Notes on Using GURPS Bio-Tech (4e) in TS (part 1: TL Overview)

[Anthony]

Well, human-clone bioroids as bioshells generally aren't legally equivalent to bioroids anyway, since they likely have their brains replaced by a computer running a ghost, rather than being a conventional bioroid, and probably have the same legal rights as ghosts, rather than the legal rights of bioroids.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Well, human-clone bioroids as bioshells generally aren't legally equivalent to bioroids anyway, since they likely have their brains replaced by a computer running a ghost, rather than being a conventional bioroid...

That's about the only specific use we've seen mentioned for them. Whether that's actually the only reason why they're ever created is undetermined.

The generic mad-as-a-fish billionaires with which the world of the future is infested hip-deep might well have, say, clone bioroids created based on any romantic interest who spurned them in the past, and trained up as subservient pleasure models. (Sure, they could do much the same with a bioshell version, but see below for why they might not.) Thinking of other applications is left as an exercise.

Originally Posted by Anthony

...and probably have the same legal rights as ghosts, rather than the legal rights of bioroids.

Do note that bioshells have some significant legality/acceptability problems in the EU, India, and the Caliphate; see p.TS127, specifically the table footnotes. Yes, ghosts can use them, but I'd guess that they hit "creepiness" issues with a fair few people.

[Phil Masters]

Chapter 7

Aaaand... Here we have a chapter that sort of fits with the more cyberpunk-ish side of TS. There's stuff here that isn't, so far as I recall, mentioned much in TS anywhere (e.g. Complete Sex Change), but which is certainly quite plausible for the setting - if only in Red Duncanite territory in some cases, maybe.

* Eye Upgrade (p.173): Equivalent to Retinal Enhancement in TS - but better (going up to +3 vision, or even +4 if one allows TL11 effectiveness, for which I'd suggest adding a healthy surcharge). The point about retina prints changing is also valid and significant.

* Cold-Adaptive Fur (p.174): Not as good as the TS Ruanmao, but blame the TL difference...

* Skeleton Tongue (p.175): I have my doubts about the reliability and/or the TL setting of this. You'd surely need more than a tweaked voicebox.

* Limb Replacement Transplants (p.175): And I think you'd need a lot of training, at minimum, for some of these to do you much good. With a standard human nervous system, I'd expect feet-hands to be a bit clumsy.

* Pheromone Glands (p.176): As I've said before, I'd consider any pheromones that are supposed to affect unmodified humans as highly GM's-option-only.

* Sensa-Skin Grafts (p.177): Doesn't appear to exist in 2100 (yet?). A wee bit skiffy?

* Polykeratin Grafts (p.177-8): I don't think that TS has polykeratin, either.

* Winged Retromorphosis (p.178): The TS version isn't as good, though it can be used as a striker.

* Tentacle Transplant (p.178): Might exist in TS, but I'd require a lot of acclimatisation to use the darned things.

* Myelin Replacement (p.180): The TS version only gives immunity to the specific problem of Gas Narcosis - which I seem to recall from past playtest discussions may be somewhat more realistic.

* Sleepless (p.180): I doubt that the TL11 version is available in TS, given that there aren't any parahumans or bioroids who've had the need for sleep entirely engineered out of them.

* Mutation Repair (p.182): I don't think that TS treatments are supposed to be quite this good, though they head along similar lines.

* Methuselah Program (p.186): See above.

* Nerve Boosters (p.186): TS assumes that this is a nanosymbiont, not a proteus virus. Whatever.

* Biotronic Virus (p.186): Biotronic circuitry isn't standard in TS; it might be under development, though.

Chapter 8 will follow, which will be the last - chapter 9 doesn't really relate to TS.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

That's about the only specific use we've seen mentioned for them. Whether that's actually the only reason why they're ever created is undetermined.

Valid. However, it does not appear to be possible to build a clone biobrain which is fast-taught with a ghost pattern, so that places some limits on what you can actually do.

I suspect clone bioroids hit the same creepiness issues as bioshells.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

The generic mad-as-a-fish billionaires with which the world of the future is infested hip-deep.

Recent studies (e.g., S. Bremen's "A statistical memetic analysis on the increased incidence of piscean-level dementia in upper wealth brackets of fifth wave society") suggest that the main casual agents for this are (1) the rise in income levels, which have roughly triple the number of billionaires and (2) their *earlier* consiousness of their own immortality, especially compared to the rest of the Fifth Wave world, due to their wealth (starting in the mid 2050s) allowing them a more than 2-3 decade advance on reliable break-even techniques for permanent life extension. This resulted in a profound alienation often acted out by adoption of radical posthuman ethic among some of them couple in some cases by emotalist paranoia and a need to adjust their vision from one of "build and leave it to the descendants" to "plan for the very long view". Of course, Fifth Wave society as a whole has had to face this, but the point of Bremen's study is that billionaires faced this *earlier* and without the support mechanisms (indeed, often the reverse as those who were early adopters of super-expensive immortality technology were often criticized, forced to do so in secret, etc.). So, more of them went all fishy.

[DryaUnda]

Originally Posted by David L Pulver

Fifth Wave society as a whole has had to face [a need to adjust their vision from one of "build and leave it to the descendants" to "plan for the very long view"], but the point of Bremen's study is that billionaires faced this *earlier* and without the support mechanisms (indeed, often the reverse as those who were early adopters of super-expensive immortality technology were often criticized, forced to do so in secret, etc.). So, more of them went all fishy.

Quoted for truth.

[Nelson Cunnington]

Originally Posted by David L Pulver

So, more of them went all fishy.

Except for the ones who early-adopted the wrong technologies; they went belly-up fishy.

[Gorilla Spawn]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Of course, the main point of most bioroids is to create an organism which isn't akin to any human or parahuman. While there've no doubt been a number of genetically human bioroids created over the years, there are good reasons for most people to avoid doing so.

Based on the wording in TS, for some reason I thought that bioroids are in fact genetically human but as mentioned earlier the tissue is grown on scaffolding, etc. I think it mentions specifically somewhere that the brains are human. I thought TS tech was not advanced enough to create artificial DNA mimicking humans?

[Phil Masters]

Chapter 8

The stuff in this chapter could actually be quite handy for TS games involving a lot of medical or biotech themes - which itself is an idea worth pursuing. Anyway, it's certainly worth a read.

* Black Market Organs (p.195): I think it's safe to assume that in the Transhuman Space setting, the ability to grow organs to order to match any patient's transplant needs - or pretty well any plausible research requirement - means that there won't be any sort of black market in organs.

* Spare-Parts Clones (p.196): Likewise, there doesn't appear to be any need to grow entire clones as a source of spare parts.

* Character Templates (p.202-210): Many of these are potentially useful in TS games - though of course they assume (more or less) human characters; interactions with radically nonhuman racial templates (and attitudes) might get interesting. The Organlegger template is of course irrelevant in a world with no real black market in organs; for darkside medic/biologist characters, look at some of the lenses on other templates (i.e. Genehacker or Illegal Physician).

* Biotech Meta-Traits (p.214): As noted previously, the Bioroid Body meta-trait in Changing Times is slightly different to the Bioroid meta-trait here.

* Bioengineering (p.214): The new specializations given here might show up in TS. "Biogadgets" will be rare - there are some such things on the market, but they're mostly rather specialist stuff. "Microbioengineering" is probably fairly common; it might even be used in the creation of "wet" nano at times. "Uplift" represents a fairly widespread area of activity, though maybe not something which gets its own department at universities.

* Accessibility (p.215): The "Requires Low Gravity" version of this may be relevant on occasion in TS character creation... The Astropus template and Winged Retromorphosis biomod in Changing Times are both consistent here.

* Temporary Disadvantage (p.215): The "Aftermath" version of this can be applied to things like the Felicia bioroid... But the version in Changing Times does things differently. To be honest, I'm not 100% keen on Aftermath; if you don't hit a situation which forces a self-control roll soon, you could be walking around with the problem set to go off for weeks afterwards, which seems a bit silly - if this represents a hormonal thing, the hormones will surely dissipate sooner than that. But anyone who wants to tweak the Changing Times Felicia is free to do so.

* Cardiac Stress (p.215): As used for the Bio-Booster biomod in Changing Times.

* Unsupported Strength (p.215): It's a bit fiddly to administer, but it sounds like the sort of thing that Martian Triad street docs wind up providing.
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Which is my lot with this book - like I said, Chapter 9 isn't TS-relevant. I will move onto *Ultra-Tech* in due course, but I may take a short breather first.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Gorilla Spawn

I thought TS tech was not advanced enough to create artificial DNA mimicking humans?

Read the description on p.TS76. Their DNA may be based on human material, but it's substantially messed about with.

TS biotech can't build the genome for an organism of human-level complexity from scratch, but it can make heavy modifications to existing DNA, and build genes for specific, single, fairly straightforward purposes.