Ideals for Transhuman Space d20

[Achan hiArusa]

I was just kicking around some ideas for running a d20 Transhuman Space game:

Bioroid
Not to be confused with the biodroid from Future d20, these are both grown and built humans. The start with 7 points of mutations (barring those that are clearly fantastic and not appropriate the genre) that they do not have to have defects to compensate. The GM can allow up to 10 points, but anything after 7 requires compensating flaws. The character should have
1-3 cosmetic mutations also (either chosen or rolled).
They are basically human but don't get a starting occupation, free feat, or skill points. A character who wants a bioroid character must come up with a model history and number produced.
Bioroids are legally minors (they start at 2 years of age) until they come of age (which can be from 14-21 depending on the country), minor Bioroids without guardians are considered rogues and may be hunted down.
The character is sterile.
Bioroids must make a Constitution check DC 15 when ingesting any drug not tailored to them (+5 Purchase DC), failure indicates the character suffers nausea for the next hour (on a roll of 1 or 20, the drug has no effect).
Bioroids are often subject to mistaken identity. There is a 75% chance that if the character makes a reputation check he is mistaken for another bioroid of the same model.
Anyone with treat injury suffers a -4 penalty to treat a bioroid. Also if a bioroid commits a crime, any investigator has a +4 bonus to identify the character's model type as a possible suspect.

Moreaus
As written. The character can genetically enhance them normally using the mutation rules, but the character must balance both mutations and defects. I also like to give them the same bonuses that the appropriate creature gets from the D&D book for the base creatures (skill bonuses, natural swimmer, scent, natural climber, etc). Just for story sake, Overts are uplifted animals, Coverts are engineered humans, and Moderates are built like bioroids.

Bioshells
The biodroid and bioreplicant are examples of bioshells. I would also use hardwired alliegeances (can't disobey alliegeances without a DC 30 will save) and the one (can't remember the name) that does not allow the character to pick up new class skills after 1st level from Gamma World d20 (hey, gotta get some use out of that book). I perfer to just give a biodroid a -2 to charisma, and a bioreplicant no modifier.

Cybershells
I use the ones out of Gamma World d20 (see not above about GWd20). The following details apply from the biodroid. Starting Occupation, Armor, Critical Systems, Cybernetic Incompatibility, Immunities, Rejuvenation Cycle, Repairable, Robot Resurrection, Feats, and Skills.

This should cover the basic character types from the Transhuman Space core book.

 

[Turanil]

Parahumans:
Transhuman Space describes humans which are so modified, that they become a new specie. They don't go into detail, just giving a quick example of human with fur. Lets imagine that there exists a Tolkien Cult by the end of the 21st century. Because of this exist a few dwarves, elves, and halflings. In fact, they could well reject their parents' fascination for anything Tolkien, and curse them to have made them born not human, but kind of freaks. In any case, these characters get the racial traits given to D&D dwarves, elves, halflings, etc.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Interesting

Its an interesting Memeplex. I should post my conversion for meme creation from Toxic Memes. Most parahumans can be built using the mutation rules as is. And with everything we can have a feat:

Parahuman Upgrade [Feat]
The character can gain mutations without compensating flaws.
Prerequisite: Purchase DC 30
Benefit: The character can have up to 2 points of positive mutations without suffering a flaw. Alternately the character can use this to eliminate two points of mutations. This requires extensive genetherapy and thus requires the purchase check. If the character fails the purchase check then he must buy another feat.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Consider some of these concepts:

Anne McCaffery's Ship who Sang. In game terms, use either an AI or human brain that is used to run a starship or similar vehicle.

Gordon Dickson's Dorsai. In game terms, these guys were a genetically modified subrace of humans, each approaching the limits of human strength, agility, toughness, and intelligence.

Storm Constantine's Wraethu. An offshoot of humans who were naturally psionic- and so genetically different as to be a new species.

James Blish's "Surface Tension". This short story talks about genetically engineered humans who are designed to live in a microscopic environment. While this would seemingly have few RP advantages (unless the entire campaign was set there), the backstory to the plot notes that humanity is seeding the universe with genemod humans, each designed to live in a particular planet's environment. So there could be humans for heavyworlds, Venusian planets, gas giants...

Which brings us to Larry Niven's Integral Trees. Here, humans have colonized a gas giant and evolved to fit the ecosystem. (I forget if they were genemods or if they had just been there so long they mutated to fit the environment.

Niven also has many classic sci-fi themes in his series: Ringworld, the Known Space books including the Kzinti, Legacy of Heorot (retelling of Beowulf in a sci-fi setting), and so forth.

David Brin's Uplift books. Humanity is the first race in galactic history to evolve from protoplasm to starflight. All other known races were "uplifted" by "parent"/"sponsor" races. This results in political, ethical, and even hot conflicts.

Greg Bear's Forge of God & Anvil of Stars. Earth is contacted by 2 alien races at once- one beneficial, the other is xenophobic. The Xenophobes pretend to be helpful, and destroy the Earth. The beneficial ones save as many humans as they can, and teach them The Law.

Also, the books of Ben Bova, Robert Heinlein, Arthur Clark, Stephen Donaldson and so many others are FULL of killer ideas.

 

[The Black Kestrel]

Don't forget Dan Simmon's Hyperion series.

The Hegemony
Pure humans who benefit from the largesse of the AI Techno Core. These humans adapt thier worlds to suit humanity and live contentedly with very few suspecting the web of lies that thier culture is built on.

The Techno Core
AI's created by humans. They secceeded from the humans who would latter from the Hegemony but maintain friendly contact with them. In truth the AI's are using the Hegemony to further thier Ultimate Intelligence project and the time when the human's usefullness will end is coming.

The Ousters
Humans who foresaw and escaped the domination of the Techno Core. Thier phliosophy embraces adapting to thier enviroment and they embrace the use of genetics and nanotech to help them do so.

Lions and Tigers and Bear's
Mysterious alien intelligences who saved the Earth from the Techno Core's black hole and whom even the great AI's of the Core fear.