Bioroids from Magazines

[vanyal]

Howdy All,

Has anyone ever created the racial templates for bioroid/androids from the Pyramid and Roleplayer magazines? I am especially looking for the Mngwa I and Bast III from Roleplayer 29.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by vanyal

Howdy All,

Has anyone ever created the racial templates for bioroid/androids from the Pyramid and Roleplayer magazines? I am especially looking for the Mngwa I and Bast III from Roleplayer 29.

Haven't yet, unfortunately. They're also covered in much greater detail in Cyberpunk Adventures, along with others.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

I'll respectfully take a crack at it if David doesn't feel like it. I don't have a copy of Cyberpunk Adventures, but extrapolating from the Roleplayer article (if this is the one you're talking about... I know I have a hard copy somewhere but can't put hands on it at the moment) and the 3e-4e bioroid updates in THS: Changing Times, here's what I've got (David or anybody, please correct me if I'm misinterpreting what's on the template and what's personal, as only full sample characters are given by that source):

I'm ripping the following metatrait from Changing Times p 43 for this even though we're doing cyberpunk, because it seems close enough for jazz:

Bioroid Body [-4]: Includes the perk No Degeneration in Zero-G [1], the disadvantage Unusual Biochemistry [-5], and the features Early Maturation 4, Intron Messages (usually a trademark), Sterile, and Taboo Trait (Genetic Defects). (Most also have the feature Closely Resembles Others Of The Same “Model,” but some bioroid types are built with a greater degree of individual variation.) Note that, unlike the corresponding 3e advantage (p. TS131), this no longer includes a Social Stigma. Bioroids are treated substantially differently in different regions, and it is more appropriate to give them different Social Stigmas according to their individual situations (see above) Uplifted animal bioroids now use the same meta-trait. [-4] points.

~~~

Mngwa I [160]:

Attributes: ST +3 (Size -10%) [27]; DX +4 [80]; HT +3 [30];

Secondaries: SM +1 [0]; Basic Move +1 [5]; Perception +2 [10];

Advantages: Claws (Sharp) [5]; Combat Reflexes [15]; DR x1 (Flexible -20%) [4]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Night Vision x5 [5]; Striking ST +2 (Size -10%) [9]; Teeth (Sharp) [1]; Temperature Tolerance x1 [1];

Perks: Fearsome Stare [1]; Fur [1];

Disadvantages: Bioroid Body [-4]; Colorblind [-10]; Self-Destruct [-10]; Short Lifespan x2 [-20];

Features: Eliminate 2 Levels of Early Maturation [0];

Notes: An expensive high-end combat bioroid developed by Biotech Chulan with human and leopard DNA for the private security market. Big, fast, coordinated, alert, and scary-looking, they are optimized for a guard or bodyguard role but would actually make pretty lousy soldiers for a couple of reasons (easy target, logistical pain in the ass). They have planned obsolescence built-in (supposedly as a "safety feature," though it was the guys in Marketing who pushed for it), very rarely living for much longer than 12 years. I lowered overall ST to normalize HP and lifting with 4e, but added some Striking ST to make up the difference there.

~~~

Bast III [140]:

Attributes: ST -1 [-10]; DX +3 [60]; HT +1 [10];

Secondaries: HP +3 (Massless +0%) [6]; FP -2 [-6]; Perception +3 [15];

Advantages: Affliction x4 (Will -3: Area Effect: 2 Yards +50%, Based on Will +20%, Disadvantage: Lecherous 12- +15%, Access: Vs Alive & Opposite Sex -30%, Always On -10%, Dissipation -50%, Emanation -20%, Nuisance Effect: Ruins Stealth vs Smell -5%, Sense-Based: Smell -20%) [20]; Appearance (Beautiful) (Off-The-Shelf -50%) [6]; Catfall [10]; Charisma +2 (Access: Vs Alive & Opposite Sex -30%, Glamour vs Will -3 -15%, Nuisance Effect: Ruins Stealth vs Smell -5%, Sense-Based: Smell -20%) [3]; Claws (Sharp) [5]; Combat Reflexes [15]; DR x1 (Flexible -20%) [4]; Flexible [5]; Night Vision x5 [5]; Perfect Balance [15]; Resistant +8 (Disease) [5]; Temperature Tolerance x1 [1];

Perks: Classic Features (Mostly-Humanoid Catgirl/boy) [1]; Fur [1];

Disadvantages: Bioroid Body [-4]; Impulsiveness (15-) [-5]; Self-Destruct [-10]; Short Lifespan x1 [-10];

Quirk: Dichromatic Vision [-1]; Mildly Lecherous [-1];

Features: Eliminate 1 Level of Early Maturation [0]; Transgenic Features [0];

Notes: This cat-based pleasure model by Biotech Chulan is very similar to the Felicia II from Changing Times p 48-49, but with humanlike teeth, thicker fur, better eyesight, marginally better self-control, and certain sexualized extras such as a mind-influencing pheromone power that works on living members of the opposite sex regardless of respective orientations. Fatigue and HP adjusted to 3e norms to comply with the source; cut it if it bugs you. They are billed as custom-built exotic dancers, fetish concubines, and other forms of sapient entertainment, but there is a thriving black aftermarket that deals in brainwashed, emotionally-damaged Bast IIIs that are good at getting close enough to certain kinds of hard-to-reach people to kill them, and it's only a matter of time before some black lab manages to build a version that is like that "naturally." They have a marked tendency to rapidly decline and drop dead after their 25th decanted-day, but nobody really wants a middle-aged Bast III anyway, right?

~~~

I'll do the rest if you want to post the 3e stats.

[vanyal]

The article is the right one, and the stats in the article are 3e. Thank you for the 4e stats. I will hang on to them, but I plan to use 3e for the campaign I am creating.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by vanyal

The article is the right one, and the stats in the article are 3e. Thank you for the 4e stats. I will hang on to them, but I plan to use 3e for the campaign I am creating.

Well, that's simple enough, then - Just cut out everything that seems like a personal, rather than species-wide, trait and you're cooking with gas. :]

[ClayDowling]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

They have a marked tendency to rapidly decline and drop dead after their 25th decanted-day, but nobody really wants a middle-aged Bast III anyway, right?

If you wanted your Bast III for it's homicidal tendencies rather than recreational, you might appreciate a longer lifespan. At least among cats, as they get older they become significantly wiser in the ability to kill. To the point that I have an 8 year old cat who can live without human assistance for months at a time and maintain a healthy weight. Sadly, he proves this frequently.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

If you wanted your Bast III for it's homicidal tendencies rather than recreational, you might appreciate a longer lifespan. At least among cats, as they get older they become significantly wiser in the ability to kill. To the point that I have an 8 year old cat who can live without human assistance for months at a time and maintain a healthy weight. Sadly, he proves this frequently.

Yeah, they might take that into account when they try to build them as sex-ninja assassins intentionally... or they might want them to die even faster, so they can't have a change of heart and start talking in a decade or two...