Symbiont R.C.C.

Created by Admiral Kordeth [ Return to Main Page ] This is just a little something I threw together after seeing SPAWN. I started thinking that the powers Spawn had in the movie were more akin to Marvel Comics Venom (The fourth coolest villain in the world, after Darth Vader, Doctor Doom, and Carnage) than the comic book Spawns. Then I started thinking about some rules for such a symbiont for Heroes, Unlimited, and figured Id write them down before I forgot them. So here they are.

The Symbionts
The race of symbionts evolved on an unknown world,but have since migrated to Earths moon. A few were brought to Earth by members of the V.I.P.E.R. organization for attempted use as an ultimate weapon, but these four symbionts either escaped, wee set free, or stolen. They quickly found human hosts, and banded together to form the Shadow Corps, an elite group of assassinsfor-hire (Char. sheets coming soon). Any symbionts (hereafter reffered to as suits) found by the PCs would have to be found on the moon, or on a newly returned lunar expedition from NASA, etc. The suits, at first, seem to be some kind off highly evolved technology, but are later revealed (catastrophically) to be sentient life forms.

Appearance
When not on the character, the suit appears to be a puddle of tar. However, when the command is given, the suit crawls up the character, forming around him into a protective shell. (Picture a steel figurine encased in wax. Now picture videotaping the wax melting off, and replaying it in reverse. You get the idea.) Appearance varies, but some things remain common: The suit is usually a dark color (black, navy blue, blood red, etc). The suit usually includes a full-face hood or mask. If so, the mask may (45% chance)

include an oxygen filtration system. The characer may remove the mask at any time with a mental command (melts into the shoulders) and don it again the same way. The suit reflects the wearers personality. For example, an organized, cool, collected characters suit will be symmetrical, a uniform color, and very ordered looking. A chaotic, insane characters would be haphazard, 2-4 different swirling colors, etc.

Abilities of the Symbionts

The symbionts, trying to make themselves valuable for the host, have developed an uncanny amount of powerful abilites stemming from their pseudo-liquid form. These include: Form virtualy any type of ancient weapon (damage per HU Core Book)

Form modern weapons such as guns (no energy weapons or energy sources i.e., fusion reactors, electricity). However, the suit must form ammunition from itself, causing the wearer to eat 2-6 times as much as normal to replenish) Shapeshift with 90% accuracy into any humanoid (with clothing). A failed roll means anyone who knows or has seen repeatedly the person imitated (i.e. friends, co-workers) has a 30% chance of detecting an error. *Alter chemical structure to anything known by wearer. Form webs for rapid, swinging movement through large cities (Spd 20, not for the weak-stomached). **Form safety net in the event of a fall (4-6 webs shoot out from the torso, anchoring to buildings, cliffs, etc. The webs are like bungee cords, preventing falling damage) 75% chameleon ability (stationary ONLY, too much info to process otherwise.) Extraordinary P.S. and P.P. Minor Super Abilities (if above 24 already, add 5) Heightend Sense of Sight and Hearing Minor Super Abilities. *Form glider wings (same as Flight: Glide from HU) Misc. other shapeshifts (i.e. suction cups for climbing, webbed appendages for swimming, etc.)

* Denotes power only usable after bonding **If the character has already bonded with the suit, safety net is automatic. Otherwise, have PC and GM roll initiative. If the player wins, he stops his fall. If the GM wins, the character is street pizza (normal fall damage and look really stupid when the webs pop out 5 seconds AFTER he/she went splat!) In addition, the suit gives an A.R. of 10. This should be considered natural AC, as the suit takes NO damage except from sonic attacks (FYI: the suitn has an S.D.C. of 3D6x20). The GM is encouraged to allow unique applications of this power (i.e. if a character is being grappled, forming nasty spikes out of the entire suit could be nice). Yes, these abilities are powerful. Thats why the character gets no bonus skills. Also, the suit will NOT bond with cyborgs or robots. The dangers of being bonded are also a deterrent, if the PCs realize it.

Dangers of the Symbionts

For the first 1D4x2 weeks, the suit will obey every mental command its weaer gives it. During this time, it is slowly reading and integrating itself into the hosts DNA, preparing for a total takeover (discussed below). However, its abilities are slightly sluggish, with a -2 to initiative (this doesnt include attribute enhancements). This penalty disappears after bonding. In addition, over the four days after the time limit set above, there is a 25% chance (cumulative) that the suit will refuse to come off when ordered. If this check fails at any time, the bonding has begun. After bonding, the suit does not come off at all, rather, it forms an exact replica of any clothing the character desires. If the suit does come off for any reason (i.e. the character wants a shower), he suffers all the penalties for being totally drunk as per HU standard rules. The character is disoriented from the loss of heightened attributes and senses, and distraught over the loss of his friend, the symbiont (the character always thinks of the symbiont as a friend, regardless of what happens). This does not apply to removing parts of the suit (i.e. the mask, gloves, boots, etc), only to total removal.

Bonding
Bonding is what makes these symbionts so dangerous. After reading the hosts DNA, the symbiont attempts to rewrite it, integrating itself into the DNA coding. This results in total takeover of the hosts body, though his mind remains as a counselor (youd be suprised how many symbionts come to like their hosts, and rely on them for advice. The symbiont is still in charge, however). At this point, the character should be given over to the GM (IF the GM is feeling generous, the host and the symbiont had similar goals and alignments, and if the player can role-play a drastic personality change, the GM MAY allow the player to keep the character.) Fortunately, there is a way to resist this process.

Resisting the Bonding

Resisting is not easy, and only characters with an M.E. of 16 or higher can even attempt it. There are two methods for resistng the bonding; the quick method and the detailed method. The quick method is very simple. The character must roll below HALF of his M.E. on 1D20 one out of two times, and under his normal M.E. two out of three. If he succeeds, the symbiont has bonded with the character, but he remains in control (if this happens, bonding is a GOOD thing. Just look at all those powers marked with an *.) The detailed method is a bit more in-depth. The player drudges up some horrible event from his characters past, and must relive it (i.e. service in Nam, the witnessed murder of a loved one, etc). If the player role-plays correctly, and the GM feels that he has won, bonding is resisted and the character is in control. This encounter should involve combat as well as role-playing. Beyond that, Ill let the GM figure out the rest. Well, thats it. If you wish to send comments, questions, hate letters, etc, direct them to travis97@gte.net or find me at http://home1.gte.net/travis97/index.htm on the Web. I hope you like the rules! --Adm. Thaelin Kordeth Chancellor, Aries Confederation C-in-C, Aries Confederation Military