AI IA: First Shot Sign Up

[Funka Genocide]

ok, since I don't have the ability to write an entire core rule book at the moment, here's the quick and dirty rundown. I'm going to try and hit every important facet and give enough information to begin character sheets.

Fist of all, I've posted a lot of basic powers, you should be able to get a feel for what's possible through them. More advanced powers are more specific and generally build on these absic skills, often times requiring many prerequisites. I've shown you the Ghost archetype, a stealthy espionage agent with a decidedly hacker bent. Here's a few more Norther specialties, followed by Claimancy and Biochem.

Assault Officer: these nexgen soldiers are typically employed as one person invasion forces, able to take on forces outnumbering them a thousand times or more. The abilities of the assault officer are typically oriented towards mass destruction and defense against powerful yet obvious attack forms (such as artillery)

Body Drive: allows the user to fuel his physical attributes with pure energy, in effect boosting his strength, dexterity or endurance by a certain value for several seconds. (amount of increase and duration is based on willpower+athletics)

(requires speed boost and subsistence as prerequisites)

MFD interface: allows the assault officer to interface with the Norther Standard mental facilitation device, an implant which allows the nexgen officer to increase the duration of his Body drive, anti personnel barrier or defensive barrier powers to indefinite at the cost of increasing the difficulty of other abilities.

(requires Body Drive, Computation Link and ADP 1st order)

anti personnel barrier: creates a small radius sphere of energy around the officer which causes concussive damage to any item designated as a target by the user. The target will take either nonlethal concussive damage or lethal explosive damage when it comes into contact with the field. The field will only affect those designated as targets, and may be used in either a defensive configuration which lasts for a few seconds (or indefinitely if using the MFD) and occupies a relatively small diameter, or in an offensive configuration which is instantaneous and of a much larger radius. This power is useful in taking out massed groups of tightly packed troops.

Prerequisites: empathic target acquisition, tactical sense

Defensive barrier: this ability creates a force nullification field immediately around the assault officer, it effectively removes the energetic properties of missiles and explosions. This power will stop most ordnance sized blasts from harming the officer as well as small arms fire completely. It requires a high level energy weapon to pierce this barrier typically. The barrier is two ways, and so the officer may not shoot outward either, he may however end the ability prematurely at any time to fire back. This ability lasts for a few seconds normally, or indefinitely using the MFD.

Prerequisites: anti personnel barrier, second order energy manipulation

Final Solution: this ability transforms the nexgen assault officer from a one man army into a walking WMD. With this ability the nexgen creates an atomic explosion from available hydrogen atoms in the area, the effect is devastating and absolute, wiping out most everything in a few kilometers. The radiation is automatically dissipated by this power, allowing for deployment in areas that will likely be repopulated soon. The nexgen officer is effectively ground zero, the devastation spreads outward from his position upon use. He is protected as part of the power by a momentary force shield.

Prerequisites: third order energy manipulation, third order matter manipulation, second order data processing, anti personnel barrier

[Gorefiend]

I just wanted to say: I'm interested. This sounds like a really cool idea.

[Funka Genocide]

ok, going to try and just bullshit my way through the rest of the necessary crap here. Bear with me please.

AI characters: AI characters will be recently (within the last year or so) "born" and as such will have slightly underdeveloped people skills. Their knowledge base will be wide however, and they are the unparalleled masters of digital combat. They are typically employed as savants or espionage agents. They are all employed ins ome capacity or another for the majority of their time, their own personal feeling will dictate how they react to this indentured servitude. Typcially they will be given an an android body in fitting with their primary tasking. An android being groomed for teaching or diplomatic work would be given a human emulation body, using synthetic tissues and complex musculature, they are indistinguishable from any other person at first glance, they are often idealised and highly attractive. All their physical capacities are determined by their body.

Some androids destined for more hands on work will be given bodies that only pay lip service to the idea of human emulation, These metal skinned AI's are obviously not human, though their physical capabilities are greater than those made from synthetic skin and bone. Of course an AI can be tranplanted between bodies with little fuss, so certain multi talented androids have a wardrobe of bodies dependeing on the situation.

The price of these bodies is exorbitant. Each one is a masterwork, an individual accomplishment of a talented craftsman. Of course these androids receive a fair amount of compensation, of which almost half is certainly used to pay off the lone they owe for their substance, Even with this salary however, it takes on average twenty or more years to pay for a single body. AI's are also prohibited from accumulating external wealth while still indentured, which isn't tos ay that some don't bend or break these rules, just that they can't use their ill gotten gains to prematurely end their servitude.

If you choose to play as an AI< your character will only have access to one body at the beginning, either a human emulation body or a utility/combat one. They will be "employed" by the Norther corporation and have a veritable laundry list of assignments. This may sound like a downside, but it's really not so different from the way Nexgen's are treated. Ai's are never treated as mere property (except by the most bigoted of imbeciles, and they are typically not in a position to do anything about their wayward beliefs) but they are often seen as somwhere between an important slave and an interesting servant. WHile thye are not chattle, they are certainly seen as second class citizens. Many older AI's resent this stigmas as much as the younger ones, and freed androids often lobby for improved AI rights, with varying degrees of success.

their abilities are dependent on their equipment. Of course they can install certain devices on their bodies to upgrade their personal capability, but for the most part it's their intellect and skill that set them apart. They also maintain a digital persona, which displays their own idealized form when travelling through the integrated web. Theya re hackers and programmers par excellence, and even the best nexgen saboteurs will have to be wary of an opposing AI hacker. The web is their birthplace, and they swim it's waters with ease and grace, and like a shark they can smell blood for miles.

Since they posses no real organic parts, they are typically more durable than organisms, somewhere in every android body is the seat of their consciousness, the littel balck box that houses their mind, or more poetically their soul. SO long as this construct remaincs the personality and knowledge of that AI can be preserved, even if the entire rest of the body is reduced to ash and cinders.

Even though they are essentially programs, AI's cannot be copied directly. The technologynecesary toe ven attempt such a thing is cost prohibitive for most private parties, and the fact that they are a computation constantly in flux means tha many of the variables in their ever compiing equations cannot be transferred, at best their baseline personality cna be copied and transferred, the effect is essentially a child version of the copied AI, who will then begin to develop it's own personality as it experiences the world on it's own.

Using these guidleines you can develop an AI character within the following guidelines.

-The AI will possess either an emulation body or a utility/combat body. only one body to start with

-The AI will have an assigned purpose that will eat up most of it's time. It will typically belong to one of the same bureaus described all ready for nexgens.

-The AI will have recently substantiated, meaning it's knowledge of the world is limited in scope. Substantiation is a formative process for the AI, it has no memory of it's endless swim through the digital sea, for all intents and purposes it is "born" the day it opens it's synthetic eyes.

Typical AI's begin to develop their own personality within days, trying desperately to be unique and maintain their identity. Even those without human emulation bodies will begin to affect a personal fashion sense and style of dress. THey will also begina ccumulating personal objects and living places. Even though an AI never needs to sleep, and it's body only needs to be recharged on average once a month (though longer duration batteries exist, typical power is for a month, even if all power is lost before recharging the AI's "core" will simply shut down, when they are reactived at a later time it will be as if they simply stopped sensing the momenty they lost power and began again the moment they wer reactivated. this can be very disorienting of course.) they often begin to "sleep" in a fashion, taking a few hours every night to archive and delete certain memories of the day.

Body repairs are often self affected, access to repait facilities is always available. Utility bodies are easier to repair,, while human emulation bodies that are heavily damaged require cyber-surgery which is far more complex than bolting on a new titanium appendge.

AI's don't feel pain in the same sens that human do, Depending on their body fonfiguration they are notified of damage sustained and adapt to decreased efficiency accordingly. Some of the more emulation oriented AI's might utter and "ouch" or even cry in pain when they are damaged, but it's all a show. Most simply regard damge coolly and efficiently.

In terms of pleasurable experiences, the AI has only it's thirst for knowledge and experience. Even though most emulation bodies are equipped with all the external genitalia necessary to copulate ( all synthetic of course, and as yet technology has found no way to create a functional synthetic womb, or at least not one that's available to the general AI public) the only pleasure they could find in sex is the interaction with a human, the experience itself, their is no orgasmic experience. Even so, there are some androids who do "fall in love" with other androids or even humans, and who is to say that it's any less synthetic than the equivalent human emotion?

All in all if you choose to play an AI character you will be foregoing the earth shattering abilities of nexgens for the chance at roleplaying something completely, tragically inhuman. A construct that wants desperately to know wha tit means to live. They are far from useless of course, and n many ways their abilities are equal to any nexgen, their ability to learn skills is faster than even the genius nexgens, and they are free from amny of the concerns of flesh. They need not eat , sleep or breathe and they will never lose focus if they so choose. They are machines gifted with the ability to dream, to imagine, perfection to some and monsters to others.

OK, here's a few example characters so that you guys can begin posting your characters. Use this format when posting and keep in mind the following guidelines:

-nexgen characters will be from Norther, one character can be from Biochem and one from The Claimancy, but the rest are from Norther. This is to keep the unit coherent enough to accomplish goals together.

-AI characters will be from Norther.

-I suspect that the character from Biochem might want to be a "demon" Ther ules for them are slightly different. Since we won't be using dice or any hard fast rules, in general demons have a higher degree of difficulty accessing their nexgen powers when not in demon form, but once they transform their threshold goes up and they become nigh-indestructible killing machines of strange appearance. Each one is an individual work, some are radiantly beautiful while aother are feral and bestial looking. It all depends on the genetic engineers that were working on the demon. They are however, completely in control of their mental faculties at all times despite what their appearance might suggest. The transformation is painless, and any wounds the nexgen might be suffering from are healed autmatically when they transform, while ind emon form wounds heal even more rapidly than anormal nexgen, seeming to close shut before onlookers eyes. The transformation doesn't last long and builds up threshold as long as it's maintained, but once the nexgen returns to normal no matter what happened to him in demon form, he is fully healed and has maximum threshold, so he will be in danger of burnout if he uses any more powers after breaking his transformation.

more to come

[Gorefiend]

So, AI characters are human as far as their brains go? Or black box thingies, as it were...

My guess is that they are born as adults, even though their minds may begin child-like. That true so far?

Also, I wanted to ask; is it possible to be a somewhat experienced AI diplomatic-ish character? Or are all AI's starting from square one, literally?

If the answer to that last question is yes, I'd like to reserve the nexgen from Claimancy, if at all possible.

[Funka Genocide]

To answer your questions gorefiend, AI's are sentient in that they are aware of such a thing as "I". They have an ever evolving sense of self, and as such they can interact with other sentient creatures. They can develop goals and relatioships much the same way a person can, and with effort they can be almost seemless in their emulation of humanity, but at their core they are utterly alien and mechanical. They are far more logical in most circumstances than even the most analytical person, and they often times have trouble seeing the difficulties of emotion, most younger AI's are quite cold, appearing to be unfeeling and purely calculating. This is not to say that they can not feel, just that expression does not come naturally to them.

When they are "born" they are quite different from a human child. They can communicate of course, with whatever language software they ahve been upgraded with, but their concept of self is still muddy, still unformed. It takes a few months for the Ai to completely acclimate to it's new reality, in which time it is typically relegated to a "training body" which is a utilitarian and nondescript android vessel. Once it begins to develop a personality it can be tested and given some choice in how it will develop. Most AI's determine a "gender" early on and then begin to specialize in a field that they show aptitude for. Training is a short term process by human standards, as any necessary knowledge and skills can simply be uploaded into the core of the AI. Of course these newly skilled and employed AI's will then be expected to learn how to adapt their base knowledge in ingenius, and often times downright human ways.

If you choose to play an AI, your character will be approximately one year old, well on their way to developing a fully functional personality but perhaps still finding difficulty with emotional nuance. They will likely have accomplished one or two moderately important missions and are in most respects a rookie. So no, not exactly square one, but perhaps no higher than square two.

and finally, a few example character sheets.

here is the format, simple and to the point hopefully!

Name: Whatever is on your characters birth certificate or registration papers.

nicknames: whatever your character readily responds to, things like "jim jim the dogface boy", or "B" or some other such monikers.

Age: for nexgens, this will fall between 18 and 22. for AI's this will be between 10 and 18months.

height, weight: self explanatory really, human emulation androids will be comparable to humans, perhaps slightly heavier. For example, a diplomatic AI with the appearance of a slender woman of moderate height might appear to weigh no more than 115 pounds, but will likely weigh about 150. Utility bodies typically weight more, up to double what their hieght would suggest. Typically height for AI bodies does not exceed 6'4'', as this would make transit harder on the over sized android.

appearance: include whatever you feel is necessary, hair and eye color, build (remember that it's nearly impossible for a nexgen to be anything but in peak condition, but describe what this peak is, are they lithe abnd quick or heavily muscled? Ai's are often time individual works of art, and even the utility bodies can have a strangely haunting beauty, describe what their body looks like and how they usually adorn it. You can describe typical manner of dress as well as any sort of signature items they might carry, for example if your nexgen thug almost always has a toothpick in his mouth tell us about it)

occupation: use what I've written as a guideline, but let your imaginiation be the final judge. What does your character do exactly? remember, thee aren't just bland unimportant functionaries, each character represents the pinnacle of human existence or technological advance, they are potent and genuinely skilled, if still a bit untested.

bio: tell us what your character wants, what they've done in their short life and what they plan to do. feel free to include as much or as litel information as you think is necessary, but make sure it's enough so everyone gets a feel for who they are.

skills: tell us what your character excels at, use the powers I've listed as a springboard to describe your nexgen's abilities. if you're unsure whether a certain power is allowable, write it down anyway and I'll let you know if it is appropriate. Your character will likley have at least one highly potent ability, and many other supporting abilties. Feel free to get a little wild here, and I'll just help you prune down to what is acceptable.

sounds easy right? here are some examples.

first, a beginning nexgen character

Name: Rodney Stance

nicknames: "The Rod" "Stank"

Age: 21

Height: 5' 11''
weight: 177lbs

Appearance: Rodney is an athletically built young man with dark brown eyes and a shock of red hair typically worn in a military cut around his head. He often wears simple outfits, mostly plain t-shirts and cargo pants with boots. He always seems to have a pair of sunglasses on, even at night.

Occupation: Rod is a battlefield engineer, typically he provides support services from an aircraft or land station to defense units in the field. He also does demolition work, and has on more than one occasion been deployed directly with special forces units to remove important enemy targets.

Bio: Rod was born into a modest corporate family, and upon his identification as a nexgen his family was ecstatic. He's had a good life up til' now, his family has always been somewhat distant but accessible and his comfort as well as their's has been assured. He showed great talent as a designer during primary and was subsequently sent to Theory for further education in engineering. During his tenure in Secondary he designed an aircraft that could run perpetually off of solar power, as well as several other interesting power source applications. He's a recognized leader in his field and has taken a tour of duty with The Defense Bureau to more fully understand the operation and application of his designs.

skills: Rod has focused mainly on hi knowledge of engineering and design. His skills are incredible in these fields. He can fix anything given a few moments of acclimation , and operate anything that was designed to work. His powers center around matter and energy manipulation, allowing him to redirect or change forces at a whim. He can compute data in his higher mind at blindingly fast speeds and is no slouch in programming or hacking. He is quick and physically talented, and though he's never actually been in a real firefight, he has trained extensively with small arms and prefers a simple pistol in practice. He is also an expert in explosives and demolitions, which he can make even more effective through his usage of energy and matter maniuplation. Causing a portion of steel wall to reshape and redirect a blast while simultaneously directing the explosive energy mentally for example, causing only a specific portion of a building to be destroyed while the rest is left untouched.


next, an experience nexgen character

Name: Leon LaChance

nicknames: "Last Chance"

Age: 28

Height: 5'10''
Weight: 168lbs

appearance: Leon is slender and well muscled, with piercing blue eyes and jet black hair. He smiles often and walks with a confident swagger. He typically dresses in basic fashions and often wears a leather motorcycle jacket. He hardly ever wears his flight suit anymore, even in a dogfight. Nobody really ahs anything to say about his disdain for regulation, he is quite simply the greatest pilot the world has ever seen, especially if you ask him.

occupation: Leon is a pilot, he works directly for Theory, but holds the rank of commander in the defense Naval forces out of custom. He is also a member of the board of future design implementation, and many of his aircraft designs have been considered for mass production as the next fighter for the fleet.

Bio: Leon had a strange childhood, his nexgen powers remained undetected until relatively late due to his family's obscure location, his father had been stationed on a small island away from proper nexgen locating facilities and it was not until he returned to the Norther mainland that his son's amazing abilites were detected, his parents simply though he was an everyday run of the mill genius.

at 10 he was pushed ahead through primary school and not found wanting even withou the four prior years of intense study his coleagues went through he excelled, at 12 he was transferred to theory where he became enamored with all things pertaining to artificial flight. Years later he is the most respected pilot in Norther, commanding his own squadron of elite fighter pilots called "The Roc"

He has been a thorn in the fleets higher command for years, his disdain for regulation and regular disobedience have left a sour taste in his superior's mouth, but so long as he continues to impress the board of directors will hear nothing that isn't glowing praise and admiration of Leon's incredible skill.

skills: Leon is a master engineer and a godlike pilot, his skills include improved versions of the tactical overlay and combat prescience skills, when he activates his "flight sense" he see's in 360 degrees out to a great distance and can foresee the most probably outcomes of a ridiculous number of simultaneous events. The effect is a reaction speed beyond any human or machine yet built. He also has the ability to dampen intertial response around his body, which negates the necessity for a flight suit, he can perform high G maneuevers in his underwear if he so chooses. He has also mastered leviation and telekinesis, which allow him to float harmlessly to the gorund from the highest of heights.

of note is his personally designed aircraft, "Quetzalcoatl" it runs off of newly designed grav drives which allow for incredible maneuvers that were impossible before. Without having to worry about tearing himself to shreds with High G stops and turns, Leon is near invincible behind the controls of his beloved god bird.

[Sithdarth]

Might as well sign me up. I may or my not remake my previous character which you seem to remember as you used him as an example.

[Funka Genocide]

I wouldn't worry about it too much Sith, this thing looks DOA. Sign ups are open, if you want to post a character sheet you can go ahead and do it now, I'll check back in a while to see if anyone is still interested, otherwise just consider this dead.

[Akamaz]

Im writing up my ghost, i just wanted to finish her up before i posted her

[Gorefiend]

I've decided to be an AI. I do hope this goes through. It's a great concept.

However, the sheet is taking a while. It'll be done by tomorrow, promise! Still, be aware that it is being worked on.

[Phlegyas]

Hmmm... 3 sign-ups in the past three days? This sounds like it should be able to go live. 4 should be enough to start the game but it depends on what you're looking for. And yes! Just looked up and noticed Gorefiend decided to go AI. Yay! I was hoping to get the Claimancy nextgen. Anyways, I want to go for a combat medic-type character so I was wondering if you could do some elaboration on the healing abilities. Anyways, I'll do the basic stuff and do the power-extensive stuff later, once I have input on the healing abilities I can have.

By the way, a little excerpt. I am used to doing RPs but not RPs that require so much input each turn. I'll try and conform but be understanding, please.

Name: Allyn Seraph

Nicknames: Angel, Buddha

Age: 20

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 240 lb.

Appearance: Stout and stocky. Allyn has an infectious smile and his eyes hint at a wiseness that often surpasses most nextgens at his development level. He keeps his head bald which, combined with his stockiness, earned him the nickname Buddha. Allyn favors light and rugged clothing. He is almost always seen in a dirty white cloak, a black undershirt, blue jeans, and some black combat boots.

Occupation: Allyn is searching for his mother. While doing this, Allyn often makes a living supplying the less supplied and fortunate towns and villages with much needed medical assistance.

Bio: Allyn was the only son of Derek and Allysia Seraph, both nextgens. Derek and Allysia were both intrepid young doctors that were making leaps and strides in the medical industry and had single-handedly made free, socialized Health Care not only feasible but effectively completely costless to the government. Allysia had decided she wanted to get pregnant seeing that they would know nothing better than to have the opportunity to raise a child in this new Utopia that was seeming to spring up... and then the war started.

Complete chaos enveloped the world as nextgens turned against nextgens. Seeking to protect their child, Derek and Allysia decided to escape to a supposed safe haven their colleagues had informed them about. A collection of researchers that had been working on some bio-dome project and had taken on the name Claimancy.

On the journey to Claimancy, well into the eighth month of pregnancy, Derek and Allysia were caught in an explosion in one of the contested areas. Derek woke up to a fiery explosion and scrambled to find his wife but could not seem to find her in the chaos. He had fallen asleep next to her but she was not there anymore. It occurred to Derek that she was in the bathroom, not like one thinks of a possibility but a scream that had formed in his mind, and this scream had told him something much more important, something much more dangerous... Allysia was in labor! Derek ran to the bathroom and found his wife collapsed on the floor and barely alive. Not only was Allysia in labor but she had apparently been in the path of the artillery shell that had apparently caused the explosion. Her leg had been obliterated in the explosion and her body was covered in burns.

Looking at her body, Derek heard a distinct voice in his head, Derek... please let me die... for our son.... Derek immediately broke down in tears, but he knew the choice he would have to make. Allysia would never allow him to save her. If he tried, he guessed that Allysia would find a way to stop her heart and force the situation. Derek collected himself and looked down at his wife, "I'll miss you, Ally..." Allysia struggled to open her eyes for the last time and looked up at her husband, the man she had known she would marry by the time she was 4, the man she always had thought would make a wonderful father, and thought-spoke her last words. Keep him safe, okay? Derek nodded and watched as his wife slipped away. This new telepathic link that he had discovered had made it possible for him to feel her die and he immediately asked himself how whatever God could be so cruel to give him a gift like this only to feel the worst anguish he could ever imagine and then he received his answer...

Dad! Help me! Suddenly a feeling of terror mixed with joy filled Derek. My son! Thank you! Whoever you are, thank you! Derek immediately set away at an impromptu cesarean operation and extracted his young crying child. The child had not developed tear ducts yet, obviously, but his new father created enough tears on his behalf as he trembled with his new son in his careful hands. "Allyn, I'll call you Allyn, okay?"

************12 years later***************

Allyn had grown well under the tutelage and protection of his father but he sought to travel the world. Allyn had since learned to speak to the dead (Have I? I can do some quick edits for this. The motivation would be the same, just instead of him already speaking to the dead, he knows of the talent) and now wished to find his mother and show her what she had sacrificed for and the man he had become. Derek was resisitant at first and ignored his daring son but finally he had to cave in and give his son his blessings. His son was, after all, beyond his teachings and was obviously self-sufficient. Not to mention, he was just like his mother, and just as she would have stopped her own heart to save her son, Allyn would defy his loving father, if only to speak one word to his mother. So, reluctantly, Derek said goodbye to his son for, what he knew to be, the last time.

Skills: To be determined. I'm thinking sustenance and the Instantaneous Physical Repair, and probably some sort of matter manipulation ability that works, with more limitations, on biological matter. Plus whatever regroth of limbs you were hinting at and the ability to speak to the dead if you see it as fit.

EDIT: Oh! Also, the telepathic link thing only really works with his father. I don't need telepathy for that one.

EDIT2TheSequel: Just so it's stated before I'm official and everything, if and when this thing goes dice-based, I won't be playing unless it also becomes chat-based. Sorry, and this has nothing to do with me thinking that people will cheat or anything, I just don't find dice games fun from an RP forums point of view. With dice, I like the spontaneous reaction that comes from people when they find out how they roll. Just thought I'd get it out there before it happened.