The Technojacker Revisited

[The Baron of chaos]

Sir, you've just read my mind, I too thought about this for long time. Yes the technojackers is one of the things in Splicer that seem to suffer from a rushed job, or somethingt hat was expected to expand in future sourcebook..that will never come(let's face it there is more chance to see another sourcebook for nightbane or ATB than Splicer)

[The Baron of chaos]

I found them sensed, and I think most people around here would probably agree. As for your work, when you've completeda first version post it, and let's see the opinions

[Guy_LeDouche]

I am ALL about a Techno-Jacker rework or expansion; I think its a great idea that wasn't quite carried out to its fullest.

I started tinkering with some Techno Jacker ideas; some were very similar to yours (another case of "parallel evolution".)

Though not fully fleshed out, I had an idea very much like the "Tech Points"; mine was "Nanite Count". Much like P.P.E., a TJ character started with a certain Nanite Count and this increased with levels, training, etc. Calling on the Nanites, the TJ could increase attributes for an amount of time or manifest other abilities or even weapons.

A group that exsists in my Splicers "universe" is a group called "The Acolytes of Steel"; a group of TJ's that work for the Machine. N.E.X.U.S. has been breeding Jackers in isolation and trained almost since birth. They are used as suicidal assassins, spies, and infiltrators. The Jackers are utterly dedicated to their mission. One of the greatest successes of the Acolytes was in infiltrating the House DragonClaw and slaying the Warlord himself.

[RockJock]

I just caught this thread, and I'm really happy to see someone working on expanding the T-Jacker. The whole idea of them "training" nannites for tasks like the vision enhancement is different, but I like it.

[runebeo]

I was think about have one that was an ace pilot with a large air transport to carry my tamed bots, but our GM wanted to limit our air travel to ensure a more dangerous confrontations with the machine. Easy escapes were a problem early on in our campaign. I know Technojackers are going to be very powerful after we find out about all the machine upcoming new tech.

[glitterboy2098]

one thing that might make for an interesting twist on the idea is ot look at the nature of nanites.

nanites have to be powered. period. their too small to carry long duration powerplants of their own, so they have to get it from somewhere else. either wireless power systems, or various forms of catalytic chemistry. since wireless power is unlikely (more likely to be used in real life, but ties the nanite use to locations with the powersupply and transmitters), chemical power seems likely. given that most nanites are likely to be a mix of organic and inorganic molecules, you could probably claim they metabolize the same basic stuff that humans do (carbs, fats, ect.) since nanites can do molecular assembly, they could probably use fat, protien, and trace minerals to make more nanites.

this would give a technojacker a unique traits. his nanites are symbiotic with him, like beneficial tapeworms. to keep them powered he has to eat more carbs and such, above what his own body needs. and he'd have to eat extra protien, fats, minerals, ect if his nanites get damaged (like say, through combat injury). if he's not got enough of a particular material or mineral like say, zinc), he gets cravings for anything his nanite enhanced senses tell him have that material. which could see some odd behaviors (like scarfing down dirt to get more minerals, or knawing on bones to get protein and calcium)

to support this type of drawback, the nanites should enhance the technojackers immune system and digestive system. so they can eat just about anything. raw meat, carrion, rocks, small peices of metal, sticks, etc. and generally have to, to keep their nanites going.


note: i don't have splicers, so if this is already covered in that book, ignore it.

[runebeo]

I know most GM wouldn't allow this, but what if a Technojacker earned himself a host armor for his many brave deeds, such as saving a grateful Librarian. No reason he couldn't ware one and if the Bio-E was limited to under a hundred or so, he wouldn't be too unbalancing.

[Ziggurat the Eternal]

This is so freaking sweet. I wish I had caught this sooner, I love TJ's, and the book just doesn't do them any justice. I have been waiting for some kind of sourcebook, but this is even better. I can't wait for the finished product. Also, the way you decided that they get fueled is pure genius, I was starting something along these lines but I couldn't get past that part.

[Ziggurat the Eternal]

anything, everything. We will enjoy seeing it.

[Ziggurat the Eternal]

they are all pretty awesome, i think everyone was just jealous that you dont have a writers block at this point in time.

I would like to see the thing you posted earlier in its complete form, the one where you listed all the abilities you would like to see, but didnt have costs or effects for yet.

[Shark_Force]

well, human nature being what it is, it's entirely possible the technojackers saved humanity by giving the rest of humanity the choice of either being their slaves, or getting killed by the Machine. so sure, they saved humanity, but that doesn't mean they were popular or well-liked. (i will note that i don't yet have the book, i'm mostly just speculating).

this becomes particularly true if a lot of technojackers became arrogant and viewed the rest of humanity as being largely worthless other than as someone for them to enslave. now that they are no longer especially more powerful than anyone else (ie, they are not the only humans with Mega-Damage technology available) they might be less arrogant and prideful... but unfortunately, the damage may have already been done. they might already have a reputation for treating human beings like their property, which leads to them being outcasts, which leads to them resenting the people who cast them out, which leads to them valuing the lives of other humans less, which leads to other humans treating them like outcasts, which leads to them resting the people who cast them out, and so forth. naturally, not all technojackers are like that (nor do they all initially have to have been like that; just enough of them that it became the stereotype) but in the meanwhile, you get a situation where the technojackers are outcasts as a group, and even the ones who are not cruel and hateful will be mistrusted (especially after a few accidents happen with metal being brought into the havens by technojackers who don't feel comfortable being essentially left completely defenseless while surrounded by large numbers of people with weapons that can turn them into a pile of ash).

i mean, consider that technojackers will essentially come to view the metal that they work with as being a part of themselves; their armor is going to be viewed as being like their skin. even handheld weapons are going to be something that they link to. asking them to leave all their metal behind is probably not easy for them. they likely get attached to it in much the same way a dreadguard feels uncomfortable away from their host armor, or a juicer gets used to being a juicer and can't stand the idea of detox turning them into a shriveled husk of a human being. they go from being powerful (essentially) MDC beings when they have access to metal, to being hundreds of times weaker. it isn't going to be a comfortable feeling for them. and it's just going to lead to more resentment knowing that if they want to be around everyone else, they have to give up all of their abilities more or less.

[Shadow Wyrm]

TJ's would make a great sourcebook, but lets hope they do something else first.

[The Galactus Kid]

I may be working on a Rifter article regarding Technojackers sometime in the near future.

[Ziggurat the Eternal]

We are reading and appreciating, we just dont want to derail the thread.

[Shark_Force]

gold happens to actually be a very good material for electrical purposes. low resistance, ductile (that is, you can shape it into wire very easily). it does have a low melting point which would likely make some tolerances lower, but those tolerance ratings could be improved with proper heat sinks and cooling systems.

i can see no reason you wouldn't be able to create capacitors and inductors from them (important for filtering out certain bandwidths and such), and transistors should be possible (most don't require metal to function properly).

for electricity generation, i seem to recall hydrogen fuel cells requiring palladium and gold, if i remember correctly. not sure if palladium is specifically on the list of allowed metals though. if not, you'd probably have to rely on piezoelectric crystals for electricity, or chemical batteries possibly.

[demos606]

You have to remember, even in todays world 99.9999999% of the population wouldn't have the faintest idea how to make such equipment. Such knowledge simply isn't needed by the average, or even highly exceptional, person and would likely take hundreds of years to rediscover if our manufacturing ability for modern batterys were to be eliminated and all research notes destroyed.

[NMI]

I am definitely going to look this over more closely as I now have a T-J amongst the player group.

[NMI]

Wouldnt it be just as easy to give the Techno-Jacker Revisited "x" amount of these "tech points" and just have them buy their features from the Host Armor section of the book? Merely say certain things can not be chosen. No metabolisms, etc...

[Ziggurat the Eternal]

I dig it so far.

[ZINO]

Wouldnt it be just as easy to give the Techno-Jacker Revisited "x" amount of these "tech points" and just have them buy their features from the Host Armor section of the book? Merely say certain things can not be chosen. No metabolisms, etc...

I like this , I have many players playing T.J about 5 in a group of 21 aaaaaa
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Help me Mr. Deific NMI ask if you can put in a rifter