a living dead PC

[Haven Walkur]

Hello, gamer-folk:

 

I'm trying to build a PC who was subjected to advanced prion "therapy", and became a type of undead as a result. She is now animated by the prions which have converted all her body's systems into highly-durable prion-based "tissues", and are carrying out metabolic functions (of a sort), based on protein synthesis and transformation (from normal proteins into prions).

 

The problem is, with only 250 points to work with, the 39 points required to buy the various Life Support powers needed by any undead worth the name is a crippling expense.

 

These are the LS powers I feel she has to have:

Unnatural Existence: Life Support - Diminished sleep [3]; Does not breathe [10]; Immunity, all terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents [10]; Immunity, all terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents [10]; Safe in high radiation [2]; Safe in intense heat/cold [4]

 

This power set would be an ideal candidate for an Elemental Control, but it's disqualified, since none of the powers cost END. So, can anybody suggest a workable way to reduce the cost on this set of powers? It's the two Immunities and the Does Not Breathe that are the big point-hogs....

[Legatus]

Re: a living dead PC

 

I'd say, you'd have to pay the price! Can't you save some points elsewhere?

[jtelson]

Re: a living dead PC

 

The immunities to Chemical and Disease aren't strictly speaking required - The Prions are living and can be affected by such - just not necessarily the same ones that affect most Humans. Some will, Some Won't. Maybe put an activation roll on them or some limit that indicates targeted Poisons and Diseases won't work but broad band one's will.

 

This poison will kill every person in the city!

I'm not a person

Forgive my flamboyance. It will also kill every bird, dog, cat, ant, bee...<2 hours later>...gopher, is there a Zoo in the city?

OK, so maybe I fall in there somewhere; And yes there's a nice zoo in Champions Park. They've got monkeys.

Right, it'll affect them too.

 

An Altered Physiology Disad might also be good - You may not catch the common cold but when you catch something no one will know how to help (I see adventure hook)

[Certified]

Re: a living dead PC

 

For a concept like this I would say don't skimp on things like life support. If you want to shave points you may add things like Side Effects to it to represent that it's still effecting the physical body but it doesn't really matter because she is dead.

[AnotherSkip]

Re: a living dead PC

 

Dead PC: "Dammit"

 

PC2: "What?"

 

Dead PC:"Another finger fell off from that cold i caught last week"

 

 

PC2:

[ghost-angel]

Re: a living dead PC

 

The only way to really reduce inherent Life Support is to take less of it.

 

On the breathing, perhaps the Prions do need oxygen, but less of it, you can reduce the amount of Breathing needed by quite a bit it you make it Extended Breathing instead.

[tarragon]

Re: a living dead PC

 

A long time ago I ran a campaign where one character was technically dead. But he didn't know that initially. During creation he skimped on the Life Support but bought it a few points at a time as he gained EXP.

 

He made a point of making each purchase as creepy as possible for the other PCs. "I have recently given up sleeping. I discovered it was unnecessary for my new physiology and made me vulnerable for a significant proportion of my day."

[CoreBrute]

Re: a living dead PC

 

Wow. That is cool rreay. Rep.

[DocMan]

Re: a living dead PC

 

Let's put this in perspective. What kinds of powers are you planning on giving this dead character? i.e. what do you need the points for?

 

Typical issues with undead characters include buying all your BODY with the limitation (does not heal). Such characters can be repaired, but they don't heal damage on their own.

 

Doc

[ghost-angel]

Re: a living dead PC

 

That actually sounds like either a Limitation on Recovery or a Physical Limitation Disadvantage.

 

And I lean towards the latter.

[Ice9]

Re: a living dead PC

 

You could probably drop the Poison/Chemical immunity down to 5 points "Immune to most poisons and some chemical agents" - Prions are still organic, and could be still be affected by some chemicals. Likewise, you might not need "does not breathe" - oxygen is still necessary for many protein reactions. And I don't think you actually need "Safe in High Radiation", for similar reasons. That drops the cost down to 22 points - still a bit of a nuisance, but at least it's under 10% of your points.

 

Another thought - in many campaigns, disease immunity is not nearly as useful as much as poison immunity. If your campaign is one of those, maybe the cost could be reduced to 5 points - ask your GM. If disease is going to play a significant factor - then those are points well spent.

 

Without knowing more details, I can't comment about the point efficiency elsewhere, but something which often helps when points are tight is going at least slightly the shifter/metamorph route. If the prions making up the character's body can shift their configuration to adapt for different circumstances, that gives you access to the often very efficient metamorph power constructions.

[薔薇語]

Re: a living dead PC

 

You could probably drop the Poison/Chemical immunity down to 5 points "Immune to most poisons and some chemical agents" - Prions are still organic' date=' and could be still be affected by some chemicals. Likewise, you might not need "does not breathe" - oxygen is still necessary for many protein reactions. And I don't think you actually need "Safe in High Radiation", for similar reasons. That drops the cost down to 22 points - still a bit of a nuisance, but at least it's under 10% of your points.[/quote']

 

On the same note as a reduced version of Chemical / Poison immunity, it might be appropriate to do that with Disease and bio-warfare as well. If you still have a metabolism, and this body of your in still undergoes a lot of the general processes, then you could still be affected by some more vicious pathogens, or otherwise tailored made ones. I would recommend a 15- activation role on them; it simulates a physical form that is all but immune to most diseases, but on occasion will be blind sided.

 

I also second the idea of taking extended breadth, as opposed to does not breathe. For 4 points the character would be able to hold it's breathe for 20 minutes before expending any endurance. 5 points will make that last to an hour. 6pts would bring that up to 6 hours, at which point the character might as well not be breathing.

 

Likewise, unless the cell are wholly dead, then Immune to Radiation doesn't make much sense. If the character is actually dead and it is only magic holding the form together, and there is no working biological function at play, then go with Radiation immunity. But if the body does have basic functions it must carry out, just as if it was alive, then large doses of radiation would likely still have an affect on it. But this is hardly an issue, after all, Safe in High Radiation is only 2pts.

 

If you go with the 15- Activation role on the Chemical and Biological Immunities, then that is 16 points. Plus a 20minute expanded breadth is 4 points. Plus the three Safe Environments are 6 points. Total is 26 points, or 10.4% (5.2% price reduction) of the character build. That seems reasonable to me.

 

La Rose

[Egyptoid]

Re: a living dead PC

 

I dunno. Ask Rob Zombie.

[Kal'El Wayne]

Re: a living dead PC

 

First off, I agree with the 'Buy more Life Support later with XP' idea. I do this myself, with a lot of characters. Especially since I play a vampire as my basic character concept for any point buy one shot. (I say point buy rather than Hero because sometimes, my friend runs a GURPS game. I'm not gonna turn down the only point buy game going just cos I'd rather play Hero.)

Second, drop the Doesn't Sleep before anything else, because it makes more sense that you didn't realise you didn't need sleep than anything else. You might have read too much Anne Rice (IC) and think you need to sleep in a coffin during the day.

Third, drop the Doesn't Breathe after that, because even in RL (or so I heard) people can choke while wearing scuba gear, and the like.

Fourth, drop Immunity to Disease slightly because of the placebo effect. If you believe that you have caught a disease, then you may start to show symptoms.

And So On...

[Lucius]

Re: a living dead PC

 

 

 

These are the LS powers I feel she has to have:

Unnatural Existence: Life Support - Diminished sleep [3]; Does not breathe [10]; Immunity, all terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents [10]; Immunity, all terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents [10]; Safe in high radiation [2]; Safe in intense heat/cold [4]

 

Challenge your own assumptions.

 

Why would a prionic life form not sleep? Even if you think this is necessary, consider taking just 1 pt and having 1 hr of trancelike downtime a day. If the point is to creep everyone out, spending 1 hr in 24 standing still and staring into space, tears slowly rolling down your expressionless face (the eyes have to be moisturized, you know) or having nightmare like convulsions while muttering about events in the distant past (as old memories are gradually converted into whatever the prionic organism uses for information storage) gets the idea across even better than "Doesn't that thing ever sleep?"

 

Why would a prionic life form not breathe? You could shave 4 pts by getting Breathe in Water (5) (since it has enough oxygen) and 1 pt of Extended Breathing. Also, getting the 10 pt version on a fuel charge (so you have to breathe again SOMETIME) could save points.

 

Why would a prionic life form be immune to poisons and chemicals? I bet lots of things could hurt it. Spend 5 pts and remain vulnerable to some of the same things - and probably some things harmless to normals.

 

Are you sure a prionic life form is immune to ALL disease? (Although I admit, THIS one is the most supported by concept and hardest to justify dropping. But maybe it can be limited.)

 

Why would a prionic life form be immune to radiation? I'd drop this one entirely. If anything, wouldn't the prionic protein sequences be more subject to disruption by particles than DnA is?

 

Why would a prionic life form be immune to being burned, cooked, or frozen? I don't see the justification for this at all.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary buys Life Support: Diplomatic Immunity