Symbiotic Bioarmor...

[Johnny1A.2]

This is an item extant in my gameworld, which uses a modified 3e system:

This is a creation of an alien entity, the Cytherian superfungal mind,
a form of 'living armor' designed to convert a normal Homosapient into
a powerful fighting machine, with physical abilities well beyond
normal Homosapient ranges. There is a very steep cost associated with
this, however, one many would likely be unwilling to pay.

The symbiotic bioarmor is an example of very sophisticated
biotechnology, and is in fact entirely made up of living creatures,
engineered and ‘grown’ symbiotes of various sorts fused into a single
creature. None of the major ‘living components’ of this creation
could survive for long on their own, though some of the ‘minor’ ones
can. Each ‘suit’ of bioarmor must be prepared specially for its
wearer, carefully adapted to his or her body and mind, myriad
intricate details of body chemistry and psychic pattern carefully
matched.

In practical terms, the process begins with the subject being placed
in a liquid bath, and connected to living symbiotic systems which
place him or her in a trance-like state, and remove wastes and bring
in the necessary nutrients and oxygen for survival. The subject will
remain in this liquid suspension for several months, while the
bioarmor is ‘grown’ around him or her. Note that the parafungal
entity needs no tools to create or maintain this suspension chamber,
it can ‘grow’ it out of its own complex and variegated body mass, with
an effectively trivial effort.

(For a creature massing trillions of tons and covering much of a
planetary surface, most efforts are trivial.)

The first ‘layer’ consists of a film of unicellular organisms
analogous to bacteria, but engineered to form a symbiotic relationship
with the Homosapient subject. This film in turn strips away the outer
layers of the skin, and more-or-less takes the place of the skin.
[1]

At the same time, various blood vessels are rerouted, some of them
stimulated to grow additional length to accommodate the relocation,
which remaining operational. The chest is opened up, exposed the
heart and lungs, and the first of the major symbiotic organisms is
grafted into place, a large artificial life-form about the size of a
normal human torso, with a hard dorsal shell and a ventral side with
openings for the necessary connection of this organism to the heart,
lungs, and other vital organs in the torso of the subject.

A similar but simpler organism is grafted across the back of the
torso, and connected to the front organism with neural links and
stimulated bone growth, which also adds bracing to the rib cage and
additional internal protection to the heart and lungs. The lungs are
stimulated to grow somewhat larger, and additional cardiac tissue is
grown onto the heart to increase its strength and capacity. This last
is necessary both to increase the basic physical abilities of the
subject and to support the symbiotic additions.

Layers of hard-shelled organisms vaguely similar (but in no way akin)
to barnacles are grafted onto the limbs, and a larger shelled organism
is grafted over the pelvic region to protect the genitalia. The feet
are surrounded by a flexible, tough membrane that protects them from
damage, and reinforces the internal joints and other structures via
penetrating tendrils. The hands are similarly warded, though in this
case the flexible membrane leaves the fingers separate, unlike the
toes of the feet.

The eyes are removed entirely, and replaced by ‘engineered’ organisms
that take their place and are both tougher and (in some ways)
superior in performance to the original organs. These symbiotes graft
onto the optic nerve, and also ‘grow’ a back up neural channel
increase the bandwidth for information transfer.

The membrane that protects the hands and feet covers the head as well,
and grows up into the nasal passages and the mouth, and down the
esophagus and trachea (since neither is in use during the modification
process anyway). The membrane differentiates into different
structures once it does this, depending on what part of the body is
involved, by a process akin to the cellular differentiation that
enables a fertilized embryo to produce the different tissues of the
adult body.

In the already-expanded lungs, additional alveoli are grown, and
additional capillaries are stimulated to grow, and the membrane
replaces some components of the surfaces of the alveoli to improve gas
exchange efficiency. This internal membrane also roots itself and
grows structures designed to make the lungs more resistant to
environmental hazards.

In the esophagus and stomach, the membrane differentiates in different
ways, replacing parts of the lining of the stomach, and then extending
down into the intestinal tract and again replacing certain portions of
that, providing improved digestive efficiency and protection from
certain normally dangerous substances.

Certain vital and semi-vital organs, including but not limited to the
kidneys, spleen, intravertebral discs, and certain glands are removed
entirely, and replaced by implanted symbiotic organisms that perform
their functions and some others. The coccyx is also replaced with a
longer bone-like structure that provides the anchor for the attachment
of yet another external symbiote, a creature designed to serve as a
tail. Likewise, along with the replaced organs, symbiotic organisms
are implanted to perform functions the normal Homosapient body does
not require.

The external membrane grows into a ‘sheath’ around the ears, and
anchors to them, providing additional receptive surface to detect and
analyze sound, and additional nerve tissue is grown to enable superior
data-transmission between the auditory system and the brain.

Bones and joints are reinforced for strength, and a second, parallel
immune system is installed. The skull in particular is modified and
reinforced to protect the brain.

Note that the dozens of different symbiotes, internal and external,
are separate living things, at least at the start of the process, and
fuse together into one with each other and the subject. Many of these
organisms have neural tissue and even full brains of their own, and
these do not atrophy after implantation and fusion. Instead, they
form a distributed second ‘brain’ that servers several purposes in the
emergent organism.

When the process is complete, the subject has been radically
transformed, and emerges from the containment vessel as a rather
different creature than went in. In terms of both abilities and
appearance, everything has changed.


MORE LATER.


[1] At this point, removing the subject from the suspension chamber
would prove very rapidly lethal.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

The creature that emerges does not look more than vaguely humanoid.
It is still bipedal, still bilaterally symmetric, still has a ‘head-
like extension’ in the right place, still has two arms and two legs.
However, it is one to two feet taller, (no two are identical), covered
externally in a chitinous surface, usually in a gray or greenish-black
color, with a surface texture very smooth in places and rough in
others.

Gaps in the chitinous surface are occupied by visible symbiotic
creatures, including one that rings what would be the neck in a normal
Homosapient, with four foot-long tentacles extending from it at ninety
degrees apart. Each of these tentacles can stretch itself to half
again that length, each is tipped with a razor-sharp cutting claw, and
each can operate independently of the others. Longer versions of
these tentacles are found at the ‘waist’, with the additional feature
that instead of a simple cutting-edge, the waist tentacles have biting
mouths, equipped with sharp teeth and venomous sacs. (Each waist
tentacle is actually a separate symbiotic organism, implanted at the
base and sharing a blood and nutrient supply with the rest of the
collective organism).

A ‘tail’ extends from the base of the spine, muscular, covered in the
barnacle-like protective symbiotes, with razor-sharp bone extrusions
on either side, the tail can be swung for either crushing or impaling
damage. It splits at the tip into six smaller extrusions with
sufficient dexterity to be used as a clumsy ‘third hand’. The tail is
strong enough, long enough, and flexible enough to attempt
constricting attacks, though it is not really fast enough for this to
be a reliable tactic.

(Like the waist-tentacles, the entire tail is another implanted
symbiote, with its own brain and neural tissue to take care of most of
the control issues for the Homosapient brain.)

The face of the creature is almost lost in the protective membranes,
and the eye-sockets are occupied by a pair of ‘eyes’ that are actually
implanted organisms that serve the same purpose, but are larger, look
quite inhuman, and protected by double-layer lids, a transparent inner
layer that provides protection while only partly reducing visual
acuity, and an opaque outer layer and closes along a vertical split,
and has a thin later of chitin for additional protection. The ears
are large and vaguely ‘bat like’, and there is no hair on the body
anywhere. Note that there is also a third ‘eye’, identical to the
forward pair, at the _back_ of the skull, providing the bioarmored
individual with wrap-around vision (though not rear depth perception).

(Mastering this wrap-around vision often takes some time.)

The pelvic area is sheathed behind another armored symbiote, or rather
two such, that can split apart at the command of the bioarmored
individual to reveal the Homosapient genitalia. The genitalia remain
fully functional, as does the reproductive system. [1]

The hands, though sheathed in gray or greenish-black membrane, still
appear very human, and retain full dexterity. Grafted organisms on
the wrists house bone spurs that can snap out for impaling damage, and
which have serrated, sharp edges for slicing damage. The fingernails
are gone, but tiny retractile chitin spikes are implanted in each
fingertip, permitting slicing damage there as well.

The mouth looks normal enough, other than the protective membranes,
until opened. The teeth of such a bioarmored individual have been
replaced by longer, sharper versions, with superior endurance and
capable of superior damage if used as a weapon. There is also the
ability to inject venom through biting at the will of the bioarmored
individual.

The chitin-like outer shell of the protective symbiotes is actually
not so far from true chitin, but it also has
layers incorporating long-chain plastic-like molecules, interspersed
with microscopic flakes of metal, that give great strength to the
armor, and which can (albeit slowly) heal damage.

The distributed additional ‘brain’, made up of the controlling neutral
nodes of the various symbiotes, acts as a secondary intelligence for
the whole. It is never entirely asleep, and will warn the bioarmored
person within of danger it can perceive, and also act as a sort of
built-in ‘night watchman’ while the wearer sleeps.
Furthermore, if the bioarmored wearer is incapacitated in some way,
this secondary ‘brain’ can keep fighting (albeit with low
intelligence) or try to flee the situation on its own.

Additionally, the connection to this additional brain has a property
of ‘awakening’ the latent psionic powers all Homosapients potentially
possess. The exact range and scale of these will vary, of course,
from person to person, but the extra ‘brain’ will add somewhat to the
skill of the user, after enough time and practice. Additionally, the
distributed ‘brain’ and bodies of the symbiotic attachments add
certain psionic powers of their own to the combined organism.


MORE LATER.


[1] Though whether this is likely to be an issue in practice...

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

Any damage done to the bioarmor can be dangerous to the person or
creature who inflicted it, because the tissues of the bioarmor are
infused with a caustic, poisonous fluid to which the wearer is
immune. It is a contact toxin, and large doses can do permanent
damage, or even be lethal.

The physical strength of the bioarmored individual is increased
enormously, as is endurance. Manual dexterity is unchanged, except
that the wearer must learn how to walk, run, jump, etc anew, using the
new, more powerful but more massive and bulkier body. Intelligence,
too, is not directly affected, the bioarmored individual emerges
from the 'containment vessel' (which actually resembles a large globe
of fibrous material) with the same mind he or she went into it with.
The changes that may come to psychology and emotional balance from the
new form are another matter.

It should be noted that the bioarmor increases the efficiency of the
digestive system, as mentioned above, the wearer can consume and gain
nutrition from forms of organic matter a normal Homosapient could not
even chew, much less digest. Further, the wearer is highly resistant
to many toxic substances that would make food inedible or poisonous to
a normal Homosapient.

The above-mentioned ‘special’ psionic abilities derived from the
bioarmor consist basically of two powers not normally available to
Homosapient psions.

The first is an ability to sense life-force. This is related to ESP,
but works differently and requires only a conscious effort to work.
Its range expands with practice and time, and it will detect the
presence of biological life-forms in the vicinity. It gives the user
direction and location, the precision of both growing with time and
practice, and it is difficult to screen against.

The second ability is related to the first, a form of Psychic
Vampirism. [1]

The bioarmor has the ability to steal life-energy from other living
things, and use that energy to refuel its own reserves, to boost its
performance or that of its wearer, or to survive what would otherwise
be lethal damage. The effects on the target of this power are less
pleasant, it can easily be quite lethal. The range varies but tends
to increase with time and practice, likewise the time required to make
use of the ability decreases with time and practice.

Which leads to another ability of the bioarmor: it extends lifespan.
On its own, it roughly doubles the natural lifespan of the particular
Homosapient to which it is grafted. However, it can use stolen life-
energies as ‘fuel’ for the psionic skill of life extension, enabling
enormous increases in lifespan.

There are obvious downsides to undergoing this process, though. The
bioarmor, obviously, is grafted onto and into the wearer, it can not
be removed at will, and removal without killing the wearer would
require either the cooperation of the fungal mind that implanted it,
or else access to some very advanced and sophisticated technology
and a great deal of rather abstruse and exotic knowledge.

The Homosapient wearer gains the physical appearance of an inhuman
creature, can not easily fit into or use most Homosapient tools and
equipment and structures, and even allowing for the improved
efficiency, food and water requirements are increased by the needs of
the symbiotes.

More subtly, the wearer of the bioarmor shares control of his or her
body with the fungal supermind that created the armor, the telepathic
presence of that mind is always with the wearer whenever he or she is
within range, and the creator of the armor can contest for direct
control of the body with great ease, if it so desires. It should be
noted some of the wearers of the bioarmor discover this fact the hard
way.

MORE LATER.


[1] In my house modified GURPS 3e system, PV is not normally
considered as a separate Power. This is a special case.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

In GURPS (modified 3e) terms, the bioarmor can be statted as follows:

The wearer gains +10 to ST and +10 HT, with Speed recalculated in line
with the new attributes. IQ and DX remain unchanged.

The wearer gains DR 5 on the hands, feet, and head.
The wearer gains DR 10 on the arms and legs.
The wearer gains DR 15 on the pelvic area, the torso, and skull.
Hit points are tripled.

(The ‘joins’ of the various armored symbiotes are a vulnerable
point, but very hard to hit.)

The wearer gains the following Advantages (if not already possessed
where applicable):

360 Degree Vision (depth perception in forward cone only)
Acute Hearing +3
Acute Vision +2
Alcohol Tolerance
Alertness +3 (the combined effect of enhanced senses and the ‘extra
brain’)
Cast Iron Stomach (pretty much anything of Solarigen biochemical base
is edible, other than things like wood or the like)
Combat Reflexes
Disease Resistant (immune to some diseases, highly resistant to
others)
Extra Limb (tail, striker, constrictor)
Extra Limbs (the tentacles, 4 short, 4 long, striker, bite)
Filter Lungs
Hard To Kill +3
High Pain Threshold
Less Sleep +3
Longevity
Oxygen Reserve (1 hour)
Parabolic Hearing +4
Polarized Eyes
Pressure Support +1
Rapid Healing
Resistant To Poison
Temperature Tolerance +3
Venom (bite, blood agent, +3 toxicity), (internal fluids, corrosive,
+1 damage)
Very Fit

All wearers of the bioarmor will develop their latent psionic
abilities, whatever those might be, usually over a period of about a
year after awakening in the bioarmor. (In my world, essentially
everyone has latent psionic powers.)

Additionally, all bioarmor wearers will have the following special
psionic abilities:

SENSE LIFE ENERGY: (M/A, defaults to IQ, range of Power yards, default
Power 1), Psychic Vampirism Power. On a successful skill roll, the
bioarmor wearer will be aware of all large animals, plants, fungi, etc
within range, no resistance roll possible (though some things can
shield against the power). The better the skill roll success, the
more precisely the wearer will know direction and range. On a
critical success s/he will know the precise locations.

DRAIN LIFE ENERGY: This is a special ability. At Power 1 physical
contact is required, and it requires 1d turns to take effect and then
remains in effect until resisted or physical contact is lost. At
higher powers range is equal to Power in yards, but physical contact
enables immediate effect.

This ability lets the bioarmor wearer attempt to drain the life energy
of the victim, be that subject animal, plant, fungus, or other
Solarigen life form. No skill is required, the target resists at Will
or Mind Shield Power, whichever is greater. Roll Drain Power vs. Will
or Mind Shield or IQ as applicable. Successful resistance forces the
bioarmor wearer to try again, with the usual penalty for a repeated
attempt (apply penalty to effective Power), critical success means
that that specific person is permanently immune to that
particular bioarmor’s Drain ability.

(Plants and animals and comparable resist at IQ or as if IQ 4,
whichever is higher.)

On a success, the bioarmor wearer can drain 1 point of HT AND ST per
level of Power per turn, the victim gets another chance to resist with
each turn, but the GM may wish to assign penalties to the Will roll as
strength ebbs. This ability can be maintained until resisted, the
bioarmor wearer stops, or the subject is dead. At high enough Power
levels, this _can_ be fatal in one turn.

Each point of ST or HT drained is stored by the bioarmor, up to a
number equal to Power * 2. Thus a Power of 10 would enable the
bioarmor wearer to store 20 drained points of HT or ST. It can Drain
more than that, but the excess can not be stored. The stored energy
can be held indefinitely until needed.

At any desired time, the wearer can tap this reservoir to boost his or
her own ST or HT (for this purpose the stored points are
interchangeable, up to double basic stats. Thus a bioarmored person
with ST 28 could gain up to an additional 28 points of ST (if s/he had
the stored energy) for one turn. Or HT could be boosted instead,
but it has to be one or the other, not both at once.

Alternatively, the stored points can be converted into boosts to the
normal psionic Power possessed by the wearer, at a rate a +1 to Power
on any ability (with one exception) per 3 points of stolen energy.
(Think of it as stored Extra Effort, usable with no penalty to skill.)

There is a special case, though. If the stolen HT and ST is used to
fuel the Life Extension psi skill, then each stolen point counts as
+1 to Power for that purpose. This means that Draining others can
easily extend the lifespan of a bioarmored person to a tremendous
degree.

MORE LATER.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

Obviously the bioarmor makes a wearer very powerful and dangerous, but
there are some obvious and very serious downsides as well. This sort
of power is rarely free, and that is especially the case here.

Being grafted into the bioarmor gives any Homosapient the following
Disadvantages:

Hideous Appearance
Color Blindness (the implanted organisms do not detect color)
Bad Temper (side effect of hormone changes)
Bloodlust (side effect of hormonal and neurological changes)
Gluttony (increased nutrient and energy requirements)
Duty (creator of the armor, all the time, dangerous, often
involuntary)
Disturbing Voice
Inconvenient Size (in most Homosapient environs)

Plus the neurological, hormonal, and psychological changes almost
invariably add additional Disadvantages, select at least four from or
at assign at least four:

At least one Odious Personal Habit at 10 point level
Bully
Callous
Chronic Depression
Compulsive Behavior at 10 point level
Delusion at 10 point or more level
Fanaticism (usually but not always service of Cythorax)
Impulsiveness
Intolerance at 10 points (can be toward anything)
Jealousy (very common toward normal Homosapients)
Low Empathy
Megalomania
Obsession (can be anything)
Paranoia
Sadism
Split Personality
Unlucky

Special Disadvantage: The Bioarmor wearer suffers from a -6 to Will
and IQ and Mind Shield rolls to resist any telepathic contact or
compulsion imposed by Cythorax (the creator of the armor). Further,
Cythorax suffers no penalty for repeat attempts to make contact or
impose compulsions or control the body of the bioarmor wearer until
after three failed attempts or a critical failure.

Further, certain advantages are precluded. Even if they were
possessed, they are lost when a character or NPC becomes bioarmored:

Animal Empathy
Empathy
Luck (the power that governs Luck doesn’t seem to like bioarmored
people)

Certain skills will be difficult to use with bioarmor as well. (Sex
Appeal and Erotic Arts come to mind, but others exist, Fast Talk and
Stealth and Criminal skills, for example.)

[hari]

Let me be the first one to say, although I am not finished reading what has been posted, that that's really damned cool. :)

[kdtipa]

Looks like a more in-depth and extended version of the Guyver. Pretty cool concept. Is there any more info about the setting? What's the reason this armor came about? And why was this option preferable to non-biological solutions (powered armor for example)? Just curious to know more.

[kdtipa]

One quick thing: instead of gluttony, the disadvantage: Increased Consumption might fit better.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by kdtipa

Looks like a more in-depth and extended version of the Guyver.

Wow, that does look similar, and it isn't the inspiration. I wasn't familiar with the Guyver until I read that.

Pretty cool concept. Is there any more info about the setting?

Well, there's a lot of stuff about my world over on rec.games.frp.gurps, a lot of posts spread over several years. I've thought about reposting some of it here, but that would be a lot of posts!

What's the reason this armor came about? And why was this option preferable to non-biological solutions (powered armor for example)? Just curious to know more.

Because Cythorax, the creature that made the bioarmor, thinks that way, and because itwas in a very peculiar situation.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by hari

Let me be the first one to say, although I am not finished reading what has been posted, that that's really damned cool. :)

Thanks! :grin: