266. Endomorph

As losses mounted and infugees poured from Earth, some habitats found themselves with few bodies, but many exoskeletons with no one to pilot them. Roboticist Rowan Sun came up with a design for a morph using the extra exosuits and only the minimum of synth parts: cyberbrain, mesh inserts, and cortical stack

A typical endomorph keeps the cyberbrain in the torso, on top of its power supply and next to the mesh inserts. Structural reinforcement and brain-suit interfaces are run through the rest of the suit, and the remaining volume filled with foam for weight and extra protection.

Endo-morphs are becoming popular among armed forces. More and more, biomorphs are showing their limitations in combat, and synths dominate. Endomorphs allow a military to gain the advantages of synths, recycle battlesuits, and stay within limited budgets. Endomoprhs can have a psychological advantage in close combat, as their empty helmets can make them seem almost ghost-like.

Mechanics

Endomorphs are synthmorphs.

Enhancements: Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
Advantages: Suited*
CP Cost: 
Credit Cost: Moderate + Cost of suit

*Endomorphs are built into exoskeletons, and gain whatever bonuses the suit normally provides.
 

243. Jerrys

Neville Orsonglass was overjoyed and then dismayed at the positive response to his "ultimate survivor" rat-based biomorph, the jenkins. He became embittered as it became clear the morph was not being used for its survivability, but for its ability to tolerate high doses of drugs. Eventually, he elected to take the lessons learned from the jenkins and apply them to a new morph, this time starting with the genome of the naked mole rat.

The result are called jerrys, after the classic cartoon, and for their virtual indestructibility. They can eat anything, digest it efficiently, and store the energy effectively. Even without medichines, they are very difficult to poison. Their thick skin makes them difficult to hurt casually. What Neville has brought to his design that is truly new, however, is its unique metabolism, adapted from naked mole rats. The morph can transition seamlessly between high metabolic, low metabolic, and hibernation states depending on the availability of food, oxygen, and the ambient temperature, moving from a high-activity state in terrestrial climates, to a low-activity state when experiencing deficiencies, all the way to hibernation, if necessary.

The morph has become popular in rural Mars, where it allows for the closest thing to primitive survival possible. Gatecrashers with reasons to avoid synths have also been experimenting with its use.

Mechanics

Jerrys are pods.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Bioweave Armor (Heavy), Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Digestive Symbiotes, Efficient Digestion, Enhanced Respiration, Fat Storage, Hibernation, Organ Redundancy, Temperature Tolerance, Toxin Filters
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 45
Wound Threshold: 9
Advantages: +5 INT, +5 REF, Bioweave Armor (3/4)
Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod) trait, Unattractive (Level 2 ) trait
CP Cost: 35
Credit Cost: Expensive (35,000+)

192. Smalls

Neotenics are resource efficient, requiring less space, food, water, and air than full-sized morphs, a valuable advantage in space. Their small size and general agility lends itself well to low and zero-g environments, and the youth-like plasticity of the brain lends itself well to augmentation. But no matter how many convincing arguments neotenic advocates use, it seems unlikely that they will ever overcome the stigma and assumed weirdness of sleeving as a child.

To overcome that stigma, Skineasthesia presents "smalls", reduced size versions of adult biomorphs. Skineasthesia's patented biological miniaturization techniques ensure the best of both worlds: the well refined genetic superiority of exalts with the small size, agility and resource efficiency of neotenics (for those looking to recreate neotenic advantages entirely, we recommend plasticity treatments).

Mecahnics

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical
Stack
Aptitude Maximum: 25 (SOM), 30 (all else)
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
Advantages: +5 COG, +5 COO,+5 to two aptitudes of the player’s choice; smalls count as a small target (–10 modifier to hit in combat)
CP Cost: 25
Credit Cost: Expensive (25,000+)
Notes

Inspired by the smalls from Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312.

175. Grafted

The Universal Grafting Standard (UGS) is an attempt by Ecologene to standardize compatibility of engineered tissues. Anything meeting the UGS is guaranteed to be compatible with all other UGS compliant bioware on every level, from blood types to epigenetic relationships. The standard is far from universal, however, as open source groups see it as a way for Ecologene to gain control over the market, and competing hypercorps are in no hurry to build to a competitor's standards. Currently only Ecologene products meet the standard.

The grand promise of UGS is the greatest possible ease of morph design and augmentation. Installation of bioware typically requires for time in a healing vat, surgery, or gene therapy, each of which is either expensive, risky, or takes large amounts of time. UGS compliant bioware can be installed through a rapid surgery procedure or accelerated gene therapy. UGS compliant morph designers can simply combine UGS compliant parts for easy customization, allowing medichines or a short soak in a healing vat to fill in the gaps. These cobbled together morphs are called grafted.

Grafted morphs are not well liked. UGS compliance means they are all virtually genetically identical, opening up the possibility of diseases ripping through the population, a specter most transhumans think of as having been left behind a long time ago. Despite being predominately biological, grafted have many of the qualities of pods, depending on basic biomods or medichines to maintain health, and with scar tissue marking the seams between parts.

Mechanics

Grafted are considered pods, although they lack most of the cybernetic interfaces pods require.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation, Puppet Sock
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
Advantages: +5 to one aptitude of the players choice, UGS Compliant*
Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod)
CP Cost:5
Credit Cost: Moderate

*Grafted can gain new bioware from Ecologene catalogs, which is 20% more expensive than other brands, but can be installed with nothing more than a first-aid kit and local anesthetic. The morph will integrate the new ware at the speed of a healing vat, or twice as fast if equipped with medichines.

142. Livestock

Cannibalism has lost its luster. Human meat is as easily acquired as any other type, at least if you'll settle for vat-grown. Once the interest in the taboo wanes, however, most prefer the carefully engineered meats; no reason to settle for human when impeccable veal is cheaper. Still, there are always fetishists and connoisseurs.

Among those who maintain a romantic attitude towards cannibalism, vat-grown simply won't do. The very best meat is free-range. This doesn't mean they want to be murderers, however, and to this end a group of well-to-do cannibals have crowd-funded a new morph, the livestock model.

Livestock are designed to be eaten. Some sleeve their livestock with simple AIs, capable of carrying out dietary plans and exercise regimens. Criminal outfits use tasped slaves, as relaxation leads to a higher quality product. Livestock are also a not-uncommon choice of morph for infugees, as some patrons will subsidize the cost of the morph in exchange for the rights to eat it in a few years.

Mechanics

Livestock are biomorphs [High +5,000]

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack
Movement Rate: 4/20
Aptitude Maximum: 25
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
CP Cost: 5
Credit Cost: High

141. Neo-Canines

Man's best friend might seem like the obvious choice for uplifting. Smart and friendly, their ability to coexist with humanity has been stress tested for thousands of years. This is, perhaps, why they have not been uplifted. For many people, re-engineering this old relationship would feel wrong in ways that don't apply to avians or octopuses. These same people were greatly disturbed when it became apparent that an exhuman project had uplifted dogs, creating neo-canines.

Socially, neo-canines instinctively form into tight packs of up to a dozen individuals, which can include non-neo-canines. Trust and loyalty within these packs is absolute, but no bonds will be formed with anyone outside it. Non-pack members are treated in a business-like fashion at best, and will not be shown either empathy or mercy. Mentally, neo-canines are smart, smarter than many humans, but their intelligence is focused in some unusual ways. Their ability to understand the motives and predict the actions of their pack-mates is almost perfect, leading to great feats of cooperation. They have difficulty with long-term thinking, however, typically having to work methodically to build formal plans.

Neo-canine physiology has not been changed from that of normal dogs, at least on the surface: they are mammalian quadrupeds. The only visible differences are that their tails are longer, stronger, and prehensile, and their tongues are similarly longer, and have been turned into an effective tentacle, at the cost of their sense of taste. Neo-canines typically use their tails to for tasks requiring strength, and their tongues for tasks requiring finesse. They are incredibly perceptive, with enhancement suites for all senses.

Mechanics

Neo-canines are biomorphs [Expensive 25,000+]

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Claws, Cortical Stack, Enhanced Smell, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Vision
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
Advantages: +5 COG, +5 to an attribute of the player's choice, +20 Kinesics
Disadvantages: Quadrupeds have a difficult time in microgravity (–30 to Free Fall Tests)
Notes: Reduced size trait
CP Cost: 25

Plot Hook: Most neo-canines currently living are members of exhuman-led packs, although it is rumored their will be an auction on Extropia selling their genetic data for recreation. Firewall would like the players to attend the auction. They are to take note of the high bidders, counter a predicted exhuman attack, and either steal or buy the data.

102. Dromaeosauridae

Among neo-avians (particularly militant and/or mercurial neo-avians), dinosaurs are popular as symbols of strength and power. Some even come to prefer paravian dinosaur morphs over their own native bodies. Most popular of these morphs are the dromaeosauridae, commonly called raptors.

Dromaeosauridae pod morphs come in three models. Deinonychus are roughly human sized, velociraptors are smaller, the size of typical neo-avians, and utahraptors are larger, comparable to a large bear. Dromaeosauridae are feathered but cannot fly, have teeth instead of beaks, and their forearms are altered to make hand-like manipulators. The mercurial avians among whom the morph is popular often turn their large hooked foot-claws into artwork, painting them in bright patterns or beautifying them with scrimshaw.

Mechanics

Dromaeosauridae are all pods.

Deinonychus
Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Claws, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation, Puppet Sock
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 35
Wound Threshold: 7
Advantages: +5 REF, +5 COO
Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Pod), Non-Mammalian Biochemistry
CP Cost: 20
Credit Cost: Expensive (20,000+)

Utahraptor: Treat as a deinonychus with the enlarged size trait.

Velociraptor: Treat as a deinonychus with the reduced size trait.

88. Metamorph

Metamorphs are the current pet project of Gloria de la Poer, one of her personal visions of immortality. Gloria does not believe in immortality as preservation; to her mind change is always necessary and stagnation to be feared. Her metamorphs are designed not to fit a single purpose, but to fit themselves to many purposes as may be needed. A metamorph can survive on Mars, in the seas of Europa, and in the Venusian skies, or act as an effective socialite, savant, or combatant, as long as it is given time to prepare itself.

The primary feature of the metamorph is its ability to metamorphose. The morph can begin metamorphosis as a conscious decision, with control over what changes occur. In the first stage, the morph begins to secrete large amounts of fluid from all pores and orifices. This fluid hardens into a tough, tight shell. Once this has been done, the morph releases specialized, symbiotic retroviruses, rewriting the changing genetic code. Accelerated apoptosis and mitosis occurs, rapidly replacing old cells with those expressing the new modifications, and building new tissues and organs as needed. Once this process has been completed, the morph secretes an enzyme, dissolving the shell, and emerging. The brain and continuity of the ego are carefully maintained, unless brain altering modifications are chosen, in which case no promises can be made. The ego remains in a dreamless sleep during metamorphosis.

Mechanics

Metamorphs are biomorphs.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 40
Wound Threshold: 8
Advantages: Metamorphosis*, +5 to two aptitudes of the player's choice
CP Cost: 50
Credit Cost: Expensive (75,000+)

*The metamorph is capable of metamorphosis, secreting a hard shell (treated as carapace armor (11/11)), and altering its form. The metamorph may re-select its aptitude bonuses, and shift between up to 25,000 credits worth of bioware. The metamorph may also heal itself, as if in a healing vat. This process takes 24 hours, plus 1 hour per cost category of gained or lost enhancements (as with nanofabrication) as well as aptitude bonuses. Any healing time is added to this total.

77. Neotenic Elephants

Elephants had always been on the short list for uplifting. Their natural intelligence and sociability made them seem like obvious candidates. Their long gestation periods, and requirements for space, as well as their low numbers and associated genetic homogeneity, however, made uplifting difficult in practice.

One Somatek team had a clever solution. A neotenic elephant, never developing beyond childhood, will stay small, around one meter tall and 140 kg in weight. The trunk can be both strengthened and made more dexterous, giving them an agile, grasping limb. Their general cuteness is an added bonus: it was predicted they would be more accepted by society than other uplifts.

It was as the team was moving from physiological work to mental and social, the beginning of the uplifting process proper, that the Fall occurred. Some of their members and data were evacuated from Earth, but the elephant uplifting process had been dealt a mortal blow it has yet to recover from. Only the physiological blueprints remain, in the form of a neotenic elephant morph.

Mechanics

Neotenic elephants are biomorphs [Expensive 20,000+]

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 50
Wound Threshold: 8
Advantages: +5 SOM
Disadvantages: 1 arm, quadrupeds have a difficult time in microgravity (–30 to Free Fall Tests)
CP Cost: 20

34. Neumann

The pride and joy of the Interstellar Club are its Neumanns: morphs capable of interstellar travel. There are as yet only two that are functional, and neither of them have traveled farther than necessary for testing. Interstellar Club researchers are optimistic however, as the latest versions have passed all tests and the time may be approaching for their journeys to begin.

The Neumann has two possible means of propulsion. The most powerful thrust comes from the Bussard ramjet, using an electromagnetic scoop to gather hydrogen as fuel for its fusion rocket. The secondary means tunes the electromagnetic scoop for use as a magnetic sail. The fusion rocket is designed to be used for interstellar travel, while the sail is for interplanetary maneuvering.

In order to weather the decades or centuries of interstellar travel, the Neumann is designed to incorporate redundancies, self-repair, and self-maintenance systems wherever possible. There are two backups to almost every system, multiple redundant repair swarm hives and as much is made of self-repairing smart materials as possible. Radiation sensitive objects, such as the cyberbrain, are placed near the core of the morph, where they are well shielded, and are also multiply redundant.

The ultimate goal of the Neumann is to act as a von Neumann machine, replicating itself at each destination so as to explore en mass with minimal impact from individual failures. To this end, a Neumann carries massive stores of fabrication blueprints, protean and engineering swarms, sol archives and potentially, cortical stacks. Upon reaching a new world, the Neumann can replicate itself, seed the world with automated probes, or even begin a new outpost of transhumanity.

Mechanics

Although the Neumann is a morph, it has the scale and capabilities of a ship, and is best treated as such. It therefore has no stats.

15. Regalia

Skinthetic's premier entry into the synthmorph market is the Regalia, a collaboration between Skinthetic and Titanian microcorp Weft, specialists in textiles. It is designed to make use of textiles, cloth, and fabrics wherever possible. Like the Galatea, it is intended to be overcome the preconceptions the elite have towards synths and attract a high-end, social market.

The core of the morph is a thin, robotic skeleton to which the fabrics are attached, appearing as if naturally draped. Layers of cloth, woven electronics, sensor mats and smart weaves obscure the skeleton, such that the Regalia appears to be a complicated, regal costume, worn by nothing. The various layers serve various purposes: the morph might pull up an over-sized, photo-voltaic hood to supplement its batteries, unfurl an armored parka in combat, or shift through sensor nets to shift visible spectrums. A layer of chameleon skin can be used to display a face, but some find the faceless and empty appearance of the morph gives them a certain edge.

Mechanics

Regalia are synthmorphs.

Enhancements: 360 Degree Vision, Basic Mesh Inserts, Chameleon Skin, Cortical Stack, Cyberbrain, Mnemonic Augmentation
Aptitude Maximum: 30 (SOM 25)
Durability: 30
Wound Threshold: 6
Advantages: +10 SAV, +5 one other aptitude of the players choice, Armor 8/8
CP Cost: 30
Credit Cost: Expensive (30,000+)

1. Whistling Spider

This morph was recovered from an abandoned exhuman brinker hab and dubbed "the whistling spider". Grip pads, ball-jointed limbs and vacuum sealing indicate that it was designed to live in space, yet its echolocation requires an atmosphere. In a vacuum, the spider would be forced to feel its way with its longest arms.

The form is broadly similar to arachnids, specifically of the order Amblypygi. It has ten limbs in total: two pairs of arms and three pairs of legs. Compared to a typical spider the front most pair of legs have been turned to long, strong grasping arms, and the pedipalps to shorter and weaker but more dexterous arms. Ball joints maximize flexibility despite the rigid exoskeleton. Additionally, it is symmetrical along two axes. Left and right are mirrored like most animals, but top and bottom are also symmetrical: all of its limbs are centered along the equator and capable of 360 degree rotation.

The face reveals one of the most intriguing design choices. The morph has no eyes, but four flared, furry-bottomed craters in its exoskeleton act as excellent ears. The mouth, in the center of the face, is capable of echolocation pulses and complex whistling, but not speech. It is assumed the original designer had, or intended to make, a whistling based language.

The arachnoid appearance is only exoskeleton deep, however. The morph is built entirely on human genes and tissues. The exoskeleton is keratin, reinforced with a lattice of cartilage, and internally, the basic layout of human physiology is maintained, with major organs in approximately the same relative positions as a human body.

Plot Hook: An exhuman in a whistling spider morph has been taken in by the exoglots of Locus. Firewall would like the players to investigate, requiring them to negotiate with the exoglots (in itself a difficult task) and gain an interview with the spider and assess whether it or whatever forced the abandoning of its hab are threats.

Mechanics

Whistling Spiders are biomorphs.

Enhancements: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Echolocation, Enhanced Hearing, Carapace Armor, Grip Pads, Vacuum Sealing
Aptitude Maximum: 30
Durability: 40
Wound Threshold: 8
Advantages: 4 arms, 6 legs, Carapace Armor (11/11), +5 COO, +5 REF, +10 Freefall, +10 Freerunning
Disadvantages: Blind
CP Cost: 25
Credit Cost: Expensive (25,000+)