While at dinner with a couple friends, we got to talking about EP and my partner and a friend of ours are interested in playing. My partner is interested in playing a non-standard uplift, however.. an uplifted housecat.
For the record, she hasn't read Implied Spaces yet. Anyway, here's what I've got so far, after re-reading the section on uplift morphs:
Uplifted Housecat
Implants: Basic biomods, basic mesh inserts, cortical stack
Aptitude max: 20 (due to diminutive size)
Wound threshold: 5 (ditto)
Advantages:
- DUR 30 (speed, reflexes, and a genetically reinforced skeletal structure)
- COO +5 (catlike)
- INT +5 (instinct)
- REF +10 (augmented from baseline cat reflexes)
- Limber level 1 (contortionist, +10 flexibility checks)
I'm trying not to low-ball this morph too badly but I'm not entirely certain of how to handle a morph that would mass about 4.5 kilos with a fairly small cranium.
Does this seem workable? Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just not worry too much about it?
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One small thing, a Morphs Durability and Wound Threshold are linked. WT = Durability/5, so either its Durability should be 25 or its WT should be 25.
Plug: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=470503
Those will let you work out a fair CP/Credit cost (Its balanced to the original system.)
If I was going to make an Uplift Housecat I would make it like so:
Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Claws
Aptitude Max: 25 (SOM 15)
Durability: 20
Wound Threshold: 4
Advantages: Limber(1), +10 REF, +5 COO, +5 to one aptitude of the player's choice, Small (-10 to hit in combat)
CP Cost: 35
Credit Cost: Expensive
You handle its small size by giving it a lower maximum SOM, and handle its general frailness by reducing its Durability. I was thinking about giving it a +10 bonus to Stealth/Fray but that would increase the CP cost by 10 and make it Expensive(40,000).
(EDIT: By the way, with Implants you can add a good amount onto this kind of thing and still stick to the flavour of the Morph. Like adding Enhanced Pheromones or a Prehensile Tail. I left those out but they are easy to put in.)
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I'm still learning the system so my grasp of how stats fit together is a bit dodgy.
I'm thinking a durability rating of 25, though I keep getting uncomfortable mental images of someone picking that morph up and drop-kicking it the length of an O'Neill habitat.
I was considering adding a bonus to fray but wanted to get the physical stats worked out first. I like the idea of a bonus to stealth and I think I'll go with that for the final writeup because it fits the original species so well (and with what my partner wants to do with the character).
While I don't have enough of a grasp of the rules to balance skills, and certainly giving bonuses to all of these would be too much, but here are some that I'd consider good fluff-wise for an uplifted housecat:
Edit: I'd also give the uplifted cat morph enhanced senses of some sort. It fits in with the natural traits of a cat that you'd want to emphasise.
If you don't see the fnord, it can't eat you.
Videos of a cat in freefall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beF73C200m0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAWuMd6GOfs
One big thing that you need to remember: uplifts do not necessarily look identical to the creature they were based on. For instance, Neo-Avians were increased to about the size of a child, have a much larger head in proportion to their bodies, have opposable thumbs and a full set of hands atop a wing structure that folds and works functionally more like a bat's. Neo-hominids have had their hips and body structures altered so they may walk upright. Even octomorphs have lungs, and a transgenic means of producing language (likely including lips). Expect cats to be altered in a similar manner.
I would recommend the following based on the Neo-Avian and Neo-Hominid morphs:
Neo-Feline: A neo-feline usually stands at about waist-height, and looks like an odd cross between a housecat and a female lion. While they normally walk on all fours, they are capable of standing bipedally and their front paws have had their digits extended, made more dexterous and include an opposable thumb. Their heads are larger in proportion to accommodate a more developed brain, and their shoulders are designed to shift depending on whether or not they are standing on all fours.
Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack
Aptitude Maximum: 25
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
Advantages: Claw Attack (1d10 DV, use Unarmed Combat skill), +5 COO, +5 INT, +5 REF, +5 to one other aptitude of the player’s choice, +10 Climbing skill, +10 Freerunning skill
CP Cost: 25
Credit Cost: Expensive
Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age.
Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.