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Just some observations/questions as I'm looking at this class in South America 1 again and seriously thinking about playing one:

I love the tragic hero angle, I've always been a sucker for that. Sacrificing your humanity to be a hero always compelled me. But we're going to be playing a mercs game, we've basically been told to come up with combat capable characters who will be working for "whoever pays the best." I'm envisioning an Expendables type situation so a small group of one-man army types is ideal. I have a few ideas for why I'm playing merc in North America but I'm always looking for inspiration so maybe someone can fire off some ideas that inspire me more. What ideas do people have for why an Anti-Monster would leave South America to head off to adventure and be a merc in North America instead of slogging through jungles killing vamps?

They seem designed to go off into the wilderness on their own or in teams of Anti-Monsters and hunt vampires. They don't need to eat or breathe. They're unaffected by regular heat, cold, and weather. So why do they get Wilderness Survival? It's completely useless to them.

It says they can use techno-wizard items but they get a whopping 1d4 PPE and 1d4 ISP which they can't use in any way. I can't recall a single TW item worth using that doesn't require you to pump in at least 10 points of energy. Barring a useful TW weapon/item, any good magical melee weapon that doesn't require PPE/ISP fuel from me? My typical go to magical weapons aren't as great if you don't have PPE/ISP to power them. They get three melee weapons but I can't think of any that are going to be more useful than their built-in claws unless it is maybe a neural mace or a rune weapon (which our GM wisely limits). So I'm again open to recommendations.

The ability to use TW items is an important note because they are repeatedly called cyborgs...And the TW section makes a clear statement that Cyborgs can not use TW.
Thus AM are an exception to that rule and can use TW. Remember not all TW devices need you to pump in your own personal PPE to work.

Wilderness Survival is useful for several other things. Besides the ability to predict where groups of people (or prey) would be based on food/water/shelter or the like it allows them to find and protect humans that they come across. After all, if they save some people from a vampire it would kind of suck if they all starved to death on the way back to a town...

Do like we did and make Manoa, and it's mucho advanced TW factories be the source of Anti-Monsters. Then the AM can use the Manoan TW weapons (and even the TW options available to the Power Armor they make).

The home base of Manao and the story device of "Atlantean heroes exploring the world" becomes an easy fit.

eliakon wrote:Remember not all TW devices need you to pump in your own personal PPE to work.

I'm just having trouble finding any.

Good point about the wilderness survival for people you save and looking at terrain like your quarry.

LostOne wrote:

eliakon wrote:Remember not all TW devices need you to pump in your own personal PPE to work.

I'm just having trouble finding any.

Most TW weapons work this way. A magic user with enough PPE would have to pre-charge the TW device. But in order to work the magic inside the pre-charged TW weapon, the user must only be able to manipulate magic energy.

LostOne wrote:They get three melee weapons but I can't think of any that are going to be more useful than their built-in claws unless it is maybe a neural mace or a rune weapon (which our GM wisely limits). So I'm again open to recommendations.

While unlikely to be much better there is a item called a Mega-Blade. Found in the dimensional market book, at the very end of the equipment section (it's not in the bio-wizardy item section, it's the very end in miscellaneous section), it is an attachment that turns any SD melee weapon into a weapon that does equivalent MD damage. It lasts for 1d4 + 3 years and costs 100 times the weapons normal cost.

Steel wood weapons from Dinosaur Swamp also inflict MD permanently and are cheap. . . But I personally don't approve of them as they're blatantly superior to everything that came before them.

Of course those suggestions are based on the hope that your GM allows Supernatural PS to stack with MD melee weapons ... cause it not you'll need to find an excuse to get a Gargoyle or Xiticix weapon that explicitly allows it.

LostOne wrote:

eliakon wrote:Remember not all TW devices need you to pump in your own personal PPE to work.

I'm just having trouble finding any.

Good point about the wilderness survival for people you save and looking at terrain like your quarry.

RE: Wilderness Survival
While you may be an MDC creature (who doesn't need food/water and rest), you still are likely going to find some aspects of the skill to be applicable to "Techniques for getting water, food, shelter, and help ..." emphasis mine

Remember while the weather might not impact them much, it could make terrain difficult to navigate so they might seek shelter instead of staying out in the bad weather. The ability to find help could also be of significance. Plus as mentioned if they are part of a larger group means they aren't standing around with nothing/little to do as the more "skilled" characters do the work.

Re: TW
Anything that is PPE-clip powered (WB16, maybe some of the SoT has examples), or Ley Line Powered (ex Wing Board). Life-source powered TW devices might also work for them (drawing on their MDC/Hit Points instead of PPE), but that might be a GM call (off hand I don't recall how MDC beings work with the spell) and likely call for a custom device.

Would love to see an anti monster stuck in a mudpit.

I thought main book TW laser weapons were only two PPE a shot... And I would let people charge psi weapons 1 ISP at a time. Meaning every hour your to machine gun could gain 1-4 shots.

Axelmania wrote:I thought main book TW laser weapons were only two PPE a shot... And I would let people charge psi weapons 1 ISP at a time. Meaning every hour your to machine gun could gain 1-4 shots.

"Furthermore, this PPE and ISP cannot be tapped in any way by the Anti-Monster, magic practitioners, or Mind Bleeders."

Is he tapping it or is the TW weapon?

I think it's safe to say if other practicioners can't tap it, then neither can items created by other practitioners. Also since the anti-monster would have to initiate it I'd say he'd be attempting and failing to tap it.

You could always house rule it that they can. Or have a pool that is a replacement to the spells. I would love to see an update to the OCC. A friend wants to play one, but he doesn't like the spells, so he is trying to talk our GM into letting him chose his spells. Even though he really wants to make a Psy version.

I'd love to see an update too, like they did for the Cyber-Knight. Sadly my GM isn't letting me houserule this, at least not yet.

Although I think they didn't go far enough on the Cyber-Knight. I think they were far too anti-tech. They needed another class that did similar but anti-supernatural/magic/psi. They don't only fight Coalition. And a hybrid that was more balanced against all.

I wonder if convert PPE to Chi counts as tapping.

So antimonstsrs basically have PPE Shield Autodefence?

LostOne wrote:I'd love to see an update too, like they did for the Cyber-Knight. Sadly my GM isn't letting me houserule this, at least not yet.

Although I think they didn't go far enough on the Cyber-Knight. I think they were far too anti-tech. They needed another class that did similar but anti-supernatural/magic/psi. They don't only fight Coalition. And a hybrid that was more balanced against all.

What would you update or change? I would look at the spells for one, allow you to pick from a couple of different spell packages, like range attack, melee, defensive, ext. I would also add spells into the optional bionics. So you can chose to ether get additional bionics or spells.

As for the C.K., I agree that there can be a Monster subclass (wouldn't be that hard to change the Zen ability's from anti tech to anti supernatural). As a side thing, Got to wonder if the ritual, that goes into the both the A.M., and the C.K. armor, is the same or at least related. They both turn cybernetic parts into techno organic parts.
Has anybody thought about what would happen it the A.M., got TW cybernetics?

rem1093 wrote:What would you update or change? I would look at the spells for one, allow you to pick from a couple of different spell packages, like range attack, melee, defensive, ext. I would also add spells into the optional bionics. So you can chose to ether get additional bionics or spells.

Honestly I'd love far more flexibility in design. Like the host armors in Splicers. Various abilities/customizations with a point buy system. Boost stats/MDC for x points (take as many times as you are willing to spend points), swap those claws for something else like ranged options or the tw retractable flaming sword (which my GM is allowing), more/less/different spell choices, more cybernetics at the cost of enhancement elsewhere, the ability to keep psionics and ISP if your original race had them, etc. The ability to power standard energy weapons like a tech full conversion cyborg would. One thing I'd really like is instead of a rigid stat on the physical stats if it would take into account what your stats were before the augmentation. Like a juicer adds +Xd6 to PS instead of saying it's 28+2d6. I realize this is a TW cyborg, but unless they're replacing all the limbs (which doesn't appear to be the case), your original PS should factor into things. Maybe a 28+2d6 or original PS +2d6, whichever is better.

LostOne wrote:

rem1093 wrote:What would you update or change? I would look at the spells for one, allow you to pick from a couple of different spell packages, like range attack, melee, defensive, ext. I would also add spells into the optional bionics. So you can chose to ether get additional bionics or spells.

Honestly I'd love far more flexibility in design. Like the host armors in Splicers. Various abilities/customizations with a point buy system. Boost stats/MDC for x points (take as many times as you are willing to spend points), swap those claws for something else like ranged options or the tw retractable flaming sword (which my GM is allowing), more/less/different spell choices, more cybernetics at the cost of enhancement elsewhere, the ability to keep psionics and ISP if your original race had them, etc. The ability to power standard energy weapons like a tech full conversion cyborg would. One thing I'd really like is instead of a rigid stat on the physical stats if it would take into account what your stats were before the augmentation. Like a juicer adds +Xd6 to PS instead of saying it's 28+2d6. I realize this is a TW cyborg, but unless they're replacing all the limbs (which doesn't appear to be the case), your original PS should factor into things. Maybe a 28+2d6 or original PS +2d6, whichever is better.

Because of the size (the 7 foot height), of the A.M., I think that it is a full not a partial borg. It's just that the rituals change the machine, to techno organic. So your stats wouldn't be based on your original body. As for the appearance, I would allow any type of cosmetic changes that you would want, such as horns, spikes, ext.
I hear what you are saying about more verity with the cybernetics/spells. So I was thinking, use something like the borgs. Were you have so many base implants (I would use the Partial borg) just include spell choices. But I would gave the spells use up 2 implant spots. For example, if you use the base from the partial borg you would have like 16 implants, or 8 spells, or any combo up to that 16.

Hm... we know what happens to Borgs if they visit splicers. Makes menwonder what happens to magical living cybernetics like Anti monsters and new Cyberknights.

Axelmania wrote:Hm... we know what happens to Borgs if they visit splicers. Makes menwonder what happens to magical living cybernetics like Anti monsters and new Cyberknights.

I'd say GM fiat. Depends on if they consider the living metal to still qualify as metal as far as the nanites are concerned, or if it has effectively changed at a chemical level to no longer qualify as metal to the criteria the nanites are programmed under.

Incriptus wrote:

LostOne wrote:They get three melee weapons but I can't think of any that are going to be more useful than their built-in claws unless it is maybe a neural mace or a rune weapon (which our GM wisely limits). So I'm again open to recommendations.

While unlikely to be much better there is a item called a Mega-Blade. Found in the dimensional market book, at the very end of the equipment section (it's not in the bio-wizardy item section, it's the very end in miscellaneous section), it is an attachment that turns any SD melee weapon into a weapon that does equivalent MD damage. It lasts for 1d4 + 3 years and costs 100 times the weapons normal cost.

Steel wood weapons from Dinosaur Swamp also inflict MD permanently and are cheap. . . But I personally don't approve of them as they're blatantly superior to everything that came before them.

Of course those suggestions are based on the hope that your GM allows Supernatural PS to stack with MD melee weapons ... cause it not you'll need to find an excuse to get a Gargoyle or Xiticix weapon that explicitly allows it.

There are several tw weapons on the book that are really useful. TW light blades 1d4X10 MD and can parry energy blasts. The most common tw melee weapon is probably the flame sword 4d6 MD. Use of TW battery holster found in one of the rifters may be needed.
Typically claws weapons use the knife WP, so they may need a WP for there built in claws. In SoT there was a tw chain saw with high damage. Bows combined with tech and goblin grenade arrows can be highly useful. (take a look in the book of magic there are severl tw melee weapon in there that are usefull)