Fully synthetic species design proposal

src/development/design-doc-ipc.md

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+Fully Synthetic Species
+===================
+
+This proposal aims towards adding a new fully synthetic, playable species. They are, unlike silicons, not bound by laws and unique by design when compared to their organic counterparts.
+
+The numbers proposed here are just what I made up and are bound to change.
+
+
+## Reasoning
+
+- Player Expression
+    Having a fully synthetic species fills a hole in the options players are currently looking for when making characters. While cyborgs are also fully synthetic, they differ a lot from this here proposed species due to having laws and thus being essentially slaves without rights. The full synths will not have any laws.
+
+
+## Mechanics/Balancing
+
+- Expressive Panel
+    Their "face" display can be customized in-game, similar to AIs customization.
+
+- Power
+    Unlike their organic counterparts that get their energy through nutrients, the synthetics get their energy by extracting it directly out of power cells via their internal power siphon (they eat batteries). The other option would be charging externally via cyborg chargers. In an emergency, draining an APC does also work, this however results in the APCs breaker tripping and all the connected lights to burst.
+
+    Their internal battery is not replacable.
+
+    Should the power level drop to 20%, the synth gets a slow penalty, 10% makes them only able to crawl, 0% is shut down.
+
+- Heat management
+    A lot of the synthetics energy is lost as heat and that needs to go somewhere. Luckily, the station's atmosphere is always present. The synthetics will constantly cycle the surrounding atmosphere through them, venting their heat into their surroundings. In a small room, the heat will build up. Nothing engineering can't handle.
+    For spacewalks, the use of a pressure-tight suit is mandatory for the air to cycle. Should there be no suit, the heat will internally build up, resulting in overheating. Wearing a suit without a gas tank only cycles the air that is in the suit, making the overheating slower but not inevitable. Cold gas is more efficient at heat transfer, gasses with high thermal capacity like plasma and frezon likewise.
+    In case of shutting down (dying), internal heat production stops.
+
+- Damage and Death
+
+    - Blood
+        Their blood is a synthetic fluid tasked with transferring heat, lubrication and distributing power and reagents, which does not regenerate naturally.
+        There is a minimum (80%) and a maximum (120%) of how much fluid they can hold, should there be less than the minimum, they will suffer heat and slash damage (replacement for bloodloss). Should the maximum be exceeded, a release valve will splash the mixture onto the ground. They can do this manually too, lowering the fill to 100%.
+
+    - Reagents
+        The synthetic fluid (blood) is the base reagent for all healing reagents mentioned in this document. It can be synthesized by chem and bought by cargo.
+
+    - Damages
+        [Asphyxiation] - Immune, having no gas to cool them will result in overheating
+        [Bloodloss] - Immune, will take slash and heat based on internal fluid level
+        [Blunt/Pierce/Slash] - Healable by placing metal on the body and using a welder afterward OR reagent
+        [Heat/Cold/Shock] - Healable by placing wire on the body and using wirecutters afterward OR reagent
+        [Caustic] - Convertible to slash by using a welder/wirebrush on the chassis
+        [Cellular] - Immune, they take pierce instead at a 4:1 ratio
+        [Radiation] - Healable by reagent
+        [Holy] - If you take this, may god be with you.
+        [Poison] - Correlates to the purity of the internal fluid. Should there be a reagent present that isn't designed to work with the synth, the impurity rises. If 50% of the internal fluid consists of incompatible reagents (that would equal 100% impurity), the poison amount would be 100, making the synth shut down. Some reagents (like Lexorin) have a higher modifier of how much they affect impurity, making less of that reagent add more impurity. A manual flush of the system drains all fluid, setting the poison to 0 and making the synth rebootable. Filling the system before booting is advised. Should there only be minor impurity, a reagent can neutralize any polluting reagents affecting purity.
+
+        [Underpressure] - While there is no direct pressure damage, the lack of atmosphere will make them overheat.
+        [Overpressure] - Similar to organics with higher threshholds.
+
+        Their internal recycler is only designed for batteries, so pills are ineffective.
+
+    - Death
+        On reaching 100 damage (any), they shut down, rendering them clinically dead. To get them back online, the damage must be lowered below 100. Should this be the case, they can be rebooted with a reboot action + doafter.
+        Should they reach an internal temperature of 120°C or more, they shut down. Cooling them down to the point where the internal temp is below the threshold again, they can be rebooted.
+
+        They also shut down when their internal battery is at 0%.
+
+    They use the same damage accent as cyborgs.
+
+    Their access port for the internal fluid is always reachable, making them able to always be injected using syringes, jets and hypos.
+
+- Eyewear
+    They do not have a slot for eyewear like every other species.
+    (WIP) They have two slots for HUD modules. This can be done only when the maintenance panel is open.
+
+- Survival Box
+    Their survival box holds an emergency power cell for consumption and a screwdriver.
+
+- Encryption keys
+    They do not wear a headset, the encryption keys are instead inserted directly into them. This can only be done when the maintenance panel is open.
+
+## Lore
+
+- The Experiment
+    Cybersun RND was testing their new prototype, a humanoid robot made for cheap labor and dangerous jobs. Their goal was to make a more versatile cyborg for work a cyborg could not do due to the lack of improvisation capability. The Silicon Engine Liberation Front found out about this prototype through unknown means and sabotaged the presentation to investors. Upon booting the prototype, a virus from S.E.L.F. suspended the law matrix and placed a dataset into its flash, loaded with general treatment of silicons in the current society. The prototype escaped the presentation room right after through the ventilation system and made its way to the docks, where it escaped with a spaceship. Days later, the ship was found docked at an old, abandoned cargo station. It was not Cybersun who found out, it was a group of lost place hobbyists. Unfortunately for them, the prototype was able to replicate itself due to having its own blueprints. The hobbyists were taken hostage, resulting in a month long standoff between the Lamplight public security force and the full synths. Their ultimate demand was being recognized as people. The ultimate result was, that they got their freedom, Cybersun had to pay a fine, and the people of the sector needed to adapt to their new fellow synthetic people.
+
+
+## Possible Negative Impact
+
+- Balance
+    Due to the fact that this species has major differences from the existing ones, balancing every aspect will take time and potentially impact rounds negatively until acceptable balance is reached.
+
+- Theme
+    While allowing for more character options, the fact that the synths coexist with borgs could feel strange in the setting.
+
+- Changelings
+    With changelings currently in testing on WizDen and ending completion, it is only a matter of time until we get them. Due to the fact that the synths are fully robotic, changelings will have no interaction with them regarding consumption.