Axel the Chimeric wrote:

Now, see, I have to disagree with that. While I'm sure bonuses to things like REF and SOM increase with the morph, I do not think you lose your host bonuses. Would it make any sense for a Remade jamming a loading machine to suddenly become an idiot? Jamming just lets you assume direct control ([i]Neutralize Commander Shepard![/i]) of a body by projecting your sensorium, no different from a VR game does.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

All synthmorphs have cortical stacks. Unless you're arguing that their cyberbrains are encased in diamond, I think the game disagrees with you there. That said, I agree that it would make more sense just to encase the cyberbrain, rather than deal with cortical stacks. They'd not be that different in size either, after all. I'd be willing to think of it like that, really, myself.

Decivre wrote:

I agree that it's similar to VR, and when you enter a simulspace you lose all of your morph bonuses as well (Simulmorphs, page 262 of core book). I work under the assumption that the same occurs when you jam another body.

Decivre wrote:

The cyberbrain doesn't need to be encased in diamond, just the hard drive. More importantly, a cyberbrain's hard drive functions far differently than a cortical stack would; while a cortical stack has to translate biological functions into a digital backup of your mind at high speeds (1 backup per second), the cyberbrain's hard drive simply takes the digital data as its fed to it. It might even backup far more often than a biological cortical stack.

Decivre wrote:

So to sum up, a cyberbrain has a hard drive that basically has the same purpose as a cortical stack, and might have many of its advantages (easy to remove, armored for durability), but can not possibly function the same way. It might even be the primary memory storage for the cyberbrain, unlike a biological brain's cortical stack.

Yerameyahu wrote:

Except for the fact that cyberbrain morphs (synthetics) *do* specifically come with cortical stacks, and there are no rules for diamond-armored 'hard drives'. :)

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

I disagree on the intention of the statement made in that section. The characters don't lose their bonuses, because they're still sleeved, and running, on the brain they're using. It's just that any physical attributes they might have had (Durability, for example) are erased because they're no longer piloting that body. Same reason that, when piloting a robot, you use its Durability and not your own. The Simulmorph section only talks about how you interact with the simulation (it explicitly says so), not any changes to your existing stats.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

The question of "need" doesn't enter into this, it'd run the same either way. It's just common sense that, if you're going that far, you might as well go the rest of the way. Frankly, if I were a cyberbrain designer, I'd build them that way and include an emergency power supply. That way, if the morph is ever damaged or destroyed, the ego inside can download off of it and into another system. It makes sure that they can escape in the event of an emergency.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

You're both talking about more or less the same thing. The only error I have to point out, Decivre, is that cortical stacks are always closed systems for security purposes, and are designed so as to not be able to access them until they are removed. Using them as a hard drive, which has to be accessed regularly, makes them very vulnerable to hacking. However, it's otherwise the same idea. At the end of the day, biomorph or synth, the cortical stack means the same thing, even though data is recorded differently; it's still a grape-sized piece of diamond-coated storage. I'm not sure what the point is of bickering over it.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

Because SAV represents persuasiveness. A lot of persuasiveness is both physical and mental, so I'm not really sure where to place it, but I'm willing to lean slightly more towards mental. You don't have to be immensely attractive to be charismatic, though it helps. As for making it easy, remember that players must pay for or otherwise acquire every morph they get (unless they're a Flat or Infomorph). Nothing is free about this. Plus, it does explicitly state that it's quite common for Infomorphs, AGIs especially, to primarily interact with the world through a swarm of bots. It's pretty much expected.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

It changes your stats in the simulation in the context of your physical capacities, not your mental ones (unless you count simulated psychic powers and the like). The same is said for jamming a morph. Taking mental control of a Servitor will not suddenly make you dumber, though it will limit how quick and strong you are.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

I think you have your numbers wrong. An average to large grape can range to around 4cm in length and about 2 cm in width. The average human brain lxwxh is 16x14x9cm, if I remember rightly. Yes, the volume increases significantly in that size difference, but remember that it's surface area we're considering, not volume, and you need not coat the nooks and crannies that would be there in a fleshy substrate. In short, I don't think the overall cost difference would be that extreme, especially with nano-fabrication.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

I meant in the sense that data cannot be put in or retrieved from the stack outside of its predesigned use. A cortical stack in a biomorph has one, and precisely one, controllable function accessible by its owner, and that's to turn it on or off. Other than that, you have to physically remove it to access its features. I doubt it'd be any different in synthmorphs. If you allow it so that other things can be installed into the stack or that it can be otherwise altered outside its regular programming, you're making an obvious target out of what is essentially your safety line in the event of an emergency.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

The problem with that is, some things are decidedly physical. Case in point: SOM. Muscle augmentation increases your SOM. This doesn't mean that your mental skill at using that muscle isn't also determining it, SOM does have a mental factor, but it also represents brute strength. COG, meanwhile, represents intelligence and capacity for creativity. The physical component for this, though, is on the brain in which your ego is running. When jamming, your ego is still running on your morph's brain, it's merely your sensorium that is being projected.

Decivre wrote:

In that same vein though, resleeving into an inferior morph does not make you dumber... the morph inhibits your abilities, but you retain them. I think that's the point of aptitude caps... you aren't less intelligent in a flat, but your brain does not process at the same pace and capacity it can in a much better morph. The same is probably true when you jam... as you are jammed in the new body, your ability to function is inhibited to whatever limitations the jammed body has. On the other hand, when you jam a superior morph (or go into a simulspace where you are enhanced), your mind feels liberated and capable of doing more.

Decivre wrote:

I went by the statistic given on wikipedia that states that the average size of a female human brain is 1130 cm³, a male human brain 1260 cm³, and the assumption that a grape is about 8 cm³ (couldn't find a hard stat on that). The total is just over 149, just under 150. The important factor though is that any protective structure needs to take into account the size of the object within. As size increases, surface area increases slower than volume... and by property, mass. As such, protecting an entire cyberbrain will take significantly more material and more advanced processes than simply encasing a tiny hard drive. I'll go one further, and say that the majority of the grape-sized cortical stack (or cyberbrain equivalent) is the protective casing, because data storage densities have become so vast that large amounts of space are no longer needed.

Decivre wrote:

And yet, cyberbrains can have their memories hacked, which directly refutes your claim that they are this secure. Normal cortical stacks are this secure because they interface with the biological brain, and therefore do not need to have some universally-compatical protocol. Cyberbrains are, at their heart, specialized computer processors, and have all the inherent flaws that come with it.

Decivre wrote:

But again, the issue isn't so decided. If SOM is purely a physical trait, why is it not directly tied to your morph? Why does it transfer with your ego? The aptitudes are likely purely mental elements... which is probably why they are called [i]aptitudes[/i] and not attributes. SOM isn't a measure of physical strength, but rather your mind's ability to utilize strength if it is present. This is why a weak morph limits your SOM aptitude (SOM only helps if you have the muscle to utilize it), and a strong morph gives you a bonus to it (think of it as similar to an equipment bonus; the enhanced muscles make things easier for someone who is already an athlete, and possible for those who aren't). While those bonuses and limitations can be seen as the physical element of that aptitude (and the physical element of any aptitude for that matter), the base aptitude of the ego itself is purely mental.