[X] My Assistant

[Summerstorm]

Hm hm... Well i am sure many corporations are building something like that in SR. I like the idea. overall

But with the stats and such i would go a slightly different way:

Bio-roids:
These androids are build by using organic material. They do originate in the fusion of cultured and massively altered metahuman material. It is noteworthy that they are NOT just artificialy grown lifeforms with a changed DNA-code, but are assembled in full grown stage from different "modules".

They are adaptating to any and all cyber-, bio- and nanite- systems, but since there different systems use different sets of genetic material and regeneration-techniques can not take any genetek (and are imune to genetic diseases and). They are "clearly" living, but with a much lower force than a usual, natural being.

Stats:
Attributes
Bod: 3/8 (12)
Agi: 3/8 (12)
Rea: 3/8 (12)
Str: 3/8 (12)
Cha: 1/4 (6)
Int: 1/4 (6)
Log: 1/6 (9)
Wil: 1/5 ((IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

Edg: 1/4 (6)
Essence: 3.0 points at "birth"
- All Cyberware and Bioware implanted will count as deltaware for essence-calculations (but not for detectibility and damage resistance, etc)
- A Bio-Roid can not take any metagenetic or SURGE backgrounds.
- +2 Dice pool modifier against all pathogens/toxins and illnesses
- +4 Dice pool modifier to healing tests
- All Bio-Roids start with Uneducated and Uncouth flaws (which provide NO points)
- All Bio-Roids have an implanted comlink and datajack (No essence costs. The comlink is Neuro-linked and has usually high/military level determined by the gamemaster. Can be upgraded or switched out or deinstalled like normal)
- Amnesia 1
- Bio-Roids have the Astral Chameleon quality -2 dice to assense/notice (at no charge)
- Assensing or DNA screening reveals them as an "own species", with small traces of metahuman traits. Assensing also shows that Bio-Roids have very low lifeforce.

So that's how i would do it (in general... would need balancing). So yeah: Massive penalties to "awareness and social" skills and attributes. And because of their low "life" very low edge (unheard of) But making them tough, durable as well as having them have peak human performance (as with bio-genetic optimization and exceptional attribute). I would even think that the drawbacks might be worth even more. These should be the anti-thesis to vampires and other infected. Maybe have them have racial magic resistance, to slightly balance out their weak mental stats?

Ah well. Have to work on that too (Even though in my game the next big reveal are the "Perfect Men" of Aztechnology (They are massively genetically engineered - max all stats (but logic and charisma) and pumped up with bloodmagic to the extreme).

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Interesting Take... May need a bit more balancing, but not too bad... I like it...

[SpellBinder]

Would suggest taking out the Astral Chameleon flaw. Not only do you have to have the Adept, Mystic Adept, or Magician quality to take it, it really only applies to astral signatures (stuff left behind by spellcasting and the like) and not auras.

Not a bad idea with what you're trying to do for bio-roids, making their auras harder to read, but would be best to try to make this ability something else.

[Hound]

Nah, I meant this one, but that's still a step away from creating life from the ground up, now that I reread it.

is it just me, or is there an ad on that page advertising a monthly special on high-quality rabbit antibodies? Wtf?


Also, to the main convo, sorry if this was mentioned, but isn't it impossible to have two people who look different but have identical DNA?

[SpellBinder]

You'd think that, but no. Ten years ago a house cat was cloned. The original was a brown tabby, but the clone was a brown and white tabby (source). I's called Epigenetics.

[TheOOB]

I like the feedback so far, unfortunately I don't have a great deal of time to provide a great deal more information. I'll admit the original post was written rather quickly late at night. When i get home I'll have more notes.

The several people who are mentioning bio-drones and AI's and such are missing the point. These are supposed to be something that by all rights shouldn't exist, a living, breathing, thinking being that is artificially created. Whoever created them either had tech, or magic(or both), that is a good deal beyond that which is currently believed to be available. Part of the reason these could be interesting characters to play is the existential issues that would exist for them. Who am I, who made me, am less of a person(or not a person) than that cyborg over there just because he was born and I was made, do I have free will, what is my purpose. Humans can nearly completely destroy everything that once made them human but still be considered human, but if they try hard enough can something that was never human become one? I intentionally do not for sure say where they come from because any explanation would be torn apart, and also I like the idea of a potential unknown and perhaps dark purpose.

As for game mechanics, I decided they should have something unique, and the idea I decided upon was making them better able to be augmented. It's something that doesn't quite exist yet. As for Summerstorms version, honestly they're broken weak. They're physical attributes are a little strong, but the penalties are more than a little extreme, especially the two negative qualities. I see no reason a modern creation would be Uneducated, and Uncouth is a possibility, but it seems a little harsh to give them without something strong to oppose it.

[Headshot_Joe]

...the idea I decided upon was making them better able to be augmented...

This I completely agree with. They'd be designed to be as mend-able as possible, so that damaged product could be repaired using off-the-shelf parts without a reduction in performance. The best solution would be to make them genetically compatible with as much bio- and cyberware as possible. Since they are basically organic machines, they need not worry about a "soul", thus essence plays no part. For them, cyberware is like putting a lift and mud tires on a truck, a turbo charger on an engine, smart tires on a rally car. It's a performance upgrade where all that's sacrificed is the original limb and some money.

...I see no reason a modern creation would be Uneducated, and Uncouth is a possibility, but it seems a little harsh to give them without something strong to oppose it...

Exactly. They're waking up with various active skills and knowledge skills. I can see them having difficulty with social skills off the bat, and putting a limiter on how many they can take at chargen might be best. Obviously they can learn them over time with some karma spending, but from the get-go, they aren't going to make optimal Faces. Maybe a custom quality for akwardness? A "Machine becoming Man" quality that wears off after a certain amount of time based on karma awarded for roleplaying demonstrating the android's growth towards a truly metahuman perspective.

Had a thought about using this to create a Sheldon-esque character, at least behaviorally. Doesn't understand jokes, takes things very literally, bases most of life choices on logic.

[TheOOB]

This I completely agree with. They'd be designed to be as mend-able as possible, so that damaged product could be repaired using off-the-shelf parts without a reduction in performance. The best solution would be to make them genetically compatible with as much bio- and cyberware as possible. Since they are basically organic machines, they need not worry about a "soul", thus essence plays no part. For them, cyberware is like putting a lift and mud tires on a truck, a turbo charger on an engine, smart tires on a rally car. It's a performance upgrade where all that's sacrificed is the original limb and some money.



Exactly. They're waking up with various active skills and knowledge skills. I can see them having difficulty with social skills off the bat, and putting a limiter on how many they can take at chargen might be best. Obviously they can learn them over time with some karma spending, but from the get-go, they aren't going to make optimal Faces. Maybe a custom quality for akwardness? A "Machine becoming Man" quality that wears off after a certain amount of time based on karma awarded for roleplaying demonstrating the android's growth towards a truly metahuman perspective.

Had a thought about using this to create a Sheldon-esque character, at least behaviorally. Doesn't understand jokes, takes things very literally, bases most of life choices on logic.

Liking the input. The main reason I gave them an essence score is to establish that yes they are alive, and they have auras on the like(which means they can be affected by magic, though maybe they should get a bonus to mind effecting spells).

I orginally was going to give an essence reduction for 'ware, but I thought a capacity system would be a slightly more elegant solution, not as much math needed. I'm seeing that may not be the case. Maybe start them with essence 6.0 and give them discounts via various qualities, but add in a quality or note that notes they have a weak aura.

[Irion]

Heck, we are even capable of Cloning... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Cloning is like brewing coffee compared to that.

[hermit]

The several people who are mentioning bio-drones and AI's and such are missing the point. These are supposed to be something that by all rights shouldn't exist, a living, breathing, thinking being that is artificially created. Whoever created them either had tech, or magic(or both), that is a good deal beyond that which is currently believed to be available. Part of the reason these could be interesting characters to play is the existential issues that would exist for them. Who am I, who made me, am less of a person(or not a person) than that cyborg over there just because he was born and I was made, do I have free will, what is my purpose.

Uhm, if they're indistinguishable from (meta)humans, why not make it a metahuman with a weird past? And "who am I what am I why am I" for - essentuially - a clone with perks (I see no reason to make them bottom up, unless you want to introduce the nanocloud morphs form Transmet, which would be an interesting new type of drone, though a total gamebreaker) is kind of redundant in a world where there are ghosts in the internet, ghosts of people who died while surfing.

And in a world where people are cheap enough to make assembly lines not cost effective, spending bazillions of nuyen on a project that is marginally more repairable than an off-the-shelf metahuman (between cloning, magic and gen-enhanced healing, you can go from no limbs to athlete in less than two weeks) seems quite esotheric.

[Sengir]

Sooo...what is the difference between these guys and an escaped clone? Except that they get better stats for a ridiculous discount (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

And I don't think LS officers ever encounter cyborgs or cyberzombies.

[hermit]

Well, not unless they are put through First Run ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)