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Old 07-17-2010, 02:45 PM   #1
Flyndaran
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
Default What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

Sorry for the trouble putting my question into clear writing. I want to create a full or near full cyborg that's intrinsically different than the classic advanced killing machine they usually are. I want a decidedly primitive new tech feel.

I tried in another thread to make him need medical treatment akin to kidney dialysis daily or weekly. But that didn't fit, so I'm trying a more basic question.

Thank you in advance.
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Old 07-17-2010, 02:56 PM   #2
laguna
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

I would start off giving him advantages/disadvantages at reduced point value depending on how much of his body is cybernetic.

if he's 60% mechanical, charge him 60% the cost of appropriate DR and 60% the cost of the unhealing disadvantage. all other tech advantages related to his cyborg parts get the appropriate gadget limitations (breakable, but probably not stealable)

what am I forgetting.
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Old 07-17-2010, 02:59 PM   #3
lexington
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

A few disadvantages that might make sense for early cyborgs.

Ham Fisted or Kltuz (because the response time is off a little or the body isn't the size he's used to)
Chronic Pain (didn't get those nerves hooked up quite right)
Increased Consumption and Restricted Diet (primitive fuel cells that drain quickly)
Easy To Kill (the early systems are very sensitive)
Hard Of Hearing (ears were a low priority)
Radioactive (the fuel source is radioactive
No Legs (legs are hard to make, you'll love wheels!)
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Old 07-18-2010, 12:43 PM   #4
tanniynim
 
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Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

Noisy- depending on how it operates and what parts we're talking about, this could be very loud.
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Old 07-18-2010, 01:12 PM   #5
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

Depends on what the cyborg was created for. Basically, any cyborg will consist of two parts: a module designed to provide life support for remaining organic parts (presumably the brain), and a vehicle that the life support module gets plugged in to.

The life support module isn't inherently capable of anything other than survival, though it may be armored and have communications. The vehicle can be basically anything the module can fit in. By default, that's probably the high tech equivalent of a wheelchair, plus some sort of manipulators and sensors.
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Old 07-18-2010, 05:10 PM   #6
sir_pudding
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Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

Realistic early cyborgs of this type probably will have very short life expectancies (a few days to a few months, probably), just like the first generation of organ transplants or artificial hearts. I don't normally like Terminally Ill, but it does seem appropriate here.
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Old 07-18-2010, 09:58 PM   #7
Jabani
 
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Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

Take a look at the video game Deus Ex (which you should do anyway :). The older models have whirring gears and motors that need to be oiled and are loud, plus they clearly are cyborgs, giving them a stigma with the general populace and a chip on their shoulder regarding advanced cyborgs that don't have obvious mechanical parts.
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Old 07-18-2010, 11:11 PM   #8
Mr Frost
 
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Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

Does the cyborg own those prosthetics outright ?
If not , they could have all kinds of trouble if they can't afford to keep up payment such as indebted servituted {Stigma - valuable property , Duty (involuntary) etc} or even the chance the "owners" might be able to legally repossess the items {which could be a deadly penalty for artificial organs etc} .


If they are fugitives in a dytopian cyberpunk setting for example ; Secret ("stolen" vital organs) : will be killed if caught [-30] and Enemy (Repo men) (9 or less , Medium sized group) [-20] .
He/She/it basically has 2 separate groups after them , the Law and the Corp , but only the Corp is expending resources activly hunting the player ; the Government merely relies on any bounty hunter or whomever that would either bring the player/s in or point the police {SWAT} towards the players' location because they're usually busy keeping people intimidated so they don't rise up or "dealing" with dissadants , but they will roll if a suitable target is shown to them {the Corp rewards politicians for such} .
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Old 07-19-2010, 01:19 AM   #9
Hai-Etlik
 
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Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

It really depends on how far the the various technologies involved advance before all of them are at the right level. There are a lot of systems in the human body, and almost all of them would need to be simulated, but we are already building replacements for most of them piecemeal. So by the time we have prosthetic limbs, cardiovascular system, senses, etc, all advanced enough to replace all of them, there's a good chance some of them will be better than the bare minimum.

You should also consider why someone would become a full cyborg. Unless it's an overall upgrade from a normal human, people are only going to replace the minimum necessary. A weak, slow, numb electrical arm that requires maintenance is not an improvement unless you are missing an arm that needs replacing. The same applies to any other part that might be replaced.

Rivals to cybernetics are also something to consider. Any replacement that can be grown better than it can be built is likely to be chosen instead. So to get a full cyborg, you are going to have to be able to build just about every part of a human body better than you can grow it, at least within the context of a cyborg body. (Maybe some things are easier to build for completely robot bodies than as cybernetic implants for mostly living ones.)
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Old 07-19-2010, 06:19 AM   #10
DAT
 
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Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
Default Re: What should an early (near)full cyborg have?

I think the lifesupport requirements for early cyborgs will make them more vehicles than bipeds. There is a collection of Larry Niven short stories about a ship piloted by a cyborg, where the cyborg was built into the ship.
-Dan
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