DataPacRat Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Simplifying a few details for discussion purposes... Taking a bit of inspiration from the "Transhuman Space" setting, I've recently proposed to my HERO GM a PC who's actually a bit of software, which can run on any one of the (rare/obsolete) computers that his OS has been written for. In other words, he can keep a backup of himself on hyper-floppy, update it whenever he has a few spare minutes, and, when his easily squished body gets squished, somebody back at the Lab/HQ can dig out the backup chip, load him up into it, and he'll be as good as new (or, at least, as good as when the backup was made). Now... how would you recommend this actually be /built/ in the HERO system? (Let me guess; it's all spelled out in one of the books I don't yet own.) Some form of Duplication seems the obvious route, but... with what Limits/Advantages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? This sounds like Special Effects for Regenertion: Resurrection Only. See 5ER for an example on that, in the sidebar as an example power I believe. A little bit of tweaking gets it to work for an AI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? What, you're not just going to let him spend 5 points for a second one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? What' date=' you're not just going to let him spend 5 points for a second one? [/quote'] PCs - despite their best efforts (and actions) sometimes - are not equipment. Though occasionally they are tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? Now, are they tools to be used, or just utter tools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? OHHHH! SLAM! DISSED!!!!! Wait, who are we talking about? s'not ME is it? Dagnabbit! Point being. I had a flashback to the last time we talked about this - but here's the fun question. You build an AI. We'll say, a Monkey Body, ala "Captain Simian and the Space Monkies" or whatever the show was actually called, I don't remember. So you've got this BODY, right, and all these different BRAINS. Could you burn 5 to have a spare brain? If you build all brains as a multipower (special effect, must change brains, or as a VPP, changing brains is an action which takes one phase, must have brain available, two charges, reusable, to represent the max number of brains you can carry at once) would you allow me to drop 5 THEN? Or. I *am* the brain. I build an android body to carry me around. Can I burn 5 to have a backup body (this does in fact seem to be the canon way of enforcing that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? Depends ... is the AI built using AI Rules, or is the AI just SFX for the Characters various Powers/Skills? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? I think in the first example (you "are" the Body and swap out your own brain) it's an SFX - in other words, the Brains are the VPP proper, so they're simply a power. In the second example (you are the brain and built a body) I would most definately say that the Brain is built on AI rules, and the "body" is a Focus that contains all of its physical stats - effectively a vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? This sounds like Special Effects for Regenertion: Resurrection Only. What he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? While I do agree that SFX for Resurrection is a valid and reasonable way to go about this; since much of HERO is choosing a build for personal esthetic reasons , I'll offer another option: Summon Specific Character (the PC). Where this might more closely fit what DataPacRat is describing, is that the player would have to periodically increase the points in the Summon to reflect his character's increased Experience, which could reflect the PCs' need to update his own backup. The points paid for Summon could be greatly reduced through use of Charges, Focus, maybe even bought through his Base if that's the only place the software can be updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Bushido Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Re: An AI with a backup... Duplication? Assuming that the PC can-- even if he wouldn't-- bring his back-up on line without first losing the 'original' copy, I'd have to go with Duplication or Summon, modified as appropriate. The only worry I have about using Summon is that-- well, when the original copy-- the summoner-- is gone, who controls the 'reborn' PC? Sure, a tiny fudge to simply say it's a copy of the original, but that leans me more toward Duplication as being the more appropriate. Additionally, I like the idea that the duplicate may not be a 'current' copy if the PC hasn't spent the points to 'update' him to match his current experience expenditures. Now if the original copy has to be gone before he can come on line, then Ressurect is certainly the cleanest build. My opinion only, though; individual results may vary, aviod sitting on pointy objects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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