by [[CJ Williams]]
Part One: Roleplaying Robots
Author's Note: In the article Star Questions by Penny Petticord and Ed
Greenwood in the December 1984 issue of Dragon
Magazine (Issue #92), it says “Robots and cybots
cannot be player characters; they have personalities
but have no free will. Freedom of choice puts
excitement into the game. No one would want to run a
character that could only do what someone else told
him to do.”
Is this true? Are robots unplayable?
Special Thanks: Bill Logan for his invaluable input. |
Can You Roleplay a Robot?
The above articles made a presumption that overlooks
one thing: even entities with free will follow orders, so
following orders and free will are two different things.
Thus, two different robots with two different groups of
programs and experience will do the same task two
different ways.
A corporation could give commands and programs to a
robot that will benefit a party of characters, but that
robot will act within its orders by the corporation
instead of the characters, and will act as a unit with
free will in the company of those characters because it
is under orders by an entity that is not in their
presence.Even if one of the characters in the group
owns the robot, the robot will still only be subject to
that character, but will act with free will in regard to
the other characters where such free will does not
contradict orders from its master.
Also, when you consider the opportunities to raise
havoc with a robot character, you see there can be lots
of fun in roleplaying a robot. Just because your brain is
made of microchips does not mean you can’t make
decisions. Just because you have no emotions to call
your own does not mean you can’t be responsive. Just
because you serve a master does not mean you can’t
express individuality. Such restrictions only affect how
you express your robot’s uniqueness, but have no
effect on whether you can express that uniqueness.
Finally, not all robots are designed for simple functions.
Many robots, in fact, are designed with a limited
interactive A.I. This A.I. allows them to interact with
sentient beings and respond within certain set
parameters through programmed personalities and
simple reasoning, even learning to some degree. This
allows them to demonstrate unique characteristics that
may be roleplayed. While it does not make them
sentient, it does make them more present and
interactive.
This information not only helps with roleplaying robots,
but it can also help the Referee with roleplaying
computers, as computers may also have varying
personalities and quirks, though such is not typically
necessary, unless some kind of social interaction is
appropriate to the computer’s purpose.
It’s a Robot’s Life
Robots are property, that’s unavoidable, but just as
one might come to have affection for a pet or even a
servant, one can come to have an affinity for their
robot. Even still, most robots are incapable of
reciprocating friendship beyond their programming. On
the other hand, loyalty to its master, personal
assistance, and useful advice often comes to be a
comfort to a robot’s master in a similar way to
friendship.
A robot performs tasks that are normally too laborious,
tedious, or dangerous to sentients. Except for their
upkeep, they make life easier and may even save lives.
Their many and varied uses put them in high demand
anywhere high technology can be found and even in
many low tech environments. Robots are also a status
symbol dependant on its program level.
What’s Different About
Roleplaying Robots?
Robots have several advantages and disadvantages
over normal player characters:
- Need no sleep, but do need to recharge their
parabatteries.
- Do not develop any mentalist abilities and are
immune to most mentalist effects, but can be
equipped with things that simulate mentalist
effects.
- Can be reprogrammed and repurposed.
- Can be disabled by EMP’s. (Note: Star Frontiers
robots have moved beyond magnetic storage,
using solely three dimensional laser storage, so
their memory is not affected by the EMP pulse.)
- Can have its memory easily wiped, making it a
basic model of its type, causing it to lose all
information and bonuses from programs and
experience.
- Are immune to all organic effects, such as disease,
poison, radiation, and suffocation, but can suffer
water damage, electrical damage, viruses and
worms, rust, rot, disrepair and foreign particles
such as dust and sand.
- Feel no pain, but do experience the ill effects of
hardware damage and program corruption.
- Can’t improve their physical or mental abilities, but
can be upgraded or altered with new parts.
- Do not gain skill levels through training, but must
be programmed with skill-equivalent programming,
and their experiences may mildly improve their
operations.
- Must be carefully balanced against the party to
prevent preferential desirability as characters.
In addition to these differences, robots actually need
more detailed character information than normal
characters for the specific ways of dealing with its
environment. Developing and maintaining your robot
character's distinct characteristics is an important part
of robot character design and roleplaying.
Who Roleplays the Robot
As with pets, the Referee usually controls the robots.
That is, the Referee dictates its actions. However, the
Referee should also know how the robot responds to its
master. The Referee may also choose to assign the
robot to a willing player different than the player of the
robot’s owner if the Referee does not feel comfortable
roleplaying the robot or if another player expresses
interest in doing so.
With the Referee’s approval, a player may create and
roleplay a robot, but one of the other players must be
its owner, though the Referee may choose to let the
robot be the property of a corporation or other nonpresent
entity. This will give the robot more freedom
and autonomy within the adventure.
Robot Personalities
A robot does not need a personality matrix to express
unique traits that give it a distinction from other robots
that have the semblance of personality. Being
experienced with a variety of mechanical objects, you
know that devices do not always act the way they are
supposed to and even sometimes seem to act in a way
as if it knows what we’re saying or thinking. That is
why people tend to personify inanimate objects,
especially old cars. This would become even more
pronounced with an autonomous robot, especially when
you throw in the quirks that can arise in a computer’s
programming. The one playing the robot is in charge of
how the robot’s personality is expressed in the quirks,
sayings, directions, and predispositions.
Sayings
Try to come up with some lines and catch phrases that
a robot of its type would likely use liberally. This will
help distinguish the robot.
Robots of levels 2-3 will always react the same way to
the same stimulus regardless of situation. (If your
robot is programmed with emotive expressions, write
down its pat reactions.) Level 4 robots will have a small
library of responses to choose from at random to
express each situation, but the library is still easily
recognizable and not always the most appropriate, but
simply what is available. Level 5 and 6 robots with
emotive programming will be able to select responses
most appropriate to the circumstances. See Example 1.
Do not be random. Have a distinguished time and
circumstance at which the robot says its queue. This
doesn’t mean you need to be predictable. On the
contrary, if you queue from obscure, but specific
reasons, your robot can respond in ways that fellow
players might not expect.
What can make it further random is queuing not from a
long-term command. This is done when the player
playing the robot’s master gives the robot a specific
command indicating that the robot will need to follow
that command in all future instances until the
command is rescinded. See Example 2.
Command Triggers
Command triggers are keywords and phrases that
trigger the robot’s functions. These do not have to be
spoken by the robot’s master to trigger the function.
Think of some words or phrases that trigger the robot’s
functions. The master should be familiar with these
terms, and so should the one playing the robot, but
they should not be shared with other players. These
triggers can also lead to the occasional humorous
confusion. See the example robot character at the end
of this article.
The trigger must be programmed by a robotics
technician for robots of levels 1-3; when first operated,
the owner will be asked to speak the commands for
voice recognition. But with robots levels 4-6, the
command trigger can be inputted through a voice
command by its owner.
See Example 3.
Example 1
Carol creates a level 4 ERoL-9 Servebot with emotive expressions. She then writes down 6 pat expressions to reference:
- Encouragement. “Very good, sir/ma’am.”
- Unexpected result. “That is most curious.”
- Interrupted. “How rude.”
- Protecting master. “Ma’am, there is a ___% chance that you will [Most gruesome description possible]. Perhaps you should…”
- Options present. “Ma’am, I have calculated several options that I think will be optimal for success…”
- Reply to appreciation. You are very welcome sir/ma’am. Is there anything else I can do for you today?
Then, during the game, she uses those expressions liberally. During one such instance, when confronted by a sentinelbot, the robot says to its master, Varik: “Sir, there is a 23.4% chance that you will be torn limb from
limb and pulverized into a fine sludge. Perhaps you
should turn around now and find a new route to the
city.”
Example 2
Xarin commands Exthree, saying: “If you or I are ever
in danger, and I have not already acted violently to the
situation, and we are outnumbered, make me sound
impressive. It may be our only chance to get out alive”.
On one such occasion, as Xarin and Exthree are
menaced by three pirates with various weapons in
hand, Exthree recognizes that the situation is dire and
its master has not acted violently in response. Thus
Exthree speaks up, saying: “Sir, perhaps it is time for
you to do that thing you do like where “Jagged – The
Golorian’s” spleen ended up in a jar on the nightstand
at your home and you shoved ‘Goro – The Vile’s” T-.48
Gyrojet in an unmentionable place on Goro’s person.
And I just don’t know how to describe what you did to
the mouthy one that was with them. Tsk. Poor chap. I
calculate a 112% chance of repeating that
circumstance within 14.8 seconds, if you are up to
breaking your record, that is. Should you do that, we
can get on with our task more expediently.” Exthree
then steps aside (just far enough for it to jump in the
way should a pirate attempt to attack his master) in
order to appear as though it is giving its master
enough room to do battle without its assistance.
Example 3
Similarly to Example 2, Xarin commands Exthree,
saying “When I make a ‘psst’ sound, you take up
position behind me. If I also hold up a finger and shake
it back and forth, you must also bring your audio
receptor near to my head in order to receive a
statement.” Some time later, when they are in
Colvera’s study, Exthree is pooring tea and Colvera and
Xarin are seated. Xarin is frustrated at a mistake that
Colvera has just made him aware of. Xarin goes “psst!”
And Exthree looks to see that it is his master, and then
walks over and takes up a position behind his master.
Xarin then shakes a requesting finger backward and
forward at Exthree who bends down to Xarin to listen
to his next statement. Xarin then slaps Exthree on his
cranial plate, and Exthree stumbles back slightly. Xarin
says, “Tthat’s all”.
