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Old 03-05-2010, 03:36 AM   #1
Dangerious P. Cats
 
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Default Mind swapping stattery

I'm working on a mildly Dollhouse inspired setting where people's minds can be transported into different bodies through the use of a download device and I'm trying to work out how to structure rules for it. In the setting people transfer memories using a device consisting of four pads that connect to different parts of a person's head, the device is generally referred to as a compiler. For the most part people are downloaded with composite personalities made to fill a certain role, or in some cases made from a mess of consciousnesses to stabilise a person since in the setting (at least that's my excuse for there being otherwise useless personalities for NPCs the players find, like the little girl). That said there will be the option to download the personalities of actual people, though I mainly plan to reserve that for the PCs when they die. Personalities are a resource and once downloaded the personality is in the body, it can't be copied multiple times like a computer file, meaning that if a player wants to make an athlete’s body they found a soldier and don't have a soldier personality stored in the device, they must transfer it from another body and replace the personality in the body with something else since a body without a personality will be catatonic. Ideas on how to stat the body swapping would be nice, but if people want to offer ideas on how to flesh out the setting that would be awesome as well.

The setting is loosely post-apocalyptic (think more civil war than full on social break down) with two warring factions, the yellow ribbon army and the green coats. Most people are either personality implants or susceptible to being one (a quirk) though a few are not prepped for personality download (a procedure which takes a few hours) and some are immune altogether (a 15 point advantage). Outside of the mind swapping tech and some medicine the TL is mostly 8, though with a lot of dirty tech as industry is breaking down due to the chaos. Most of the emphasis of the campaign will be mixing and matching NPC (and maybe PC) bodies and minds to solve problems or just fight more effetely. So far the personalities I've come up with are as follows, though ideas for more are welcome:
Soldier. Soldiers are designed purely to loyally fight for their given faction, with a good cross section of modern weapon and combat skills. Initially they were designed so that new recruits could be trained faster and that enemy POWs could be transformed in loyal soldiers.
Sniper. Snipers were the first specialised soldier type, with their focus being on skill with rifle, stealth and tracking. Snipers have notably different personalities to soldiers being loners with little regard for life, even that of their comrades.
Medic. The medic is a catch all health professional knowledgeable in all but highly specialised fields. The medic is however designed to be a civilian doctor and has neither the skill, nor temperament for combat.
Vehicle Crew. Although designed to work or pilot any vehicle Crew are generally associated with non-combat and support vehicles. Vehicle crew also have a reputation for being somewhat boring, missing the verbose comradely of the soldier or even the snarky demeanour of the sniper.
Prostitute (yes, I went there). Bubbly, laid back and generally very open, the origins of this personality are an easy guess. While sexually liberal the prostitute is generally the life of the party, skilled in music, dancing, conversation as well as other things.
Little girl. A surprisingly common personality the little girl is literally the personality of a child, although with the literacy and numeracy of an adult. It is believed that this personality was created for children who had their minds swapped so that they could grow up normally.
Berserk. There is little more to this personality than combat skill and rage. Berserks are brutal in combat to friend and foe alike, able to take massive amounts of pain. It is widely theorised that their resilience is the result of personality programmers removing some of the brain’s natural functions.

Ideas for more personalities would be nifty, as would ideas about how war might be fought in an urban environment when most support would be local (supplies needing to be sourced in the city and such like).
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Old 03-05-2010, 09:33 AM   #2
lexington
 
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Default Re: Mind swapping stattery

Can't you just adapt the rules from Possession?
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Old 03-05-2010, 10:46 AM   #3
Fish
 
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Default Re: Mind swapping stattery

When you say "a composite of personalities," or "in some cases made from a mess of personalities," do you mean two minds are in the same body simultaneously? If you're making combination downloads, you could separate physical skills (assassination, vehicles, stealth, weapons) from mental traits (leadership, bloodlust, obedience).

Are these actual minds (viz, Braintapes) or are they just personality traits? Are memories included or just skills? For instance, if you put Soldier Brain into Body B, and he goes on a mission, when you remove Soldier Brain from Body B and put him into Body A, does he remember the mission? Or does the body contain the memories, and you just implant new skills and personality into his head?

That said:

This is a very interesting concept (I have never seen Dollhouse and know only the vaguest things about it). I would probably handle it with Templates. This is stretching the definition of a Template somewhat, but it would be a lot more handy and versatile than statting up separately every combination of Body + Mind that is available. A Template could just say
Quote:
Originally Posted by sample
IQ +3 [60], Loner [-5], Guns (Rifles) IQ+4 [whatever]
It would basically be a list of bonuses that you'd add to the body. Is that what you're going for?

Download types I would use:
  • Mole. Seems to be one personality type, but is triggered to "activate" when it reaches its mission destination. This would be especially useful if you have a valuable mind (the rebel leader is on the run, for instance) and you're trying to sneak him past enemy lines. Bury his personality into a Prostitute Mole mind, stick him into a handy body, and for all intents and purposes he can't be discerned from a hooker ... until he arrives at the base.
  • Leader. Charisma, tactics, politics, body language, history, propaganda, etc. Doesn't come with as much obedience conditioning as the typical soldier.
  • Technician/Sapper. The guy who can fix things. Or, alternately, who can make them break down.
  • Professor/Instructor. For those people who can't be implanted, you're going to need somebody who can train them, educate them, or teach them new skills.
  • Survivalist. Somebody with the proper outdoor or urban survival skills.
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Old 03-09-2010, 06:46 AM   #4
Dangerious P. Cats
 
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Default Re: Mind swapping stattery

The personalities are compleat memory sets made up from different people's memories. That said memories that occired prior to implanting are generally a little fuzzy, a soldier will remember training and that they had fun on the obsticle course, but not too many details since that it was found that having precise memories replcated across multiple people could be problematic. None of the memories sets are actual people, actual people being re-downloaded is rare since few have their memories stored. It is forthis reason that constructed children's personalities were made since the bodies of children were taken over and it was felt that the children had a right to grow into normal people.
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Old 03-09-2010, 07:12 AM   #5
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Default Re: Mind swapping stattery

I may be missing something (who, me?) but you appear to have all the stats you need...
The machine does transfers;
Some folk are easily swapped [-1];
Some folk just can't be done [15].

Perhaps:
Regularly Backed Up [15], ie Extra Life (requires body...
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