[RowanTheFox]

Ok, I'm not sure where this belongs, so here I go.

My character was kidnapped and used as a test subject. Her captors managed to use her DNA to synthesize an immortality serum to A: Make super soldiers. B: Give the world's highest and mightiest an alternative to leonization since CFD made that downright dangerous. (It's actually all detailed in Heart of Gold in the FanFic section). Several vials of the serum were smuggled out of the facility. She managed to get those vials, and is using them to create an army of her own to strike back at her captors.

Of course, the serum has some side effects, but they are as-of-yet unknown since the facility was razed to the ground in retaliation before the full effects of the serum could be studied. I feel that the side effects should vary wildly depending on the recipient's genome. The trouble I'm having is deciding what those possible side effects could be.

Any ideas?

[Senko]

Well first off what exactly does this serum do you say it's both immortality and a super soldier serum but what does that actually mean?

1) Live forever.
2) Stay young forever.
3) Stay young forever +get maximum stat's.
4) Stay young forever and can NOT be killed, at all, in any way, PERIOD.
5) Stay young forever, get maximum stat's, can not be killed, become a mage.

And so on its hard to offer suggestions for side effects without knowing what the actual/intended effects will be. For example not being able to die takes on different meanings depending on whether the person involved is/is not able to regenerate severed limbs/nerve damage, is/is not aging, is/is not immune to diseases. More concretely compare immortal being who can't catch any diseases vs one who's spent the last 30 years suffering from one their body can't combat but they just can't die from even though it would have killed anyone not immortal (fever, hallucinations, vomiting, diarrhoea, boils, etc).

[RowanTheFox]

Well first off what exactly does this serum do you say it's both immortality and a super soldier serum but what does that actually mean?

1) Live forever.
2) Stay young forever.
3) Stay young forever +get maximum stat's.
4) Stay young forever and can NOT be killed, at all, in any way, PERIOD.
5) Stay young forever, get maximum stat's, can not be killed, become a mage.

And so on its hard to offer suggestions for side effects without knowing what the actual/intended effects will be. For example not being able to die takes on different meanings depending on whether the person involved is/is not able to regenerate severed limbs/nerve damage, is/is not aging, is/is not immune to diseases. More concretely compare immortal being who can't catch any diseases vs one who's spent the last 30 years suffering from one their body can't combat but they just can't die from even though it would have killed anyone not immortal (fever, hallucinations, vomiting, diarrhoea, boils, etc).

They get immunity to aging, disease, toxins, and poisons. Any diseases they currently have are cured, as their body can now fight it off, with the exception of mental illnesses. They also regenerate back to their "peak" condition, but this is a one-off effect. They don't gain the regeneration power. They also gain the equivalent of Will to Live III.

The serum wasn't the only thing that made the soldiers "super". They were also wired to the max and psychologically conditioned with personafix chips. Very nasty stuff, but still killable.

[Senko]

No immunity to radiation? Peak condition meaning no stat changes i.e. all stats to racial maximum?

Some obvious ones off the top of my head . . .

1) Trigger an "awakening" i.e. changeling with Surve 1,2 or 3 positive traits rolled, negative ones rolled or chosen by you rather than them.
2) The deadpool serum i.e. extremely healthy but horribly scarred and altered.
3) The blade serum i.e phsycially powerful but also non-human changes such as a second set of eyelids blicking sideway's or jaw opening into 4 even parts rather than 2 up and down.
4) The clone serum i.e. they gain all the benefits and phsyically alter to look either identical to your character or as if they were her brother/sister.
5) The reroll serum i.e. all their physical stats change based on a random dice roll e.g. 1 human, 2 elf, 3 dwarf, 4 orc, 5 troll, 6 special e.g. pixie or sasquatch. Do this for all appearance (eye colour, hair colour, skin tone) just don't forget to check your players are ok with it.
6) The HMHVV serum they get the perks you listed but physically turn into a duplicate of what they would if exposed to HMHVV "I'm not a vampire pay no attention the fangs please."

[RowanTheFox]

No immunity to radiation? Peak condition meaning no stat changes i.e. all stats to racial maximum?

Some obvious ones off the top of my head . . .

1) Trigger an "awakening" i.e. changeling with Surve 1,2 or 3 positive traits rolled, negative ones rolled or chosen by you rather than them.
2) The deadpool serum i.e. extremely healthy but horribly scarred and altered.
3) The blade serum i.e phsycially powerful but also non-human changes such as a second set of eyelids blicking sideway's or jaw opening into 4 even parts rather than 2 up and down.
4) The clone serum i.e. they gain all the benefits and phsyically alter to look either identical to your character or as if they were her brother/sister.
5) The reroll serum i.e. all their physical stats change based on a random dice roll e.g. 1 human, 2 elf, 3 dwarf, 4 orc, 5 troll, 6 special e.g. pixie or sasquatch. Do this for all appearance (eye colour, hair colour, skin tone) just don't forget to check your players are ok with it.
6) The HMHVV serum they get the perks you listed but physically turn into a duplicate of what they would if exposed to HMHVV "I'm not a vampire pay no attention the fangs please."

Putting stats at racial max might not be such a bad idea now that I think about it.

Nope, no immunity to radiation. My logic is that if my character doesn't even have that, why should they?

I like those suggestions, a friend of mine also brought up the suggestion of the serum awakening any latent magical traits, similar to what you suggested. Dracomorphosis, changeling, aspected or even full magician, adept or mystic adept, etc...

[LordGrizzle]

I am definitely on board with triggering an awakening.

Especially because my own campaign focuses on a drug that awakens people. Maybe though people who are already awakened or emerged lose that. If they also regenerate to peak physical condition maybe they eject any non delta implants during their upgrade.

Becoming dual natured would also be very fitting. Or becoming an easy vessel for Spirits and thusly having to fight off free spirits who want to possess your super-soldiers.

[HobDobson]

Becoming dual natured would also be very fitting. Or becoming an easy vessel for Spirits and thusly having to fight off free spirits who want to possess your super-soldiers.

Being able to astrally project sounds great to most people, until they find out that the body left behind is a ready-made vessel for possession. "Normally" Awakened folks are probably taught a bit of warding ASAP, by a teacher or a spirit that sees it as enlightened self-interest (who wants enemies/competitors possessing an Awakened  vessel?) These guys, maybe not so much. "Finders' keepers!"

I do like the already-mentioned SURGE ideas. I expect some affected will be spending a lot of time with helmets or wrap-around shades on, given the popularity of compound eyes or multiple sets of eyes.

The "clone serum" reminds me of some of the implications of regenerators in Whateley Academy fanfic: body fluids as biohazards. Better think twice about that blood donation, no matter how desperately your child needs it 

In any case, this seems like a very powerful super-serum indeed. Possibly alchemically prepared? Did the researchers fully understand where the power driving the sucessful batches is coming from? Maybe it's some innocent driving force that acts like an astral beacon. Or it's a way to introduce those Dream Pacts that no one really wants ("But it clearly states, in Appendix D, Section 12, Paragraph 3, Subpara. 13, that I get to use your body when it's otherwise not in use in return for these benefits.")

[Adamo1618]

A ballsack grows out of your forehead

[RowanTheFox]

Becoming dual natured would also be very fitting. Or becoming an easy vessel for Spirits and thusly having to fight off free spirits who want to possess your super-soldiers.

Being able to astrally project sounds great to most people, until they find out that the body left behind is a ready-made vessel for possession. "Normally" Awakened folks are probably taught a bit of warding ASAP, by a teacher or a spirit that sees it as enlightened self-interest (who wants enemies/competitors possessing an Awakened  vessel?) These guys, maybe not so much. "Finders' keepers!"

I do like the already-mentioned SURGE ideas. I expect some affected will be spending a lot of time with helmets or wrap-around shades on, given the popularity of compound eyes or multiple sets of eyes.

The "clone serum" reminds me of some of the implications of regenerators in Whateley Academy fanfic: body fluids as biohazards. Better think twice about that blood donation, no matter how desperately your child needs it 

In any case, this seems like a very powerful super-serum indeed. Possibly alchemically prepared? Did the researchers fully understand where the power driving the sucessful batches is coming from? Maybe it's some innocent driving force that acts like an astral beacon. Or it's a way to introduce those Dream Pacts that no one really wants ("But it clearly states, in Appendix D, Section 12, Paragraph 3, Subpara. 13, that I get to use your body when it's otherwise not in use in return for these benefits.")

To answer your last question: Not exactly. Hubris, and the overwhelming desire to crush their enemies blinded them. They were so thrilled to have a successful serum that they never stopped to ask why it worked. Didn't help that the big dog funding the whole thing was completely batdrek insane.

[Senko]

Thinking about it you could also introduce non serum related side effects like gaining a non-buy offable wanted negative quality as the corp tries to get ahold of a few more test subjects who've had the serum donated or the old captain america supersoldier team who could only trigger their superpowers for a short period of time before it wore off and left them exhausted.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

They may physically be immune to age, etc., but their brains aren't built that way.  The IEs (who, arguably, ARE built that way) are all more than a little psycho in their own ways; early elves are socially and psychologically humans, but in bodies that aren't 'giving out' the way human bodies are designed to do, which means they wind up having a major psychological and sociological disconnect with many of their non-elven age-peers.

Think of it as a Captain America scenario, albeit one in which they've actually lived those 70 years since WWII.  Only the guys in the old-folk's home are going to get their in-jokes and references, but the super-soldier can still go out, party all night and then fight a major battle the next morning like the twentysomethings.  There's major mental stress there, and unless that's addressed, your immortal super-soldier WILL have a psychotic break, and given his training, it's likely to be a highly violent one.  And then the researchers discover that few people indeed possess Immunity to High-Velocity Steel-Jacketed Lead.

[RowanTheFox]

Thinking about it you could also introduce non serum related side effects like gaining a non-buy offable wanted negative quality as the corp tries to get ahold of a few more test subjects who've had the serum donated or the old captain america supersoldier team who could only trigger their superpowers for a short period of time before it wore off and left them exhausted.

I've thought about adding the Wanted quality, and it makes sense with what my character is doing. I've also considered the possibility of my character being able to magically track anyone who has been given the serum using a form of material linking, since it was made with her DNA.

[Senko]

They may physically be immune to age, etc., but their brains aren't built that way.  The IEs (who, arguably, ARE built that way) are all more than a little psycho in their own ways; early elves are socially and psychologically humans, but in bodies that aren't 'giving out' the way human bodies are designed to do, which means they wind up having a major psychological and sociological disconnect with many of their non-elven age-peers.

Think of it as a Captain America scenario, albeit one in which they've actually lived those 70 years since WWII.  Only the guys in the old-folk's home are going to get their in-jokes and references, but the super-soldier can still go out, party all night and then fight a major battle the next morning like the twentysomethings.  There's major mental stress there, and unless that's addressed, your immortal super-soldier WILL have a psychotic break, and given his training, it's likely to be a highly violent one.  And then the researchers discover that few people indeed possess Immunity to High-Velocity Steel-Jacketed Lead.

Ironically D20 modern had a trait for demons that was immunity to ballistic damage which basically meant you could stab them, hit them with blunt objects, cast spells on them or slice them up but even the most high powered modern weapons (bullets = ballistic) just bounce off without doing a thing.

[Longshot23]

Who is the Big Bad? Because this sounds like the sort of thing a Human Nation (or possibly Black Lodge) bigwig would try to do. Although you'd think a Black Lodge-r would be aware of potential Awakened hazards.

[RowanTheFox]

Who is the Big Bad? Because this sounds like the sort of thing a Human Nation (or possibly Black Lodge) bigwig would try to do. Although you'd think a Black Lodge-r would be aware of potential Awakened hazards.

Aztechnology in cahoots with the Aztlan government.