Robot Handbook - Biological Robots

[Garnfellow]

I am really enjoying playing around with the Robot Handbook, but I've got a few questions around biological robots.

• Page 19: "Androids and biological robots have no default Protection and can only add a limited amount of armour as indicated in their specific robot design sequences." The biological robot sequence does not discuss armour, but presumably this is zero. Using the Subdermal Armour augment is probably the way to go here?
• Page 88: "A biological robot requires the biological body option." There is no biological body option that I can see.
• Should biological robots have Endurance scores and track damage like a Traveller rather than through Hits?

 

[CordwainerFish]

I'd probably treat biological robots as meat puppets - STR/DEX/END come from the body, and anything fancy like armor, retractable rotating knives etc. would be done in a manner similar to implants. (INT/EDU would come from the brain, of course, and SOC would come from how good they could keep their robotness a secret.)

 

[Geir]

The intent is to use them as robots for hit purposes, but look at the Robots as Travellers chapter (p. 115) for conversion to STR/DEX/END.

Armour starts at zero, but can be added using the robot armour rules - which is a lot cheaper than subdermal armour. The assumption being it is 'built-in' rather than meticulously added beneath existing skin. I suppose if you made one without armour and wanted to add it later, then subdermal would be the cost to consider.

The table on page 88 is the cost for the biological robot option per slot, but it also eats 75% of your total slots (says so in the text... maybe should have put in an example).

Keep in mind that a biological robot could be any 'animal-like' (or plant-like?) creature, so could come in a variety of sizes. The hits a robot can take are roughly comparable to the hits an animal of equivalent size could take. (I suppose if I write a critters book I should have a Critters as Travellers chapter for conversion)

 

[CordwainerFish]

Ah, so living tissue over a hyperalloy combat chassis. That's quite different.

 

[Garnfellow]

Armour starts at zero, but can be added using the robot armour rules - which is a lot cheaper than subdermal armour. The assumption being it is 'built-in' rather than meticulously added beneath existing skin. I suppose if you made one without armour and wanted to add it later, then subdermal would be the cost to consider.

Do biological robots have the same limit as androids on armor (+2)? I suppose if the pattern lifeform had natural armor the robot would have that too?

 

[Grognardia]

Just wear regular armour like us meat buckets

 

[Geir]

Do biological robots have the same limit as androids on armor (+2)? I suppose if the pattern lifeform had natural armor the robot would have that too?

Not RAW. But not everything in the book is specific to the Third Imperium, so it depends on the way you want to go with it.

In the update to the Vehicle Handbook, I've put in a whole section on things to consider when dealing with biotech vehicles. When that comes out (sometime this year-ish - still passing around edits, so not imminent) , then it probably applies just as well to biological robots as biological vehicles.

 

[Condottiere]

Muscle car.

 

[Garnfellow]

I'm thinking the "missing" Biological Body option could read something like "Biological Body: The robot has a living organic body that is based on a template lifeform. The robot has the same size, locomotion forms and base speed, manipulators, natural attacks, as well as traits of the template. Standard robot endurance values do not apply to biological robot; they must eat, drink, breathe, and rest just like their template lifeforms. They have the same vulnerabilities and environmental tolerances as their templates, and heal damage like living creatures."

A synthetic Klian Sea Sifter, for example, would be a Size 3 Walker with Speed 2m, a claw attack that does D3, and possess the Amphibious, Armour (+4), and Camouflage traits.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

The intent is to use them as robots for hit purposes, but look at the Robots as Travellers chapter (p. 115) for conversion to STR/DEX/END.

Armour starts at zero, but can be added using the robot armour rules - which is a lot cheaper than subdermal armour. The assumption being it is 'built-in' rather than meticulously added beneath existing skin. I suppose if you made one without armour and wanted to add it later, then subdermal would be the cost to consider.

The table on page 88 is the cost for the biological robot option per slot, but it also eats 75% of your total slots (says so in the text... maybe should have put in an example).

Keep in mind that a biological robot could be any 'animal-like' (or plant-like?) creature, so could come in a variety of sizes. The hits a robot can take are roughly comparable to the hits an animal of equivalent size could take. (I suppose if I write a critters book I should have a Critters as Travellers chapter for conversion)

Those rollie-pollie furry death machines from the 80's? Now I have to make a Size 0 biological robot to try it out....

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

I'm thinking the "missing" Biological Body option could read something like "Biological Body: The robot has a living organic body that is based on a template lifeform. The robot has the same size, locomotion forms and base speed, manipulators, natural attacks, as well as traits of the template. Standard robot endurance values do not apply to biological robot; they must eat, drink, breathe, and rest just like their template lifeforms. They have the same vulnerabilities and environmental tolerances as their templates, and heal damage like living creatures."

A synthetic Klian Sea Sifter, for example, would be a Size 3 Walker with Speed 2m, a claw attack that does D3, and possess the Amphibious, Armour (+4), and Camouflage traits.

I have extensively used biological bodies in just this manner (starting with an Animal entry and then building from there). I noticed that having a robot brain "riding" a biological brain became very useful (all those ingrained behaviors are much better than the "primitive" robot brains)

 

[AndrewW]

Those rollie-pollie furry death machines from the 80's? Now I have to make a Size 0 biological robot to try it out....

 

[Condottiere]

Zombie effect.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

View attachment 4228

 

[Garnfellow]

I did end up doing a bilological robot two ways, once as a robot and once as a Traveller: https://greatdungeonnorth.blogspot.com/2025/03/synthetic-humans-in-mongoose-traveller.html

 

[rinku]

Robot handbook is fairly clear. Aside from the brain, a biological robot is an organic, effectively a clone without a brain. p.88:

"A biobot may use any personal augmentations from the Central Supply Catalogue (pages 86 –93) or from the Cyborgs section of this chapter at the same cost and effects as a normal biological being."

Effectively, if you want a biobot with robot enhancements, it's a cyborg. Whatever limits apply there apply.

However, if you want one with inherent biological enhancements not really covered in the CSC, that's more of a genetic engineering matter. The Clone chapter applies, but there is scope for more in that area.

As far as "biological body option" I think that's just poor wording/editing. Use the clone section to work that out - that even mentions a biobot as basically being a clone without a biological brain.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Robot handbook is fairly clear. Aside from the brain, a biological robot is an organic, effectively a clone without a brain. p.88:

"A biobot may use any personal augmentations from the Central Supply Catalogue (pages 86 –93) or from the Cyborgs section of this chapter at the same cost and effects as a normal biological being."

Effectively, if you want a biobot with robot enhancements, it's a cyborg. Whatever limits apply there apply.

However, if you want one with inherent biological enhancements not really covered in the CSC, that's more of a genetic engineering matter. The Clone chapter applies, but there is scope for more in that area.

As far as "biological body option" I think that's just poor wording/editing. Use the clone section to work that out - that even mentions a biobot as basically being a clone without a biological brain.

Yes, but think about how much fun you can have when you start with this beast as a biological body.

 

[rinku]

Oh yeah. Go to town with nonhuman bodies.

Although you'd not get any inherent behaviours in your biobot that you didn't program in. No Plains Runner brain, remember?

 

[MasterGwydion]

Oh yeah. Go to town with nonhuman bodies.

Although you'd not get any inherent behaviours in your biobot that you didn't program in. No Plains Runner brain, remember?

Art (performance) So the robot acts like a Plains Runner. Deception to make it believable. Science - Life (Plains Runners) so the bot doesn't make any stupid mistakes. Give it Survival and Recon as well. Melee (natural) and Navigation as well.

 

[rinku]

That's the stuff. Although you could probably simplify the Art and Science to Profession (Plains Runner) unless you wanted it to do other stuff like juggle.

Hunter/Killer brain seems to cover most Plains Runner behaviour.