I'm not sure if this should go here or in Smalltalk, or if I should post it at all, but it's RP-adjacent so I'm putting it here.
So I've had this idea for a character bouncing around in my head for a few months now of a robotic character, specifically a nanomorph*, an interconnected swarm of nanobots that was created by an extinct civilization but didn't "come awake" or achieve sapience until long after their creators were gone. This character would travel the universe, searching for the purpose behind their creation, and interacting with all manner of people along the way. I've tentatively decided that this character would name themselves, Relic, but since it's a bit on-the-nose I'm open to other name ideas. I'm looking for a noun or adjective sort of name for this character, since they know almost nothing about the species that created them or their naming conventions (though they do have the capacity for language).
One problem is that the description above is just about all I have for this character, so I need help fleshing them out. The other is that, although this would not be a combat character or otherwise likely to be involved in contests of skill, I'm worried they might be too overpowered to use in RP because of their nature as a nanomorph. Their main ability would be shapeshifting into virtually any form up to a certain volume/size, but they would also have significant processing power since they're made up of countless nanobots, the ability to truly multitask and focus on multiple things at once since, again, they're a hive mind of nanobots, and high sensory capability (excellent sight, hearing, touch, et cetera).
I want to develop this character for my own personal use regardless of whether I use them for RP, but since RPR has limited free character slots, I also want people's input on whether people would be receptive to the idea of playing with such a character. If people feel this idea is too overpowered or otherwise off-putting, no hard feelings! I have plenty of other character ideas that I can put to use here. But I have been itching to post a new character profile, so I want to know if this character should be the one I do.
*See here (warning for a robot with uncovered Barbie doll anatomy), here, and most importantly here, last paragraph of the Literature section.
So I've had this idea for a character bouncing around in my head for a few months now of a robotic character, specifically a nanomorph*, an interconnected swarm of nanobots that was created by an extinct civilization but didn't "come awake" or achieve sapience until long after their creators were gone. This character would travel the universe, searching for the purpose behind their creation, and interacting with all manner of people along the way. I've tentatively decided that this character would name themselves, Relic, but since it's a bit on-the-nose I'm open to other name ideas. I'm looking for a noun or adjective sort of name for this character, since they know almost nothing about the species that created them or their naming conventions (though they do have the capacity for language).
One problem is that the description above is just about all I have for this character, so I need help fleshing them out. The other is that, although this would not be a combat character or otherwise likely to be involved in contests of skill, I'm worried they might be too overpowered to use in RP because of their nature as a nanomorph. Their main ability would be shapeshifting into virtually any form up to a certain volume/size, but they would also have significant processing power since they're made up of countless nanobots, the ability to truly multitask and focus on multiple things at once since, again, they're a hive mind of nanobots, and high sensory capability (excellent sight, hearing, touch, et cetera).
I want to develop this character for my own personal use regardless of whether I use them for RP, but since RPR has limited free character slots, I also want people's input on whether people would be receptive to the idea of playing with such a character. If people feel this idea is too overpowered or otherwise off-putting, no hard feelings! I have plenty of other character ideas that I can put to use here. But I have been itching to post a new character profile, so I want to know if this character should be the one I do.
*See here (warning for a robot with uncovered Barbie doll anatomy), here, and most importantly here, last paragraph of the Literature section.
Sci-fi! Here are my thoughts:
- If you're worried about Relic being too heavy-handed a name, you could always say it was a moniker given to them by someone they met on their space journey. Someone pointing out the obvious and it just kind of stuck.
- I don't think they'd be too overpowered a character because all technology is flawed in some way. To cite the nanite mimicry page, nanomachines are susceptible to electricity, magnetism, extreme temperatures, corrosion, hacking, and parts of the nano hive mind becoming too sentient and turning against the main body. Nanomachines are usually self-regenerative, but you could throw in a time buffer or a maximum amount of damage they can sustain before completely shutting down. There's plenty of obstacles this character could still potentially encounter that could be built into the world and/or the plot.
- I think it's really interesting that you decided not to make them a combative character! I'm not sure if this was the reasoning behind it, but I'd imagine an entity that was basically one giant sensory system would avoid combat because its loud and painful aspects would be amplified. That, and why waste your time fighting when you can just change your entire form and blend in.
- Do the nanomachines generate their own energy or do they have to charge periodically through some means? That would be another hindrance.
- Another (cruel) possibility could be that they wake up and gradually realize that their technology is outdated and outclassed; ie, that they're almost obsolete compared to the youngsters.
tldr: they sound like a perfectly plausible character to me.
- If you're worried about Relic being too heavy-handed a name, you could always say it was a moniker given to them by someone they met on their space journey. Someone pointing out the obvious and it just kind of stuck.
- I don't think they'd be too overpowered a character because all technology is flawed in some way. To cite the nanite mimicry page, nanomachines are susceptible to electricity, magnetism, extreme temperatures, corrosion, hacking, and parts of the nano hive mind becoming too sentient and turning against the main body. Nanomachines are usually self-regenerative, but you could throw in a time buffer or a maximum amount of damage they can sustain before completely shutting down. There's plenty of obstacles this character could still potentially encounter that could be built into the world and/or the plot.
- I think it's really interesting that you decided not to make them a combative character! I'm not sure if this was the reasoning behind it, but I'd imagine an entity that was basically one giant sensory system would avoid combat because its loud and painful aspects would be amplified. That, and why waste your time fighting when you can just change your entire form and blend in.
- Do the nanomachines generate their own energy or do they have to charge periodically through some means? That would be another hindrance.
- Another (cruel) possibility could be that they wake up and gradually realize that their technology is outdated and outclassed; ie, that they're almost obsolete compared to the youngsters.
tldr: they sound like a perfectly plausible character to me.
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