355: K-Mach

ENTRY 355: K-Mach

"Three tons of armor and myomer fibers, driven by high-performance atomic batteries guaranteed to last thirty years and survive a point-blank shot from a railgun. Armed with an integrated particle beam rifle, 360-degree field of vision with overlapping lidar, radar, and t-ray emitters. Integral on-board AGI to assist with targeting and multitasking. You probably think you're a bunch of bad asses, don't you? Well let me assure you that your kriegmaschines are only the bare minimum equipment you need to survive against warbots and hunter-killers."
- Marshall Rideck

Before Reapers and Furies became the go-to combat morphs of transhumanity, the battlefields crawled with massive, deceptively fast humanoid mecha, most notably the popular kriegsmaschine (K-Mach) design. The K-Mach represented a transitional stage between biomorph-operated powered exoskeleton vehicles and resleeving directly into combat craft; while the military had long used teleoperated drones for a variety of combat tasks, the transition from a primarily biomorph-based armed force to a mobile tactical mechanized force was problematic and exacerbated by the logistical complexities of the Fall. While most military R&D had focused on egos directly integrated into and controlling traditional vehicles like tanks, aircraft, and orbital weapons platforms, transhumanity needed a morph that resleeved egos could adapt to quickly. The compromise was a three-meter tall, three-ton mobile weapons platform that could run, jump, and shoot like a trained soldier, but was armored like a combat vehicle and with integrated weapons that could easily be swapped out in mobile resupply centers. The K-Machs brought the fight to the enemy, sometimes going toe-to-toe with the often much more heavily armed warbots.

After the war, most of the K-Machs were retired or decommissioned and converted to civilian interests. While powerful, K-Machs were expensive to make and maintain, and most transhumans prefer the much smaller and cheaper Reapers. However, used K-Machs still retain a certain value - especially modified ones or those that took place in important battles, and some veterans like to keep theirs around, even if it's just in storage most of the time.

K-Mach Stats

K-Mach are synthmorphs.

Enhancements: 360-Degree Vision, Access Jacks, Anti-Glare, Basic Mesh Inserts, Chem Sniffer, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Cybersword (retractable Blade, 2d10 + 6 DV), Electrical Sense, Enhanced Vision, Heavy Combat Armor, Lidar, Magnetic Vision, Mnemonic Augmentation, Pneumatic Limbs, Radar, Reflex Booster, Structural Enhancement, T-Ray Emitter, Weapon Mount (articulated, 2)

Mobility System: Bipedal Walker (4/20)
Aptitude Maximum: 30 (REF and SOM 40)

Durability: 60 (w/Structural Enhancement)

Wound Threshold: 16 (w/Structural Enhancement)

Speed Modifier: +1 (Reflex Booster)
CP Cost: 110

Credit Cost: Expensive (minimum 125,000)

Traits: +10 REF (+20 with Reflex Booster), +20 SOM, Armor 20/20, Comes equipped with 1 integral weapon in weapon mount (Particle Beam Rifle, Plasma Rifle, Pulser, Railgun Machine Gun, Seeker Rifle, or Torch), Large Morph

329: Shiftmorph

ENTRY 329: Shiftmorph

"Haven't you always wanted to be a car? And have sex with another car?"
- Laughably Bad, stand-up comedian and shiftmorph spokesperson

Transhumanity has tried to create working robots that emulate the classical transhuman form for centuries, and for centuries it failed, because of lack of knowledge of transhuman biophysics and insufficiently advanced technology. So for decades the state of the art in robotics were wheeled constructs, many-legged shamblers based on more stable spider and quadruped designs, even rollers, swimmers, and an endless assortment of flying drones. By the time transhumans did perfect humanoid robots they had a vast array of robots, thousands of designs with every means of mobility imaginable, and transhumans gladly piloted all of them remotely. Yet when the leap was finally made to resleeving into early synthmorphs, relatively few transhumans expressed any interest inhabiting a six-wheeled all-terrain low-gravity vehicle, preferring the more familiar case and synth morphs. So non-humanoid synthmorphs remain a minority.

Yet, there is a middle way - shiftmorphs, which are designed to change both their function an appearance between specific modes. The most common shiftmorph version transforms between a humanoid mode similar to a synth and a six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle mode. Each mode has its inherent advantages and disadvantages - humanoid mode has hands and can climb, all-terrain wheeled vehicle is faster, etc. Other shiftmorphs are designed with different or additional modes, such as quadrupeds (often sculpted to mimic a specific animal), arachnoids, jellybots, flight-capable drones, and even mundane equipment - very later in the conflict with the TITANS some hypercorps experiments with synthmorphs that transformed into static artillery emplacements, though relatively few were fielded in actual combat.

Shiftmorph Stats

Shiftmorphs are synthmorphs. The most common shiftmorph has two modes: a humanoid form almost identical to to a typical Synth, and a vehicular form that resembles and functions as a small, one-occupant all-terrain wheeled vehicle.

Enhancements: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation, Shiftdesign (2 mode)

Mobility System: Typically Bipedal Walker (4/16) or All-Terrain Wheeled (8/32)
Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 30

Wound Threshold: 6

CP Cost: 30

Credit Cost: Expensive

Shiftdesign: This robotic enhancement allows the morph to transition to a different mode, such as humanoid, quadruped (cat), quadruped (horse), flying drone, motorcycle, etc. Each mode uses the same attributes, though mobility mode may change; players should work with the gamemaster to determine exactly what the characteristics of the new mode are, keeping in mind that the morph never gains or losses mass with the transformation - so a 60kg humanoid morph that shifts into a cat mode will still mass 60kg, and will be larger than a housecat. A character can have two different modes which are functionally identical but cosmetically different - some synthmorphs enjoy the ability to transform into something resembling a case or another shiftmorph to confuse others about their identity. This robotic enhancement is typically a design mod, but is also available as an aftermarket modification, though it requires extensive design (or redesign) of the synthmorph to transition between different modes. Each new mode requires a separate shiftdesign mod. Shiftdesign is incompatible with the Swarm Composition enhancement. Changing modes requires a Complex Action.[Expensive]

282: Macronauts & Micromorphs

ENTRY 282: Macronauts & Micromorphs

"There are minimum physical dimensions for old human-type brains to achieve and sustain transhuman-style intelligence; not just in terms of volume but surface area, which is critical for temperature control. However, we live in an age when technology can exceed these limits. We need no longer be transhuman-size to maintain transhuman intellect. Give up your size, and discover how big the universe really is."
- Rejected Ad Campaign for Micromorphs, c.AF 4

Micromorphs were an early fad which failed to gain wide adoption: classical human-style biomorphs that were approximately 1:12 human scale and proportional to normal flats and splicers, with most examples only 25 centimeters tall. Physical difficulties like brain surface area were overcome by cyberbrains and bioengineering, borrowing extensively from research on similar-sized lab animals. Unfortunately, the small scale of these enhancements drove up the relative cost of micromorphs, and the morph had limited appeal despite the claims of greater size economy. After only 30 months of production, the morph was officially removed from the general market, with a Lunar microcorp ("THE MicroCorp, Inc.") with ties to the micromorph community continuing to service existing micromorphs and operating a micromorph pod service.

That still leaves over ten thousand micromorphs, who working together have founded their own microscale habitats and set about exploring a universe at another scale. These "macronauts" who leave the micromorph habitats approach life as a challenge on a massive scale, and cover surprising ground given their stature, having adapted appropriately-sized small drones as vehicles and labor-saving machinery. Macronauts are often welcome technicians on spacecraft, due to their small mass and ability to access hard-to-reach areas, and have even had some success as gatecrashers. However, life is not all cornucopia machines and lilliputian sex workers for micromorphs; every one of the morphs is sterile, and many suffer cardiovascular and skeletal problems stemming from their small size and long exposure to microgravity. Augmentations that "normal scale" morphs take for granted the micromorph community has to scale down on their own, using a dedicated reverse engineering clique calling themselves Jultomten. Alcoholism and petal abuse are also rampant problems on the outskirts of micromorph communities, due to a cultural sense of doom - as no more micromorphs are being manufactured, and none can be born, some micromorphs feel the weight of obsolence and eventual extinction weighing down on them.

Mechanics

Micromorphs are biomorphs.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Nanoscopic Vision

Aptitude Maximum: 25 (5 for Somatics)

Durability: 10

Wound Threshold: 2

Advantages: +5 to two aptitudes of the player's choice; non-personal augmentation equipment made for micromorphs (clothing, drugs, etc.) that can be nanofabricated is one cost category less, as fewer resources are required in their construction.
Disadvantages: Small Size Trait (see Transhuman: The Eclipse Phase Player's Guide)
CP Cost: 10

Credit Cost: High

Seeds

• The PCs win a Mesh contest, an all-expenses-paid pod-vacation at the Lunar micromorph habitat of Gernika II, where they can enjoy the luxury accommodations in micromorph pods (as above, but with puppet sock), and take in sights like the Gernika II bonsai tree, said to have been cultivated from the Gernikako Arbola from old Earth. As they settle in, the PCs are contacted by Firewall: they rigged the contest to get the PCs to Gernika II, for the purpose of making contact with a subset of the Jultomten who may have deciphered a scrap of TITAN-tech, and recruit them into Firewall...or eliminate them. Of course the PCs, as fish out of water, might find Gernika II a strange habitat, where tomato plants are, relative to the micromorphs, the size of trees and domestic rodents take the place of traditional pets...
• The PCs wake up with a hangover, in micromorphs, and in a cage - but still aboard their normal (full-sized) habitat. With few options, the PCs have to figure out what happened to them and escape. After having a bit of fun running around and getting creative to press buttons and climb up stairs and ladders, the PCs discover their full-sized selves - the micro-PCs are forks that their enemy got ahold of and stuck in micromorphs so that they could torture them. Now that they've reunited with their full-scale selves, it's up to the players what they want to do with their new forks and micromorphs.

249: Wraith

ENTRY 249: Wraith

Ghost morphs were a massive leap forward in transhuman morphs built for scouting and human intelligence work, but their design is unmaximized, with several optional upgrades not incorporated due to concerns of cost, and philosophically favors passive forms of stealth instead of active anti-stealth technologies. Given these limitations, some of the designers of the original Ghost morph continued to tinker and refine one of their more ambitious prototypes—the Wraith.

Wraith morphs are closer to Remade than Ghosts, their systems tweaked and tuned for maximum speed, strength, reflexes, and durability, with pre-programmed muscle memory and specially enlarged portions of the brain devoted to sensory processing which is fully integrated with the Wraith morph’s enhanced senses. However, where the average Ghost morph relies on some form of chameleon skin implant, Wraiths have an integral stealth system—their normal skin replaced by a layered weave of nanoscopic plastic beads and piezoelectric crystals and radar-absorbent materials. When in passive Stealth Mode, the Wraith’s plastic skin acts as a textured display screen, either left blank or projecting anything from a conventional human appearance to a moving image. This can be used to quickly and easily change the Wraith’s appearance, though on close inspection the transhuman will be distinctly off-putting, since they wear a high-resolution digital video image of a face on top of their actual features. In active mode, the implant goes black as implant begins to absorb many forms of electromagnetic radiation and dampening the user’s heat signature; in this mode the Wraith becomes much more difficult to be seen, but they can only sustain this mode for a few moments before rising internal temperatures can cause serious internal damage.

Both because of their high cost and low demand, Wraith morphs remain rare.

Wraith Stats

Wraiths are biomorphs.

Enhancements: Adrenal Boost, Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Circadian Regulation Cortical Stack, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Smell, Enhanced Vision, Grip Pads, Stealth Mode, Temperature Tolerance

Aptitude Maximum: 35

Durability: 45

Wound Threshold: 9

Advantages: +5 COO, +10 REF, +10 SOM, +5 WIL, +5 to one aptitude of the player’s choice, +10 Infiltration skill (cumulative with Stealth Mode implant)

Disadvantages: Uncanny Valley

CP Cost: 90

Credit Cost: Expensive (minimum 90,000)

Stealth Mode: This implant is an upgraded version of Chameleon Skin that combines elements of Bioweave Armor and Vacuum Sealing. In passive mode, it functions as an integrated version of Smart Vac Clothing (Eclipse Phase 325), and the display of the character’s skin can be consciously controlled and programmed, up to and including displaying segments of live video or animation. The character may also switch to active mode as a Quick Action. In active mode, the skin goes black, the vacuum seal engages, and shifts to actively counter and absorb incoming electromagnetic radiation within certain ranges; other characters take a -30 penalty to perceive the character using sight (even Enhanced Vision and Lidar), sound (including Echolocation), smell, radar, or t-rays. However, without the ability to vent stored energy the character heats up quickly, and the active stealth mode can only be safely maintained for 5 minutes; less in a hot environment. After that, the character suffers 10 points of damage every minute from the extreme heat. If the character is in an extremely cold environment, the extreme temperatures will offset each other and active mode can be used indefinitely (or as long as your air lasts), but at the expense of the suit not working properly: other characters take only a -10 penalty to perceive the character. The Stealth Mode implant is incompatible with Bioweave Armor, Carapace Armor, Chameleon Skin, or Vacuum Sealing. [Expensive]

242: The Sleeping Generation

ENTRY 242: The Sleeping Generation

Desperate times call for imperfect technologies, executed with the best of intentions and plans based on whatever knowledge is available, but are not necessarily viable in the long run. Yet it is an adage not to trust all your transhuman egos to a single strategy, but to spread the risk by trying to save a portion of those lives by other means. So while in some cities ships pulled off the ground with entire transhumans, and others had their egos copied and sent off into space while their physical forms left behind, a minority of other approaches were being tried in corners of the Earth where resources for these relatively safe and sure technologies were not available.

In Munich, multiple egos were spliced together to fit within the limited number of storage devices together. In Kookaburra, a group of prominent government leaders had their egos transferred into uplifted koalas so more egos could escape in the low-mass bodies. In Bengal, dozens of families made it into low-earth orbit using high-altitude balloons, with the hope that they could be towed further up the gravity well. And in Johannesburg, they started lopping off heads.

Faced with a severe mass limitation but lacking the resources to upload entire egos, the last-minute flight from Johannesburg was a matter of brutal math. Surgeons worked tirelessly removing the heads of the volunteers, which were passed off to medical technicians to attach to the life-keeping apparatus that would keep them alive for the duration of the flight, each head locked into place in the crowded rocket ship and placed in a full VR simulation for the duration of the trip. Fifteen thousand heads were packed into the Queen Mujabi in 38 hours, and the ship was launched towards the Main Belt. They were the only survivors.

Many of them didn’t survive. At least three thousand heads succumbed to trauma or infection in the first six months; over a hundred others succumbed to insanity and exercised a built in right-to-life protocol. The slow ship finally docked with Nova York in AF 2, which was hard-pressed to deal with the sudden influx due to a shortage of morphs. Roughly half of the surviving Johannesburg heads opted to remain as they were until bodies could be cloned for them, while the others resleeved as informorphs or whatever cheap synths were available, some agreeing to contracts of indentured servitude for better bodies. A little over five thousand heads remain, connected by VR, on the Queen Mujabi—relicts of the Fall that the Nova York media have dubbed “The Sleeping Generation.”

Mechanics

The bodiless heads of the Sleeping Generation are all Flats. While they do technically have physical forms (and can thus receive whatever augmentations a head can accommodate), they have an effective SOM of 1, Wound Threshold of 1, and Durability 6, though given that all of them are incased in jars full of pseudoamniotic fluid and hooked up to major medical equipment, this should not be something that ever really comes into play. Nova York has upgraded all of the surviving heads with Medichines to counteract the long-term damage of being disembodied heads in jars, and the VR equipment is effectively the same as Basic Mesh Inserts. For PCs that for some reason want to be a head in a jar, the cost for this morph is Moderate.

210: Skinmorphs

ENTRY 210: Skinmorphs

Transhumans run on past extrapolation. For all that there are adventurous people seeking new experiences and new ways of living, the vast majority still prefer things at least recognizably descended from a bipedal plains ape. Even the majority of exhuman morphs still prefer to have something with a recognizable face, and some sort of manipulators for what’s in front of them, preferably with thumbs of some sort. In the pursuit of some balance between form and function, several enterprising amateurs around Saturn have been playing with a specialized swarmoid variant known as the skinmorph.

Cosmetically, a skimorph resembles a solid 3D-printed object of a transhuman; unlike a statue or typical synthmorph however, the skinmorph is an empty shell, generated and made mobile by thousands of swarm-bots linking up and acting in concert to mimic traditional bipedal appearance and movement. The advantage of the modified design is a degree of physical integrity alien to most swarmoids, with high-end models approaching average transhuman strength, at the cost of some of the swarmoid’s flexibility of form. While a skinmorph can collapse into a wave of bugs and scoot under doors and things and reform on the other side, they cannot fly or hop as other swarmoids, and the default setting for their form is a generic bipedal template, though this can be changed; at least one skinmorph (and former uplift) on Extropia likes to run around as a dog.

Skinmorph Stats

Macromorphs have all of the advantages of synthmorphs (Eclipse Phase, p.143).

Enhancements: 360-Degree Vision, Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation, Swarm Composition*

Mobility System (Movement Rate): Walker (4/16)

Aptitude Maximum: 30 (SOM 10)

Durability: 20

Wound Threshold: 2

CP Cost: 35

Disadvantages: -20 to SOM-based skills when in zero gravity.

Credit Cost: Expensive

* Skinmorphs are a variant, sturdier version of the typical swarm composition augmentation (Eclipse Phase, p.311). The swarm is capable of tackling physical tasks like grabbing, lifting, or holding as a unit, and can carry most gear or wear armor, and may make strength-based SOM-linked skill tests. However, skinmorphs are much less flexible in the forms that they can assume, and the individual “bugs” that make up the skin are only capable of crawling. Further, damage to the swarm lessens the physical integrity of the skinmorph and its ability to manipulate physical objects; for every wound suffered, the maximum SOM aptitude is reduced by 1 until the damage is “healed” by adding more bugs.

Using Skinmorphs

Hands are awesome. Players like having them, they like their player characters to have them. Having your character able to interact with the physical world of the setting—actually pick up and carry stuff—is generally a positive thing, though it is alien to some of the more exotic morphs available in Eclipse Phase. The skinmorph then is an intermediate design, for players and gamemasters that want their PCs to be able to look cool and literally go to pieces but also enjoy the power of picking stuff up and hauling it.

193: Plasmamorphs

ENTRY 193: Plasmamorphs

There are no food pills in the science fiction future. Pure carbohydrates are 4 Calories per gram, and no foreseeable technology is going distil an entire turkey dinner into a conventional-sized tablet. A couple crystal spires do exist, but most habitat building codes prefer reinforced concrete over a skeleton of smart materials. Togas are entirely optional, but most transhumans prefer something with pockets and better thermal layering. It is unquestionably the future, but not the future imagined by men and women that dreamed of far-flung stellar empires managed by pen-and-paper calculations and room-sized tape computers.

Still, there remains something of that iconic early science-fiction imagery lodged in the transhuman consciousness—the idea that somehow, someway, the achievement of the marvels dreamed of by that repressed society just beginning to imagine the exploration of space is something worth working towards. And if food pills aren’t possible in anything smaller than suppository form and you need several permits to build a crystal spire which you can’t get insurance for, there is at least one ancient sci-fi marvel that many transhuman scientists, engineers, and technologists are diligently working towards: becoming a being of pure energy. Or, something close enough.

The leading developments in this field of endeavor center on quasi-perpetual vortices of plasma. Generated in controlled environments by a high-temperature vortex generator, scientists believe that these vortices can be made sufficiently complex that they can emulate a transhuman ego, and that under the right conditions may even be self-sustaining by drawing in and ejecting plasma from the environment. Of course, that is some time in the future, and it remains to be seen if the resulting “plasmamorphs” would be stable enough to sustain themselves in a natural environment like the surface of the sun.

Mechanics

The cutting edge of plasma vortex technology is amazing, but extremely impractical. Currently generated in fireballs (see entry 047), a plasmamorph is essentially a constantly twisting knot of ionized gas above a plasma vortex generator, which monitors and maintains the vortex-form while constantly saving data from the ego in real-time to the equivalent of a cortical stack. The ego inside the plasmamorph perceives the environment through electromagnetic senses, which give them a basic awareness of the temperature of surrounding plasma and the presence and movement of charged bodies, with enough sensitivity that a plasmamorph can discern sunspotting (see Eclipse Phase, 86), and respond in kind by manipulating plasma flow on its outer layer. That said, plasmamorphs are extremely fragile; any substantial disruption of their form (like, say, a surya or salamander moving through it) will destroy the plasma vortex, though they find movement in the direction of their principle rotation along the edges very pleasurable. If the vortex generator that keeps creates and maintains the form of the plasmamorph stops operating, the plasmamorph suffers gradual and irreversible dissipation, usually within thirty minutes.

Using Plasmamorphs

At this point, it’s established that plasmamorphs are incredibly fragile, mostly powerless bodies of ionized gas that can only exist in highly limited environments and dare not interact with anything too closely or else that incarnation of the ego inhabiting the plasmamorph is doomed to speedy disintegration. Given these restrictions, no sane player is likely going to want to be a plasmamorph even for a session, and even if they did it would be highly disruptive of the game since the PC couldn’t really go anywhere or do anything; the solution then is for the gamemaster to give the PC those things. An experimental plasmamorph may be the only way for the PCs to contact and interact with a potential alien species of natural plasmamorphs, for example. Scientists might give the PCs a significant rep boost if they participate in plasmamorph resleeving experiments, and the gamemaster might design a session or part of a session to the PCs discovering the limits of what they can and cannot do in such an environment and in such alien forms. Fireballs in particular make good settings for an old-fashioned locked-room mystery given the dangers of damage to a plasmamorph’s vortex generator, and the PCs might need to venture into one to try and get some information out of the plasmamorph of the victim before it dissipates permanently, comforting the ego as it begins its final collapse. And of course, plasmamorphs make suitably exotic forms for very strange and cerebral exhumans, striving for the old-fashioned future.

187: Parasitoid Pod

ENTRY 187: Parasitoid Pod

Parasitoid pods were developed by exhumans experimenting with different ecological relationships. As the name implies, the parasitoid pod spends the majority of its existence within another living entity, most often another transhuman morph or pod. The elongated body of the parasitoid pod curls amid the host organism’s guts, tapping into its circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems to derive basic nutrition; early efforts at tapping into the host’s nervous system were eventually abandoned in favor of using basic Mesh protocols.

Unlike natural parasitoids, the parasitoid pod does not enter the host’s system innocuously and grow slowly over time. Implantation (and escape/removal) tend to be traumatic experiences for the host; the average parasitoid pod is 1-2 meters long and 2-4 centimeters in diameter, and the morph is quite capable of chewing its way in (or out) using its claws, though most egos prefer surgery to avoid placing undo stress on the host. Once installed, the parasitoid places an increased burden on the host’s system, requiring greater food and water intake to sustain both systems.

The reasons behind occupying a parasitoid pod differ from ego to ego, and tend to be complicated. Some exhumans simply prefer the lifestyle, where they are kept warm and nestled womb-like in the guts of another morph—either a chosen victim, or a pod selected specifically as a carrier and to aid in interaction with transhumanity at a greater remove. Alternately, some transhumans have taken to carrying a parasitoid pod as a quick “back up” morph that they can quickly resleeve into should their regular morph be damaged (or if they need to abandon it quickly). Practical egos in need for subterfuge have noted the advantages of hiding within another morph, and Firewall has become aware that parasitoid pods are difficult to discern with psi sleights, perhaps masked by the host’s nervous system.

Generic Parasitoid Pod Stats

Parasitoid pods have all of the advantages of pods (Eclipse Phase, p.142).

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Clean Metabolism, Cyberbrain, Puppet Sock

Aptitude Maximum: 25 (5 for Coordination, Reflexes, and Somatics)

Durability: 10

Wound Threshold: 2

Advantages: Psi Chameleon (when in host), Fang Attack (1d10 DV, use Unarmed Combat skill)*

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod), Unfit (2), Blind, Deaf, Mute, No hands but five hundred feet

CP Cost: 10

Credit Cost: High

* Success is automatic if the parasitoid is already installed in a host.

Entering or leaving a host biomorph inflicts 1d10 DV on the host morph per round, and typically takes 1 round per every meter long the parasitoid pod is (or longer, if the entry is contested by grabbing the parasitoid as it enters). The parasitoid pods typically enter or exit from a point just within the host’s mouth or anus, but other places are possible. Once installed, the host’s cost of living increase by 25% as their needs for water, oxygen, and nutrition increase. Parasitoid morphs can be removed surgically, though they will often seek to leave of their own accord if they become aware of this, or can be poisoned by various medications (treat as a poison, but half cost and only the parasitoid is effected, not the host). When removed from the host, parasitoid pods have limited ability to accept nutrition—if they do not enter another host or a vat of nutrient and oxygen-rich fluids within 24 hours, the pod will expire. In some habitat sewer systems, a parasitoid pod could theoretically survive indefinitely without a host.

144: Shipslug

ENTRY 144: Shipslug

Autonomist habitats tend to take a pragmatic approach to criminal offenses. With omnipresent camera coverage and Mesh-based tracking, evidence for minor offenses is typically overwhelming and trials little more than a formality; legal emphasis typically focuses on a negotiated settlement to repair the criminal morph’s relationship with the community—sometimes a fine, more often some form of community service. There are always a few dirty jobs that need to be done on any habitat, and some of the dirtiest are done by shipslugs.

Bioengineered from Terran gastropods, shipslugs are massive pods engineered as vacworkers, clinging to the outside hulls of ships and habitats, absorbing radiation, removing debris, and conducting simple repairs like temporarily patching holes with a silicone-based mucous that hardens into a ceramic plug. While most egos might be disinclined to resleeve into a pod even temporarily, shipslug mesh inserts come with a custom morph-specific built-in augmented reality game that translates their real-world work tasks into short virtual fantasy quests. As a consequence, shipslugs are one of the most popular penal pods currently in production.

Generic Shipslug Stats

Implants: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Carapace Armor, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Ghostrider Module, Grip Pads*, Lidar, Oxygen Reserve, Puppet Sock, Radar, Temperature Tolerance, T-Ray Emitter, Vaccum Sealing

Mobility System: Snake (4/16)

Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 40

Wound Threshold: 8

Advantages: Armor (8/8)

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod), Limbless

CP Cost: 40

Credit Cost: Expensive

*The entire underside of a shipslug counts as single massive “foot,” and is mainly used to stay attached to the hull without trouble.

Using Shipslugs

Eventually, the player characters are going to cause some trouble, or at least be blamed for it. Whether in the wrong or not, they need to come to an understanding with the authorities or powers-that-be on the habitat or ship. Prison sucks, so it’s good for the gamemaster to have sole alternative community service/work release solutions available—and while shipslugs may not be the sexiest morphs available (except to other shipslugs), they are fairly durable and can go on extended spacewalks with bare minimum of equipment, making them a solid option for one-shot adventures or sidequests to get the PCs out of their comfort zone for the length of a mission.

Seed

• While fighting off scum pirates trying to hijack their transport, an errant weapon discharge causes a nearby asteroid to explode, causing micrometeorite damage to the hull and forcing it to call for volunteers to mind the shipslugs to conduct emergency repairs. The science officer asks the PCs to pitch in, explaining that the asteroid was nearly pure platinum-group metals—and the dusty bits and fragments the shipslugs collect can be collected and sold off at the next habitat for a tidy profit which she’ll split with them (her “finder’s fee” is 10% if they feel like negotiating). Of course, the PCs may not be the only ones with that idea…and the scum pirates may still be out there and come back to try their luck again while the shipslugs are hard at work.  

123: Blemmyes

ENTRY 123: Blemmyes

Morph engineering is a combination of technical and aesthetic challenges, balancing the need to meet certain performance specifications with building a morph that an ego is willing to resleeve into. As a consequence, most morphs abide by at least the general outlines of the classical human form (bipedal, two forward-facing eyes, etc.) or other Terran animal life. It is generally only the most daring and independent morphs that play with major variations, such as the headless, or blemmyes morph.

The blemmyes design philosophy is that in contemporary transhuman society, a distinct head is both unnecessary and something of a liability—with modern bioengineering, there is no reason why the most important aspect of the morph, the brain, should be located in a relatively vulnerable position away from the central mass. So, the blemmyes morph was designed so that the brain is located in the central torso, behind a reinforced ribcage where the individual ribs have grown and fused together as an armored pseudo-skull. This protects the brain, increases blood flow to brain tissues, and shortens neural path distance to outlying muscles and organs; however, it also necessitated several other modifications—temperature controls, and the relocation of sensory organs to account for the lack of eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. The blemmyes’ torso is dotted with receptors that provide weak senses of sight, smell, and hearing—for example, the photosensitive patches can discern the difference between light and darkness, but not color or distance. For general interaction with the environment, the blemmyes relies on echolocation, and a keen sense of touch, with its fingers and toes incorporating taste receptors.

Even with these modifications, blemmyes more than many other morphs require a complete change in lifestyle. Instead of a mouth, blemmyes possess a single orifice between their shoulders used mainly for respiration, and incapable of speech, so they rely primarily on sign language, Flavored Braille, and Mesh-based communications. Without teeth or other masticators, they rely on pre-processed foods, and most choose to sustain themselves on an intravenous diet. In large part because of these disadvantages, blemmye morphs are unpopular and remain relatively scarce, but are cheaper than several comparable morphs.

Generic Blemmyes Stats

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Enhanced Senses (Echolocation, Enhanced Taste, Enhanced Touch), Oxygen Reserve, Temperature Tolerance

Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 40

Wound Threshold: 8

Advantages: Armor (3/3), +5 COG, +5 COO, +5 INT

Disadvantages: Mute, Reduced Senses (Hearing, Sight, Smell)*

CP Cost: 20

Credit Cost: Expensive

* Blemmyes take a -30 modifier to Perception tests relying on any of these senses.

Seed

• Morphist tensions have erupted on Mars between a majority Barsoomian community and the blemmyes minority. The center of the dispute is a disruption in blemmyes-accomodating Mesh services, making it difficult for them to communicate and receive proper nourishment—a disruption that one blemmyes hacker has tracked down to an outside scholar. The Barsoomians will never believe the blemmyes, so they turn to the player characters to help them uncover who is really behind things.

095: Orcamorphs

ENTRY 095: Orcamorphs

Most of whale species were lost with the flight from Earth. Transhumanity abandoned them in the blackening oceans, too massive to transport up the gravity well, and transhumanity’s final scramble for the safety of space was marked by the dying cetaceans that beached themselves en masse, giving the scavengers one final feast as those cousins of the deep stared up at the fleeing contrails. A few carried with them genetic material taken from captive cetacean populations, but many of the grandest specimens—the sperm whale, the blue whale—are lost species. Even with this material available, few whales have been cloned since the Fall; without a habitat that can sustain them indefinitely, there is no point in setting up a self-sustaining population.

The majority of whales that do remain in transhuman space are orcamorphs: uplifted and heavily transgenetically modified biomorphs based on the orca whale with neo-atavisms that recall some of the creatures’ distant past as land-dwelling mammals such as functional front and hind limbs. While small by comparison with true orca, the standard orcamorph is between two and three meters long and one to two meters tall at the shoulder when on all fours; the largest orcamorphs are thus severely restricted in the habitats they can actually maneuver in, and their weight can cause significant health issues in environments greater than 1 g. Orcamorphs retain their triangular teeth, distinct black and white coloration, and a vestigial dorsal fin, and look very much like stunted orca whales with thick, hippopotamus-like limbs, the foremost pair of which ends with long-fingered hands. They are capable of a hunched bipedal stature, but generally prefer to walk on all fours.

Orcas were considered prime subjects for uplift because of their massive brains, with many transhumans considering them sentient even before the neural hacks were applied. Now the orcamorphs enjoy a reputation as some of the most innately intelligent biomorphs in the solar system, though with significant drawbacks: orcamorphs enjoy a vastly increased “life of the mind” and tend to daydreaming, attention deficit disorders, and a tendency to withdraw from everyday life; nearly forty percent of the population display some form of autism. Despite this tendency to get lost in their own heads, orcamorphs are highly social and tend to form deep relationships with small groups, and many feel the need to keep in close contact with their groupmates at all times, either by physical proximity, infrasonic calls, or a Mesh feed.

Orcamorph Stats

Orcamorphs are biomorphs; moreover they are marine mammals rather than fish, and observe the same requirements for food, oxygen, water, etc.—just more of it than smaller folk! They do not normally possess gills and cannot breathe underwater unaided, but can hold their breath for long periods of time. Their natural echolocation is usually accomplished by clicking vocalizations.

Implants: Access Jacks, Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Echolocation, Eidetic Memory, Enhanced Respiration, Oxygen Reserve, Temperature Tolerance

Aptitude Maximum: 40 (35 SOM)

Durability: 60

Wound Threshold: 8

Advantages: Bite Attack (1d10 DV, use Unarmed Combat Skill), +10 COG, +5 COO, +10 INT, +5 SOM, +10 Swimming

Disadvantages: Orcamorphs counts as a large target (+10 modifier to hit in combat)

CP Cost: 80

Credit Cost: Expensive (minimum 45,000)

Note

This section is an alternative or addendum to the Neo-Cetaceans presented on pp.110-1, 142-3 of Panopticon. Orcamorphs represent a more extreme humanoid adaptation than the Neo-Orca, designed for walking rather than swimming.

081: Skincast

ENTRY 081: Skincast

One mutation of the ages-old broadcast entertainment that has adapted to the syntax of transhuman existence are Skincast and its various affiliate, derivative, and supplementary programming. A variation on the episodic trial-reward program, the conceit of Skincast is that member-participants can compete in a series of original and sometimes absurd weighted-scoring challenges, with the ultimate victor or victors of any particular series of trials being rewarded with a new or upgraded morph. While most popular in the Planetary Consortium due to cross-licensing agreements between participating hypercorps (“Our Beloved Sponsors”), the show or something similar to it exists in at least 65% of habitats in transhuman space, with the largest outliers bioconservative communities that frown on exotic morphs.

The in-character backstory of Skincast is that the contests are being judged by alien intelligences (who may be influenced by up to 45% by a send-in fan vote), who choose the participants that are worthy and desirous for the competition (pseudo-random pick from a pool of volunteers, paid actors, and charity cases in desperate need of a new morph) and subject them to “Xenochallenges” set in locales throughout the solar system (usually Mars or Luna) that prove them worthy of receiving the gifts of the space-gods. Those who accumulate sufficient points are deemed the “Select” and allowed to resleeve into a brand new and exotic morph, supposedly custom-designed for the winners. The truth is that the whole debacle is a mix of scripted drama and gameshow, sometimes cruel and often more than a bit ludicrous; viewers on video or XP are as likely to see a crippled synthmorph and an aging flat grapple to see which can place a gold apple on a pedestal as they to see a blatant pleasure pod plant try to sow an X-rated romantic subplot and pitch “Our Beloved Sponsors” latest synthmorph polish. Skincast continues to be seen by millions, and hey—you too might be a winner!

Using Skincast

At its basic, Skincast is the kind of background element you can drop into a game almost anywhere and pick up when convenient: the guard missed the PCs sneaking past the camera because they were streaming Skincast on duty; the Barsoomian contact makes small talk about the latest series of Skincast challenges set in Europa; the target is devoted to the show and will give up anything for a pair of tickets; the bouncer at the club’s morph is actually one of the old Skincast morphs from six seasons and twelve users ago, etc.

On the other hand, gamemasters may choose to use Skincast as the focus for one or more adventures, even letting the PCs compete to become one of the Select. Most challenges are not simply physical, but contain some element that requires players to outthink or outwit their opponents; rarely the judges even include a Moral challenge designed to test intangibles like courage and self-sacrifice, setting up scenarios where the PCs may complete their stated objectives or do the “right” thing. Unlike modern game shows, Skincast averages 2.73 “deaths” (destruction of morphs) per episode, so the danger in any given challenge, as insane as it may be, is very real. Forks of each participant are kept secure by Skincast Inc. just in case. The reward morphs are typically the latest corporate models from Our Beloved Sponsors, or standard models with enough cosmetic bodywork to appear new and flash; rarely the morphs are unique or experimental, and the GM is encouraged to get creative and go nuts—if the PC isn’t interested, the morph can always be donated to a charity of their choice.

046: Zushell

ENTRY 046: Zushell

The dearth of affordable morphs has led to many egos and infomorphs adopting less pleasant and durable options for physical embodiment. One of the most disturbing vehicles for transhuman consciousness are zushells, sometimes called “zombie morphs.” Initially designed as disposable bodies for temporary activity of a few hours in dangerous environments where synthmorphs were undesirable, zushells are biomorphs with zero regenerative cell activity, existing in a constant state of apoptosis: skin cells die and slough off in a few days, never to be replaced; red blood cells usually last four months before they die and the zushell’s blood literally begins to rot; injuries never heal and necrotic tissue never expelled. Even with constant tissue replacement therapy and various preventative measures, the ego living inside a zushell faces a constant battle against their failing body.

For some, it’s worth it. Buying a zushell is relatively cheap compared to renting a morph in the short term, and the attendant health defects aren’t generally noticeable for the first 72 hours after the zushell is decanted. For others, zushells are the final resort for the poorest and most desperate egos, willing to cling to physical existence even if it means living in dying shells of flesh.

Generic Zushell Stats

Enhancements: Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Puppet Sock

Aptitude Maximum: 15

Durability: 15

Wound Threshold: 2

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod), Doesn’t Heal

CP Cost: 5

Credit Cost: Moderate

Zushells require regular tissue replacement therapy. Initial treatments (weeks 1-4) are Trivial in cost, and increase one level every subsequent period (weeks 5-8, Low; weeks 9+, Moderate; etc.). This generally requires at least moderate medical facilities and stocks of clonal material available. After a week without tissue therapy, a zushell’s durability is permanently reduced by 5 points.

Zushells cannot heal damage or wounds without medical care. Zushells can accept Medichines (p.308, Eclipse Phase), but do not benefit from the accelerated healing provided by that implant.

Using Zushells

Aside from introducing a zombie-like figure to your Eclipse Phase game, zushells are both cheap and disposable, a bit like burner phones for some of the more shady movers and shakers in the grey lines. Zushells see the most use in places with lots of biomorphs and where synthmorphs and pods are expensive or rare, such as the Jovian Republic or some of the more distant or metal-poor habitats. Gamemasters should always remember that characters that occupy zushells for an extended period of time are trapped in biological existential hells of their own making—skin growing grey and falling off, teeth falling out, minor and major organs failing, even minor injuries failing to heal.

Seeds

• An exsurgent terrorist is planning to release dozens of zushells puppeted by his forks and infected with the exsurgent virus within a habitat, with the intent of spreading the disease. Firewall has caught wind of the plan and asks the player characters to eliminate the threat—whether it means an old-school zombie massacre, opening the habitat to space, or however else they choose to handle the situation.

042: Factorials

ENTRY 042: Factorials

The clanking majority of transhumans do not have unique morphs—even with the vast manufacturing capability of nanofabrication, engineering and design skill limit the ability to plan and craft a really different body, and most transhumans expend their creative energies and resources on ultimately minor or cosmetic modifications and upgrades. Biomorphs are little better, with the vast majority being little more than gene-tweaked baseline humans, or for the more elaborate pods some take-off of existing products of Terran evolution. Yet there do exist groups that focus on developing ever more baroque, high-concept, and alien morphs; who take as their model creatures of myth and fantasy, hypothetical mathematical models, and the few extant examples of xenobiology that have fallen into transhumanity’s sphere of knowledge. For the latter, the most prominent group are the Factors, and the morphs they have inspired are known as Factorials.

Faithful reproduction of Factor biological forms is limited by the sparse knowledge of their anatomy that has come to light; most Factorials attempt only to imitate the outer physical properties or appearance of their colony-structure. More ambitious efforts to mimic the combinatorial distributed networking aspects of Factor mentality are currently still in very early stages of development, with a few spectacular failures serving as living examples of the dangers to egos who pursue such fundamental changes in the way they think and perceive. Still, there exists networked communities interested in Factorials and who continue to push the design envelope and encourage one another in their pursuits, although as with most transhuman networks it has its divisions, poseurs, hangers-on, and xenophiles.

Mechanics

Functional Factorial morphs are effectively high-end Worker Pods (Eclipse Phase, p.142) designed to mimic the external appearance of Factors, effectively gaining Striking Looks (1) and changing the Credit Cost to Expensive. Despite outward appearances the pod is still effectively based on Terran biology, with normal dietary and oxygen needs. Individuals who are familiar with the appearance of Factors receive a +20 modifier to any skill check to discern that a Factorial is not one. Functional Factorials count as Heavily Modified (-10 Integration/Alienation modifier) for purposes of resleeving. (Eclipse Phase, p.272)

Experimental Factorial morphs that attempt to replicate the more characteristic elements of Factor biology and mentality are extremely rare, with none currently on the market, and all of them possess considerable drawbacks. If the gamemaster chooses to include these biomorphs in their game, they typically possess physical modifications normally restricted to synthmorphs such as Modular Design, Shape Adjusting, and Swarm Composition—with mental continuity between disparate biological components maintained by discrete wireless implants. Such morphs are extremely fragile to EMP munitions (Eclipse Phase, p.340) and electromagnetic noise in general; they literally fall to pieces as individual portions of the Factorial cease being able to communicate with each other. Experimental Factorials count as Heavily Modified Exotic Morphs (-40 Integration/Alienation modifier) for purposes of resleeving. (Eclipse Phase, p.272)

At the gamemaster’s discretion, characters with Factorial morphs may replace the Social Stigma (Pod) trait with a Social Stigma (Factorial) trait, representing the greater acceptance egos with Factorials receive within their networks and among xenomorph enthusiasts.

039: Surrogate Pod

ENTRY 039: Surrogate Pod

Transhuman genetic engineers view the conventional reproductive system as a platform for their own projects, one result of which are surrogate pods, also known as “walking wombs.” The surrogate pod is a mobile gestation chamber for a developing morph; the more basic models resemble a pregnant unmodified human, while more elaborate versions feature various augmentations or are based on nonhuman physiologies. In the vast majority of cases, surrogate pods are designed as temporary bodies for egos that have purchased the biomorph growing within the surrogate’s artificial womb. For paranoid or insecure egos, this provides immediate and ongoing assurance of the state of their future self, as well as intimate contact and connection with the morph that will make the eventual resleeving process easier.

Surrogate pods find their greatest use in habitats where morph and resleeving technologies are ideologically limited, and as a cheaper alternative to the more expensive biomorphs—since the bulk of time and expense comes from gestation, moving a partially-gestated biomorph into a surrogate pod frees up artificial wombs and vat decanters for other projects, the morphs can be offered at a lower cost. The downside of course is that surrogate pods are typically extremely basic, specially geared for the sustainment and protection of the developing biomorph inside them above all else. Typical surrogate pods generally lack senses of smell and taste, reproductive organs, and have simplified digestive tracts—and that’s before the genetic surgeons really started cutting corners. Surrogate pods are mostly not designed for long-term use—the surrogate pod itself is often destroyed when the gestation period is complete, either through the surgical harvesting operation, and even if the pod survives “giving birth” its genetic lifespan is rarely much longer.

The greatest number of “reusable” surrogate pods capable of surviving multiple implantations and gestation exist on Mars. The Martian models are the remnants of a cooperative initiative for population growth; the durable surrogates are volunteers or sometimes paid employees, and the biomorphs they gestate are often near-baseline human and animal fetuses, though other options are possible.

Generic Surrogate Pod Stats

Surrogate pods have all of the advantages of pods or biomorphs (Eclipse Phase, p.142), as appropriate.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Puppet Sock, Gestation Sack, Neuter

Aptitude Maximum: 30 (20 for Coordination, Reflexes, and Somatics)

Durability: 30

Wound Threshold: 6

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod), Unfit (2)

CP Cost: 10 + carried biomorph

Credit Cost: High (or cost of carried biomorph, if higher)

Surrogate pods are typically purchased containing a developing biomorph; the cost of this biomorph is 50% the CP or credit cost of buying a full-grown version outright, but it will take time to develop—typically one week per point of durability. The surrogate pod is implanted with nutritional gel packs that feed directly to the developing morph and build the morph’s implants as it matures, so there are no special dietary requirements beyond a minimum caloric intake. Delivery of the biomorph generally results in the death of the surrogate pod; Martian-model reusable surrogates have triple the base cost (30 CP/Expensive) as one-shots.

021: Beamsailors

ENTRY 021: Beamsailors

Beam sails (also known as solar sails or photon sails) are a proven technology, both low maintenance and long lasting, able to operate with relative ease between the inner planets using the radiation pressure and solar gases pushing against their mirrored surfaces to provide sufficient thrust for interplanetary travel.  Some models are able to operate farther using beam stations and proper construction. Morphs designed as beamsailors are small craft the size of a typical transhuman at the center of a massive beam sail of nanofabricated microscopic mirrors set in an active array. The morphs ply their way between planets, vast mirrored surface areas folding and tacking into amazing geometries to catch either sunlight or a laser beam.

Beamsailors are one of the most economic method of independent space exploration for the inner solar systems, but remain rare—while they can build up to appreciable speeds, particularly with a laser or maser beam behind them to provide additional thrust, in practice they tend to be slower than many conventional space craft for short voyages, generally with greater turning radius and higher delta v to change trajectories than on-board engine craft of similar mass.

Egos that choose beamsailor morphs tend to be self-reliant and desire independence. Many work as spotters and surveyors for freelance miners and hypercorps, doing sweeps of asteroids or high-altitude planetary surface scans looking for minerals, metals, ices, and unusual features. Beamsailors are also among the explorers of solar systems on the other side of gate networks, though often with modifications that allow them to operate with respect to the different environments of alien stars.

Beamsailor Stats

Beamsailor morphs have all of the advantages of synthmorphs (Eclipse Phase, p.143).

Enhancements: 360-Degree Vision, Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Solar Panels

Mobility System: Beam Sail

Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 60

Wound Threshold: 20

Disadvantages: Limited Maneuverability

CP Cost: 80

Credit Cost: Expensive (minimum 50,000+)

Individual beamsailors often have many more advantages and enhancements, including entire weapon systems, armor, quantum farcasters, sensor arrays, etc.

Seeds

• One Bad Photon is a surveyor operating in the Hungaria asteroids and thinks ze’s hit something big, a deposit of exotic organic compounds that would fetch up to half a million credits from one of the biotech habitats or hypercorps. All ze asks to lead the player characters to it is a fair share of the profits—but when they get there, they’ll have to deal with a claim-jumping scum barge.
• Dahast is a beamsailor gone bad—a predatory ego that hunts and cripples other beamsailors in slow races, using rail guns to rip their beam sails to shreds. What’s worse is what follows in Dahast’s wake, a crew of exsurgents that seize the crippled morph and seek to infect the captured ego. Firewall wants them ended—they have a group of beamsailor puppet socks set up as bait, all they need now are pilots that can lead Dahast and the exsurgents into the trap.

015: Macromorphs

ENTRY 015: Macromorphs

A macromorph is a synthetic morph on the scale of a large satellite or small moon. Due to their sheer size, macromorphs have limited to no relative mobility, taking the form of stationary complexes when installed on a planet, moon, or asteroid; and with only maneuvering thrusters to change orientation when installed as orbital stations or satellites.

Macromorphs are popularly considered shells suited only for loners and hermits, and there is some truth to that—some transhumans have resleeved into repurposed commsats or abandoned automated factories, trading the familiarity and maneuverability of a smaller morph for availability, or sometimes just distance from the crowding presence of other egos; and many scientists and artists have taken sabbaticals into macromorphs to pursue their efforts in relative solitude. However, the majority of such morphs are only physically isolated from transhumanity, with most satellite morphs at least possessing sufficient communication and sensor equipment to talk to a third of the solar system.

The facilities themselves are often kitted out as spysats, secure communications transponders, zero-g mining and small-scale manufacturing facilities, and similar complicated facilities where a transhuman mind is a better option than an AI, particularly where non-logical leaps of intuition and creativity are a necessary part of the morph’s purpose. Modern macromorphs are usually built and installed by hypercorps, intended for temporary inhabitation on rotating shifts ranging from 100 hours to three years. Rumors continue of combat sat macromorphs inhabited by paranoid survivalists and soldiers still fighting old wars.

The real challenge with resleeving into a macromorph is the transition to essentially becoming a location. A majority of a macromorph’s internal functions are carried out by automatic programs to control internal power usage, heat distribution, and even basic maintenance, but the internal sensors and triggers do not translate well to most transhuman understanding, and the experience as a whole often leaves egos feeling somewhat numb, as if interacting with the universe at one remove, at least until they get acclimated to it.

Engineered pod macromorphs are also possible, though considerably more rare given the cost and difficulty of installation, and the need for a stable ecosystem to support such a large morph, or periodic installation of large nutrient packs. Pod macromorphs are usually tree or coral installations assembled from vat-grown materials, and often resemble vast columns covered in rough human skin dotted with eyespots and topped with a fringe of chemical-sensitive cilia that combine smell and taste.

Generic Macromorph Stats

Macromorphs have all of the advantages of pods or synthmorphs (Eclipse Phase, p.142-3), as appropriate.

Enhancements: 360-Degree Vision, Access Jacks, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Hibernation

Pod Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Clean Metabolism, Eidetic Memory, Oxygen Reserve

Synthmorph Enhancements: Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation, Puppet Sock

Mobility System: None.

Aptitude Maximum: 30

Durability: 450

Wound Threshold: 90

Advantages: Armor (10/10)

Disadvantages: Immobile, Social Stigma (Macromorph) trait

CP Cost: 100

Credit Cost: Expensive (minimum 250,000+)

Individual macromorphs often have many more advantages and enhancements, including entire automated labs, weapon systems, quantum farcasters, deep space sensor arrays, etc.