I've got this idea for my campaign, and I'm scouring the sourcebooks right now trying to find out if this is possible, so let me know if this is a fruitless search...

...I want the REAL Mr. Johnson to install his...personality(?)...into a fake Mr. Johnson so the PCs meet with the fake Mr. Johnson. The fake Mr.J will then record the meet with his internal headware and after the meeting, go to the REAL Mr. J who will download all the info. I'm wondering if it's possible for a person to put his personality onto a soft and put it into someone...I also want the fake Mr. J to be totally unaware this has happened.

So, am I looking for something that doesn't exist?

Something like this might be doable with a personafix soft, the data filter implant, and either cybereye and cyberear recording or a simrig.

Simple; FAKE Mr. Johnson is the equivalent of a bunraku meatpuppet. Real Mr. Johnson records his personality, either via programming or a simrig, then downloads the copy as a BTL or programs the fake Mr. Johnson via brainwashing or something. Think of the example of the one runner who has code phrases to slip between pscyhes in Seattle 2072.

It makes for an interesting change-up in figuring out who the real Johnson is, but what does it do to the adventure? Is this something that will lead to more of a tailchaser or will you get the possible double/triple agent in the brainwashed Johnson? The concept is workable, but I'm wondering where it fits in story execution.

Don

Hm, but if you do it this way there might be some problems.

The fake Johnson may react somthing like the right one, but has neither his memories and eyxperiences nor skills. (Of course you can fix a bit of that with skillsofts and raw data and some more conditioning). But overall he might not be a competent negotiator or have some other drawbacks as a person in a high-danger meeting with some horrible monsters/sociopaths *g*.

Also another choice would be free spirit Johnson taking over the body, also a rigged fake Johnson. But both has to be well executed. (Someone would notice it maybe if he got a stirrup-interface implanted, and with the spirit you need to delete his memory- best with a spell afterwards.)

It will lead the the climax of the first Act of the campaign.

I'll write it up and post it.

Yep, basically. Personafix is the only part you really need. Data filter is entierly optional depending on if this is voluntary or if they mind the person knowing what happened. Cybereyes and cyberears aren't needed, contacts and earbuds can do the same thing.

Of course for this to matter, it needs to come up, so should be an interesting game.

You can also do an Otomo(IIRC) that is modified to the highest grade of metahuman simulation,
and the Johnson rigs it to the meet.

It is very possible, and there are, as shown, a number of different ways to do it.
Cool idea, infact

Another tool in your bag of tricks is the ASIST memory/personality reprogramming thingy from Arsenal. It's not easy to come by, and it can take quite some time to use, but screwing directly with a person's brain is just so deliciously sinister. I suppose it's a flavor issue; depending on your Johnson's resources, goals, and typical M.O., this probably isn't a viable option. I just wanted to make sure it got mentioned.

As far as the fake Johnson having no idea what's been done to them or what went on at the meet, there's always good old Laes, also in Augmentation. IIRC, one dose of the drug makes them forgot the last twelve hours of their life, and those memories are absolutely irrecoverable by any magical or technological means.

In addition to the excellent explanations of how this is possible in the game, it's also true that you're the GM: do what you want. Even if the gear for it didn't exist, it certainly sounds plausible, right? In this case, no need for GM license, but it's good to remember.

The old adventure Dreamchipper was essentially all about "personalities-on-a-chip". That adventure was set sometime around 2050 or so and the chips were essentially proto-types, so I see no reason that by the 2070's that technology shouldn't be... errrmmm... more stable.

I would think something like this is right up a Technomancer's alley - with the Skinlink echo, Blackout, and Threading - to whip out a psychotropic brainwashing program on the fly - it should be fairly easy to find a target with a simrig, then shake their hand, stop them for a moment, tough their shoulder - and turn them into a puppet for a little bit.

You'd need Resonance Trodes to do the whole handshake starter, but with my current TM character I have used this method of threading psychotropic simsense as a means of interrogation. Our interpretation of Resonance Trodes is that it brings the person online via the TM's biological node, so the psychotropic simsense combined with the TM's control over their own bio-node's appearance (via Reality Filter) has been determined as an effective means of no-physical-marks persuasion. Keep some laes around to take care of the cleanup and there you go. She's even used this method to create a pair of very slapdash sleeper 'bombs' recently as an attempt to keep an enemy on their toes. Character has no clue if the idea worked at all, but it was fun describing the intended effect.

But this idea of using Resonance Trodes and psychotropic simsense as a means of personality imprinting... sounds like a fun application of the simsense rules towards the end of Unwired.

Proteus used something very similar for their board of directors, essentially every member was a puppet for one of the founders. Have a look at the free summary of Shockwaves, maybe it gives you some ideas.