Cyborgs & Fresh Meat

[Angelpunk]

I just found this web site yesterday and this is my first post so just wanted to say hi to everyone. I'm into the Sarah Conner Chronicles and was wondering how to stat up a Terminator in DC (would a 4-5 term cyborg escapee work?).

[Linden]

I just found this web site yesterday and this is my first post so just wanted to say hi to everyone. I'm into the Sarah Conner Chronicles and was wondering how to stat up a Terminator in DC (would a 4-5 term cyborg escapee work?).

Hi Angelpunk, I think I'm first to say welcome to the board.

I always thought the cyborg changelings had more than a touch of the Terminator about them. I'd maybe apply the Changeling stat alterations to a Veteran or Elite PC as a quick and dirty way of creating something suitably Cyberdynesque. Or, if you've got Dark Races you could apply the Symbiod template.

[ReHerakhte]

Hi & welcome to the site.
Unfortunately I can't offer much in the way of suggestions for a cyborg except to agree with Linden

[Zvezda]

Cyborg escapee with a lot of military terms would work fine in my oppinion. Someone has modified all the cyberware form the CP2020 basic book for use with DC if you want to I can post the linkt to the webpage if it is still available.

[Angelpunk]

Any help would be great. I found the book among my cousins role-playing stuff in the attic. I have the core book and a few mods, no experience running the game or even playing. Basically all I've done is made a few characters but it seems like a fun RPG and I want to run it for my friends someday.

[ReHerakhte]

As Angelpunk is interested in the 'Terminator' type cyborgs, I think in this case you'd be better off remaking the career to reflect the idea that this is a being created as a cyborg rather than the listed career in which a person has been altered with cybernetics.
This means that the robotic body is the 'real' character and the flesh & blood 'outer covering' is simply a disguise. This outer covering can be damaged with little to no impairment of the cyborg and it's likely that it's metal skeletal structure would give it an Armour Value of at least 2 with critical systems getting an AV of at least 3 (e.g. skull, torso)

In general I'd discard the listed Cyborg career and start with the following: -

STR - 6 + 1D6
CON - 6 + 1D6
AGL - 6 + 1D3
INT - 6
EDU - 6
CHR - 4
EMP - 0

Weight should be perhaps 40-50kg higher than Character Generation makes it to reflect the fact that the cyborg has a metal skeleton.

Body heat will be lower than a human because there's less organic material to fuel and the Terminator power unit is well sheilded (basing this off Rise of the Machines where the Arnie 'borg discards his faulty battery pack).

Empathic attacks that target the cyborg's mind would most likely result in an automatic failure (no biological brain to attack) unless the attacker used Computer Empathy as an enabler.

Likely Skills:
STR - Heavy Weapons, Mechanic, Melee Combat (Unarmed), Small Arms (Pistol), Small Arms (Rifle), Thrown Weapon
CON - Climbing, Swimming, Vessel Use (Boat)
AGL - Demolitions, Electronics, Lockpick
INT - Navigation, Observation, Pilot (any), Stalking, Tracking, Vehicle Use (all)
EDU - (could possibly have any relevant EDU skills) - Computer Operation, Medical (not just for healing allies but for knowing vulnerable parts of human anatomy)
CHR - Act/Bluff, Interrogation, Language (any)

Special Abilities, CHR - Mimic (ability to mimic other people's voices as seen in Terminator 2)
Special Abilities, STR - able to weild some two-handed weapons with one hand without the normal penalty (such as the M79 launcher).

Other Abilities -
Doesn't require sleep.
Doesn't require as much oxygen as a human (although still requires some to allow ther organic outer covering to maintain itself).
Can remain immobile for extended periods of time.
Unaffected by disease or poison.

Penalties -
1. Low Charisma, the cyborg has about as much empathy/sympathy for humans as a dead fish - unless it has been specifically designed/re-programmed to better relate to them.
2. If any of the flesh & blood outer covering is significantly damaged and unable to be repaired, the cyborg runs the risk of revealing it's true nature. When dealing with humans who don't know the cyborg is not human, lower CHR by 1 for every body location that is damaged. This could take CHR to zero or even into the negatives.


Hmm, can't think of much more at the moment and because I haven't seen Terminator 4 or the Sarah Conner Chronicles I don't know what other abilities may be available.
Now if you want something like the T1000 from Terminator 2, that's a whole different scenario that I'd have to do some research on!
Anyways, hope this gives you something to work with.

P.S. Just thought of something else for Penalties: the cyborg will never gain levels in Skills unless it is specifically reprogrammed to 'learn' (again based of the Arnie cyborg in Terminator 2)

[Zvezda]

Now that I think about it, the Terminator is not a cyborg at all. It has not the slightest trace of free will. It is (in the movies) an android designed to kill. As human as a MQ-8 Fire Scout. So it probably should not be made too close to the movies if it is going to be a PC.

[Angelpunk]

Thanx guys, good stuff so far. I would think, though, that terminators would all have strength ratings in the 10+ range. I don't imagine an exceptionally strong human overpowering a terminator. In T2 the T101 overpowered two body-builders.

I'm undecided whether or not I would have Terminators as player characters. I guess I'm trying to get an idea of their strengths and weaknesses in the game. I wouldn't want a player character terminator to overshadow the party, but I guess I could reign that in with the programming (must protect so and so, must obey orders from so and so, and so forth).

The Terminator that protects John Conner in the Sarah Conner Chronicles is hinted at as being some new kind of Terminator. She has a human name and at points in the show they hint at traces of humanity in her--Sarah has a narrative/monologue saying something like if machines could learn art or creativity, there would be no need for humans, and this is voiced over the terminator practicing ballet. I only just recently got into the series, so I'm not sure really where it's going with it.

I'll probably wind up doing a lot of fudging until I get a hang of the game, but it would be nice to be in the ballpark to start with.

[Linden]

The Terminator that protects John Conner in the Sarah Conner Chronicles is hinted at as being some new kind of Terminator. She has a human name and at points in the show they hint at traces of humanity in her--Sarah has a narrative/monologue saying something like if machines could learn art or creativity, there would be no need for humans, and this is voiced over the terminator practicing ballet. I only just recently got into the series, so I'm not sure really where it's going with it.

Some good roleplaying possibilities there.

By way of contrast I recently read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and I think its central argument is that while machines may be able to appreciate art, and perhaps even be capable of it, they're inferior to humans because they're incapable of empathy, even for each other. Of course Bladerunner and Terminator 2 take a more contrary view i.e. that the machines are capable of developing it and become more human as a result.

As to a Terminator PC overbalancing the party, why not make it a "light" model designed primarily for infiltration and intelligence gathering? You could use the cyborg Changeling template then which makes for a set of average stats but without overbalancing the game.

[Zvezda]

Probably the easiest way is to make the charakter one of the new Terminators form the last movie. This was some kind of cyborg. A machine with a human brain and empathy for his environment. I think this would be easier to Play than a Robot. I can not remember the other movies that well but if I remember correctly the Terminators were almost indestructible and immune to small arms fire. If you give the machine these abilities in the game you should be aware that if the group encounters opposition armed with weapons capable of slowing don the terminator (Stromguns, RPGs…) they will most certainly kill the other PCs in the battle. I once ruined a nice CP2020 campaign that way. I allowed a full borg modification and later had to send in troops with anti-tank weapons to stop the group. Borg escaped, the rest of the group was killed. Linden's 'lite Version' is a good idea to start with. It is not too much like the Terminators form the movies but a lot more playable. I also like the idea of giving certain orders to the Terminator like protecting one of the other PCs. You should take great care that the Terminator’s player is capable of making logic decisions the robot’s way. For example preventing the protected PC form joining too risky missions and things like that.

[Linden]

Probably the easiest way is to make the charakter one of the new Terminators form the last movie.

Think that would fit in with my cyborg changeling idea as well.

[Phulish]

The PC Booster kit had androids made by the ET's as an option. Mine was lost to water, and I haven't replaced it yet.

[ReHerakhte]

Hey if you need a new copy and are happy to have it in pdf. form, try Far Future Enterprises
http://www.farfuture.net/cdroms.html