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Old 12-19-2021, 12:00 PM   #1
Irioth
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Default Optimized Supersoldiers

I used relevant GURPS books (Bio-tech and Enhanced Senses, mostly) as a guide and inspiration to create a system-blind template for an optimized breed of supersoldiers and Homo Superior potential replacements for normal humans, to be used in various gaming and fanfiction contexts. Current state of the template may be found here.

It is meant to have pretty much all the useful enhancements that advanced sci-fi technology could provide. A major part of the concept is these superhumans should be absolutely maintenance-free and able to breed true without tech assistance (at least with their own kind; in all likelihood, they are too genetically divergent to be interfertile with humans, and I'd rather not bother with the complication of hybrids, since theoretically almost anyone can be turned into one). This requirement restricts the source and type of enhancements to genegineering, or at most symbiotic nanotech that is stored across the subject's body and can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy. Of course, magic, psi, or superpowers would not be suitable. However, the relevant tech can be pushed to the far edge of its conceivable potential.

No cybernetics or the like, except perhaps the kind that can be built and sustained by nanosymbionts, and even so as little as possible. The feel is supposed to be 'flesh', not 'chrome'. Another requirement is they should be effectively indistinguishable from very fit and attractive humans, except with medical tests or when they are using their enhancements to do superhuman feats.

One requirement that these supersoldiers should fulfil is being effectively immune to mundane individual weapons, by a mix of enhanced resilience and durability, healing factor, resistance to trauma, enhanced reflexes, etc. Being vulnerable to weapons that can destroy a tank or a building is OK, but the supersoldiers should absolutely laugh off bullets, guns, grenades, blades, and the like. How would you effectively ensure that in terms of genegineering (and possibly nanotech) enhancements?

These supersoldiers are supposed to be as proficient and versatile at everything humans do (except maybe artistic skills, I did not bother to add specific enhancements to the template for that) as normal humans, only much better. However, they are supposed to be especially suited to be warriors, sex workers, researchers, and explorers.

They are otherwise supposed to be free from genetic defects, but I wonder if a few Disadvantages might make them especially suited for their preferential jobs, such as slight to moderate degrees of increased libido (Lecherousness), aggressiveness and ruthlessness (Callous and/or Bloodlust), and curiosity (Curious) would fit. Your opinion?

In your judgement, is there anything else in the current version of the template that is missing but would be suitable for addition?

The blueprints for these supersoldiers are supposed to be the creation of advanced (TL 12+) aliens or time-travelers from the future with effectively unlimited resources from a human perspective. Moreover, the blueprints are going to provide a 'black box' biotech/nanotech treatment package that can perform the transformation process on its own once it gets built.

Last edited by Irioth; 12-19-2021 at 02:11 PM.
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Old 12-19-2021, 12:42 PM   #2
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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Originally Posted by Irioth View Post
One requirement that these supersoldiers should fulfil is being effectively immune to mundane individual weapons, by a mix of enhanced resilience and durability, healing factor, resistance to trauma, enhanced reflexes, etc. Being vulnerable to weapons that can destroy a tank or a building is OK, but the supesoldiers should absolutely laugh off bullets, guns, grenades, blades, and the like. How would you effectively ensure that in terms of genegineering (and possibly nanotech) enhancements?
I would supplement the things you have already listed with redundant or decentralized critical organs, like a back-up brain and a vascular system with dispersed integrated pumping musculature.

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They are otherwise supposed to be free from genetic defects, but I wonder if a few Disadvantages might make them especially suited for their preferential jobs, such as slight to moderate degrees of increased libido (Lecherousness), aggressiveness and ruthlessness (Callous and/or Bloodlust), and curiosity (Curious) would fit. Your opinion?
Unless you want them to have exploitable vulnerabilities or defects, I would go with Quirk-level versions rather than full Disads.
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Old 12-19-2021, 01:15 PM   #3
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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I would supplement the things you have already listed with redundant or decentralized critical organs, like a back-up brain and a vascular system with dispersed integrated pumping musculature.
Hmm, perhaps I took for granted this would part of what makes them more resistant to trauma than humans, but on second thoughts and following your lead a specific references may be appropriate for clarity. Thanks for the suggestion.

Quote:
Unless you want them to have exploitable vulnerabilities or defects, I would go with Quirk-level versions rather than full Disads.
Another good idea. Time to dust off PU: Quirks and put it to good use, I guess.

Last edited by Irioth; 12-19-2021 at 01:20 PM.
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Old 12-19-2021, 02:05 PM   #4
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

You might like to have a glance at GURPS Furries. One of its templates, the Wardog, is explicitly intended as a genetically designed supersoldier—in this case with canine ancestry. It has two versions, a more modest one without powers and a more intense one with a few added powers.
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Old 12-19-2021, 03:03 PM   #5
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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Originally Posted by Irioth View Post
One requirement that these supersoldiers should fulfil is being effectively immune to mundane individual weapons, by a mix of enhanced resilience and durability, healing factor, resistance to trauma, enhanced reflexes, etc. Being vulnerable to weapons that can destroy a tank or a building is OK, but the supersoldiers should absolutely laugh off bullets, guns, grenades, blades, and the like. How would you effectively ensure that in terms of genegineering (and possibly nanotech) enhancements?
If they are made of flesh and blood, having little holes poked through their organs by bullets will kill them. You can make them shock resistant (so they keep fighting longer as they die), and fiddle round the edges with decreased sensitivity to blood loss and a few things like that (so they take a bit longer to die, and have a longer window in which a 'fatal' wound can be treated), but when it comes down to it you can't make them bullet-proof.
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Old 12-19-2021, 03:11 PM   #6
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
You might like to have a glance at GURPS Furries. One of its templates, the Wardog, is explicitly intended as a genetically designed supersoldier—in this case with canine ancestry. It has two versions, a more modest one without powers and a more intense one with a few added powers.
Hmm, I welcome and are thankful for any useful suggestion, but are you sure that supplement, which I don't own (not so interested in the concept, might pick it eventually for completist purposes), would offer me any biotech ideas that are not already covered in Bio-tech or Enhanced Senses? I have already plundered those two books for genegeneering enhancements. Broadly speaking, I expect supersoldiers with my established template to run circles around the ones built from 'mere' canine abilities.
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Old 12-19-2021, 03:22 PM   #7
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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If they are made of flesh and blood, having little holes poked through their organs by bullets will kill them. You can make them shock resistant (so they keep fighting longer as they die), and fiddle round the edges with decreased sensitivity to blood loss and a few things like that (so they take a bit longer to die, and have a longer window in which a 'fatal' wound can be treated), but when it comes down to it you can't make them bullet-proof.
They also have a healing factor, enhanced reflexes and senses, and a bullet-time mode in addition to resistance to trauma from various sources (redundant or dispersed organs, super-tough bones, resilience to blood loss and pain, etc). Not to mention their skin being as durable as the far edge of bioengineering and if necessary symbiotic nanotech (for exotic materials and the like) can make it. I dislike having to use nanos here, but since they can 'breed true' with mother-child transmission, I am prepared to make a few exceptions when use of non-biological materials seems esp. useful, e.g. as it concerns inherent armor or enhanced reflexes.

The only absolute limits here are they cannot have anything their genes (or nanosymbionts) cannot give them, since they are supposed to stay maintenance-free and able to breed true w/o any tech support, so that they can thrive and multiply if say dropped in a low-tech environment, and less importantly they should stay casually indistinguishable from normal humans. Making something functionally bullet-proof is not that extreme, technologically speaking.

Last edited by Irioth; 12-19-2021 at 03:36 PM.
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Old 12-19-2021, 04:01 PM   #8
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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Originally Posted by Irioth View Post
Hmm, I welcome and are thankful for any useful suggestion, but are you sure that supplement, which I don't own (not so interested in the concept, might pick it eventually for completist purposes), would offer me any biotech ideas that are not already covered in Bio-tech or Enhanced Senses? I have already plundered those two books for genegeneering enhancements. Broadly speaking, I expect supersoldiers with my established template to run circles around the ones built from 'mere' canine abilities.
Well, on one hand, it didn't propose any novel biotech; I was offering it more as a comparison point for your design. But on the other hand, while the canid traits were there (Discriminatory Smell, Parabolic Hearing, Sharp Teeth, Temperature Tolerance, Ultrahearing), it also had some "super" traits: Hypersensory Danger Sense, High Pain Threshold, Unbreakable Bones, Resistant to Bleeding (based on No Blood being Immunity to Bleeding). And the amped up version had Enhanced Move, Lifting ST, and Striking ST, with a variant Biological modifier where the FP could only be restored by eating hugely. So I wouldn't call it just "canine," though it's perhaps more modest than your version.
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Old 12-19-2021, 04:14 PM   #9
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

A subcutaneous layer of flexible armor may be doable. A layer of spider silk - "arachnoweave" in Cutting Edge Armor Design (Pyramid #3/85) - should be at least theoretically possible for the body to produce on its own (spiders do it, after all), and having 1/8 inch or so (roughly the same thickness as the dermis) of that under most of your skin would grant you DR around 12 against piercing attacks (bullets) and cutting attacks (shrapnel, the primary killer for grenades). That lets the character shrug off most pistol and SMG rounds (negates 3d+1 worth of damage on average), and more powerful rounds will have their power reduced as well (although realistically, if you can reliably punch through ballistic armor, it generally has a fairly minimal effect on the projectile). As a bonus, it also grants DR 3 against everything else (crushing, impaling, and burning). Note that's "normal" spider silk; the Pyramid article suggests it would be enhanced (via enhancing the spider genome) at later TL's; boosting DR to 16/4 or higher for 3 mm may be feasible.

Bioplas is even more impressive, although being biologically producible may not be an option - but then the fact it's self-repairing means you could simply install it once and be done with it (note this would be a variant of bioplas - the stuff normally appears to repair itself via something resembling photosynthesis, so a modified version that takes the needed energy and raw materials from its "host" would be necessary. Ultra Tech Armor Design (Pyramid #3/96) indicates ~1/8 inch of that would grant a whopping DR 36 against piercing and burning attacks (like lasers); that will eat up around 10d worth of damage, so OpFor will largely need to switch to antivehicular weaponry to damage the supersoldiers. Note Bioplas has 1/3rd DR against everything else (crushing, impaling, and cutting), which is DR 13 here.

Alongside redundant organs, I think either of the above would readily serve your purposes for being able to shrug off small arms fire - although obviously bioplas fits the bill a bit better.
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Last edited by Varyon; 12-19-2021 at 06:23 PM.
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Old 12-19-2021, 04:57 PM   #10
Irioth
 
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Default Re: Optimized Supersoldiers

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
Well, on one hand, it didn't propose any novel biotech; I was offering it more as a comparison point for your design. But on the other hand, while the canid traits were there (Discriminatory Smell, Parabolic Hearing, Sharp Teeth, Temperature Tolerance, Ultrahearing), it also had some "super" traits: Hypersensory Danger Sense, High Pain Threshold, Unbreakable Bones, Resistant to Bleeding (based on No Blood being Immunity to Bleeding). And the amped up version had Enhanced Move, Lifting ST, and Striking ST, with a variant Biological modifier where the FP could only be restored by eating hugely. So I wouldn't call it just "canine," though it's perhaps more modest than your version.
Interesting. It indeed seems most of the traits included in the Wardog templates are already present in my version as well (with specific GURPS references removed of course, since my template is supposed to be system-blind for any sci-fi scenario). I had not thought of adding something like Hypersensory Danger Sense since the limitations I established about the power source made the enhanced senses of the template basically limited to Biological traits. I suppose I might reconsider the issue to some degree (although the absolute veto on anything cybernetic stands).
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