Biomod Parameters, as promised
Ok, here are the parameters I've been working on for my character's biomod. For people who don't recognize the template used, the handwavium apparently decided that Son Goku from the start of the Dragonball stories was perfect for me. That's still under debate.
Advantages:
1) Altered bone and muscle density - in appearance, I'm a short twelve year old, and maybe 75-80 pounds if that. My actual weight is closer to 220 pounds, with density being altered 2.5-3 times human normal. Denser, thicker bones, more compact muscle mass. I'd figure this might help a bit against blunt force trauma - blunt instruments, fists, and the like - but sharp weapons, bullets and so on are still fair game. No matter how much the manga showed Goku getting hit with a bullet and only feeling a hard sting, my character has NO intention of testing this of his own volition any time soon.
2) Enhanced strength - one of the reasons for the first alteration. Strength would be on the high end of adult normal, but not the highest. As I put it to Fred's character - I won't be winning the World's Strongest Man competition, but I might have a shot for the World's Strongest PreTeen.
3) Improved health - this is the one that my character is happiest about. He was a mess, health-wise, and the mod FIXED it. Diabetes, congestive heart failure, bad eyesight, extremely overweight - as far as he can determine, the mod did a complete overhaul of everything.
Mixed Blessings:
1) Rejuvenation - Well, my character WAS feeling old. But he was thinking more of being 18 to 20 again. Not 12. Pros - more energy than he's had in DECADES. Cons - 12, and a short twelve at that. And facing the prospect of puberty for a SECOND time....something nobody in their right mind would want. Not to mention that he's going to have to scramble to get a wardrobe that will FIT him.
2) Monkey tail - It IS useful. Prehensile, it can serve as a third hand at need, which is nice, especially in a space environment. Plus, it just looks neat. Problem is, it's a major Achilles' heel as well. Loaded with nerve endings, squeezing it causes extreme pain, at least initially. It also causes some sort of neural short-circuit that makes him weaker than a baby, leaving him vulnerable.
3) Enhanced sense of smell (might affect taste to some degree as well) - sharp as a dog's. This is useful in some situations, and might even allow him to recognize people's scents on things, and other things a dog could do. A major downside is that it IS as sharp as a dog's, and that a ton of smells could be painful or very confusing/disorienting, depending on the types, length of exposure, and so on. A lot of smells - such as at Con, for instance - will probably be disorienting for at least a few minutes until he gets used to the new environment. This might become less of a problem as he gets used to the enhanced sense, but it won't go away completely.
4) Feeding frenzy - With training and all (see below), my character is finding himself eating two to three times what he was before the biomod, and not gaining any weight. And he wasn't a small eater BEFORE the mod. That's a plus, but the downside is that he NEEDS to eat that much, or his energy/strength starts to suffer. If he goes too long without food, he gets weak, and will need to eat to recharge.
Disadvantages:
1) Orazu form - In the Dragonball stories, Goku would shift into a giant weremonkey if he saw the full moon, and would go on in that form until morning (moonset) or until his tail was cut off. Now, a giant monkey isn't doable, not with conservation of mass. However, with the increased muscle and bone density, there is a bit of leeway for the handwavium to play. If he sees a full moon (has to be a round, full moon based on the stories), then he does shift into a large weremonkey. It comes to about six feet tall, and strength and weight are the same as my own untransformed level - high human normal and 220 pounds.
2) Mindless rage - the second problem associated with the full moon, and the bigger one in my character's mind. While transformed, my character's conscious mind is out to lunch, and the id reigns as a raging beast. Theoretically, this one CAN be conquered with a LOT of work and training, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Since my character is also pagan and the Moon happens to be one of his favorite aspects of the Lady, he's not exactly happy with the situation. He could have dealt with the weremonkey, but not the mindless rage. He's probably going to be doing a lot of experimenting trying to find ways around this one, since he won't accept not being able to look at the Moon. It's supposed to be light in the green radiation spectrum that's the trigger for the transformation, so he'll probably try polarized lenses first. But that still leaves him vulnerable to losing them, at the worst times.
3) Training? Damn it - I'm a couch potato, not a jock. - This is another side-effect of the mod that has my character worried. He's finding himself working out/training to keep fit, especially if he's just woken up and not paying too much attention to what he's doing. Which is all well and good, but it's a definite departure from his usual behavior patterns. He even caught himself looking at the grav controls for the ship and thinking about turning the gravity UP, over 1G. He's most worried about this because, if it's altered his behavior THIS much, what ELSE might the mod have done to his mind? Things that he hasn't spotted yet....and might not, depending on what was done.
Well, there you have it. Yes, it looks like a lot of stuff, but it's all based around a single concept, that of Son Goku, one of my favorite anime/manga characters. As a single package, I think it works fairly well. Opinions, as always, are welcome.
Ok, here are the parameters I've been working on for my character's biomod. For people who don't recognize the template used, the handwavium apparently decided that Son Goku from the start of the Dragonball stories was perfect for me. That's still under debate.
Advantages:
1) Altered bone and muscle density - in appearance, I'm a short twelve year old, and maybe 75-80 pounds if that. My actual weight is closer to 220 pounds, with density being altered 2.5-3 times human normal. Denser, thicker bones, more compact muscle mass. I'd figure this might help a bit against blunt force trauma - blunt instruments, fists, and the like - but sharp weapons, bullets and so on are still fair game. No matter how much the manga showed Goku getting hit with a bullet and only feeling a hard sting, my character has NO intention of testing this of his own volition any time soon.
2) Enhanced strength - one of the reasons for the first alteration. Strength would be on the high end of adult normal, but not the highest. As I put it to Fred's character - I won't be winning the World's Strongest Man competition, but I might have a shot for the World's Strongest PreTeen.
3) Improved health - this is the one that my character is happiest about. He was a mess, health-wise, and the mod FIXED it. Diabetes, congestive heart failure, bad eyesight, extremely overweight - as far as he can determine, the mod did a complete overhaul of everything.
Mixed Blessings:
1) Rejuvenation - Well, my character WAS feeling old. But he was thinking more of being 18 to 20 again. Not 12. Pros - more energy than he's had in DECADES. Cons - 12, and a short twelve at that. And facing the prospect of puberty for a SECOND time....something nobody in their right mind would want. Not to mention that he's going to have to scramble to get a wardrobe that will FIT him.
2) Monkey tail - It IS useful. Prehensile, it can serve as a third hand at need, which is nice, especially in a space environment. Plus, it just looks neat. Problem is, it's a major Achilles' heel as well. Loaded with nerve endings, squeezing it causes extreme pain, at least initially. It also causes some sort of neural short-circuit that makes him weaker than a baby, leaving him vulnerable.
3) Enhanced sense of smell (might affect taste to some degree as well) - sharp as a dog's. This is useful in some situations, and might even allow him to recognize people's scents on things, and other things a dog could do. A major downside is that it IS as sharp as a dog's, and that a ton of smells could be painful or very confusing/disorienting, depending on the types, length of exposure, and so on. A lot of smells - such as at Con, for instance - will probably be disorienting for at least a few minutes until he gets used to the new environment. This might become less of a problem as he gets used to the enhanced sense, but it won't go away completely.
4) Feeding frenzy - With training and all (see below), my character is finding himself eating two to three times what he was before the biomod, and not gaining any weight. And he wasn't a small eater BEFORE the mod. That's a plus, but the downside is that he NEEDS to eat that much, or his energy/strength starts to suffer. If he goes too long without food, he gets weak, and will need to eat to recharge.
Disadvantages:
1) Orazu form - In the Dragonball stories, Goku would shift into a giant weremonkey if he saw the full moon, and would go on in that form until morning (moonset) or until his tail was cut off. Now, a giant monkey isn't doable, not with conservation of mass. However, with the increased muscle and bone density, there is a bit of leeway for the handwavium to play. If he sees a full moon (has to be a round, full moon based on the stories), then he does shift into a large weremonkey. It comes to about six feet tall, and strength and weight are the same as my own untransformed level - high human normal and 220 pounds.
2) Mindless rage - the second problem associated with the full moon, and the bigger one in my character's mind. While transformed, my character's conscious mind is out to lunch, and the id reigns as a raging beast. Theoretically, this one CAN be conquered with a LOT of work and training, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Since my character is also pagan and the Moon happens to be one of his favorite aspects of the Lady, he's not exactly happy with the situation. He could have dealt with the weremonkey, but not the mindless rage. He's probably going to be doing a lot of experimenting trying to find ways around this one, since he won't accept not being able to look at the Moon. It's supposed to be light in the green radiation spectrum that's the trigger for the transformation, so he'll probably try polarized lenses first. But that still leaves him vulnerable to losing them, at the worst times.
3) Training? Damn it - I'm a couch potato, not a jock. - This is another side-effect of the mod that has my character worried. He's finding himself working out/training to keep fit, especially if he's just woken up and not paying too much attention to what he's doing. Which is all well and good, but it's a definite departure from his usual behavior patterns. He even caught himself looking at the grav controls for the ship and thinking about turning the gravity UP, over 1G. He's most worried about this because, if it's altered his behavior THIS much, what ELSE might the mod have done to his mind? Things that he hasn't spotted yet....and might not, depending on what was done.
Well, there you have it. Yes, it looks like a lot of stuff, but it's all based around a single concept, that of Son Goku, one of my favorite anime/manga characters. As a single package, I think it works fairly well. Opinions, as always, are welcome.