| CloudCobra |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The villains of the Earthsiege/Starsiege games seemed like a good idea to use for an Iron Gods spinoff campaign with Unity being a Prometheus stand-in. But what would be the best way to replicate this iconic, cybernetic race?
1) My first thought was an Intellect Devourer Effigy (D&D 3.5 Complete Arcane, pp.151-153) in conjunction with a Parasitic Soul spell. This should work when you read the Special Attacks section carefully:
An effigy loses all supernatural special attacks, spell-like abilities, and extraordinary special attacks for which a target’s saving throw is based on the effigy’s Constitution (since the creature no longer has a Con score).
Since the Body Thief ability is not based on the Intellect Devourer's Constitution score, and a coup de grace Fort save is based on the damage dealt, it should thus be able to serve as a metal brain. But the problem is that the body starts to decay to uselessness after 7 days. So, without a constant Gentle Repose spell magic item this wouldn't work.
This may even work for the Cybrid infiltration units that actually placed their brains into human forms, or the Dystopian Sno-Men human turncoats which became Cybrids. Either way it still might be a step up from the Android race of Pathfinder.
2) My other thought was to apply the same idea using the Tsochar from D&D 3.5 Lords of Madness (pp.122-123). But the inhabited body still loses up to 1d3 Constitution each day, which would require a Ring of Inner Fortitude.
3) Maybe a Brain in a Jar with an Animated Object chassis?
4) How about a Tear of Nuruu'gal (Lost Cities of Golarion, p.43)? The symbiosis ability is Extraordinary and the creature provides a ring of sustenance effect. However, the creature doesn't really take over the body.
Are there any other kind of bodysnatcher creatures which could perhaps be converted into robotic constructs and then perhaps turned into an Aggregate AI? How would you guys handle this?
ACKNOWLEDGE//SUBMIT! Send//transmit//download data to <Giver of Will> for decision\\directive.
| avr |
Umbral stalkers' possessed bodies decay a lot slower, 1 Con drain/month. A body a year should be doable. They're insubstantial so could be used as AIs perhaps.
| CloudCobra |
Umbral stalkers' possessed bodies decay a lot slower, 1 Con drain/month. A body a year should be doable. They're insubstantial so could be used as AIs perhaps.
That's actually an Umbral Shepherd (Inner Sea Bestiary, p.53).
It's an interesting concept though, but you'd still have to get a Bone Ring (Magic Item Compendium p.75) [Immunity of up to 3 points of ability drain per day @ 20,000gp] or a bed of restoration (Stronghold Builder's Guide, p.71, 38,000 gp).
Hmmm, now that would be a bit interesting. The Cybrids would need a Maintenance Hub to which they need to return every so often. Doesn't have to be a bed either, it could just look like a Borg alcove, too. :)
| CloudCobra |
5) But, so far I think I like the Thoon Infiltrator from D&D 3.5 Monster Manual V (pp. 109-111) the best. It's effectively just a bundle of thin, metallic tentacles the size of a house cat which kills the host during infestation and then reassembles the body from the bottom up. Still can make the body eat, sleep and breathe if needed. The Spawn Thrall ability and the Eventual Comeback abilities were nice. Just need to turn it from a Monstrous Humanoid to a Construct.
The problem seems to be around putting a consciousness into a Construct body. Paizo has horribly nerfed the Polymorph Any Object spell. In fact, polymorph spells don't seem to allow you to actually change from one type of creature to another anymore. So, this creates the first problem. The other being actually replicating or creating a mind.
Now, Valley of the Brain Collectors (pg.62) says that creating a mind can only be done in one of two ways: 1) programming an A.I. from scratch (a discipline lost to the denizens of Divinity today, and one that was thus never available to the inhabitants of Golarion), or 2) transferring a living creature's mind via neurocam (Technology Guide, pg. 50, 36,000 gp). A Psychic Imprinter could also do it but it can also be used to overwrite and completely replace an existing personality in a body. Either way that's one way to put the mind into into blank clone in a clonepod or a Compact AI Core. Now, Unity (our Prometheus stand-in) created another AI called Hellion but in so doing that AI could also bestow divine powers. We don't want that. So, the only other ways I've been able to find to put a consciousness into a construct through a non-technology way would be a Parasitic Soul spell, or a Major Mind Swap psychic spell. Unfortunately, only an Impossible Bloodline sorcerer can use Enchantment spells on Constructs, and to replicate Major Mind Swap would require a Wish spell then.
| CloudCobra |
The Core Directive has begun efficiently. We//the NEXT have successfully established ourselves on Third-World. Observation: Lifeflow is plentiful here. Primary logic stream. Your efficiency has been recorded.
Doll, Soulbound (Pathfinder #7: Edge of Anarchy, pg. 84)
Soul Focus (Su) The soul bound to the doll lives within a focus integrated into the doll or its apparel, typically one of the doll’s eyes or a gem embedded into the neck or chest of the doll. As long as this soul focus remains intact, it can be built into another doll for the soul to animate, using the same cost as creating a new construct. Once bound into the soul focus, the soul continues to learn, and so if later put into a new doll body the soul retains its personality and memories from its previous body or bodies. Regardless of its construction, a soul focus has hardness 8, 12 hit points, and a break DC of 20.
Crafted from a fragment of a creature’s soul, these small dolls are animated with sentient will. For the most part, the binding process strips almost all of the individuality and personal conviction from the soul fragment, making a brand new soulbound doll a blank slate onto which the creator can ascribe what values he desires. Despite this process, however, fragments of the original creature’s will remains.
When a soul fragment is stripped from its soul, it retains just enough of its personality to influence the new personality born within the soulbound doll. As such, the creators of soulbound dolls are typically very careful to cull soul fragments from people who possess personality traits the crafters wishes to see in their dolls.
A soulbound doll’s body is made from whatever materials the creator wishes (common choices include wood, stone, and porcelain), as well as one exquisite item worth at least 2,000 gp to serve as the soul focus. This item is typically a single tiny gemstone, but it may also be a finely-crafted miniature dress or a Tiny masterwork weapon. Assembling the body requires a DC 20 Craft (sculpting) or Craft (dollmaking) check.
Creation also requires a soul fragment from a living or recently deceased creature (died within 1 hour of the start of the binding ritual). The binding process strips most of a soul fragment’s personal conviction and personality, but not necessarily all. If the source soul has a non-neutral component to its alignment, one of those components (selected randomly if the creature has two) influences the soulbound doll’s final alignment. If the soul used to infuse the doll is from that of a still-living creature, the creature can resist the procedure with a DC 20 Will save. If the saving throw is failed, the creature takes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage and 1 point of Charisma drain. Stripping a soul fragment from someone who is already dead does not deal damage or drain to the corpse, nor does it inflict any lasting damage on the soul itself, which is free to proceed on to the afterlife once the doll’s fragment is secured. The soul fragment retains no memories from its former life.
CL 9th; Craft Construct, lesser geas, levitate, light, mage hand, magic jar, open/close, prestidigitation, soul of a living creature; Price 10,000 gp; Cost 6,000 gp + 320 XP.
Yeah, it's 3.5 but it WAS published by Paizo. So, this allows us to create a metallic brain and just stick a soul gem to it and you effectively have a sentient, immortal brain that can be transplanted into a body.
Create Lantern Archon (D&D 3.5 Champions of Valor, pg.54)
Conjuration (Creation) [Good, Light]
Level: Sanctified 3,
Components: V, S, DF, Sacrifice
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One lantern archon
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You sacrifice a small part of your own life force to create a new lantern archon in the service of your patron. The lantern archon is not under your control but is friendly to you. It willingly performs one nonhazardous task of your choice taking up to 1 hour without requiring any payment. Alternatively, you can request that it perform a hazardous or longer task, but in this case payment is required—see lesser planar ally, page 261 of the Player's Handbook, for details on tasks and payment. Upon completion of the task, the lantern archon is magically transported to your deity's home plane.
Sacrifice Component: 1d2 points of Constitution drain.
So, basically, we take any kind of sentient creature and create a Lantern Archon from its soul. We can always use Restoration on the creature later to give back the Constitution. According to D&D rules, for Outsiders their soul and body form one unit. So, we kill the Lantern Archon and use it as the "soul of a living creature" component for the Soul Focus gem.
At this point we either keep our blank slate or use a neurocam/psychic imprinter to put a new personality into the brain. Otherwise we put a PC character soul into the soul focus using Parasitic Soul or Major Mind Swap. Since Cybrids are at least partially neutral in alignment this works out. We then just have to embed it inside a robot or use a permanent Animate Object spell for the chassis.
Mission Successful! The Core Directive advances within acceptable parameters. <Your> efficiency is recorded//acknowledged//maintained. Remain with Nexus. Prepare to deploy for new phase of Core Directive. ACKNOWLEDGE//SUBMIT.
| CloudCobra |
Lets see if we can't cobble together Cybrids using the Race Builder...That way we can make this a potentially playable race for Metagen units and Machinator infiltration units. I took the base form of a Contemplative of Ashok (Distant Worlds, pg.60) and made it a Half-Construct race by removing the body. Then I threw in some aspects from the Soulbound Doll and the Abalonnians, and combined it with an AI.
TOTAL: 10 RP
Racial Abilities and Features (3 Traits per Category)
Type: Half-Construct (7 RP)
Size: Small (0 RP)
Base Speed: Normal (0 RP)
Ability Score Modifiers: Flexible [+2 Int, +2 Wis] (2 RP)
Languages: Xenophobic (0 RP)
RACIAL TRAITS
Defense Racial Traits
Defensive Training, Lesser [Humanoid(human)] (1 RP)
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Emotionless (-1 RP)
Skill Training (Craft[mechanical] & Knowledge[engineering]) (1 RP)
Static Bonus Feat (2 RP)
Senses Racial Traits
Sensory Deprivation (-2 RP)
Shortwave (2 RP)
Other Racial Traits
Power-Source Dependency (-2 RP): Cybrids gain their energy from arcane batteries, regular batteries and generators. Within range of a signal jammer they gain the sickened condition. They take 1d4 points of Constitution damage each day they go without usage of an electrical charge. A cybrid has a capacity of 200 and uses a charge a day to sustain itself. If necessary, a cybrid can drain the energy in its internal storage to power weaponry and other technological items that are part of its war-form.
Soul Core (Su): The AI soul bound to the cybrid lives within a core integrated into the brain. As long as this soul core remains intact, it can be used to animate another body, using the same cost as creating a new construct. Once bound into the soul core, the AI continues to learn. and so if later it is put into a new body, the AI retains its personality and memories from its previous body or bodies. A soul core has hardness 8, 12 hit points, and a break DC of 20.
• Cybrids modify their initiative checks with their Intelligence modifier rather than their Dexterity modifier.
• Cybrids gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and effects that cause either exhaustion or fatigue.
• Cybrids cannot be raised or resurrected.
• Cybrids do not breathe, eat, or sleep, unless they want to gain some beneficial effect from one of these activities. This means that a cybrid can drink potions to benefit from their effects and can sleep in order to regain spells, but neither of these activities is required to survive or stay in good health.
• Cybrids are trained to fight their human creators and gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against such humanoids.
• Cybrids have problems processing emotions properly, and thus take a –4 penalty on Sense Motive checks.
• Cybrids gain Technologist as a bonus feat.
• Cybrids heal only half as much from healing effects (other than effects which work on constructs, such as fast healing and repair effects) and take only half damage from negative energy effects.
• Cybrids use their own saving throws only against attacks that target their minds — in most cases, this means it primarily uses its Will save.
• Cybrids are a xenophobic race and start off only speaking Androffan. They, however, also know a number of additional languages equal to their Intelligence modifier (one of which must be Common).
• Cybrids need access to robots, cameras, microphones, or other mechanical sensory tools in order to be able to notice things in the outside world.
• Cybrids can communicate with nearby Cybrids via invisible waves. This functions as telepathy 100 ft., but only with other Cybrids. In combat, if any allied Cybrids within range can act in a surprise round, all of them can.
Name: <Eats-Only-Heads>
Race: Cybrid AI
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Initiative: +3
Abilities: Int 14 (12 +2 Int), Wis 12 (10 +2 Wis), Cha 14
Fort Save: +0, Reflex Save +0, Will Save +3 (+2 Base +1 Wis)
Languages: Androffan, Common, Hallit
Skills (8; 6+2): Bluff +2 (+2 Cha), *Craft (mechanical) +6 (+3 class + 1 rank +2 Int), Diplomacy +2 (+2 Cha), Disable Device +3 (+1 rank +2 Int), Intimidate +2 (+2 Cha), *Knowledge (engineering) +6 (+3 class +1 rank +2 Int), Knowledge (geography) +3 (+1 rank +2 Int), *Knowledge (local) +6 (3 class +1 rank +2 Int), Linguistics +3 (+1 rank +2 Int), *Perception +5 (+3 class +1 rank +1 Wis), Sense Motive -2 (+1 rank +1 Wis - 4 Emotionless)
Feats: Gunsmithing (Level 1), Technologist (Static)
Level 1 Warform
Small Aggregate Cybrid AI poppet (robot)
CR: 1
Init: +4; Senses: Shortwave (100 ft.), darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision
AC 22 (+2 armor +4 Dex +1 shield +1 size + 4 dodge), touch 19, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor +1 shield + 1 size)
hp 15 (1d10+10)
Immune: construct traits
Weaknesses: vulnerable to critical hits, vulnerable to cold, vulnerable to electricity
Speed: 20 ft.
Melee: slam +3 (1d3+1)
Ranged: Revolver (Nagant M1895) +1 [+1 BAB +4 Dex -4 Non-proficient] (1d8; range 80 ft.)
Special Attacks: Berserk
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 12
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 18, Con —, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 14
Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +3
Items: Reinforced Tunic (1 gp); Armored Kilt (20 gp); Masterwork Light Steel Shield (159 gp); Revolver (400 gp); Concussion Grenade (50 gp)
Total Cost to create: 15,425 gp [10,000 gp (Creating a Robot of CR 1); Ability Score Modification (+2 DEX; +5,000 gp); Nimble Poppet [+4 Dex](+200 gp)]; Fleet Poppet [+10 feet speed] (+125 gp); Sealed Poppet (+100 gp) [loses vulnerability to fire].
Construction Points: 5 [1 CP from Small Animated Object + 1 CP Flammable + 1 CP Brittle + 1 CP Slower (-10 ft. speed) + 1 CP Cloth (hardness 0)]
Additional Attack (Ex, 1 CP): Gains an additional slam attack.
Additional Attack (Ex, 1 CP): Gains an additional slam attack.
Ranged Attack (Ex, 2 CP): Replace one slam attack with a ranged attack.
Improved Attack (Ex, 1 CP): All the Animated Object’s ranged attacks do damage as though it were one size category larger.
• Vulnerable to Critical Hits: Whenever a robot takes extra damage from a critical hit, it must make a DC 15 Fortitude save to avoid being stunned for 1 round. If it makes a successful saving throw, it is staggered for 1 round. The robot remains immune to other sources of the stunned condition.
• Vulnerable to Electricity: Robots take 150% as much damage as normal from electricity attacks, unless they are immune to electricity via other special defenses.
• Vulnerable to Fire: Poppets take 150% as much damage as normal from fire attacks, unless they are immune to fire via other special defenses.
• When this robotic poppet enters combat, there is a cumulative 1% chance each round that its AI breaks free from Unity's control and the construct goes berserk. This chance resets to 0% after one minute of inactivity. A berserk construct attacks the nearest living creature or smashes some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach. Once it goes berserk, no known method can reestablish control. Units that become broken, display unintelligent behavior, or show heretical thought are reprogrammed by Redactors to fix these problems or put down permanently by other Cybrids.
Note 1: A newly created robot has average hit points for its Hit Dice. (Pathfinder #90: The Divinity Drive, pg. 71)
Note 2: Abilities that weaken or potentially place a construct at a disadvantage rarely reduce the construct’s price. An exception is the berserk ability. Constructs that have a chance of going berserk receive –1 CR adjustment to their calculated price if control can be reestablished (like a flesh golem) or –2 CR adjustment for permanent loss of control (like a clay golem). [Ultimate Magic, pg. 113]
I doubt a grenade attack could also be added without further expenditures of Construction Points. But I think this robot is powerful enough as it is for a CR 1 creature.