"So I die and then I download..."

[OzMike]

I once had a character who pretty much had this ability as a GM handwave because it fitted in with his plots and machinations, but I'm wondering about the options I could use to build it now.

 

My character was (literally) an alien-robot-son-of-the-gods who was more than 5 billion years old. Thing is, whenever he died his consciousness would download into one of his spare bodies that were scattered throughout the multiverse. He'd then wake up fully aware and fly back to wherever he needed to be (it was never fast enough to join the current fight, but the first time it happened I joined in the middle of the next one. The villain who'd killed me was surprised).

 

There was never a hard and fast number given, but the GM implied that is was practically unlimited and more subject to mental jamming which would delay, but not entirely prevent, the download process...

 

So my question is:

How do I build this now?

 

Oh yeah, and secondary to this was that not all of my bodies were exactly identical - they had different powers and abilities (mainly because the first time I died I had no idea of this GM handwave, except he told me at the end of the session "Don't make another character").

 

Thoughts?

 

Also this is pretty similar to Spartan from Wildcats' old download ability...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

This topic actually came up recently. Here are a few suggestions that have been proposed:

 

Make it the Special Effect of Regeneration with the Ressurection Adder.

 

Duplication, with each Duplicate having Duplication as well for when this happens to him.

 

Summon Specific Person (you). These last two options would likely have Trigger for when your character is killed, and would need to be updated periodically to reflect your character's increasing experience. Since you specify that each new character may be somewhat different from the previous one, these last two are probably the better options.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

I ran a game with one player who had an alien character made up of nannites. If "killed," any remaining nannites would self-destruct, and a new nannite body would be built at his spaceship, with the current memories downloaded in.

 

It's been a few years, but IIRC, he built it as:

 

(1) Teleport, Megascale (whole planet), with a Trigger (death/prolonged loss of contact), and limitations of Only to Ship and Only By Trigger, plus

 

(2) Regeneration, with Resurrection adder.

 

As a side note, he once spent some time on a parallel dimension, and didn't notify the ship's computer he was going. So it assumed he was dead and built a new body. Unbeknownst to him, two of him were running around for a bit, and at one point his twin ended up saving his life (I believe the twin sacrificed himself to do it).

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

And yes, I know that technically those powers wouldn't allow me to create a duplicate of him in that way, but it was all a GM Plot Device (TM, Patent Pending), so I gave myself permission.

[David Johnston]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

You know what the simple answer is? Come up with a new character, with his origin being "I'm the reincarnation of the old character". Design all the characters with KS: Previous Incarnations to cover remembering stuff from your previous lives and you're set.

[Lucius]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

You know what the simple answer is? Come up with a new character' date=' with his origin being "I'm the reincarnation of the old character". Design all the characters with KS: Previous Incarnations to cover remembering stuff from your previous lives and you're set.[/quote']

 

That's simple, but it probably means losing the experience and starting from scratch every time.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary adds, "Not that Lucius has a habit of killing off his characters or anything...."

[Doc Samson]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

I think Regeneration with Resurrection would be the least clunky. I would then add limitations to create the special effect you want. For example, take Recoverable Charges on the Resurrection adder if you only have a limited number of bodies. That fact that you are resurrected so far away could be produced using a Teleportation Side Effect (or even a simple Limited Power though I think the Side Effect is a smoother mechanic).

 

I would write it up like so...

1 BODY/ Turn Regeneration, Resurrection (+20), 0 End(+1/2), Persistent(+1/2), Extra Time: 1Turn(-1 ¼), Self Only(-1/2), Resurrection Only(-1/2), Side Effect: Minor (1" Teleport, Megascale: 1 Planet, 1 Fixed Location), Always Occurs(-1/2) 16 pts.

[Markdoc]

Re: "So I die and then I download..."

 

Summon Specific Person (you). These last two options would likely have Trigger for when your character is killed' date=' and would need to be updated periodically to reflect your character's increasing experience. Since you specify that each new character may be somewhat different from the previous one, these last two are probably the better options.[/quote']

 

This is how I currently do it for my FH game, but another approach I have used is duplication, heavily limited by: duplicates cannot rejoin, only one duplicate can be active at one time, etc.

 

This gives you a situation where the character has many, many "sleeping" duplicate bodies which have to be hidden away and protected. Some LS is needed as well, but since we are talking about immortals, that's probably part of the base character

 

This leads to interesting situations - for example, at one point several players and an NPC got killed. They wake up in their new bodies and eventualy get back together, but they have lost all their stuff, so it takes a while. When they do, they find the NPC has all of this cool stuff and some devoted folowers. When they ask how he got all this together in such a short time, he explains that he had left this body in a temple in a region where he had been active and started a religion with a legend about "the saviour who will one day return and lead them to greatness" - and stored the stuff there. He then looks at them like they are morons and asks "Don't you ever do that?"

 

As long as the character pays a little extra into his duplication as he gains in experience, the duplicates can also incease in points, which gets around the experience problem.

 

cheers, Mark