Help: Full Conversion Borg who wants to become Human again.

[Grimlock]

Hey guys,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I've been playing a character who was originally a City Rat, but got badly shot up in a fire fight to the point where the only thing that could be done to save him is to make him a Full Conversion Borg. The conversion was obviously not by choice, and he's determined to find a way to become human again. I don't think there are rules in place that allow a Borg character to undo the conversion (I don't have all the books), and I'm pretty sure that it simply CAN'T be done, however, my character doesn't know that.

I've been doing some research to see how my character's search for a "cure" could be a part of our campaign story, and I've been thinking of possible ways that a "Full Conversion Restoration" could be achieved.

Here are possibilities:

i) He could have his body regrown using his DNA sample, and then have his brain surgically insterted in the body of the clone. It's nutty, and I don't think any organization on Rifts Earth can do it. It may be possible somewhere on Phase World, but I wouldn't know where.

ii) Perhaps a ritual magial spell could do it, though I wouldn't know if a custom spell of that nature would even exist. Perhaps a high level mage could design the spell for him.

iii) Maybe he could have his consciousness tranferred to another body, so he'd be human, but it wouldn't be the same body. This, again, could be achieved magically.

iv) Maybe he could travel in time and save himself from being shot up in the first place. Then you'd be faced with the whole paradox of two versions of the same character exisiting, but I don't know if time travel is even possible in Rifts.


Anyways, that's all I've been able to think of so far. I'm posting this in Palladium Books in hopes that it's members would come up with more ways that this character can TRY to restore his humanity. Any and all ideas a greatly welcomed.

And remember: If it's not possible for the character to undo a Full Conversion, the character doesn't know that. To him, it wouldn't be a wild goose chase.

Thanks again.

Grim

[Misfit KotLD]

Bio-system replacements are another possibility. Of course this option depends on just what organs and bits are still original.

[sHaka]

I believe Japan offers the possibility of clone technology. Get a clone, scoop out it's brain, stick in the city rat's and voila!

It might be more complicated than my summary would have you believe though.

(Welcome to the Megaverse )

[Balabanto]

Have a tattooed man kill him.

Then use a phoenix tattoo to ressurrect him.

[Talavar]

Hey guys,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I've been playing a character who was originally a City Rat, but got badly shot up in a fire fight to the point where the only thing that could be done to save him is to make him a Full Conversion Borg. The conversion was obviously not by choice, and he's determined to find a way to become human again. I don't think there are rules in place that allow a Borg character to undo the conversion (I don't have all the books), and I'm pretty sure that it simply CAN'T be done, however, my character doesn't know that.

I've been doing some research to see how my character's search for a "cure" could be a part of our campaign story, and I've been thinking of possible ways that a "Full Conversion Restoration" could be achieved.

Here are possibilities:

i) He could have his body regrown using his DNA sample, and then have his brain surgically insterted in the body of the clone. It's nutty, and I don't think any organization on Rifts Earth can do it. It may be possible somewhere on Phase World, but I wouldn't know where.

ii) Perhaps a ritual magial spell could do it, though I wouldn't know if a custom spell of that nature would even exist. Perhaps a high level mage could design the spell for him.

iii) Maybe he could have his consciousness tranferred to another body, so he'd be human, but it wouldn't be the same body. This, again, could be achieved magically.

iv) Maybe he could travel in time and save himself from being shot up in the first place. Then you'd be faced with the whole paradox of two versions of the same character exisiting, but I don't know if time travel is even possible in Rifts.


Anyways, that's all I've been able to think of so far. I'm posting this in Palladium Books in hopes that it's members would come up with more ways that this character can TRY to restore his humanity. Any and all ideas a greatly welcomed.

And remember: If it's not possible for the character to undo a Full Conversion, the character doesn't know that. To him, it wouldn't be a wild goose chase.

Thanks again.

Grim

The technological Japanese cities can do #1 I believe, and if Japan can, Phase World should be able to as well. You could make a case for the Kittani being able to as well (they can make clones, but no mention of brain transplants).

From Nightbane the Fleshsculpter spell 'Total Replacement' can make a new body; this would be a rare type of magic on Rifts Earth, but it has reduced physical stats over the original body. It's also not permanent unless the caster gives up a lot of permanent PPE.

Also from Nightbane, the Fleshsculpter spell 'Meld Living Flesh & Bone' could put the character's head (assuming that much of him is still human) on a new body.

You could make the case that the level 15 spell 'Ley Line Restoration' would fix a cyborg as well: it completely restores missing limbs and internal organs, and expells bionics & cybernetics.

[cornholioprime]

TECHNICALLY, there are technologies on Rifts Earth and elsewhere throughout the Megaverse that allow for the possibility. According to the strict text description of the spell, "Restoration" should do the trick as well.

HOWEVER.......

....For the apparent purposes of Gameplay and Game Flavor, you as a 'Borg are in an irreversible condition; one of the really good things about this Game Setting (no, really!!) is that there are short- and long-term consequences to the actions that you take, and just as you can't use the spell "Resurrection" to revive a Terminal Juicer or "Restoration" to forever keep him from reaching Last Call in the first place, you should live with the choice that you made and just have your PC stay in that 'Borg body. Besides, think of all the 'fun' you can have
playing that PC as regretting the hell out of that fateful decision in the first place!!

( Alternatively, at the very very least, make the Quest to obtain those Clone Parts or use that Super-Restorative Magic Spell an epic-level undertaking that you are not at all sure you can succeed at. )

[cornholioprime]

ADDENDUM: According to RUE, page 45, you cannot even have your limbs replaced by bio-systems; they can only be replaced by other bionics...just like the ones that are currently inside your Full Conversion 'Borg.

Perhaps, once your character realizes this (and hopefully, this will be BEFORE he goes all over the planet just to find out that staying 'Borg is pretty much his only option).......perhaps your PC will be content to "settle" for just having himself rebuilt into a more human-looking Cyborg body.

Or maybe he could find some way to do a Transferred Intelligence upload into an Android that doesn't yet have any mental programming in it (a blank slate)!!

[Grimlock]

Thanks for all the quick responses guys!

Bio-system replacements are another possibility. Of course this option depends on just what organs and bits are still original.

There's just a brain left.

I believe Japan offers the possibility of clone technology. Get a clone, scoop out it's brain, stick in the city rat's and voila!

It might be more complicated than my summary would have you believe though.

We have a couple of first time players in the group, so we stuck with just a couple of the earlier books and stayed earlier in the time line to keep things simple. It's not a bad idea, but I don't think Japan would work out.

Have a tattooed man kill him.

Then use a phoenix tattoo to ressurrect him.

That's brilliant! And we have a Werejaguar in our group who got rifted from South America. Maybe getting him back home means we could run into Clan Skellian. This idea could work out in our story arc.

From Nightbane the Fleshsculpter spell 'Total Replacement' can make a new body; this would be a rare type of magic on Rifts Earth, but it has reduced physical stats over the original body. It's also not permanent unless the caster gives up a lot of permanent PPE.

You could make the case that the level 15 spell 'Ley Line Restoration' would fix a cyborg as well: it completely restores missing limbs and internal organs, and expells bionics & cybernetics.

Our campaign is currently set in the Manistique Imperium, and we've talked about heading over to Lazlo. There are a lots of mages there, and maybe even a Fleshsculptor. Meeting the right people and doing LOTS of favours could mean getting the spell cast.

Or maybe he could find some way to do a Transferred Intelligence upload into an Android that doesn't yet have any mental programming in it (a blank slate)!!

One mechanical body for another wouldn't be an improvement.

Great suggestions so far, and you're giving me LOTS of ideas!

Only two things have NOT been addressed:

i) Travelling in time to prevent the accident that caused the conversion to take place;

ii) Transferring my character's "soul" onto a host body.

Are any of these two options feasible?

[glitterboy2098]

ADDENDUM: According to RUE, page 45, you cannot even have your limbs replaced by bio-systems; they can only be replaced by other bionics...just like the ones that are currently inside your Full Conversion 'Borg.

doesn't this invalidate the (CS's?) borg retirement program? i seem to remember either seeing an entry (might have been CWC, maybe aftermath) that talked about how cyborg vetrans would have their military grade bodies removed, and replaced with a cybernetic torso and bio-system limbs...

Perhaps, once your character realizes this (and hopefully, this will be BEFORE he goes all over the planet just to find out that staying 'Borg is pretty much his only option).......perhaps your PC will be content to "settle" for just having himself rebuilt into a more human-looking Cyborg body.

yeah, a hidden cyborg chassis would work well if you have to settle. you can look exactly the same as you used to, but are still MDC and really strong. at least you'd look human, even if you'd still be a cyborg.

[Mack]

Agree with the others that the simpliest method would be to get a Cyber-humanoid body, which can be found in the Bionics sourcebook. It's not the answer the character wants, but it's straightfoward.

Probably the real answer is to get a high-level mage to figure out a way to "heal" him, but that wouldn't be canonical.

And if you wanted to be a bit evil, a mage could promise to fix him via the Cold-Blooded RCC process (found in Merc Adventures). It would require bending a rule or two on the creation process, and the character might not appreciate the final result.

[Talavar]

Just to clear things up, it's canon that the Japanese Republic can retro-convert cyborgs, both to bio-systems and to clone bodies - Rifts Japan, pg. 98.

Given that, it's pretty likely other super high tech. societies could do the same thing - various places in the 3 Galaxies, and probably the Kittani.

Great suggestions so far, and you're giving me LOTS of ideas!

Only two things have NOT been addressed:

i) Travelling in time to prevent the accident that caused the conversion to take place;

ii) Transferring my character's "soul" onto a host body.

Are any of these two options feasible?

Time-travel is do-able, but there are no directly statted-out, player-controllable methods in Rifts (at least that I'm aware of), so it's GM's discretion. A couple of places that can trigger jumps into the past - time holes in the remains of the Florida peninsula in Dinosaur Swamp, and I think trying to leave the Yucatan peninsula by air has a chance of flinging you into the past as well. Neither of these are very accurate however, or come with a reliable way to return to the present.

Soul/mind transferance used to be a possible consequence of a psionic Mind Bond in a previous version of Palladium Fantasy, but I can't think of anything else in canon that does that.

[Captain Shiva]

Barring divine intervention, I don't see it happening. A little handwavium might be necessary, but remember, if a god does something for you, they will want something big in return.

[Grimlock]

Just to clear things up, it's canon that the Japanese Republic can retro-convert cyborgs, both to bio-systems and to clone bodies - Rifts Japan, pg. 98.
Given that, it's pretty likely other super high tech. societies could do the same thing - various places in the 3 Galaxies, and probably the Kittani.

Do you think there any organizations in Rifts North America that would be at that level of technological advancement? Maybe Lone Star, but considering my character is a Coalition dissident, I don't think they'd be up for helping me.

[Oberoth]

Just to clear things up, it's canon that the Japanese Republic can retro-convert cyborgs, both to bio-systems and to clone bodies - Rifts Japan, pg. 98.
Given that, it's pretty likely other super high tech. societies could do the same thing - various places in the 3 Galaxies, and probably the Kittani.

Do you think there any organizations in Rifts North America that would be at that level of technological advancement? Maybe Lone Star, but considering my character is a Coalition dissident, I don't think they'd be up for helping me.

ARCHIE Perhaps?

[Killer Cyborg]

Find the Blue Fairy.

[Vrykolas2k]

Oh, the humanity!

[Grimlock]

Find the Blue Fairy.

Sorry, but I've never heard of the Blue Fairy. It's been a while since I've read my personal Rifts catalogue.

You could make the case that the level 15 spell 'Ley Line Restoration' would fix a cyborg as well: it completely restores missing limbs and internal organs, and expells bionics & cybernetics.

I was thinking a bit more about this spell and it's pretty cheezy to have it restore the Borg to normal as is. Would it be more fair if the spell COULD return the Borg to normal, but costing much more P.P.E.?

Could that be a viable alternative?

[Armorlord]

ADDENDUM: According to RUE, page 45, you cannot even have your limbs replaced by bio-systems; they can only be replaced by other bionics...just like the ones that are currently inside your Full Conversion 'Borg.

doesn't this invalidate the (CS's?) borg retirement program? i seem to remember either seeing an entry (might have been CWC, maybe aftermath) that talked about how cyborg vetrans would have their military grade bodies removed, and replaced with a cybernetic torso and bio-system limbs...

Indeed, the CS has that retirement plan for conversion into a normal human bio-system body. Plus every mention of bio-systems replacements for mages and psychics that lose limbs. 45 is referring to that full-conversion borgs can't have bio-system limbs, the end product here is no longer a full conversion borg.

[Captain Shiva]

Find the Blue Fairy.

Sorry, but I've never heard of the Blue Fairy. It's been a while since I've read my personal Rifts catalogue.

You could make the case that the level 15 spell 'Ley Line Restoration' would fix a cyborg as well: it completely restores missing limbs and internal organs, and expells bionics & cybernetics.

I was thinking a bit more about this spell and it's pretty cheezy to have it restore the Borg to normal as is. Would it be more fair if the spell COULD return the Borg to normal, but costing much more P.P.E.?

Could that be a viable alternative?

Never heard of the Blue Fairy? I trust that you are unfamiliar with Pinnochio. I overlooked Ley Line Restoration in my earlier research, but I think 800 PPE, plus the other penalties, is a more than adequate cost. But in order to do this, once they find a willing mage to perform this ritual, the human parts, in my opinion, should be removed from the cyborg body, and this should be done on site.So you might need a Cyber-Doc with a mobile hospital, or remove the body parts and keep them on life suppport while in transit to the nexus point. This does not sound to me like something that could be done cheaply. Of course, afterwards, you will have a used borg chassis to sell.

[Talavar]

Find the Blue Fairy.

Sorry, but I've never heard of the Blue Fairy. It's been a while since I've read my personal Rifts catalogue.

You could make the case that the level 15 spell 'Ley Line Restoration' would fix a cyborg as well: it completely restores missing limbs and internal organs, and expells bionics & cybernetics.

I was thinking a bit more about this spell and it's pretty cheezy to have it restore the Borg to normal as is. Would it be more fair if the spell COULD return the Borg to normal, but costing much more P.P.E.?

Could that be a viable alternative?

Well, Ley Line Restoration comes with a permanent loss of 6d6 PPE for the spell caster, so finding a mage who likes you that much is going to be pretty rare if you ask me.

[Grimlock]

I overlooked Ley Line Restoration in my earlier research, but I think 800 PPE, plus the other penalties, is a more than adequate cost. But in order to do this, once they find a willing mage to perform this ritual, the human parts, in my opinion, should be removed from the cyborg body, and this should be done on site.So you might need a Cyber-Doc with a mobile hospital, or remove the body parts and keep them on life suppport while in transit to the nexus point. This does not sound to me like something that could be done cheaply. Of course, afterwards, you will have a used borg chassis to sell.

I agree 100% about the human parts being removed from the 'Borg chassis.

I know 800 P.P.E would be a lot, but maybe it's possible to cast the spell without requiring to have it cast on a nexus. I'm sure if we found other mages, Dragons, and other supernatural beings willing to pool their P.P.E to help out, the ritual could be cast without having the tactical nightmare of having it cast on a nexus/ley line.

Or we could go vampire hunting, stake 20 or 30 of them, and burn them in pyres at the same time to get a good boost.

Well, Ley Line Restoration comes with a permanent loss of 6d6 PPE for the spell caster, so finding a mage who likes you that much is going to be pretty rare if you ask me.

I've spoken to my GM about this, and I suggested to him that my character could repay for the Restoration by swearing an oath of servitude to the mage (or magical order) that returns him back to being Human. If this servitude should be for the rest of his life, the character may have to be turned over to the GM to become an N.P.C., as he would not be able to participate in adventures anymore; it wouldn't be his call anymore.

Still, I like to possibility of my City Rat turned 'Borg beginning an apprenticeship as a magician.

Japan or Phase world - maybe the Splurgies could help?

The Sploogs only help themselves.

Hey I found something pretty cool!
Dual class into a Cosmo Knight!!!!
If you have a brain, your body should bio-regenerate if your brain still has PPE. Which it should being alive & all.
It would be extremely painful I would imagine
Good way to NOT owe anyone anything!

I'd rather be indebted to the Splugorth than to screw over the Cosmic Forge!

[Captain Shiva]

I overlooked Ley Line Restoration in my earlier research, but I think 800 PPE, plus the other penalties, is a more than adequate cost. But in order to do this, once they find a willing mage to perform this ritual, the human parts, in my opinion, should be removed from the cyborg body, and this should be done on site.So you might need a Cyber-Doc with a mobile hospital, or remove the body parts and keep them on life suppport while in transit to the nexus point. This does not sound to me like something that could be done cheaply. Of course, afterwards, you will have a used borg chassis to sell.

I agree 100% about the human parts being removed from the 'Borg chassis.

I know 800 P.P.E would be a lot, but maybe it's possible to cast the spell without requiring to have it cast on a nexus. I'm sure if we found other mages, Dragons, and other supernatural beings willing to pool their P.P.E to help out, the ritual could be cast without having the tactical nightmare of having it cast on a nexus/ley line.

Or we could go vampire hunting, stake 20 or 30 of them, and burn them in pyres at the same time to get a good boost.

Well, Ley Line Restoration comes with a permanent loss of 6d6 PPE for the spell caster, so finding a mage who likes you that much is going to be pretty rare if you ask me.

I've spoken to my GM about this, and I suggested to him that my character could repay for the Restoration by swearing an oath of servitude to the mage (or magical order) that returns him back to being Human. If this servitude should be for the rest of his life, the character may have to be turned over to the GM to become an N.P.C., as he would not be able to participate in adventures anymore; it wouldn't be his call anymore.

Still, I like to possibility of my City Rat turned 'Borg beginning an apprenticeship as a magician.

Japan or Phase world - maybe the Splurgies could help?

The Sploogs only help themselves.

Hey I found something pretty cool!
Dual class into a Cosmo Knight!!!!
If you have a brain, your body should bio-regenerate if your brain still has PPE. Which it should being alive & all.
It would be extremely painful I would imagine
Good way to NOT owe anyone anything!

I'd rather be indebted to the Splugorth than to screw over the Cosmic Forge!

Well, if you stick to the wording of the spell description, it has to be cast on a nexus point.Besides, you would likely need to anyway just to get the PPE necessary. The spell only costs 400 PPE if cast by a Ley Line Walker, and they can draw 40PPE/melee round at a nexus point(double what most casters can do,) so a 15th level mortal LLW should be able to cover the PPE cost fairly easily. Now, all you have to do is find one, and persuade him to sacrifice 6d6 PPE for good.If Tolkeen is still around in your campaign, that might be the place to go, since the city of Tolkeen has 3 nexus points close by, and it lies within a civilized area. Of course, then the CS might choose that time to invade...

[Phadeout]

Hello folks... been awhile since I posted on the forums.... time to get the juices flowing and pull up all that knowledge I had locked away for years....

Ok, other than what people have already said:

Lone Star has the ability to make clones, and even transplant human brains into other life forms (the latter being extremely experimental) - I believe the transplant thing is mentioned under the one "nutzo" female doctor and what she'd do to people if they pissed her off.

Archie could transplant you into a totally human looking body, but you'd still be a robot.

The Bionics book has a similar full conversion borg to the full human look (though it is it's own OCC, but hey, everything here is pretty much not by the book anyway).

Speaking of Full Conversion, I like the idea that a Full Conversion borg can be transplanted to other Full Conversion borg bodies, like CS transfered to a Russian borg, or Free Quebec, or even the crazy South American stuff, that's the fun of a Full Conversion borg if you ask me...

Atlantis has Bio-Wizardry - I'm sure they could cook something up for you, but they will Enslave you for sure lol, unless you happen to be carrying a billion credits.

Gene-Splicers, I'm sure they could cook something up too, though, most people, myself included, don't have them make "nice" things - I see them more like the Splugorth - making monsters and such - don't expect a pretty face.

cheers

[Captain Shiva]

In all irony, it would be much easier to just kill the cyborg and then bring him back with resurrection magic, which can completely reform his body. Of course I could be mixing up my dungeons and dragons spells with Rifts... haven't been playing for a while.

You are indeed. As mentioned above, the only Rifts spell that willachieve the desired affect is Ley Line Restoration, which does not bring back a dead body, but heals it and replaces all missing parts. The resurrection spells in Rifts only bring back the body in the state it was in at time of death.

[glitterboy2098]

there is a problem with using LLres.
mainly:

Bio-system replacements are another possibility. Of course this option depends on just what organs and bits are still original.

There's just a brain left.

if all that is left is the brain, using LL res. is likely to be futile. without some form of active life support, the brain can only survive for a handful of seconds (in beheading, for example, your looking at about 10 seconds before brain death). so it unlikely the LLres can be completed before the remains are dead.

of course, this presumes that life in the case of LLRes constitutes mental activity, and not dependant on having a working heart or similar...

and while i don't remember the details of the spell exactly, if you have to take the squishy bits out of the borg body, it's likely the hook ups needed to protect an exposed brain and keep it living would also cause a problem.

so unless you can figure out a good solution to the brain death issue, LLres isn't going ot be a viable solution...

[Captain Shiva]

there is a problem with using LLres.
mainly:

Bio-system replacements are another possibility. Of course this option depends on just what organs and bits are still original.

There's just a brain left.

if all that is left is the brain, using LL res. is likely to be futile. without some form of active life support, the brain can only survive for a handful of seconds (in beheading, for example, your looking at about 10 seconds before brain death). so it unlikely the LLres can be completed before the remains are dead.

of course, this presumes that life in the case of LLRes constitutes mental activity, and not dependant on having a working heart or similar...

and while i don't remember the details of the spell exactly, if you have to take the squishy bits out of the borg body, it's likely the hook ups needed to protect an exposed brain and keep it living would also cause a problem.

so unless you can figure out a good solution to the brain death issue, LLres isn't going ot be a viable solution...

The Temporal Magic spell, Suspended Animation might serve that purpose. But there is nothing that I see in the Ley Line Restoration Spell to preclude the use of life support equipment. Since magic and high technology coexist of Rifts earth, wouldn't it be nice to see them work together once in a while?

[glitterboy2098]

the main problem i can see is that borg with just a brain left of it's organic parts, is a brain in a jar. if the jar is still around it when the spell goes off, it might cause some problems with the regrowing body.


and IIRC, if the target is inside an enviromentally sealed object, spells can't be directed at them.

[Talavar]

there is a problem with using LLres.
mainly:

Bio-system replacements are another possibility. Of course this option depends on just what organs and bits are still original.

There's just a brain left.

if all that is left is the brain, using LL res. is likely to be futile. without some form of active life support, the brain can only survive for a handful of seconds (in beheading, for example, your looking at about 10 seconds before brain death). so it unlikely the LLres can be completed before the remains are dead.

of course, this presumes that life in the case of LLRes constitutes mental activity, and not dependant on having a working heart or similar...

and while i don't remember the details of the spell exactly, if you have to take the squishy bits out of the borg body, it's likely the hook ups needed to protect an exposed brain and keep it living would also cause a problem.

so unless you can figure out a good solution to the brain death issue, LLres isn't going ot be a viable solution...

Couldn't you just cast 'Sustain' on the brain first? That'd take care of most biological needs I can think of.

[Dr. Doom III]

Go to Center on Phase World. Full cloned fast grown body replacement.

[The Beast]

Find the Blue Fairy.

I was forced to choose between that one and the red one....

[Grimlock]

Thanks for all the help, guys. You've given my GM and I a lot of awesome ideas.

[Grimlock]

I believe Japan offers the possibility of clone technology. Get a clone, scoop out it's brain,

Heh, what's the City Rat's alignment?

stick in the city rat's and voila!

It might be more complicated than my summary would have you believe though.

(Welcome to the Megaverse )

Unprincipled, which means killing a clone wouldn't be too nice in his books. I'm guessing Ley Line Restoration would be the only possibility, even if remote.

[Vrykolas2k]

I wouldn't bother being a crunchy again after full conversion... I'd just have my sperm put on ice for when I wanted kids.
"Prepare to be inseminated... resistance is futile."

[Talavar]

I believe Japan offers the possibility of clone technology. Get a clone, scoop out it's brain,

Heh, what's the City Rat's alignment?

stick in the city rat's and voila!

It might be more complicated than my summary would have you believe though.

(Welcome to the Megaverse )

Unprincipled, which means killing a clone wouldn't be too nice in his books. I'm guessing Ley Line Restoration would be the only possibility, even if remote.

I know the Japan book presents the clone bodies as morally dubious (and protested against), because they "kill" the clone, but any society with genetics technology advanced enough to fast-grow clones, or create genetic "blank" spare bodies could & would tweak the DNA of those clones so they don't even grow a brain at all - just a central nervous system ready for hook-up to a pre-existing brain.

[Shorty Lickens]

Bio-system replacements are another possibility. Of course this option depends on just what organs and bits are still original.

I like this. I would also probably allow it in my campaign assuming the PC had enough money for it. Just like you chip away at the flesh slowly and replace it with metal, I suppose you could reverse the procedure.

Start by replacing all the powerful, heavy metal limbs and such with lighter, smaller cybernetic parts. Then start replacing a few bionic organs with bio-systems as you are able.
I should think the whole process might take up to a year, allowing the persons body to become more accustomed to the flesh parts again. Remember the man still keeps his brain and nervous system in a full convertsion, and often needs some of his original digestive system to support those parts.
My understanding of the full conversion process is they dont replace everything at once. They do it in stages to let the body slowly adapt to the changes. Remember it even says in the book that not everyone is fit for the process. Some folks end up being partial reconstructions because thats all they can handle.


As others have said a brain transplant or consciousness transfer might actually be the easiest way.

[The Galactus Kid]

Just to clear things up, it's canon that the Japanese Republic can retro-convert cyborgs, both to bio-systems and to clone bodies - Rifts Japan, pg. 98.
Given that, it's pretty likely other super high tech. societies could do the same thing - various places in the 3 Galaxies, and probably the Kittani.

Do you think there any organizations in Rifts North America that would be at that level of technological advancement? Maybe Lone Star, but considering my character is a Coalition dissident, I don't think they'd be up for helping me.

Lone star might. Never underestimate the generosity of a mad scientist...just make sure you know about the strings that are attached.

[Grimlock]

Did he make sure they kept the remains of his shot-up body in a tank or cryogenic chamber? I hope so.

All they took to the doctors was a severed head; everything else stayed behind.

[Library Ogre]

I wouldn't bother being a crunchy again after full conversion... I'd just have my sperm put on ice for when I wanted kids.
"Prepare to be inseminated... resistance is futile."

A special place in Hell was created just for the teller of THAT joke.

[Avatara]

I'd also say that the Gene-splicers could do it to. Getting them to do it and not add things is the hard part.

[Colt47]

Well first off, I'd like to ask how the heck your character managed to survive the process of becoming a borg when the only thing remaining of your character was a decapitated head. Other then that little detail I do believe that in Rift's Earth, unless you can somehow scrap up a very large sum of credits and find a place with the required facilities, your toon is stuck. Retro-conversion is probably the most likely way to get your character back into a living body. Just keep in mind that the max stats on the bio systems are about 20% less then the human norm.

[TechnoGothic]

Introduce a SPLICER HOUSE to Rifts.
They can regrow/clone him a whole new body no problem. They can even make improvements.
He might even be able to later get his hands on a Host-Armor from the Splicer House.

[TechnoGothic]

I don't recall clone bodies being an option in Splicers. If they were, wouldn't it make more sense to clone up a body, turn it into a skin-job, THEN put the character's brain inside rather than go through the agony of skin-job conversion?

They can can clone stuff. They clone/regrow Host Armor limbs or pilots limbs all the time.
The Skin-Job you may was well say is a Biotic Sub-type. A Skin-Job has his replaced by a Cloned/Altered Stealth Skin. Sadly it is not "perfect" but he will not reject the cloned skin.

Then again, i never said, a Splicer Cloned body would appear normal either. I'm sure they can/could/and would do so.

[runebeo]

If he could find the Achilles facilities in South America, they may still have the technology to clone him a new body and maybe make some improvements. This is wheres a rouge scientist could really come in handy.