kilemall
SOC-14 5K
Hmmm, where to begin.
From the very first, Frankenstein and RUR and onto Dune's Butlerian Jihad, HAL, Daystrom/V'ger/Nomad, Menschenjaegers, etc. robots are painted as a potential threat, precisely because they are manmade and therefore flawed with unintended consequences.
So I think you want a bit of that around.
Assuming bots are useful and not terrors most of the time, you might consider up and downsides.
Economically they are big cost sinks to acquire, but can be a fast fix to getting some expertise where you need it when you need it.
Pay attention to those 'lifespan' at TL issues, the economics at the lower tech levels IMTU means an ugly replacement cycle for most bots.
My players get either a pet or a bot as part of their character and for those who choose bots, I give them used ones only 2 years from their expiration date, only costing 20% of their original value, with increased maintenance, malfunctions and breakdowns in their near future.
IMTU there is a common practice of having a Ship's Robot, which is effectively an immobile robot server hooked into ship's power like the Ship's Computer, but linked to it's dronebots which do the actual physical work. The Ship's Robot therefore can have a lot of expertise stored, swap out for what is needed at the moment, and have a lot of 'hands' located all over the ship.
Another IMTU aspect is the Ship's Robot is NEVER integrated with the Ship's Computer or Bridge or Engineering, and that the ship's electronics and controls are always human interfaced and deterministic and intentionally 'dumb'. This is to prevent HAL episodes, hacked control systems, maintain responsibility/liability on the ship's operators, and robots don't do unusual situations well.
There may be military experiments that break this intentional barrier, and of course therein lies adventures.
My task resolution system actually captures the robot weakness of lack of creativity vs. inhuman accuracy- Simple, Easy and Routine tasks can be checked against Education+Skill, which robots will have more of then most (or with enough investment, ALL) humans, but the minute they get into something Challenging or Difficult their lower intel hurts badly, and they won't be able to handle it.
The Ship's Robot can never therefore replace the crew requirements, but they can help spell the very minimalist crewing of the smaller ships and help repair at critical times when your ship is being overwhelmed and possibly critical crew is hurt, or to go fix something near that radioactive reactor.
In other words, the SR can end up being some pretty cheap insurance against not losing your ship, a kind of low end Frozen Watch for the adventurer set.
Another use for the immobile robot would be the Autodoc. Always good to have those around, especially if your medic gets hurt.
As to robot shape, the most common shape my player's given bots are is a box, with attached sensor stalks, power and digital connection to equipment to control (the functional equivalent of say a webcam, power cable and network/wireless adapter for a PC). Mobility is an additional function that has to be necessary to the design in my view and dispensed with if not needed (to save costs for chassis, additional power, etc.).
From the very first, Frankenstein and RUR and onto Dune's Butlerian Jihad, HAL, Daystrom/V'ger/Nomad, Menschenjaegers, etc. robots are painted as a potential threat, precisely because they are manmade and therefore flawed with unintended consequences.
So I think you want a bit of that around.
Assuming bots are useful and not terrors most of the time, you might consider up and downsides.
Economically they are big cost sinks to acquire, but can be a fast fix to getting some expertise where you need it when you need it.
Pay attention to those 'lifespan' at TL issues, the economics at the lower tech levels IMTU means an ugly replacement cycle for most bots.
My players get either a pet or a bot as part of their character and for those who choose bots, I give them used ones only 2 years from their expiration date, only costing 20% of their original value, with increased maintenance, malfunctions and breakdowns in their near future.
IMTU there is a common practice of having a Ship's Robot, which is effectively an immobile robot server hooked into ship's power like the Ship's Computer, but linked to it's dronebots which do the actual physical work. The Ship's Robot therefore can have a lot of expertise stored, swap out for what is needed at the moment, and have a lot of 'hands' located all over the ship.
Another IMTU aspect is the Ship's Robot is NEVER integrated with the Ship's Computer or Bridge or Engineering, and that the ship's electronics and controls are always human interfaced and deterministic and intentionally 'dumb'. This is to prevent HAL episodes, hacked control systems, maintain responsibility/liability on the ship's operators, and robots don't do unusual situations well.
There may be military experiments that break this intentional barrier, and of course therein lies adventures.
My task resolution system actually captures the robot weakness of lack of creativity vs. inhuman accuracy- Simple, Easy and Routine tasks can be checked against Education+Skill, which robots will have more of then most (or with enough investment, ALL) humans, but the minute they get into something Challenging or Difficult their lower intel hurts badly, and they won't be able to handle it.
The Ship's Robot can never therefore replace the crew requirements, but they can help spell the very minimalist crewing of the smaller ships and help repair at critical times when your ship is being overwhelmed and possibly critical crew is hurt, or to go fix something near that radioactive reactor.
In other words, the SR can end up being some pretty cheap insurance against not losing your ship, a kind of low end Frozen Watch for the adventurer set.
Another use for the immobile robot would be the Autodoc. Always good to have those around, especially if your medic gets hurt.
As to robot shape, the most common shape my player's given bots are is a box, with attached sensor stalks, power and digital connection to equipment to control (the functional equivalent of say a webcam, power cable and network/wireless adapter for a PC). Mobility is an additional function that has to be necessary to the design in my view and dispensed with if not needed (to save costs for chassis, additional power, etc.).
