"'More human than human' is our motto." - Eldon Tyrell, "Blade Runner"   "It can't be bargained with! It can't be reasoned with! It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!" - Kyle Reese, "The Terminator"

attributes: Mankind has always had their heroes: paragons of strength and skill beyond the reach of mere mortals. These demi-gods were almost worshipped in their own right; respected and revered in the eyes of man. But as belief in the fantastic began to fade with the advent of Science and Reason, man looked elsewhere for his legends. The Cyborg is a reflection of the demi-god, the ubermensch, the super-man; but viewed through the techno-fetishistic lens of the 21st century. No longer an untouchable, otherworldly being, the Cyborg is well within our reach -- if only we choose to embrace the Machine with both our heart and our soul.

 

taboo: The Cyborg is everything that man dreams of becoming -- strong, ageless and enduring. To mar that image of perfection would be an unconscionable sin. The Cyborg cannot show human weakness (pain, fear, hunger, exhaustion) or admit defeat.

 

symbols: The current incarnation's symbols all have a elemental or techno-futuristic bent: electricity, steam, concrete, rust and steel are all common elements. The omnipresent symbol of the Cyborg are his weapons and tools...other typical symbols are races or competitions, training facilities (like gyms or dojos) and surgical equipment.

 

suspected avatars in history: Many figures in myth and folklore herald the coming of the Cyborg. Perseus and Heracles, both sons of the thunder god Zeus, were examples of superhumans in Ancient Greece (most cultures seem to embrace this ideal of the "perfect form"). Later avatars embued the romanticized, frontier spirit of such figures as Paul Bunyan and John Henry. In 1939 Siegel and Shuster's "Superman" was born and the concept of the "Super-Hero" took hold in the collective unconscious. Through societal and technological changes in the last half of the 20th century, the Cyborg was born...partly in response to both the terrors and the promise that technology held for humanity. In the 1970's and '80's, the concept of the Cyborg began to grow. Terry Fox, a Canadian marathon runner, captured the hearts and minds of many people, in part because he was battling a re-occurrance of cancer and ran on an artifical leg. The Jarvik-7 artificial heart was another breakthrough for the Archetype. Movies like 2001, The Terminator, Blade Runner and RoboCop dealt with the threat of artificial life, robotic lifeforms and the concept of the Cyber-Self. In late 1999, cult leader Gammon Kruze was gunned down after a tense police stand-off in San Francisco, California...and ascended into the Invisible Clergy as the first incarnation of the Cyborg.

 

channels:

 

1%-50%: at this level, the cyborg begins to disassociate himself from the frailties of human existence. hunger, pain, fear...they slowly become distant memories as the machine takes control. the cyborg may roll his avatar:cyborg skill in order to negate these effects if they stand in his way.

 

51%-70: the cyborg can perceive the weaknesses inherent human beings and their creations. with a successful avatar:cyborg skill roll, the avatar can "see" a man-made structure's weak point or the physical weaknesses in a human opponent.

 

71%-90%: at this stage, the cyborg's life-force is substantial enough to breathe life into mechanical devices. by spilling his blood on any electronic or mechanical device, the cyborg can temporarily sieze control of it through force of will alone. the device cannot do anything it wasn't meant to do (pistols cannot move across the floor but a car could drive off with no one at the wheel).

 

91%+: the cyborg may flip-flop any roll he needs to make in order to accomplish a goal. he has become the unstoppable force.

 

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