Can Computers Be Knocked Out?

[Cantriped]

I'm about to run a new Champions campaign, and one of my new player's had a Character concept that stumped me a little.

If a Computer is integrated into a Character (or an Automaton that can be Knocked Out), can the Computer be Knocked Out too? If not, what actions can a Computer take while the Character (or Automaton that can be Knocked Out) they are integrated into is Knocked Out?

 

These are some of the specific cases I am contemplating:

 

If a Computer is built with control over one or more of the Character's Powers, can the Computer still activate or maintain those Powers while the Character is Knocked Out? For example, a high-tech robot with a shoulder mounted laser turret controlled by a Computer, or a two-headed giant whose second head is built as a Computer.  

 

If a Computer is built with one or more Powers of it's own, can the Computer still activate or maintain those Powers while the Character is Knocked Out? For example, if the aforementioned high-tech robot's Computer paid 15 points to have Radar, or if the two-headed giant's Computer paid 105 points to have a full suite of Normal Senses (including Voice) and how ever many more points to have magical Powers of its own (that most likely only require Incantations to activate or maintain).

[Steve Long]

Fully delving into this issue is a subject that will have to wait for The Ultimate Gadgeteer, or perhaps I can integrate it into APG3 (which I’m currently working on). In the meantime, to keep things simple, here’s are some basic rules:

 

Since Computers don’t have STUN, technically speaking they can’t be Stunned or Knocked Out. (If built as a Focus, or with a similar special effect, they can of course be broken in various ways, and thus rendered inoperable.) If a Computer is part of a character’s build and not a Focus — for example, it represents a second head, or an integral part of a robot’s body — it’s up to the GM to decide what happens to it in combat conditions. A Computer that represents, for example, an ettin’s second head should probably be Stunned or Knocked Out if the ettin himself suffers those conditions. One that’s part of a robot might suffer the same fate, or might remain operable and able to perform any functions it’s programmed to. The GM should consider the Computer’s programming as well as common sense, dramatic sense, and game balance sense in making his decision.