How Common Are Robots IYTU?
- Thread starter Vargas
- Start date
Not everywhere so you're tripping over them like aliens in Trek or Star Wars. However I did like SW take that their robots looked like tech and not super-futuristic things like Blade Runner or Ash from Aliens
The bot section in T4's Central Supply Catalog are mostly "obvious tech" however I could see the Companion-bot for say an Imperial Agency being something much more life-like, without it being available to the general public.
The bot section in T4's Central Supply Catalog are mostly "obvious tech" however I could see the Companion-bot for say an Imperial Agency being something much more life-like, without it being available to the general public.
era?
It depends on the era one is playing... since mine is new era...
they're out there but usually insulated from viral interaction. For example, cargo loaders are not very communicative. They take orders...and do. Many a crew has adjusted their cargo's before takeoff or bought their own.
then there are those that are infected..or built by the infected. Well built by the infected are another story...
It depends on the era one is playing... since mine is new era...
they're out there but usually insulated from viral interaction. For example, cargo loaders are not very communicative. They take orders...and do. Many a crew has adjusted their cargo's before takeoff or bought their own.
then there are those that are infected..or built by the infected. Well built by the infected are another story...
Commander Drax
SOC-12
I like robots, but they are usually just peices of machinery in the background, handling cargo, and only really noticible by their absence, e.g. doing all of that heavy lifting by hand or using fork lift trucks or loaders at the lower tech ports. Robots are not sentients (unless in the TNE) and are not accorded any special status or interest other than is required by their role. This changes however when stuff from the background suddenly becomes important or life threatening such as a grav powered security robot or battledroid being activated and sent to deal with the characters (Robots are expensive, so this implies very wealthy adversaries willing to do this). The fact of the matter is that in the OTU sentient, biological life is so much more common than mechanical/robotic forms that by comparison it is incredibly cheap. Why send a Cr300,000 battle droid to rip apart the pc's when you can hire a team of thugs to do the job for just a few thousand credits, also if those thugs are intelligent or experienced they will probably do a better job than the robots that by their very nature are limited in their creative functions
Obviously, it varies with tech level.
At TL15, robots IMTU are very common. They don't man receptionist desks or similiar tasks, they bulk out the workforce (for some strange reason it's very hard to become skilled in MT) with specialist skills. Robots Ops is a 0 level skill at TL13+ for MTU.
Most robots, however, are not mobile and are very narrow in thier programming. Very few have voders. Robot courier vehicles, cranes, machinery etc are very, very common. More flexible, mobile robots are still common but only make up a fraction of the bot population.
At TL15, robots IMTU are very common. They don't man receptionist desks or similiar tasks, they bulk out the workforce (for some strange reason it's very hard to become skilled in MT) with specialist skills. Robots Ops is a 0 level skill at TL13+ for MTU.
Most robots, however, are not mobile and are very narrow in thier programming. Very few have voders. Robot courier vehicles, cranes, machinery etc are very, very common. More flexible, mobile robots are still common but only make up a fraction of the bot population.
not very common IMTU
why let robots do all the dangerous stuff when there are plenty of willing stooges.
usually, when a robot is in the forefront, its because its screwing up somehow, not taking over for the heros.
of course, I don't count manufacturing robots or other dumbots
I guess the idea of a mechanical thing being 'intelligent' and ' emotive' gives people the willies just like psi does.
MTU is also relatively low tech....
why let robots do all the dangerous stuff when there are plenty of willing stooges.
usually, when a robot is in the forefront, its because its screwing up somehow, not taking over for the heros.
of course, I don't count manufacturing robots or other dumbots
I guess the idea of a mechanical thing being 'intelligent' and ' emotive' gives people the willies just like psi does.
MTU is also relatively low tech....
Very common overall, but depends on TL and culture of the world in question.
Industrial robots are all over the place. Something that can carry on a conversation with you is a lot harder to find.
A lot of low tech worlds have some robots and robotic industrial capacity, but are reliant on offworld trade to maintain them.
Industrial robots are all over the place. Something that can carry on a conversation with you is a lot harder to find.
A lot of low tech worlds have some robots and robotic industrial capacity, but are reliant on offworld trade to maintain them.
I have a strong seperation between machine intelligences and automata.
Automata (loading machines, autobarrista) are ubiquitous at high TL's, and pretty damn common from about TL8.
Machine intelligence (talking ships, true AI) are uncommon but not unknown.
Brains are not equal to bodies. If you can talk to a anthropoid robot the intelligence is unlikely to be in that chasis, it is more likely to be in a nearby facility. For example the core mining system for a large semi-automated mine is likely to run hundreds or thousands of robots simeltaneously.
On the other hand IMTU AI's can be citizens of systems (but not citizens of the imperium) with all that entails, legal personhood, issues of manumission, the ability to own property and so on.
Automata (loading machines, autobarrista) are ubiquitous at high TL's, and pretty damn common from about TL8.
Machine intelligence (talking ships, true AI) are uncommon but not unknown.
Brains are not equal to bodies. If you can talk to a anthropoid robot the intelligence is unlikely to be in that chasis, it is more likely to be in a nearby facility. For example the core mining system for a large semi-automated mine is likely to run hundreds or thousands of robots simeltaneously.
On the other hand IMTU AI's can be citizens of systems (but not citizens of the imperium) with all that entails, legal personhood, issues of manumission, the ability to own property and so on.
I second that - not all settings have the same attitude towards robotics: Firefly has almost none, Babylon 5 has very few (and mostly all spaceborne), while Andromeda is full of robots of all shapes and sizes. In most Traveller settings, I use (relatively) dumb robots in the background, doing menial jobs where a machine has a clear advantage over man; guard-bots are also common as they never tire (and only have to be maintained weekly or so; refueling is daily but quite short) unlike their human counterparts - the same robot does all three shifts with full alertness, saving money on the long run and being more secure (though you'll probably add some Human guards as most guard-bots are less smart than Human guards). War-bots I usually use as heavy weapon platforms, especially in cultures that haven't developed the Battledress yet (and even later, a basic warbot is cheaper than a battledress).
Ofcourse, in TNE most people would distrust robotics, so most robotics would be limited to "background" manufacturing/lifting jobs and be quite dumb and thus hard to infect.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
Like a number of you, I have many robots in the background, cleaning, loading, spying, but public attitude limits the number of C3POs and Daneels. True AI is a TL16 rumour. I use a mix of Book 8 and Gurps Robots.
best defense
Well, yes, but I actually formed MTU around a world saved by its technology. Aka "no 'Maximum Overdrive' for us, we're the best virus software humans have". :frankie:
A side observation, in most RPGs the sourcebooks have the beef but the modules don't adequately mature the product. Oh perhaps a weapon or two.
PHP:
Golan2072:
Ofcourse, in TNE most people would distrust robotics, so most robotics would be limited to "background" manufacturing/lifting jobs and be quite dumb and thus hard to infect.Well, yes, but I actually formed MTU around a world saved by its technology. Aka "no 'Maximum Overdrive' for us, we're the best virus software humans have". :frankie:
A side observation, in most RPGs the sourcebooks have the beef but the modules don't adequately mature the product. Oh perhaps a weapon or two.
used them infrequently IMTU. i never had book 8, so i never used them in my game descriptions, and the players never asked. later i'd rig stuff using the bionics rules and other stuff cobbled together from DGP's digests. and of course, once i introduced robots, the players got interested in them. here comes the homemade combat 'bots. . . .
As common as in Star Wars, and almost all except custom jobs for the rich elite look greasy, and dirty, banged up, with some jury-rigged wiring.
Treated like cars, guns, ships, just another tech tool, for the smart monkeys to use in their drive to dominate the Known Universe.
i.e. some people take care of them, some leave 'em to rot.
Book 8, or "This is how it looks this is what it does, no stats". If shot at, make stuff up, sparks fly, some smoke, lost appendages.
They're never integral to the story.
AI's are a differnet matter, and heavily influenced by "Aliens" "2001", and such.
Depends on the story I am trying to tell.
Treated like cars, guns, ships, just another tech tool, for the smart monkeys to use in their drive to dominate the Known Universe.
i.e. some people take care of them, some leave 'em to rot.
Book 8, or "This is how it looks this is what it does, no stats". If shot at, make stuff up, sparks fly, some smoke, lost appendages.
They're never integral to the story.
AI's are a differnet matter, and heavily influenced by "Aliens" "2001", and such.
Depends on the story I am trying to tell.
Renaissance Man
SOC-12
An interesting point. Robots take time, resources and energy to manufacture, whereas you have a vast network of worlds teeming with people willing to do almost anything for enough money.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
The worlds of traveller average a million or so souls each (not sure if this was modified after CT) - that's not exactly 'teeming', especially when every world is striving to upgrade its TL as quickly as possible. I can see a considerable market in scrap or 'damaged repairable' robots on most worlds. And they don't cost 10,000, 8,000 or even 1,000Cr each to import. They have considerably lower running costs than humans too, especially in hostile environments. I imagine the manufacturing costs will be a small concern in the long run.
morty_shworts
SOC-6
IMTU robots are as common as the home computer. Just about everyone has one if not more than one. If you have a fully anthropomorphic droid it must be tagged and registered.
There are no truly sentient robots, but the techs are getting very good at making intuitive logic programs that make one wonder.
By law all droids must have the three laws hardwires in, but there is a sizable black market for neo-cortexes (virtual intelligence robot brain) that have a somewhat twisted version of (or even lacking) the three laws.
There are no truly sentient robots, but the techs are getting very good at making intuitive logic programs that make one wonder.
By law all droids must have the three laws hardwires in, but there is a sizable black market for neo-cortexes (virtual intelligence robot brain) that have a somewhat twisted version of (or even lacking) the three laws.
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Renaissance Man
SOC-12
Good point
Hurm. I guess that's true. Sort of like the automobile today - there are about half a billion cars in a world of over 6 billion people. Not everybody has one, not by a long shot, but that is a heck of a lot of cars, the bulk of which are used or refurbished models.
Taking that as an analogy for robots, that's a large robot population. But unlike cars, which have really only a few important functions, robots can be designed for a wide variety of uses. And they are definitely a step up from toasters, in technological sophistication and intelligence.
Food for thought...
Hurm. I guess that's true. Sort of like the automobile today - there are about half a billion cars in a world of over 6 billion people. Not everybody has one, not by a long shot, but that is a heck of a lot of cars, the bulk of which are used or refurbished models.
Taking that as an analogy for robots, that's a large robot population. But unlike cars, which have really only a few important functions, robots can be designed for a wide variety of uses. And they are definitely a step up from toasters, in technological sophistication and intelligence.
Food for thought...
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