3 hours ago, themensch said:

Are we going to venture into transhumanism? I'm not far enough into the setting to know how much it plays a role - I know there are g-mods but I'm not quite seeing that yet. It seems like a natural progression from most unfailing cyberpunk dystopias where they seem to fall into A Brave New World with body-swapping.

There is actually a character from the card game who considers herself a transhumanist. She’s basically a full body replaced cyborg who treats programs and bioroids like people.

So, there is an aspect of this currently in the universe as some sort of cultural movement. Personally, I don’t like including body swapping in my story arcs, just because of how convoluted it can get if done badly (just look at superheroes), but it seems like it wouldn’t be to far fetched in the Android universe.

1 hour ago, slope123 said:

but it seems like it wouldn’t be to far fetched in the Android universe.

They definitely allude to it in Worlds of Android but I'm not too deep into the book yet. It definitely seems like it's within reach for the filthy rich and/or exceedingly-well-connected.

14 minutes ago, themensch said:

They definitely allude to it in Worlds of Android but I'm not too deep into the book yet. It definitely seems like it's within reach for the filthy rich and/or exceedingly-well-connected.

I'm reading the book now too. My recollection is that it explicitly states that direct mapping of a Braintape onto a brain is still out of reach, which is why Jinteki and Haas Bioroid have the techniques they do. In particular, Jinteki has their secret methods of external stimuli to imprint personality and skills on developing clones. This is not to say it is too large a stretch to include it in a campaign, just that it is not quite Android canon.

A lots of the classics have been listed so I'll point out some more recent novels to draw inspiration from.

Possible light spoilers warning.

Luna: New Moon and Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald

Takes place mostly on the moon but it shares some themes with the android universe: Loonies, moon habitats, Helium 3 as an energy source, scheming monopolistic megacorps and class inequality. A very interesting read.

The fixer book Series by Andrew Vaillencourt

What it has in common with Android : A huge megacity that is the single port of entry for all earth/space shipping, a cyborgs ex military protagonist, his genmod ristie girlfriend, her scholar father, the underworld, a runner/tech, a sassy assassin, crime syndicates, class inequality, and general badassery with a dusting of corny one liners. Action packed. Loved it.

51 minutes ago, TheSapient said:

I'm reading the book now too. My recollection is that it explicitly states that direct mapping of a Braintape onto a brain is still out of reach, which is why Jinteki and Haas Bioroid have the techniques they do. In particular, Jinteki has their secret methods of external stimuli to imprint personality and skills on developing clones. This is not to say it is too large a stretch to include it in a campaign, just that it is not quite Android canon.

Well, it's explicitly stated - in an in-universe quote from someone with an agenda. So that tells me it's up to the GM until I read otherwise! But I agree, it's well within reach, and woe befalls the PCs that encounter those super-soldiers that didn't quite get transferred to their new bioroid combat chassis just right.

Surprised no-one has brought up Artemis by Andy Weir. Darn near set in the android universe. A good number of similar themes, and is excellent reading material for anyone wanting to set their game up at Heinlein

18 hours ago, Raicheck said:

Surprised no-one has brought up Artemis by Andy Weir. Darn near set in the android universe. A good number of similar themes, and is excellent reading material for anyone wanting to set their game up at Heinlein

Andy Weir as in The Martian? I did not realize he had another book out.

11 hours ago, drainsmith said:

Andy Weir as in The Martian? I did not realize he had another book out.

Same guy. Artemis is about a colony set on a moon, and a smuggler who ships items into the city. Has good action, the science seems spot on, and there's a good amount of intrigue. And, as a bonus if you get the audio version, it's read by Rosario Dawson. Heinlein as a city is way more advanced than Artemis is, but it still can capture the feel of what it's like to live on the moon, or any place that is a sealed system with a hostile environment outside.

Oh, how could I have forgotten Transmetropolitan?!? It's of course NSFW but it would fit right in as good inspiration.