I’m toying with an idea for a character in my head but I have some questions about it.

The idea is a bored noble that falls to some minor heresy (Heretek birthright). Is set straight by an authority figure but retains his fascination with technology, specifically Archeotech.

He is lured to the void by the new horizons and becomes an Archeotechnologist. After his first level he embraces the idea of shedding his flesh and becomes an Augmentisist. However he soon becomes frustrated by the limitations of the technology available compared to the archeotech he loves so dearly and at his next level he delves into the his seedy past and becomes an Arch-Heretek.

My questions are:

Does Physical Perfection stack with The Flesh is Weak?

Does becoming a machine grant a +2 toughness bonus to all locations in the same way bionics do?

Does becoming a machine make you immune to bleed results, if so what happens when you get a critical injury that results in bleeding? Does that area of the body simply stop functioning in the same way a cybernetic does?

Are a character with the machine trait’s limbs counted as common quality bionic limbs? Can they be replaced/upgraded? Can they be augmented (say by an internal blade)?

Are certain cybernetics unavailable to a character with the machine trait? After all what machine needs a cybernetic heart or gastral bionics? That said the machine trait does not seem to give a character the ability to survive without eating so perhaps gastral bionics still serve a purpose.

Here are the answers as best as I can give them.

Does becoming a machine grant a +2 toughness bonus to all locations in the same way bionics do?

• No. You would need the specific augmetics that give you these bonuses. The armour you gain from either source is not a straight toughness upgrade. However the armour and toughness bonus would stack with any bionics that you have.

Does becoming a machine make you immune to bleed results, if so what happens when you get a critical injury that results in bleeding? Does that area of the body simply stop functioning in the same way a cybernetic does?

• You can still bleed to death, you're just not necessarily bleeding blood. Just think of it as suffering Fluid Loss. I don't think it would stop functioning.

Are a character with the machine trait’s limbs counted as common quality bionic limbs? Can they be replaced/upgraded? Can they be augmented (say by an internal blade)?

• They are not treated as bionic limbs. That being said, you would need at least one bionic limb to be an Augmeticist, and it could presumably be replaced and/or upgraded as appropriate.

Are certain cybernetics unavailable to a character with the machine trait? After all what machine needs a cybernetic heart or gastral bionics? That said the machine trait does not seem to give a character the ability to survive without eating so perhaps gastral bionics still serve a purpose.

• All cybernetics are available, and you're not a machine. The Machine trait can be thought of as you just integrating the necessary systems together, and the extra circuitry and conductive layer provide armour.

My questions are:

Does Physical Perfection stack with The Flesh is Weak?

The way it's written, it seems like it does. The wordings are iffy, as they aren't really meant to work together. As is, it seems like Physical Perfection stacks on top of The Flesh is Weak, but not the other way around, but I'd check this with your GM if I were you. Some may allow it, some may not.

Does becoming a machine grant a +2 toughness bonus to all locations in the same way bionics do?

Does becoming a machine make you immune to bleed results, if so what happens when you get a critical injury that results in bleeding? Does that area of the body simply stop functioning in the same way a cybernetic does?

Are a character with the machine trait’s limbs counted as common quality bionic limbs? Can they be replaced/upgraded? Can they be augmented (say by an internal blade)?

Are certain cybernetics unavailable to a character with the machine trait? After all what machine needs a cybernetic heart or gastral bionics? That said the machine trait does not seem to give a character the ability to survive without eating so perhaps gastral bionics still serve a purpose .

All of these can be summed up (somewhat) in one answer. When gaining the Machine Trait, you don't become a full-on robot, because that's not how 40k rolls. See a servitor. It's flesh, but really heavily augmented, and has Machine(4), yet has obviously biological components. What the Machine Trait gives you is a lot of abilities and bonuses, but does for example not remove the need to eat. The more Machine you gain, the more metal you are, but you are not, strictly speaking, bionic. As such, critical injury may result in actual blood loss (since at least your brain still needs it) or some other vital fluid. Or maybe it's a wire that's cut that powers vital systems?

As for augmenting and replacing, you may still install bionic implants as per the standard rules, although some may rule that it's easier to integrate a wholly mechanical arm into somebody who's already half-toaster. Since you haven't got a cybernetic arm, you can't install things in it.

Does Physical Perfection stack with The Flesh is Weak?

Oh hey, look at me miss this question.

I disagree with SirFrog in that my reading is that they would not stack. The wording for The Flesh is Weak is very clear. When you purchase it you gain the Machine Trait with AP equal to the number of times this Talent has been taken. When purchasing Augmeticist's Physical Perfection you gain one level of the Machine Trait. Thus if you have all three ranks of Physical Perfectionist, and two ranks of The Flesh is Weak, then you are Machine (3) from Augmeticist and Machine (2) from The Flesh is Weak, but much like how wearing carapace over flak does not give you extra armour, these are two different sources of having gained the Machine Trait, so the higher one applies, meaning you are Machine (3). If you advance Flesh is Weak to 4, then you would switch to using that for Machine (4).

I think this does make sense, because look at a picture of an Augmeticist, and a picture of an Arch-Heretek or any other sort of Mechanicus-implanted person and they are very clearly not augmented the same way.

Yep, these two seem to have covered everything.

Blood Loss is not necessarily literally loss of blood. It's lethal damage that doesn't kill you right off the bat.

Ah yes I forgot about Servitors. I had assumed that since at Machine(3) an explorer is immune to the effects of a virus grenade they would be almost entirely cybernetic but that is rather out of character for 40K.

The wording for Physical Perfection This Talent grants the Explorer one level of the Machine Trait. This Talent can only be taken up to three times, gaining one additional level of the Machine Trait each time . To me this suggests it could stack with The Flesh is Weak if purchased afterwards by adding one level of the machine trait to the existing levels of machine trait from The Flesh is Weak but that was probably not the intent of the wording especially given that when Into the Storm was released Hostile Acquisitions was not available.

Thanks for the quick answer Thanks for the quick answers everyone.

One more question although unrelated to the character concept it is related to the machine trait and cybernetics.

If through mutation or other such event an explorer gains the regeneration trait does this make it impossible/more difficult to get cybernetic implants?

I know the regeneration trait doesn't actually allow for the regrowing of limbs and the like but it must be difficult to perform surgery on a patient that heals so rapidly.

One more question although unrelated to the character concept it is related to the machine trait and cybernetics

If through mutation or other such event an explorer gains the regeneration trait does this make it impossible/more difficult to get cybernetic implants?

I know the regeneration trait doesn't actually allow for the regrowing of limbs and the like but it must be difficult to perform surgery on a patient that heals so rapidly.

Ahh... grimdark surgery of the future...

But I wouldn't say impossible to get more cybernetic implants. A Magos Surgeon can be very determined...

If through mutation or other such event an explorer gains the regeneration trait does this make it impossible/more difficult to get cybernetic implants?

In the end it's up to the GM, but personally I don't like to add unnecessary house rules where none are needed - it makes remaining fair and consistent really tough - so I would say that it doesn't matter. It just works.

All of these can be summed up (somewhat) in one answer. When gaining the Machine Trait, you don't become a full-on robot, because that's not how 40k rolls. See a servitor. It's flesh, but really heavily augmented, and has Machine(4), yet has obviously biological components. What the Machine Trait gives you is a lot of abilities and bonuses, but does for example not remove the need to eat. The more Machine you gain, the more metal you are, but you are not, strictly speaking, bionic. As such, critical injury may result in actual blood loss (since at least your brain still needs it) or some other vital fluid. Or maybe it's a wire that's cut that powers vital systems?

As for augmenting and replacing, you may still install bionic implants as per the standard rules, although some may rule that it's easier to integrate a wholly mechanical arm into somebody who's already half-toaster. Since you haven't got a cybernetic arm, you can't install things in it.

This has always been iffy to me. You are entirely right in what you say, of course, but the Machine Trait effects suggests that you are wholly mechanical, while all fluff suggests that you're not. For example, not needing to breathe just because you have metal parts is.. odd. Surviving in space? But.. I don't have a bionic eye - won't my eye pop?

Things like that.

Always really irked me. I think the Machine Trait should only give the armour and repair benefits, and that being a full-on machine should be a different trait that gives the other bonuses.

I've always played Machine (for anything that isn't an actual servitor/necron) as just providing armour that works vs. flame (and stacks with worn armour, unlike natural armour I think [?]). I realize that that is not RAW though.

This has always been iffy to me. You are entirely right in what you say, of course, but the Machine Trait effects suggests that you are wholly mechanical, while all fluff suggests that you're not. For example, not needing to breathe just because you have metal parts is.. odd. Surviving in space? But.. I don't have a bionic eye - won't my eye pop?

Things like that.

Always really irked me. I think the Machine Trait should only give the armour and repair benefits, and that being a full-on machine should be a different trait that gives the other bonuses.

Our GM ruled that instead of gaining immunity to vacuum, cold, mind control you gain a cumulative +10 bonus per level of Machine. It's still really good, but less ridiculously OP.

Also, vacuum won't pop your eyes, nor will you flash-freeze to death. You'll choke first.

Concerning vacuum :

your eyes won't pop, as you get only 1 atmosphere difference between your standard environnment ( Starship corridors at approx 1 atmosphere) and the void ( 0 atmosphere). Unless you consider that divers can't go down as far as in real life.

Your eyes got some issue with direct exposure thanks to being irrigated with many cappilaries, which got some trouble whith the change of pressure and temperature, but they won't explosed.

As well, you will not instant freeze. Heat dissipate badly in a vaccuum. You will chocke before being frozen to death.

Does it really matter which comes first? Your body stops working for a number of reasons and you die. Having some mechanical parts won't really change that, and there's specific implants for.. almost everything.