Alita: Battle Angel dilemna: Droid or Cyborg?

[Josep Maria 685]

Hi everyone!

My girlfriend wants to use an "Alita-type" character for our game and I'm really stuck with it.

Based on Alita universe (I'm not an expert of it), Alita was a human that was transformed into a "robot". I know that its body its pure mechanic thing but has a human brain (exchanged by a CPU in the manga). 

I'm not sure if focus the character with a "highly modified" cyber-tech human or just a "droid conected to a brain".

I would thanks some enlightment with this, thank you

[micheldebruyn 1,091]

Alita is essentially the same as General Grievous. It's not really something FFG Star Wars is set up to handle as a PC. It's a cyborg that right out the gate shatters the maximum cybornetics limitation.

I think having her be neither and instead do complete brain-in-a-jar type cyborgs as a separate species would work best.

[Josep Maria 685]

2 minutes ago, micheldebruyn said:

Alita is essentially the same as General Grievous. It's not really something FFG Star Wars is set up to handle as a PC. It's a cyborg that right out the gate shatters the maximum cybornetics limitation.

I think having her be neither and instead do complete brain-in-a-jar type cyborgs as a separate species would work best.

Interesting. Apart from the main question, anyone here has created any similar specie to the "brain-in-a-jar". Thanks again!

[c__beck 1,087]

Lords of Nal Hutta has the Gank species which is all about being cybered up. They start with 2 implants up to 5k credit total and have their cybernetic cap at Br+3 instead of just Br. So that's a good place to start!

[BrickSteelhead 307]

32 minutes ago, c__beck said:

Lords of Nal Hutta has the Gank species which is all about being cybered up. They start with 2 implants up to 5k credit total and have their cybernetic cap at Br+3 instead of just Br. So that's a good place to start!

c__beck is right.  Gank is the way to go.  And make sure someone in the party has some good Computers/Mechanics so they can modify and upgrade her cyberware throughout the game!

[Darth Revenant 528]

3 hours ago, Josep Maria said:

Hi everyone!

My girlfriend wants to use an "Alita-type" character for our game and I'm really stuck with it.

Based on Alita universe (I'm not an expert of it), Alita was a human that was transformed into a "robot". I know that its body its pure mechanic thing but has a human brain (exchanged by a CPU in the manga). 

I'm not sure if focus the character with a "highly modified" cyber-tech human or just a "droid conected to a brain".

I would thanks some enlightment with this, thank you

Gank and the Cyber tech class is pretty much the way to go there. It will cost a lot of credits, but that way you can get an insane amount of cybernetics and do some pretty funky stuff with it.

[Tramp Graphics 2,326]

The only “downside” with going with Gank is that they’re decidedly not human, nor even near-human. They’re furry carnivores, likely canid. So, if you’re trying to get the look of Alita, going with Gank won’t do that. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Tramp Graphics

[EliasWindrider 2,712]

56 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

The only “downside” with going with Gank is that they’re decidedly not human, nor even near-human. They’re furry carnivores, likely canid. So, if you’re trying to get the look of Alita, going with Gank won’t do that. 

Easy peasy, play a human adopted by ganks as a child using gank stats

[micheldebruyn 1,091]

Or just use Gank stats to play a human who has never even heard of Ganks, looks nothing like Ganks, has never been in contact with Ganks, and was created in an Imperial lab using non-Gank technology. 

[Josep Maria 685]

2 hours ago, micheldebruyn said:

Or just use Gank stats to play a human who has never even heard of Ganks, looks nothing like Ganks, has never been in contact with Ganks, and was created in an Imperial lab using non-Gank technology. 

Would anyone do any change to the gank stat race (considering that it's a human) or just use the same stats, talents, etc?

[Varlie 1,004]

I would use the gank species stats and just say they are physically human.  Don't try combining specials

[c__beck 1,087]

52 minutes ago, Varlie said:

I would use the gank species stats and just say they are physically human.  Don't try combining specials

Pretty much this. If it's something that your girlfriend wants, and there is already a mechanical representation of it in the game, why re-invent the wheel? Changing the aesthetics of the species doesn't change the mechanics, so go for it and have fun!

[Rimsen 1,368]

What about building her as a prototype droid, so she thinks of herself as human. 

[FuriousGreg 1,667]

18 hours ago, Josep Maria said:

I'm not sure if focus the character with a "highly modified" cyber-tech human or just a "droid connected to a brain".

Mechanically I would go with having her build a Droid with a minimum of 2 for Intellect (because that's the normal Human INT). She'll have all the same benefits and disadvantages of a Droid but you narrate her as having a meat brain. Because she'd have a meat brain she would not have Force immunity but she'd also be able to use the Force. Now this could be a sticking point if you are worried if the PC could become OP but as long as she doesn't have Immunity and the ability to use the Force, and you think the player can handle not going all Munchkin, you should be fine.

PS. Just as a note, I don't actually remember if it is illegal to build Droids that can pass as organics (I think it may be) but we have never seen one in the setting so I'd suggest you discuss this with the player and make it something she has to hide, like a Force user hiding from the Empire. Maybe add setbacks when interacting with both Droids and Organics if her true nature is discovered, or maybe even being hunted as a danger to society. Considering how Droids are treated and the rarity of Cyborgs I think making this a role playing hook would really add to the player experience and would fit well in the setting.

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by FuriousGreg

[Mark Caliber 881]

My only familiarity with Alita is from the recent movie so . . . based on that source material.

Alita is a Robot. 

She may have the memories from a human intelligence uploaded, but otherwise she is identical to Guri.

[kaosoe 7,573]

I agree with what others are saying. You have three options here

1. Play a human and flavor accordingly
2. Play a droid and flavor accordingly
3. Play a Gank and flavor accordingly.

Edited August 13, 2019 by kaosoe

[Desslok 13,571]

I've never seen the anime (or if I did, it was so long ago that I don't recall anything about it), but it sounds like Alita is a meat brain inside of a metal body, right? Basically a Cyberman?

I would probably take the base Gank, reskin it to be human and go from there. Put her brain in a metal chassis (that bit is pure color) and let her pick whatever attachments make her happy.

 

[Tramp Graphics 2,326]

4 hours ago, Mark Caliber said:

My only familiarity with Alita is from the recent movie so . . . based on that source material.

Alita is a Robot. 

She may have the memories from a human intelligence uploaded, but otherwise she is identical to Guri.

Alita was a cyborg, not a robot; even in the movie, which is extremely faithful to the original source material. Specifically, she's what's know as a "Full-body" cyborg. That means basically only her brain and (possibly) a few other essential organs are still organic with the rest replaced with cybernetic prostheses. 

[Mark Caliber 881]

Well, in the movie Alita clearly has a non-organic "brain."  Ergo: Robot.

[Tramp Graphics 2,326]

3 minutes ago, Mark Caliber said:

Well, in the movie Alita clearly has a non-organic "brain."  Ergo: Robot.

Nope. It's an organic brain. I've seen the movie as well. She's also explicitly stated in the movie itself to be a cyborg  human, not a robot. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Tramp Graphics

[Inquisitor Tremayne 424]

Were there ever stats for Guri (Xixor's bodyguard) in this edition?  Guri would be the second-closest Star Wars EU has to Alita besides Grievous.

[Tramp Graphics 2,326]

Just now, Inquisitor Tremayne said:

Were there ever stats for Guri (Xixor's bodyguard) in this edition?  Guri would be the second-closest Star Wars EU has to Alita besides Grievous.

Nothing official. 

[RuusMarev 2,697]

You could always go Ghost in the Shell...

[Josep Maria 685]

3 hours ago, RuusMarev said:

You could always go Ghost in the Shell...

I watched the anime long time ago, what are the differences?

[RuusMarev 2,697]

2 minutes ago, Josep Maria said:

I watched the anime long time ago, what are the differences?

Honestly? not much, still a brain in a Cybernetic body. but with an added bonus: a droid you could ride with a 'koma variant