Zan replied to me: > > * I'm deliberately going to minimize the impact of robots. This is > > a game, and most characters are organic. Or, as my old Traveller > > GM said, "no risk for PCs means no fun for players." > > Still, it seems unrealistic to not use robots, or at least "remote > hands" here at those TLs.
Hello Zan, I'm going with 'weak AI' -- robots are great when it comes to assembling cars on the assembly line, or shooting at incoming missiles, but they're not very good at judgement calls -- is that a disguised battleship or a damaged passenger liner? Is that rock formation natural or an artifact? Why is the sensor module stuck on the loading arm? > Maybe the characters can play the robots via telepresence? They'd still > be making the decisions, but one player might choose the small spider > mechanic robot while another player picks the ST 500 Module Assembly > model. > > I suppose you could Star Trek it and say that area of space has a nebula > or an anomaly or there's just an extreme amount of radio interference > for some reason, so they really need suits. It takes a neural interface to get the telepresence modifier down to 0, I think. Without that, there is at least a -1, or -2 for the spiderbot (which is not shape-compatible). In safe areas, going out might be worthwhile. And Johannes replied to the same mail: > If it is something like a traveller Belter or a rescue or salvage ship you > might include a cargo airlock to get large equipment in or out. Hello Johannes, I'm thinking of Zan's request for an astro-archaeology craft. Either a cargo lock, or unpressurized storage -- I'm not yet sure if it should be landing-capable or not. > You might consider subcrafts a bit like the ones in Space Odyssey, or > something that is used like a trolley, so outside crew does not need to > carry everything. A robot to carry and fetch, that would fit the 'weak AI' meme. > Depending on the mission of the ship some hitches, winches ect. might make > sense. An external cradle? At TL11, it could be a tractor beam, but that sounds to high-tech. Thanks, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
