine (no good for SR4 but hey)
As They are perfectly free willed. However they need regular dosing with specific chemicals to keep them alive(well to stop them becoming a walking cancer) and I doubt your kind benefactors who fitted all that ware into you then called your spirit back from the edge won't have fitted you with some form of persuasion. So free willed in a sense. Could you turn your self into one? Yep(well with some help its not not a spontaneous process) but the real question is why would you want to? |
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Nov 22 2005, 02:38 PM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 944 Joined: 19-February 03 Member No.: 4,128 |
Man and Machine will give you official answers to most of what you need.
Unofficially, if you are the GM, just throw together an ugly and unbalanced set of cyberware, and call it a cyberzombie. 8 essence of deltaware is a good starting point. If you are a player, your character will probably never have the money or access to make yourself one Some notes: CZs are EXPENSIVE! They take high level and specialized medical knowlege and magical knowlege. There are probably only a few dozen places worldwide that can do the procedure. When you hit zero essence, your spirit tries to leave. With cybermancy, you bind the spirit to the corpse. A CZ is constantly trying to die, but the spells just won't let him. I think the biggest reason to make a CZ is to show people that you can. They really aren't cost effective, IMO. I can take the price tag of a CZ, dole it out in 1 mill increments to a team of cyber-enhanced agents, and take that undead tincan out several times over. |
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Nov 22 2005, 04:00 PM
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#4
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
CZ are the extra chrome, diamond studded, platinum inlaid version of the Segway. Trendy and nifty cubed, costs an unnamed price, but doesn't get you a lot more than walking, jogging and occationally catching the bus. :)
They also have other byproducts of their creation process. CZ are dual natured but with no way to see on the astral. Not that they'd see much anyway if they could because they leave a trail of corrupted astral behind them (called "astral hazing"). Oh, and the two groups known/rumoured in canon to be the actual cybermancers are 1) an über (with balls) cabal of vampires 2) Aztec blood mages Any corp creating a CZ had been subcontracting these folks. As of 2070? Well normally secretive cabals are not know to subscribe to a opensource philosophy, so it might still be quite limited knowledge. P.S. If you went all deltaware how much cyber/bio (that wasn't redundant) would be left out from BBB at 6 essense? |
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Nov 22 2005, 04:03 PM
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#5
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Quite a bit, once you chuck MbW4 into the mix. ;) |
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Nov 22 2005, 04:16 PM
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#6
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
I mean SR4, with the essense friendly bioware options and the 50% rule. |
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Nov 22 2005, 04:39 PM
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#7
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Cyberzonbies can see the Astral plane just like any other dual natured being. They simply can't see it well. However, 1 point of Aura Reading is more than enough to fully open their eyes. |
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Nov 22 2005, 04:45 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 164 Joined: 22-November 05 From: Omaha, western UCAS Member No.: 7,993 |
blakkie makes a good point- the level of deltaware/bioware in a cyberzombie in 2070 would start to be ruled by the actual physical volume of his body.
Takes me back to one of the last SR3 runs I did... the runners had to bring back an experimental MBW[4] system(with or without the CZ it was attached to) that somebody was testing... think it was MCT. In any case, I ended up inventing new cyberweapons for the dude... he had a double-length articulated spur that basically turned his deltagrade cyberarm into a spear-length weapon. Moved so fast he managed to escape the characters by running through a series of chainlink fences, just hacking through the monowire with this thing. Only thing that killed him was my house rule about obvious cyberlimbs/torsos and large amounts of electricity... thunderbolt+shockglove+freakin' ginormous troll. Moral is, don't try to attack anyone that the ghouls won't feed on. |
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Nov 22 2005, 04:49 PM
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#9
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Are there rules for Cyberzombies in SR4 yet? I didn't notice any.
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Nov 22 2005, 04:51 PM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 164 Joined: 22-November 05 From: Omaha, western UCAS Member No.: 7,993 |
Nope, though conversion couldn't be too difficult.
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Nov 22 2005, 04:57 PM
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#11
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
True, but I'm far too lazy to do that. :biggrin: |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:07 PM
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#12
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,651 Joined: 23-September 05 From: Marietta, GA Member No.: 7,773 |
My memory tells me that they did not have access to astral space, despite being astrally active. Likely since they're kept "alive" by spellwork. I believe Blakkie is correct. |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:08 PM
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#13
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
They're dual-natured. They can see astrally, but they can't make anything out of it unless they take the Aura Reading skill. |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:12 PM
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#14
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,651 Joined: 23-September 05 From: Marietta, GA Member No.: 7,773 |
Right on.
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Nov 22 2005, 05:15 PM
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#15
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
Hmmm, i didn't think the could. I'll have to go back and check that. I do know they are all the time dual like a ghoul (and all the FAB danger and such that brings). ... ah yes, there it is. They can see on the astral but they have trouble comprehending. I suppose so you could argue that that is just fluff talk for many CZs not having Aura Reading (Assensing). But there is another drawback that the vibrant images of the astral might lead to getting "lost in the details". Fluff text only though, no mechanics given...you'd have to translate to Perception checks....which would make an Aura Reading 1 a Bad™ thing. Also they have to look out through the haze. If they stand in one spot too long, without an awakened helper cleaning up the astral, they can build a serious BC. Some of the grosser CZs can bring it up to Warp territory. I guess i just read that all and filed it under "CZs have little business looking around the Astral" that eventually got perverted. :) |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:19 PM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 297 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 248 |
For SR3 we have it on p.52 MM, Drawbacks To Cybermancy and on p.57 MM, Dual Nature.
They are Dual Natured and can see the astral, but need Aura Reading to comprehend what they are perceiving. Page 57 is the ruling to the fluff on page 52. |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:20 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 203 Joined: 18-November 05 Member No.: 7,978 |
Cyberzombies can be truly terrifying. They are used only at the very blackest darkest hearts of the corporations, and they generally are not sent out solo. Too much risk.
They are fantastically expensive and not suitable for large amounts of work. They are specialized killing machines. They are primarily used to "erase" things. I argue that there is very little that can take down a team of cyberzombies. That is why corps pay the premium. That and the fact that they don't have to choose between the mil street sams and the likely 50-100 mil (at least?) cyberzombies. They can have both. One for the most extreme needs. The others are more general operatives. Just think, executives at a corporation make multi million dollars a year now. A megacorp pushes multi trillion yen profits on a quarterly basis I believe. I will have to look at the Corporate Shadowfiles book. Good info there. Kind of scary. They actually had a real life corporate pirate as an advisor on the book. Oh yeah, the corps also do it to compensate. I see your dragon and raise you a team of hot metal death!!! |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:21 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 355 Joined: 3-October 05 From: Ann Arbor, MI Member No.: 7,803 |
Oh Holy Shit. That makes CZ's the premiere Spirit Fighters. Think about it! A Cyberzombie can use all of those nifty cyber-close combat weapons on that spirit you just summoned, and he can win.
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Nov 22 2005, 05:22 PM
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#19
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,651 Joined: 23-September 05 From: Marietta, GA Member No.: 7,773 |
I also recall something in the flavor text about the cybermancy process potentially involving blood magic and the sacrifice of someone close to the zombie-to-be. |
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Nov 22 2005, 05:56 PM
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#20
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
Hehe, just wait till the rules for Background Count. If a lesser spirit comes to a CZ that built up a BC the spirit'll have a tough time just touching him. @ Darkness - Ok, so Aura Reading becomes the Perception roll. Yup, Aura Reading (1) would be soooo bad. ;) That's SR4 ready though (anyone that can astrally preceive can take Assensing). So would the CZ be aspected to the BC? If not he's going to be constantly fighting to see through the haze unless moving [forward]. |
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Nov 22 2005, 06:35 PM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 600 Joined: 31-August 05 Member No.: 7,659 |
To have +4 on nearly all my physical attributes, get 4 init passes, have all the bio/cyberware I can stuff inside myself, and all the neat other things like internal air tanks, grappling guns, and assault rifle arms... In short - unmatchable power! I've never read CZ rules in SR4. At once point I had enough money to do it but the character didn't have the right background. Now I do have the right background. |
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Nov 22 2005, 06:39 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 355 Joined: 3-October 05 From: Ann Arbor, MI Member No.: 7,803 |
You're wrong. Dead wrong. YOU have no power. Your OWNERS do. You're a dead man walking - quite literally - and you have no life. You cannot interact with human beings. You cannot interact with virtually any sentient species, be they spirit, shapechanger, of whatever. You are a puppet, made of flesh and steel, and the men that made you are your puppetmasters. You dance when they tell you to dance, kill when they tell you to kill, and if you refuse, they override you with a Persona-Fix Chip. If you constantly refuse, and become a thorn, then they blow your head up with the 18 deltaware cranial bombs they implanted into your shining Cyberskull. Dance, puppet. Dance. |
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Nov 22 2005, 06:56 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 399 Joined: 27-May 04 Member No.: 6,361 |
Sad, but true. Cyberzombie independance is generally measured in seconds or minutes. Without all that upkeep, you die (finally) very, very fast. You are not Robocop; you are a metal-meat puppet who might sometimes have a glimmer of self-awareness.
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Nov 22 2005, 07:05 PM
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#24
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
Good thing cranial bombs cost no Essence. |
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Nov 22 2005, 07:06 PM
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#25
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 141 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Austin, TX CAS Member No.: 1,097 |
You can interact with people. You just happen to get lost in the moment, hence the Invoked Memory Stimulator to snap you out of it.
You are not a mindless brute. Burnout (a Aztechnology CZ) quite often felt remorse for his previous life when he was once a skilled spellslinger (hence the name Burnout). He was also a pretty curious. Also, when the spirit Lethe possessed him they had some pretty funny conversations (which got even better when Burnout took a bad hit and his personality reverted back to when he was a 9 year old kid named Billy). |
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