Pointing out the above ^ because not all synthmorphs are capable of emulating an *ego* properly, much less emulating brainware. FV had problems because it inhabited a Kyte - among other things, it capped COG at ~20 which was a serious bummer on its hacking skills. For some odd reason, your brain can be too small to hold all your brains, but there is no such restriction on Ghostriders - which a Kyte can still mount, and per rules can mount as many as you want. Hence, FV was my first character who relied strongly on forking, because 1 drove the bus, and 1-2 riders took care of hacking. IMO, ghostriders also count as separate cyberbrains for the purpose of upgrades (such as multitasking et al).

The funny part is, I made a smuggler who brought egos over on the sneakernet. I had never considered packing her hidden ghostrider with narcoalgs.

More on how Synthmorphs are good for breaking the game- lets talk Flexbots. A flexbot can create an arbitrary number of limbs with Extend Limb. So lets add 1000 limbs onto one for kicks and giggles. Get them a Cyberclaw implant. Now, they have 1000 Cyberclaws for the price of one. Since these claws are melee weapons, they do not suffer from off-hand modifiers and act as a single attack roll. The drawback is that all of these extra weapons can only deliver a maximum of +3d10 damage. However, since all of the weapons are being used at once, this means that a successful roll will hit with each and every weapon. We can exploit that by putting Eelware on the Flexbot. Normally, eelware only delivers a single shock-attack on touch. However, the rules for cyberclaws state that "if combined with Eelware, they can also perform electric shocks". Since that is shocks /plural/, This means that using RAW, each cyberclaw should be able to deliver a shock individually. Since a single successful attack roll counts as hitting will all melee weapons, this means is that any biomorph being attacked will have to make a "DUR + Energy Armor Test" for all 1000 cyberclaws shocking them individually with Eelware. Failing just one results in being incapacitated for "A minimum of 3 actions", and, since there is no rules against multiple shocks stacking with itself, could be used to indefinitely paralyze a target. And even if it didn't stack, this whole process can be repeated the next turn, because "incapacitated" targets are incapable of defending themselves. That basically wins any single combat versus a biomorph, so lets take on synths. Shock attacks don't work on synths, so we get around that with a Nanotoxin implant containing an arbitrary amount of Synth-only Neuropath. Cyberclaws can freely coat themselves in anything held in a nanotoxin implant, meaning all 1000 Cyberclaws will now be holding Synth-Only Neuropath. So why Synth-only Neuropath? Every time a victim exposed to Neuropath, they must make a Willx3 test or be incapacitated. According to the RAW, a victim can be exposed to a drug when stabbed with a coated weapon, and a Nanotoxin (e.g. Neuropaths) is just a drug used offensively. Since all of the 1000 coated claws will hit on a single successful attack, this means that an enemy synth will have to roll a Willx3 test 1000 times or be instantly incapacitated. Even if they succeeded all 1000 rolls, they'd also have to suffer a -30,000 penalty from resisting all of it (-30 for all 1000 attacks). Once you have all that onboard, just make a big investment in unarmed and moxie and use a point to bypass anything able to beat you. You do not need to worry about bypassing AV, because anything that fails the initial opposed test will be "hit" by the weapon, even if the damage it does is reduced to 0. And if it doesn't, use a moxie point to bypass the AV. As I said last time: "Is this legal? It might be. Was it intended to be legal? Dubious. Will your GM allow this abuse? Either "Not likely", or you will be facing a /lot/ of Synthmorphs with Nanophages."

Is an option to remove a puppet sock from a cyberbrain. Why on earth would anyone want one of these things? Even on high end morphs like the Galata or Steel morph, they are stuck with this useless fucking thing that actually COSTS money. It should reduce the cost of your morph, honestly. I'm thinking of adding an gear option to disable your puppet sock for Singularity, figure it ought to cost as much or less to remove it as it would to install it. Otherwise you have to install a brainbox, which negates most of the advantages of having a cyberbrain.

I think you might be missing the point of this thread, Ring. These builds aren't about making a good character that is good for a campaign. We're actually going out of our way to make characters any GM, and all the other players would absolutely hate. No one actually intends to play them. That was a Munchkin build is. They are more of a thought exercise than anything- something that pokes fun at the loopholes in the system we play in, and also something that cues developers in to things they might want to clarify in the next release. Everyone likes theorizing about builds like the infamous Pun-Pun, but no one outside elementary school will actually play them.

ringringlingling wrote:

Is an option to remove a puppet sock from a cyberbrain.

A Hardware: Electronics check?

CordialUltimate2 wrote:

It is not necessary an implant. It represents the cyberbrains ability to be controlled by external force. You cannot remove it. Or rather removing it is a complex security and programming problem. It is a dedicated implant only for biomorphs.

Quote:

They also have a built-in puppet sock (p. 307) and may be remote-controlled, [b]though this option may be removed by those who value their security.[/b]

Emphasis mine.

It's mostly a holdover from when synths & pods were used as drones instead of morphs. Headcanon is that the Sock is a standard component of most cyberbrains, and became something of a tautological part - so many systems are routed through it that you have to exert extra effort to rerout/remove. Alternatively, it's firmware and some hardware, routing your body's controls through your mesh implant. In that case, it's implanted because it's cheap in synths/pods (because what's a couple extra chips), but it costs for Biomorphs because *you have to design and implement an implant*. By that point it's left in by default because most people call it a feature - "Hey, you know that new Flexbot? You can rent it, or you can use it as a drone - same model, no extras, no change in cost. Sleeve Smart! Sleeve S-mart!" And to be fair, there is still the stigma that people shouldn't be using either as morphs and they are called the poor-man's-morph. That's why the Stigma trait is attached. Most industrial concerns are still building puppets because either there is a market for them (like, say, one foreman in accelerated simspace forking and drone-jamming), or because there are alternative ways to use it (like having an override so your indenture doesn't go off the reservation with *both* your investments).

Still, EP is not hard to break. All you really need are the bloops for a decent weapon and a synth and you can fork yourself an army.

Nothing is more terrifying than fighting an enemy you don't understand. The TITAN's can wipe out humanity whenever they wish, and there isn't a thing anyone can do to stop them. Nobody knows why they stopped or if they'll come back. Acknowledging that you are powerless is the first step towards understanding and defeating the enemy.