Intelligent Computer Virus

[oroborous]

I have created a vastly powerful AI that is housed in a mainframe. Its main powers are to animate other machines and mind control humans to do its bidding.

 

I wanted to add another power, but I'm not sure how to write it up correctly. The power would take a person or thing that was already controlled by the virus and turn it into a biomechanical thrall permanently. I know that would be a Major Transform. I'm just not sure how many d6 that would be.

 

There are a few other tricky things about the thralls that I can't work out. I want several generations. For example a 1st generation thrall straight from the virus has all of its original powers PLUS the Virus' powers at 75%. A thrall's thrall would have 50%, and you could have a 3rd generation at 25%. Next, I want all the thralls to have a hive mind with the main Virus, so that he is more formidable. Last, I want to be able to transfer the Virus' consciousness into any thrall as an escape mechanism, should the mainframe be attacked, the drawback would be that sometime the Virus would have to go back to cyberspace.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

I assume you need this for an adventure you're looking to GM? (I can't imagine any GM allowing this as a PC power!)

 

In that case, this is an excellent thing to just handwave. There's no real reason to build it as a Power. What you've created is essentially high-tech zombies. It would be absurdly difficult to model with Hero. What you need to figure out in advance is how it spreads, how people (including PCs) can avoid contracting it, and how (if) it can be cured.

 

I suppose some kind soul might try to stat it out, but I see no reason to do so with a one-off scenario. If you're going to build an entire "End of the World" campaign around this it might be worth it. But generally stuff like this is better done as a GM fiat.

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

How about this:

Summon 75-point Thrall, Slavishly Devoted (+1) (30 Active Points); OIF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Focus; Requires a person; -1)

 

The 75 point thralls would have this ability:

Duplication (creates 50-point form), Cannot Recombine (+0) (10 Active Points); 4 Charges which Never Recover (Can spread the virus up to four times; -3), OIF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Focus; Requires a person; -1)

 

The 50 point thralls would duplicate into 25 point thralls and so on. Something like this would be close. Now, if you want a way to cure the virus, you could change it so that the OIF of the powers would instead be a limitation that would require that a person be teleported to another dimension and the new thrall would take it's space. When the virus is cured, the person could be teleported back. Of course, they would have no memory of this.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

Virus:

 

Thrall Virus 12D6 Major Transform; Transform is cumulative, but you can tack on Continuous to reflect it not requiring attack rolls every phase.

 

The first Gen Thrall gets all the Thrall powers plus:

9D6 Major Transform; otherwise the same as the Thrall Virus

 

2nd Gen: 6D6 and 3rd Gen: 3D6.

 

Why 12D6? It's a nice big number so Thralls don't take forever to create: Remember, after the Thrall Disads (if any) are accounted for any Powers that aren't "paid for" by the Disads add to the BODY of the target at a 5:1 rate (every 5 Active Points of Power adds 1 BODY to the target for the purposes of Transform)... and 12 is easily divisble by 4 (for 75;50;25% effects).

 

Hive Mind Mind Link (w/ Master AI); Psychic Bond; Does Not Provide Mental Awareness; Always On

 

That allows the Thrall to connect to the Master AI, and it can't disconnect itself. That way you don't have to buy an ever increasing pool of Minds on a Mind Lin on the Master.. each Thrall has it's own uplink to the AI. You can allow (and most people work Mind Link with multiple minds this way) anyone connected to the AI to use it as a bridge to talk to each other as well so two Thralls can communicate to each other through the common ML to the AI each has.

[oroborous]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

I like both of the above ideas. The Transform could be used on existing objects like people and animals, and the Summon could represent the AI creating a new servant. I see the AI having the ability to control a production facility so that it could put crude robots together. Maybe the robot drones of an AI queen bee. I could give the AI a high inventor roll to create objects or something.

 

My vision is that the AI infests a large metropolitan area mainframe, and then begins to take over people, animals & vehicles. The government quarantines the city, thinking that there is a pandemic and sends in the CDC. They don't come back, and that's when the Conspiracy (note the capital C) decides to eliminate the town before news of their secret AI project gone awry can leak out. My PCs are hired by someone who knows someone who knows something, but can't act directly, in classic Deep Throat style, to extract someone or something from the city before the Conspiracy can eliminate the town.

 

My ultimate goal is for this group of highly-skilled Heroes or minor Superheroes to find out what is behind the virus and to save the town and the inhabitants by destroying or driving away the AI.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

How about this:

Summon 75-point Thrall, Slavishly Devoted (+1) (30 Active Points); OIF Expendable (Very Difficult to obtain new Focus; Requires a person; -1)

 

I think Treb has the rights of it - excellent advice deserves rep - and you shouldn't worry too much about the mechanics of people turning into thralls unless this is going to be a long running story and the mechanics are going to be central to it.

 

I would be inclined to do the Summon for all of the Thralls (the transform would convert the target into a pod from which the Thrall would emerge). Obviously the Transform power of Thralls summons a lesser Thrall and the transform power of the lesser Thrall summons a minor Thrall.

 

Thus a target would be transformed into a pod which would be necessary for a Thrall to be summoned. It keeps everything quite simple.

 

The size of the Transform depends on how quickly you want the virus to take effect. You could have a continuous uncotrollable attack that begins working on the victim and slowly shows their skin becoming tougher and less flexible until they are just a swollen pod. That triggers the Summon, that was used in a multiattack with the transform, and the pod splits to reveal a Thrall of one form or another.

 

Cool concept - may have to rep you too....

 

 

 

Doc

[oroborous]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

I think there has to be a Transform. I want the PCs to feel like if they don't watch their step that they could succumb to the Thrall Virus, just like almost every other living thing in the town. It would also represent the fact that the AI targets exceptional normals and supers in order to gain control of their powers and thereby becoming harder to stop.

 

I can see the game going in 2 directions regardless of how the final power is worked out:

 

1) The party just gets what they came for, tries to avoid conflict and lets the city disintegrate

 

2) The party "Heroes Up" and tries to stop the AI and reclaim the town.

 

I would prefer option 2 and that would make the game last a few more sessions. I would really like to see what would happen if a PC gets infected and then the rest of the party would try to cure him. So I would like the Virus to be more Borg-esque than an attack of the pod people.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

I think there has to be a Transform. I want the PCs to feel like if they don't watch their step that they could succumb to the Thrall Virus' date=' just like almost every other living thing in the town. It would also represent the fact that the AI targets exceptional normals and supers in order to gain control of their powers and thereby becoming harder to stop.[/quote']

 

Oh! Oh! I have an idea. If you made the Transform a large continuous uncontrollable attack with gradula effect and limited circumstances (only when within 10 feet of 'live' equipment) then ensured that at least some of the heroes were hit with the attack then there would be ticking time bomb in the background.

 

The heroes would be unaware of what the cloud of metal dust was supposed to do to them, there were no immediate effects. The one of them begins to notice strange patches on their skin and a stiffness in their joints.

 

They should be led to thinking of the dust attack and eventually to what triggers the changes to occur.

 

Then it is a race against time - especially as they weill have to decide whether to attack the Thrall Prime which is where the transform attack will be active all of the time.

 

 

Doc

[oroborous]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

How does this look for a write-up?

 

Thrall Virus: Major Transform 12d6 (living being into biomechanical slave of the AI, death of AI or 24 hours at 50 miles distance from the AI), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Based On EGO Combat Value (Mental Defense applies; +1), Continuous (+1) (630 Active Points); Gradual Effect (3 days; -1 1/2), Stops Working If Mentalist Is Knocked Out (-1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Mandatory Effect EGO +10 (-1/4)

[ghost-angel]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

I don't know if Concentration really works in this case since it's always in effect, I would switch to Always On instead.

 

And since a machine mind is controlling it, can the AI be knocked out? If not that really doesn't apply either.

 

Other than that it looks good.

[oroborous]

Re: Intelligent Computer Virus

 

The "Doesn't work when knocked out" represents what would happen if the AI was switched off. I guess I could rephrase it that way for clarity, but I knew what I meant