Androids Body types?

[JetSetRadio]

So I have thought about what the androids might come with in the core book. Not really into the Data style (Star Trek) android but I do like the Canti style (from FLCL) or Prince Robot IV (from Saga). Or even like Chappie. Has there been discussion about alternate types?

[Torbyne]

There was another thread from, maybe a month ago? where we discussed androids basically being fluid in appearance. the idea is that they could be made to look more or less human based on the manufacturer and intended market. Those made by or for work with Elves for instance would probably have body shapes that were more slender and have elvish looking eyes, ear and other such features. i think the general rule from Pathfinder Androids is that they are clearly not human though they look close to one. from that you have a rather wide range to play with what their physical appreance would be. Once you work in Alternate Racial Traits you could have something that looks far more drastic. Also, it looks like you could basically start play with cybernetic replacements for many body parts and organs, so long as those parts offer no mechanical advantage over the "organic" variants than they would be level 1 with zero value so why not say your skull and face were augmented with a permanently attached helmet that provides the same darkvision and perception bonuses as your original factory parts.

There is a long standing trope of the Android wanting to become a "real boy" but it could be just as fun to play a character that revels in their artifical nature and wants to replace as much of themselves as they can with upgraded parts that leaves them looking far more mechanical in the end.

Or you could make it super easy and say your Android's shell was originally designed as an industrial worker by a company that didnt want to risk eliciting any emotional bonds between its leased workers and their current supervisors so as much as possible the shell's physical form was made to look mechanical, leaving it with lens instead of eyes, wire mesh recievers instead of ears, etc. etc.

[Mifune-Zero-Thirteen]

I think in this case they mean "robots that act human" as oppose to "robots that look human". So more like R2D2 or C3PO and less like Data and Lore.

[Torbyne]

I thought they were asking about Androids that look robotic.

There seems to be a distinct break between Robots and Androids in setting though with one possessing a soul and the other not. i am curous if you could have biological components on a robot, it seems like we can have robotic components added to any race though.

[Seisho]

Well in some settings there are bioligical parts in machines

for example in Andromeda you needed instinct to use the ftl system - a machine species had several jarred brains in their ships for that

generally bio-computers seem something which might be possible in a relatively near future

on the other hand is it usually a rather gruesome look if you add biological parts to machines without ability to sustain them

necrografts also come to mind

[theheadkase]

I believe those requiring organic parts (especially a brain) are defined as cyborgs, but that's also usually in conjunction with a being replacing their organic parts with biomechanics leaving their brain (or whatever is the "self" of the being).

I am really hoping to see odd bodies, an arachno-elf would basically be a drider, like arms that are hidden and extend from various ports, with tank treads, and an electron storm hovering above it for the brain.

I understand why the Core book wouldn't do too much with really odd bodies, mechanics would be screwy or OP, but I can dream!

[Torbyne]

Its been ages but wasnt there a line in Ghost in the Shell (the 90's era anime) about how if they turned in their machine bodies there would only be a few brain cells left? But they were still considered cyborgs and had full rights as any human would. They also seemed to have artificial muscles as well as when the Major was dismembered it sure looked like humany muscles getting flung about... umm, oh, spoilers?

[JTD]

theheadkase wrote:

I understand why the Core book wouldn't do too much with really odd bodies, mechanics would be screwy or OP, but I can dream!

I was hoping the same thing with the all the Core races and not just the Androids. With the truly alien setting, Paizo had the opportunity to come up with some really creative phenotypes, but instead chose humanoid (probably for the reasons you listed as well as playing it safe).

With that said, it's all good because these are just the Core and even if no other body types are offered we the fans can create our own (with the understanding that I'm still using the humanoid mechanics).

[Seisho]

Torbyne wrote:

Its been ages but wasnt there a line in Ghost in the Shell (the 90's era anime) about how if they turned in their machine bodies there would only be a few brain cells left? But they were still considered cyborgs and had full rights as any human would. They also seemed to have artificial muscles as well as when the Major was dismembered it sure looked like humany muscles getting flung about... umm, oh, spoilers?

It was something like that, in ghost in the Shell Motoko was 98% Cyborg, that means a little braind and spinal cord ws left but effectively she had a robotic body

the things that make out a cyborg are in the essence the brain (as core of what an organic needs to think) and in this setting the soul

a soul without organic matter would be an intelligent construct

organic matter in a robot without soul would be an undead or construct, depending on what makes it run

[JetSetRadio]

How does an android heal? If he can't be healed like a human and has to be healed machanically then having nonhuman parts would be likely. Anyone found how one heals?

[Sir RicHunt Attenwampi]

Pathfinder androids are closer to Bishop and Ash (synthetic humans) than they are to Data. (Plus they have souls, which also explains why they are affected by heal spells.)

Data, Canti, Prince Robot IV, R2, and 3P0 are per Pathfinder game mechanics much closer to robots with AI than they are androids. They'd be repaired with mend-type spells.

How any of this might have changed (or hasn't changed) under Starfinder is currently unrevealed. But from what Paizo has revealed so far, Starfinder androids seem to follow similar game design principles to Pathfinder androids.

[Lanitril]

Sir RicHunt Attenwampi wrote:

Pathfinder androids are closer to Bishop and Ash (synthetic humans) than they are to Data. (Plus they have souls, which also explains why they are affected by heal spells.)

Data, Canti, Prince Robot IV, R2, and 3P0 are per Pathfinder game mechanics much closer to robots with AI than they are androids. They'd be repaired with mend-type spells.

How any of this might have changed (or hasn't changed) under Starfinder is currently unrevealed. But from what Paizo has revealed so far, Starfinder androids seem to follow similar game design principles to Pathfinder androids.

Well, I'm sure they're somewhere on the sliding scale of biological creature to robot. Prince Robot IV, despite having "Robot" in his name, might actually be more biological than androids. What with his people being able to giving birth and all.

[IonutRO]

To me it seems SF Androids are halfway between gen 2 and gen 3 synths. They are fully functional and sentient, but have their bodies covered in elastic plating with seams instead of life-like synthetic skin.

[Torbyne]

I thought Android healing was due to the Nanites in their shells. they produce nanites like an organic would blood cells or antibodies and they are responsibly for almost all bodily functions for them. healing spells translate into a boost of efficiency and power to their nanites causing the same end result, removing diseases or repairing the body.

[IonutRO]

They meant that Androids are healed by Positive Energy.

[Torbyne]

JetSetRadio wrote:

How does an android heal? If he can't be healed like a human and has to be healed machanically then having nonhuman parts would be likely. Anyone found how one heals?

There was actually a thread on the Pathfinder side of the house once where we went in depth over healing, does it leave scars, what about abnormal creatures that might shed or molt to heal, what about genetic disorders... there are no hard set rules but i remember it as a developer coming in and explaining it as positive energy interacts directly with a soul and the soul sort of re-enforces a whole body image which results in the magical repair of the body in that soul's image. There are a whole host of other issues that would stem out from that but the general notion of things with souls being healed with positive energy works pretty well. mundane healing is a whole other issue. We are assuming that a human with three prosthetic limbs still heals "naturally" without the player needing repair parts or skill checks. i would explain that as any modern cyberware includes a nanite production unit that can pull materials and energy out of the host's blood stream to repairs the augments. This also helps explain the need to customize all implants and the inablity to transfer them between people.