From an [url=http://eclipsephase.com/persistence-memory-past-castaways-brave-new-worl... game: Legacy Morphs Quite simply, legacy morphs are morphs that are composed, at least partly, of DNA from people long dead. Biography has always been a very rewarding field of study, if for no other reason than to not repeat the same mistakes of those biographed. In time, genealogical tables, then bloodlines, basic genetics, and finally full sequencing of the dead could be added to the intangible biographical information of any given person. Before the Fall, several different technologies came together to spawn the Scarabot. Related to swarmbots, the Scarabot was a boon to archaeologists. Its purpose was simply to analyze and catalog human remains while disturbing them as little as possible. The tiny bots resembled the sacred Egyptian scarab beetles and this look was stylized further after the first few prototypes. In general, the scarabot swarm works in this manner.

1. Use advanced scanning technology to learn where human remains are.
2. Get as close to the remains as possible by making a nano or microscale tunnel into whatever physical medium the remains are in.
3. Once close, the tiny bots would get a DNA sample. Very little remains are needed for this extraction. In most cases, DNA can even be recovered from cremated remains.
4. If there is enough corpse left to scan, the corpse is scanned for both internal injuries and external markings for accuracy. Nearby objects, hair samples and stomach contents can also be part of this scan.
5. If there is anything left of the brain, it will be slowly scanned for memories. This process takes a great deal of time as the scarabots have to accomplish the difficult process of assembling themselves into a specialized ego bridge. The process will almost certainly get next to no information unless the corpse is very recent or frozen in a very particular way. Usuable freezing in this case could either be cryogenic storage (20th-Century attempts at this have been hit or miss) or dying under just the right conditions of cold. Despite the time and lack of general results, the brainscan was still attempted as the cost was neglible in the post-scarity, pre-Fall economy and the time was unimportant to the dead.
6. With all data received, the scarabot swarm would leave, sealing up the tunnel they made by micro-fabbing a seal of the nearby material. This microscopic seal is flawless and invisible to the naked eye.

With the development of the Scarabot an international scientfic project began. The goal was to catalog all possible human remains. This was impossible, some remains were unrecoverable or missing. And some remains were exempted for religious figures or the infamous. But in the end, roughly 95% of all recoverable remains were scanned and added to the project database. With such a selfless, cooperative project actually underway, various corporations wondered how they could make a profit off of this heritage. The courts did not give the corporations everything they wanted. But all remains dating from 2012 or earlier were declared public domain, with some exceptions as mentioned above. At that point, it suddenly became fashionable to wear an 'antique' morph. Even more daring was to be sleeved into an illegal legacy (someone who died after 2012 and whose remains are not commercially available or the forbidden characters of history). But when one too many Marilyns attended the same high-society party, legacy morphs became passe. After the Fall, several copies of the legacy database (sometimes called the Book of the Dead) made it off of Earth. The copies largely agree and all of the DNA within is within human parameters. This has not stopped some conspiracy theorists from wondering why the databases differ. For some unlucky egos, a beatup legacy is all they can afford and the fashioncrime of wearing a retread face is a burden that they have to bear... GM Notes: Why spend time on such trivia? The gap between flat and splicer is so vast compared to the range of human diversity that it really makes no difference if you wear a 'classic' face or your own natural one. Well, several reasons:

• For my upcoming game, legacy morphs are very useful for certain plot twists.
• But for other games, a lot of players want a real face to go with their character. You can see it often if players who are very particular about who they 'cast' as their character's photo. With legacies, your character doesn't just look like that movie star, they really are that movie star (or at least, all or some of that star's DNA).
• Legacy morphs are modelled after a real someone that actually existed. It is one more anchor to make this imaginary future a little more real.
• It also adds to the wonderful weirdness of the Eclipse Phase setting.

OK, now that we've got the why of legacy morphs, let's get to the how. Setting and rules: For pure accuracy, legacies can only be gained from obtainable human remains. If you want to have a legacy of Amelia Earhardt, you are out of luck (unless, you as a GM rule that some of her remains are eventually found). I imagine it would be technically possible for scarabots to salvage something from 99% of the remains scanned by them. There would be perfectly good remains that couldn't be conclusively identified (such as the Unknown Soldiers) and some remains that would be declared illegal to be used for legacies. So what happens when you want a legacy morph whose source has not been found?

• It could be that some lost historical tombs are found between now and the Fall. If there is no way such remains could ever be found and/or identified, you can just state that, in your campaign, this historical character left remains that are both recoverable and conclusively identifiable.
• For some historical characters who only left an image behind, current Post-Fall technology can extrapolate a genetic profile that would be a perfect match to an image of sufficient quality. We may never know who the Girl with a Pearl Earring really was but advanced DNA extrapolation can finally match Rembrandt's vision. Yes, the same result could be achieved with plastic surgery but an extrapolated legacy would likely have children that in part resembled the legacy (just like other parents).
• DNA extrapolation can also be used if the bodies known relatives of the missing deceased can be sampled. Combined with image extrapolation, the results can be uncanny. A Cleopatra legacy could be created with the DNA of her half-sister, Arsinoe, as well as study of one the busts modeled on the last Pharoh. In fact, there might be several Cleopatra variations, all with different extrapolations but basically the same face. For some extrapolated characters, there can never be a guarantee that the legacy is 'genuine'. Conversely, past a certain attention to detail, it can never be proven that 'this' interpretation is not correct. There is not, and will likely never be, enough genetic or archeaological references to confirm either way.

So what happens when you want an illegal legacy? It depends on whether the genetic code is publicly available (but not allowed for legacies) or the genetics themselves are not available. If the genetic code is publicly available, then any legacy from it would likely be discovered rapidly with the casual genetic scanning possible with Post-Fall technology. At that point, the penalties for having an illegal legacy depends on where you got the legacy from and where you are. For the most part, an illegal legacy is comporable to having illegally downloaded music today. Likely all you will get is a set of rolled eyes. There are too many other problems in posthuman space to be greatly concerned. However, legacy morphs that are based on religious or infamous figures might get people killed, especially the ego sleeving in the morph. In extreme cases, the ego is forced out of the legacy morph into another morph the ego owns (otherwise, computer storage) possibly to face charges or other punishment. The legacy is either destroyed or re-used by the arresting body (imagine a budget police force of impounded legacies). The full Books of the Dead are too big for most habs to store. Each of the 'big' worlds (Venus, Luna, Mars, Titan; the Jovian database is restricted) has a copy that is generally publicly available. Luna's differs slightly from the others but all variances are with human potential and expected historical ranges. DNA records that would be illegal for legacies is still available for examination and thus can be used to verify a legacy morph's integrity. Also, all legal legacies are supposed to have an otherwise inert string of junk DNA unique to the morph which is a kind of serial number/revision log. For illegal morphs where the source DNA is not readily accessable, you pretty much have to trust your source (who is already a thief of some sort). Obvious variances in genetics or appearances will instantly flag a morph as a cheap copy. So most unconfirmed illegal legacies work best when there is relatively little historical data on the source figure. It is much easier to 'fake' Martin Luther than Martin Luther King. OK, so now you finally have your legacy blueprint of a long-dead human being, what do you do with it. Generally, one of three things:

• You make a perfectly historically-accurate flat legacy morph, a living artifact: That is, you essentially grow a identical twin sibling to the historical figure that is the inspiration for your legacy. The antique will have all of the genetic advantages and flaws of the original. The purist will also factor in the effects of old injuries, diseases, and sometimes the effect of the chronic malnutrition of earlier centuries. Typically, a antique legacy is aged to the age that the original inspiration was best known at. Living in a flat, let alone a deliberately unhealthy flat, is too much of a burden for most posthumans to wear. Such antique legacies are generally 'costumes' used by weathy, actors or historians.
• You improve the legacy to splicer level or beyond:As flat genetic flaws are easily edited out and flat advantages are so easily surpassed by Post-Fall genetics, an improved legacy simply 'looks' like the ancient wretch it is modelling. In every way, the morph is as capable as any other of the same type. Even simulated age is just that; simulated. An improved legacy may look old but is as spry as any other plastic-looking supermodel morph out there. Improved legacies could be made to pass along their 'family resemblence' genes quite easily. Most improved legacies are splicers as the others are too different from a flat for a legacy skin to really mean anything. In general, only splicer and neotonic (for famous children) morphs are legacies. But legacies of the rare female warriors are often used as a 'uniform' for squads of Furies. The famed Ginger Death platoon is made almost solely out of slightly battered Boudicas. Furies more commonly use a sex-switched copy of the more plentiful male warrior legacies. Georgina Pattons are very capable, ivory-handled lasers (with matching earrings) and all.
• Either of the above, but the single legacy's DNA is mixed with another set of human DNA, possibly another legacy's:This can come about 'the old-fashioned' way. But it is also possibly to pick and choose 'bits' of legacy from two (or more) donors. So, in effect, you can also make the children of any two historical legacies as legacies. If you like a particular historical figure but really like how that old-time movie star portrayed them, why choose? Mix those genes! Take a chromosome from each member of that famous classical sports team you always liked. In the end, genetic counseling can ensure that the morph will be healthy and human, if of strange parentage.

How has posthuman space changed with the existence of legacies? Not much, really. Legacies are seen as common toys for the rich. Eventually, outdated and unfashionable legacies find their way to used morph lots for the poor and luckless to wear. There has been a slight loss of genetic diversity from the influx of legacies. But this is easily corrected with routine genetic monitoring. A small minority of egos consider legacies to be a form of desecration of the dead. Conversely, another minority considers it a responsibility to spread the genes of history's greatest lights. Some famous animals have been made into legacies. Their DNA has been used as the base for some smart animal and uplift morphs. Koko the gorilla's legacy is popular amongst socially-climbing gorilla uplifts. Pod farms love legacies as famous faces help hide the limited number of faces most farms have. A stable of sibling legacies helps due to their similar DNA which aids when swapping parts. The Tudor line of pleasure pods is quite popular. The Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard models can detach their heads from their bodies and can still operate both independently of each other. Sometimes the Annes and Kathys swap heads. A great attraction for the historically-inclined customer with a dark sense of humor. As mentioned above, some military units use the same legacy as a uniform. This helps confuse the enemy and similar DNA helps medical compatibility when access to a healing vat is not available. Some crime syndicates use identical legacy pods for the same reason. Why wear Nixon masks when you can wear actual Nixons. Game Rules: There is generally no extra cost or trouble to have a legacy morph. The DNA blueprint is usually public domain and is a simple mesh request from one of the Books of the Dead. Even most illegal morphs are easy for a character to find. If you want, there might be a Trivial cost to get an obscure template to an obscure location or to both get a certain illegal morph and then again to verify the accuracy of your swag. A truly accurate flat will have whatever stats and flaws you think appropriate for the character. Remember, a legacy flat is probably more handicapped than the well-fed and medically monitored flats usually encountered. Splicers and more advanced legacies just look like their historical inspirations, they are otherwise as capable as any morph. The exceptions are those absolutely dicatated by anatomy. A truly accurate Lord Nelson would have to be missing an eye and an arm, no matter how otherwise superhuman. A couple of questions for the GM using legacies? Does a legacy's genetics or neurology echo the past? Doth another Shakespeare still speak as sweetly? Will the Fabbed Four (cloned Beatles) still twist and shout like the originals? I leave it to you. What infamous legacies would be made illegal? For myself, I say damn near all of them. The setting of Eclipse Phase is grim enough without some Hitler or Dahmer legacies littering it. In my opinion, legacies should be more from our past than our present. Some possible legacies have caused real-life pain within living memory. Also, in some cases, legacies in EP are based on people either actually living now or recently dead. It is creepy for some stranger to work fictional copies of them into a fictional future without their consent. Of course, the further back your legacies are from dim their sins and/or their discomfort. I would say that a private game (not online) can move the range of legal legacies far in our future (all the way up to the Fall). A public game I would say should be from a time much earlier than 2012. For my game, I am thinking of 1892 (the traditional six score years of living memory). But it is up to you. And there we have it for now. This is only a first draft. I can see many different things I would improve. But the post is long enough that I thought I would submit it for your input. Let me know what you think of the idea of legacies. Or if nothing else, I'd love to know what legacies would show up in your game.