| From: | Doctor Doom <JCH8169@*****.TAMU.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Replicants... [ Innovative Topic--trumpets sound and peasants |
| Date: | Mon, 8 Feb 93 20:59:01 CET |
I would have to say that I am in agreement, for the most part, with my
esteemed colleague, Roberson. From a biological point of view, the creation of
the body shall not pose much of a difficulty, extrapolating from a few concepts
already present in ShadowRun. A few points, however, that I feel should be
noted.
1) Replicants cannot be made magical, at least not unless they are
cloned directly from another magician [and even then I find the possibility
quite unpleasant]. Further, there would be considerable legal problems with
cloning a magician's (or anyone's) tissue and giving that new life.
[ Alternatively, when have the MegaCorporations ever concerned themselves with
anything so mundane as legality? ] The reason for this is that in ShadowTech
it relays how geneticists still disagree about what composes the so-called
"Magus Factor". A fully-genetically engineered Replicant, or one whose
genetic code was altered from a mage's DNA would have very little possibility
of wielding magical powers, as I see it.
2) The problem I foresee is the instilling of knowledge and skills
into the new Replicant body. There is no method of 'programming' knowledge or
skills as of yet in ShadowRun. Of course, there are always Skill Wires, but
should a new being be tied to a mechanical apparatus for all his abilities, his
or her repertoire would be considerably restricted. Please understand that I
do not mean to indicate that I feel it is impossible, rather that this issue
must be dealt with before one should sanction their existence.
3) Obviously, Replicants can, and probably would, be more powerful and
faster than stock humans. In game terms, that means their attributes would
generally be much higher from the moment it started, POSSIBLY even higher than
'normal' human maximums via what could be considered, for all intents and
purposes, 'natural' bioware. However, any such genetic-engineering, or
altering (dare I say, 'tampering') of a original code would make the odds for
magical ability almost nil, as I stated before.
4) Another problem, as Roberson mentioned, is how he/she/it interacts
and reacts to others. A general description of the Replicants, as depicted in
the film, could be that they were rather (even if superficially) charming
sociopaths, lacking guilt or remorse for their actions. Guidelines of social
conduct and behavior did not seem foremost in their minds. There were few
things they could not do, and even fewer they WOULD not do, accordingly.
Replicants would have, as I see it, quite different reactions from so-called
'normal' humans.
5) As to the question of Soul or essence of life, I am not willing to
start what will, in all likelihood, become quite a debate that would center on
philosophy, religion, and personal ideology--all topics ill-suited to the
matter at hand and more appropriately conducted elsewhere, as they are beyond
the scope of this mailserver (and I get into enough of protracted discussion
over similar topics with a friend and associate of mine: the one known as Flare
to the members of this list). All I shall say there are those who do not
believe in such things, although I am not one of them, and shall logically
discount this conundrum.
6) Final point. The glowing red eyes were, as I understand it, a
purely cinematic effect, and thus should not be considered (pending GM
approval--considering how potentially DANGEROUS these individuals could be)
a fool-proof method by which one may distinguish Replicants from 'natural'
humans.
Colonel Count von Hohenzollern und von Doom, DMSc, DSc, PhD.
Doom Technologies & Weapon Systems -- Dark Thought Publications
>>> Working on solutions best left in the dark.
<<<
[ Doctor Doom : jch8169@********.tamu.edu ]
