I Need Character Help

[JNAProductions]

Alright, so freeform RPG time. The general setting is it's 2019, two years after The Institution (a group of people dedicated to... Erm... Bettering humanity?) launched a fullscale war on humanity using Gen II and III Synths-humanoid robots, Gen IIs that are humanoid but still uncanny valley, and Gen IIIs that are indistinguishable from normal humans until an autopsy is done.

The Institution is opposed by Torchwood, a highly secret cross-governmental agency designed to deal with threats that normal humanity simply isn't prepared for.

Now, my GM has stated that I'm allowed to be superhuman to a degree-there have been mutagenic tests on humans, so I can be more than just a top-tier human.

Current thoughts:

Blood Angel
Skitarii Vanguard
Psychic

[Honest Tiefling]

...What setting are we in? At first I thought it was Fallout 4, but the later bit says Doctor Who.

[JNAProductions]

Homemade setting. Based on the real world (dur) but with various changes, like the existence of Synths and Torchwood.

Ignore anything about Doctor Who. We just borrowed the name because we're uncreative hacks.

[MintyNinja]

Go with Electrical Powers as a sort of Storm Lord. Sets up a nice dichotomy between Nature vs. Machine when you start frying synths.

[Honest Tiefling]

Homemade setting. Based on the real world (dur) but with various changes, like the existence of Synths and Torchwood.

Ignore anything about Doctor Who. We just borrowed the name because we're uncreative hacks.

Well then! Can you tell us more about this setting, and what other players might try to do? Through that Storm Lord idea already suggested sounds pretty cool.

[JNAProductions]

Well, there's one other player/GM. It's basically two dudes sitting around in a basement crafting a story together.

The other guy (let's call him Eric, since that's his name) has worked on the setting. I don't remember all the details off-hand, but the Institute has been at work for a while-Reagan, for example, was a Synth.

No idea what character Eric is bringing to the table this time.

[ATHATH]

Be Skynet, and commandeer the Institute's synth army.

[Honest Tiefling]

Question, does being a psychic mean you can read a synth's mind? If not, I'd avoid it unless you were going the Pyrokinesis/Levitation route.

[JNAProductions]

Question, does being a psychic mean you can read a synth's mind? If not, I'd avoid it unless you were going the Pyrokinesis/Levitation route.

That would be a reliable way to detect synths-not perfect (some people would naturally be resistant to psychic powers, but still).

[Honest Tiefling]

That would be a reliable way to detect synths-not perfect (some people would naturally be resistant to psychic powers, but still).

Spoiler: Spoilers for Fallout 4

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Well, if you don't mind a Covenant approach, you could murder both groups of people. People should really learn not to be immune to your psychic powers. how rude!

[SirBellias]

I also like the nature vs machine idea. Having some sort of mutagenic power that can corrode metals or screw with technology would be fun, especially when there's not much that's 'natural' about the natural side.
Jack Briggs, code name: The Tarnisher.
Or Garret Reed, The Arc. If you're going for the cool secret agent bent, some sort of short and snappy name usually goes over well. Depending on the tone, the code name could either be really funny, or really obvious.

[crazyeddie]

I'm still learning game mechanics, so I can't do much on the min-maxing side. But RPing I think I'm relatively good at.

When I hear about a Conspiracy that's Trying to Take Over The World, the first thing I always think about is, hey, maybe they're the good guys? A lot of people had to have thought that the Conspiracy was a good idea, otherwise they'd never be able to hire enough mooks.

Has your character met any synths socially? Maybe some kind of metaphor for transgendered people could be made? (A bit touchy, I know, but trans people have to deal with "they're trying to trick us!" Could an argument be made that synths are people in their own right?

You say that Reagan was a synth. Which seems... oddly plausible. How would a True Conservative Doomsday Prepper have reacted to this revelation?

[veti]

Does no-one remember Blade Runner any more?

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a synth who doesn't know he's a synth

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[goto124]

Could an argument be made that synths are people in their own right?

We still wrangle with that question over the sapience of animals IRL, because there isn't a way to reach in and tell if someone/something has a conscious mind. Be prepared to accept whatever answers the players come up with.

[Khedrac]

Molecular-level telekinetic.

Yes it's the telekinetics who move big stuff around that are most impressive, but they are far from the most dangerous.
A bit above the molecular level you can deal with people by squeezing their carotid artery - unconscious or dead, your choice.
For robots you can unplug things inside. This doesn't always work depending on how powerful you are and how well built they are.

Molecular level you can unravel a robot's circuitry or the chemical pathways of an organic brain - and there's a good chance no one will ever know what happened.

If you have a decent range of kinetic scale you can also stop bullets (small) and (potentially) lasers (can you catch photons?)
Molecular kinetics should be able to deal with poison gas and plasma weapons.

What's more, the more advanced something technological is, the smaller the connections inside are - and the easier for a small-scale kinetic to alter.

Oh - clairvoyance (so you can see what you are manipulating) helps too.

[khadgar567]

by the way did you say blood angels so if you want you can play fing asartes in that world

[ATHATH]

Does no-one remember Blade Runner any more?

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a synth who doesn't know he's a synth

.

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Fallout 4's already done that- Paladin Danse was/is a synth.

[SethoMarkus]

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Fallout 4's already done that- Paladin Danse was/is a synth.

I'm sorry but even after double taking I'm not sure what you're trying to say.

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Are you saying that Fallout 4 already did that; Fallout 4 already remembered Blade Runner? Or, are you saying that Fallout 4 already did that; Fallout 4 created the synth that thinks it is a human?

[Lorsa]

You could always play a Gen IV Synth that was reprogrammed in the future and sent back to save humanity?

Alternatively, you could be an alien with morphological powers (change form / appearance) that has been happily vacationing Earth but see this Synth invasion as a problem.

There's also the possibility of playing a good old-fashioned Vampire. Quite obviously the increasing number of synthetic humans would be troublesome for someone that needs biological blood to survive.

Or just play the secret military genetic experiment that "went wrong" or "escaped" or "was taken over by Torchwood", with no memories (or at least wondering which are real) and plenty of unknown powers the GM can throw in to surprise you.

[ATHATH]

@Setho: Spoiler that, please.

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I'm saying that people will think that you're just copying Danse's backstory.

[SethoMarkus]

@Setho: Spoiler that, please.

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I'm saying that people will think that you're just copying Danse's backstory.

Ok put it in a spoiler but not sure exactly why? As a note, I haven't played Fallout 4 yet myself, and Blade Runner has been out for quite a while?

[Eisirt]

Ok put it in a spoiler but not sure exactly why? As a note, I haven't played Fallout 4 yet myself, and Blade Runner has been out for quite a while?

They did it in Fallout 3 too.

Spoiler:

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Remember Chief Harkness from Rivet City?