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11-08-2014, 09:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-19-2016, 06:14 AM by Weavel. Edited 3 times in total.)
I love replicants in all forms of fiction. Robots that are so close to human, they might as well BE human.
I've been trying to find a niche for a new antagonist and came up with this scale.
- 1. Starter Powers Do you inherantly start with supernatural abilities of any sort? (Acid spit, magic missile, vampire bite)
- 2. Starter Gear Do you inherantly start with a specific tool or item? (teleport scroll, 4-use implanter)
- 3. Choose Powers Can you select your supernatural abilities from multiple options? (Currently this is wizard only!)
- 4. Choose Gear Can you selectst a specific tool or item from multiple options? (Traitor PDA, Syndicate radios, cthulu staff)
- 5. Stealth Do you inherantly start with stealth? (syndicate names/wizard names blatantly mark them!)
Another smaller part of this is evolving powers, such as vampire powers expanding, changeling regeneration being based on DNA, but it's not quite as vital as the main powers.
Out of these main powers, the roles currently have a pretty nice spread, except for the greedy fucking wizard.
TRAITOR: 4, 5
CHANGELING: 1, 5
VAMPIRE: 1, 5
SYNDICATE: 2, 4
WIZARD: 1, 2, 3, 4
However, there's no stealthy usage of selected powers at the moment, so there's no 3, 5 mix. That's what I want Replicants to be.
Spawn exactly the same looking as a normal human. You look, move, talk, bleed the same as anyone else.
However, like a wizard would, you can decide on your Powers. I've been trying to think of interesting ones, this is what I can think of.
- Built-In Communications: An all-channel headset built into your skull! Check the channels available by clicking it in your Powers tab.
- Mechanical Eyes: Thermal! Mesons! Sunglasses! Pro-Docs! VISOR! Disable and enable them at-will, so not to blow your cover when flashed.
- Metal Skeleton: Seriously increased brute damage resistance. Your limbs cannot be blown off, only surgically removed.
- PermaFlesh: Seriously increased burn damage resistance. Not slowed by cold temperatures.
- Iron Chest: Inhaled gasses or chemicals do not affect you. Walk through that prions smoke cloud! Suck up that plasma!
- Sub-Lungs: Internals, except internally! 100kpa of oxygen on an internal storage usable without an internal mask. Maybe it refills when in pressurised environments?
- Reactive Blood: Poisons and diseases are taken from your bloodstream and stored in an internal resevoir. *piss to release toxins, beware of buildups. i sure can't wait until replicants are forcefully made to drink toxins and piss to check their humanity
- Finger-Derringer: On command, firepower at your fingertips! No, really!
- Face Replicator: Fill up an internal blood resevoir, and you can take on someone's form! Functions like a changeling transform, but blood drains while using it.
- etc etc, these could be ballanced similarly to Telecrystals on a PDA. In order to maintain stealth, all of these can be activated and de-activated on command.
How can I tell it's a replicant?
A changeling is revealed by spitting acid, transforming or by a blood test.
A replicant can be exposed by witnessing him breathing in space, walking off explosions, or other similar things. Maybe if you cut his skull out, it's metal! I dunno.
How do I defeat a replicant?
They're still "human", technically, so just beat his dumb robot face in with a heavy object. Unless he's got his brute damage activated, in which case good luck!!
The main thing I'm getting stuck on is objectives. I don't want a super-sterile objective environment like Changelings, where it's very much eat-people-or-be-bored-and-boring. I want this to be as varied as a traitor round can be, where it allows for a lot more gimmicks and a lot less murder.
Harvest 5 brains? Collect 10 samples of staff blood? Cut out the skull of Prae Sett, the Janitor? Take the AI's brain and clone it into another replicant? Who knows, very very open to suggestions here.
I want this to be an antagonist to rival the Traitor in terms of stealth, subterfuge and customisation, but not to be a big gear-laiden murdermonster with 7 lasers and a belt of medicine. I figure this is the best way to ballance of it.
Please tell me how bad this is thanks
NOTE: I spent all day writing this in 30-second spurts in work so this will not be very presentable or coherant, my bad
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I like any antagonist idea that has special powers unique to it. Also I love something that wants to make more of it but the thing about that is the whole Xenomorph thing again. People would want to be caught so they can be a bad guy too. Rev did it too. I loved rev and xeno rounds because more people could become bad guys but alot of people don't like that and it encouraged alot of shit stuff.
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I don't think it needs to make more of it honestly, that was just an AI brain idea. Let's permanently avoid Xeno situations.
Overlook that, just eat the AI's brain! Much easier.
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Inherent power : borg reprogramming nanotransmitter module that converts a borg into a replicant ally antagonist with no obvious sprite changes
Objective: have ten allied cyborgs alive at the end of the round
No objective saying what to do with those allies, that's for you to decide, to avoid turning into revolution. Avoids the xenomorph problem because it doesn't select from ghosts
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Getting an idea from alien replicants, how about you can store a limited amount of blood in you, and when that runs out you start bleeding either motor oil or white blood. You would start with this full of blood that is your own. Once it empties it can be refilled with other blood, but it will NOT be your blood. This would allow another way to test for replicants: if the blood is not theirs or is white. Also it can be turned on or off if you want to save it.
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Zadeon Wrote:Getting an idea from alien replicants, how about you can store a limited amount of blood in you, and when that runs out you start bleeding either motor oil or white blood. You would start with this full of blood that is your own. Once it empties it can be refilled with other blood, but it will NOT be your blood. This would allow another way to test for replicants: if the blood is not theirs or is white. Also it can be turned on or off if you want to save it.
That sounds pretty good! So if you get beat half to death with an extinguisher, you'll run out of blood and start squirting out oil and white blood, proving you are a replicant, but if someone asks for a blood sample, you can choose to activate your blood and give them a genuine looking sample.
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This idea makes me happy.
There is a distinct lack of variety when it comes to antags and almost everyone knows how to properly deal with the current ones.
New antag types are good.
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This sounds fun. I have a few more power ideas.
Faraday Cage: Makes you immune to stuns and electric shocks but blocks radio waves, making it incompatible with a lot of other powers. You have to commit yourself to being the terminator instead of a robo-changeling/hacker
6th sense: Lets you know when the AI is watching you! Also lets you read the AI's laws at any time. Incompatible with faraday cage.
Deploy to shell: permanently downloads your mind into a robot. Incompatible with faraday cage. You ca complete your objectives and then hide in a medibot for the rest of the round, or you can take control of a firebot and robust people. Works on station bots, mulebots, and even drones (but you still have to stand next to them!) If you are controlling a station bot you can automate it to avoid suspicion. You can also talk no matter what bot you are controlling to allow for hilarious gimmicks.
High torque servos: Smash reinforced glass and tear open grilles with your bare hands.
Chainsaw arm: replaces one of your arms with a red chainsaw. If anyone asks, tell them the roboticist gave it to you.
Xenoarchaelology module: lets you know what an artifact does without making you waste your time identifying it. Identifies ancient robot artifacts instantly, other artifacts require you to scan them for a while (other players get "joe pubby
stares intently at the twisted sculpture") and doesn't work on wizard artifacts at all. Incompatible with the faraday cage.
Ore processor: eat chunks of ore to for repairs! Miracle matter also replenishes your red blood. Rare ores like the star stone might have other effects...
upgrade slot: allows you to install any cyborg upgrade (such as teleportation.) Just don't use it when people are watching...
Internal chameleon projector: costs more than the ones the syndies use but otherwise is exactly the same. Run around doing some harmless gimmick while everyone assumes you're a bored traitor.
ATM probe: hack ATMs, steal cash, buy traitor gear at the merchant shuttle.
Body storage: allows you to store one tiny item in a secret compartment. Sec will have to break you open to find it.
Polybius device: Turns all machine language implants into mindslaves. The AI will report this as harm unless you hack its laws first. Definitely not compatible with the faraday cage (and radio jammers/solar flares will temporarily free the mindslaves)
And some possible unique objectives:
Borg another player: turn another player into a cyborg. you will spawn with a syringe full of nanomachines for this objective, but you can also do it the old fashioned way.
upload a law: At the end of the round, the AI must have a law that matches the given string (not case sensitive.) When you pick up a freeform module the default text will automatically be changed so you don't have to type it out.
Create a portal to the machine world: You will be given the real coordinates but you have to do the math yourself. You can trick a scientist into making the portal for you but once killbots start pouring out of the portal everyone will know you're a replicant. The machine world is not a new z-level, it just spawns an endless procession of moderately dangerous enemies in telescience. The research staff will not be able to close the portal so they will have to seal it off until the shuttle arrives.
Get that fukken disk: like the syndicate objective only now you have to do it all by yourself. Fortunately, you don't have to carry the disk with you, just bonk yourself with it and download the authentication codes into your brain!
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I agree, a new antagonist type would be great. I think the objective should be related to what a replicant is/does, in other words: make more of itself.
To avoid the Xeno-Problem it should spawn NPC mobs that look exactly like it that can be either benign (non-attacking unless attacked) or autattacking (much like golems). Maybe either free running or following and attacking anyone who assaults its creator much like a guardbuddy. it should require X-amount robo or human limbs a skull and a battery pack or something. Cue an army of gasmasked owl men. Just an idea.
Also: why's it gotta be my skull, I mean, damn. I'm just trying to keep the bar clean here...
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Also syringes should automatically draw blood from your blood tank, unless it out. Then it would be the white blood (but what would it's name be? synthetic blood?).
Imagine drawing blood from a replicant and it showing up as monkey blood.
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I dunno, just seems like a more robust human with a few implants.
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I-Sett Wrote:I agree, a new antagonist type would be great. I think the objective should be related to what a replicant is/does, in other words: make more of itself.
To avoid the Xeno-Problem it should spawn NPC mobs that look exactly like it that can be either benign (non-attacking unless attacked) or autattacking (much like golems). Maybe either free running or following and attacking anyone who assaults its creator much like a guardbuddy. it should require X-amount robo or human limbs a skull and a battery pack or something. Cue an army of gasmasked owl men. Just an idea.
Also: why's it gotta be my skull, I mean, damn. I'm just trying to keep the bar clean here...
That's mildly interesting.
Converting other players into replicants should be possible but it should be limited to only the AI and a few randomly designated people.
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It definitely sounds like a good idea, but I think the tricky part would be the objectives. I think a new antag with the whole Terminator feel would be pretty cool. Perhaps the goal lies in electronics? Maybe if the Replicant becomes more powerful as he/she subverts systems around the station? Maybe fiddling with APCs or something will give him/her a power boost, but also slowly leaks power from that sector like a mini Power Sink.
As for Replicant tests.... We already have the blood test for Changeling (which is good, mind you), so maybe there should be a different test? Maybe the Replicant's eyes glow red or something in the dark, or after being flashed/jolted with electricity their eyes change color?
Just some dumb ideas. I just think the white blood might be a bit easy because everyone is constantly robusting everyone else on the station. Finding the Replicant would be as easy as an accidental toolbox to the head, right?
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Amuys Wrote:I dunno, just seems like a more robust human with a few implants. That would be a beauty of it. It would be like a human but not as powerful as a changeling or vamp.
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Character Name: Geoff Goldman
Awesome idea for a antagonist.
I think that the replicants should have robust melee powers. Sorta like the Shambling Abomination, so when cornered the replicant could activate "Survival Mode". in this mode it would throw strong powerful punches possibly do the same damage as Horse Shoe Boxing gloves. And send people flying across the room. Maybe have a tab in this mode that gives cool wrestling powers.
Geoff The Replicant throws a lightning fast punch that sends Pubbie McScrubs flying!
Geoff The Replicant picks up Pubbie McScrubs by the throat and slams them hard onto the floor!
Maybe to balance the replicant make it have a power cell that can only be charged via APC's, power cables, or possibly could forcibly steal power from borgs. If the replicant runs out of power it starts to get buggy and will have noticeable errors in it's speech or sparks appearing on the character sprite.
Geoff Goldman says" D0Nt Worry i'm Fi-BTTTZ-ne.
Geoff Goldman has sparks coming out of him!
So yeah that's what I got
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