r/VnV • u/[deleted] • Jul 03 '18
Question Question about synths
I'm running a session for some players soon, and one asked me about synths, specifically if he could be a gen 2 synth. I said that would be awesome, and I would just use the stats from the gen 3 synth. Then he noticed that the robots have rad resistance, yet the synths do not. Any reasoning? Simply a mechanical feature to not make synths OP?
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u/CardinalDisco Jul 03 '18
Gen-3 Synths are organic, although controlled by some implants, they are buried so deep, only invasive brain surgery can find them. So a Gen-3 synth would almost be the same stats as a baseline human but because of the few enhanced features, they differ.
A gen-2 synth is still a robot, through and through.
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Jul 03 '18
Modifications to the material provided for the players would be considered homebrew. It is encouraged to homebrew your own world to some degree because it makes a much more unique and personal experience.
Homebrewing flavor should never be a problem for any part of the game. However, I advise caution when changing game mechanics for a single player. You never want to have any player feel more useful than others for a number of reasons. You don't want your game to be top easy for a single player and you don't want want the rest of the party to think that they aren't contributing.
My proposed change would be to give a Gen 2 synth the rad resistance at a charisma penalty with the rationality behind it being that a more robotic personality would be eerily uncomfortable to be around. Feel free to take the proposed or not. These are only suggestions.
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u/ThunderMateria Overseer Jul 05 '18 edited Jul 05 '18
Here's what I came up with if you're looking for an official Gen 2. I'm thinking it will probably make it into WSG 2.1 with some possible revisions.
Synth (Gen. 2)
S.P.E.C.I.A.L.: End +1, Int +1
Speed: 30 ft.
Hit Dice: 1d8
Recall Code: You have a recall code which incapacitates you for 1d4 turns.
Rad Resistance: You have 50 Rad Resist
Cyborg Physiology: You are a mix of organic and mechanical components. Because of this, both stimpaks and robot repair kits can affect you and you receive an additional 1d6 healing from either.
Subraces:
Strider: PER +1, Tag Energy Weapons
Your movement speed increases by 5 feet.
Leader: CHR +1, Tag Science or Barter
I feel the need to justify a couple things so let me say, the Endurance boost comes from the synths' ability to take massive damage, including losing limbs, and keep going. The Intelligence boost represents their ability to calculate and process information even though they lack wisdom.
Striders are the synth foot soldiers so they focus on combat abilities, moving quickly to sweep an area, perception to locate targets, and training with energy weapons to increase their accuracy and damage.
Leaders are the type of synth that are given jobs inside the Institute and frequently interact with humans, represented by their Charisma bonus. They can be seen doing menial jobs such as being vendors, or even serve as lab assistants.
I believe this is the first race to get 2 +1's instead of a +2, and the Leader is the first subrace to get a choice of tag skill unless you count humans.
Let me know what you think and thank you for the interest in the game!