Yet another mindshare build (please help)

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

My GM has some neat ideas, but they're hard to game-system-ise even for me. There's a race where a single person is normally made of 7 or more individuals. A single individual can result in an IQ8 personality, but it's like being a cripple; they form packs of at least 7, which increases IQ by 1 (to 9); each further ×7 increase in number grants +1 IQ. They gradually exchange things like skills, at something like ×4 the normal teaching rate. If a single individual within a pack dies, the pack still retains the personality etc., and seeks to replace the lost individual. It's only when pack size goes below 7 that things get nasty mentally (IQ loss). Edit: getting it down to 3 causes an equivalent of a death check for the pack-person, while 2 is guaranteed loss of the pack-person (but individual Wyverns survive).

I've seen Kromm offer this for a similar but non-identical question, and it seems to provide a good starting point, but not a complete answer. Individuals are generally considered identical, so Ally Group rules apply, and that means ×6 cost for 6-10 allies (plus the one that comes for free).

Specific difficulties:
NPCs don't pay points for Allies, but the point is that whichever one of the 7 to 11 is killed, the PC is de facto still alive, and the player can continue playing - and pack members can be gradually replenished by picking up youngsters or stray ones. In essence, the PC is the pack, and that makes issues of buying Allies difficult.

Anyone got any useful insights? Or maybe just insight-generating questions?
Thanks in advance!

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!

Hey!

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

[snip] NPCs don't pay points for Allies, but the point is that whichever one of the 7 to 11 is killed, the PC is de facto still alive, and the player can continue playing - and pack members can be gradually replenished by picking up youngsters or stray ones. In essence, the PC is the pack, and that makes issues of buying Allies difficult.

Buying Allies isn't an issue at all after you do it initially, as long as you don't betray them (which is sort of impossible in this case, so it definitely calls for the Minion Enhancement) - the RAW allows Allies lost to normal circumstances to be replaced for free as soon as it's feasible IC, whatever that means.

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

[snip] Anyone got any useful insights? Or maybe just insight-generating questions?
Thanks in advance!

This is really powerful, in a kind of subtle way: like Satyricon in Worm, the survival of the PC can be almost-ensured by simple isolation of a single body from likely hazards. I'd give it the same treatment I did in that thread, with Unkillable x2 (because the last body/bodies could theoretically be located and securely confined to disable the PC) (Access: At Least One Living Body -60%), and then some kind of Nuisance Effect for the temporary IQ loss whose value depends on how smart they normally are, how dumb they can get, how hard it is to replace bodies, etc.

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

This is really powerful, in a kind of subtle way: like Satyricon in Worm, the survival of the PC can be almost-ensured by simple isolation of a single body from likely hazards. I'd give it the same treatment I did in that thread, with Unkillable x2 (because the last body/bodies could theoretically be located and securely confined to disable the PC) (Access: At Least One Living Body -60%), and then some kind of Nuisance Effect for the temporary IQ loss whose value depends on how smart they normally are, how dumb they can get, how hard it is to replace bodies, etc.

That's one way of doing it. An alternative would be Possession (Emergencies Only, -30%; Puppet Only, -30%; Reflexive, +40%; Unconscious Only, -20%; Uncontrollable, -10%) [50] + Puppet Group [10], so the PC changes to a new body every time the old one is targeted, I know the mind is distributed, but this seems a fair approximation. As for IQ, include a racial -2 in the template, then allow the PC to buy IQ+1 (Only with Ally Group alive, -10%).

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

That's one way of doing it. An alternative would be Possession (Emergencies Only, -30%; Puppet Only, -30%; Reflexive, +40%; Unconscious Only, -20%; Uncontrollable, -10%) [50] + Puppet Group [10], so the PC changes to a new body every time the old one is targeted [snip]

Like it. Similar effect with a different flavor. This is why GURPS is fantastic.

[nerdvana]

Have you considered working off of Horde Intelligence from Limitations?

BTW, this sounds reminiscent to Vernor Vinge's Tines from Fire Upon the Deep. I'm curious if this was independent or inspired by that book...

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by nerdvana

Have you considered working off of Horde Intelligence from Limitations?

It doesn't fit, because the swarm can communicate up to 50-200 yards apart and stay at the adjusted IQ.

[nerdvana]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

It doesn't fit, because the swarm can communicate up to 50-200 yards apart and stay at the adjusted IQ.

I wonder if extended range with horde intelligence wouldn't fix that up...

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by nerdvana

I wonder if extended range with horde intelligence wouldn't fix that up...

If not, you can add Reduced Range to Mindlink.

[nerdvana]

I remembered an older thread about the aliens I mentioned. It is here and may be helpful...

[nerdvana]

Ghostdancer will be taking a stab at this also (at my suggestion). He'll address it on his blog and post about it in his blog post thread as seen here.