AI on Ships
- Thread starter GCU Grey Area
- Start date
Heyas
How do you guys handle the actual incorporation rules-wise of AI? I'm thinking of having an AI (like Andromeda) on the ship in my upcoming game, but dunno how to handle this. The Central Supply Catalogue says that "false AI" requires TL15 and costs 3 MCr per point of Int and Edu. Would this be a seperate cost, or could we say that a TL 15 computer (which is what this ship has) running Intellect naturally has it?
Also if it has an AI would you give it skills like a player, or just treat it like an Agent software (albeit one with higher intelligence).
Thanx!
How do you guys handle the actual incorporation rules-wise of AI? I'm thinking of having an AI (like Andromeda) on the ship in my upcoming game, but dunno how to handle this. The Central Supply Catalogue says that "false AI" requires TL15 and costs 3 MCr per point of Int and Edu. Would this be a seperate cost, or could we say that a TL 15 computer (which is what this ship has) running Intellect naturally has it?
Also if it has an AI would you give it skills like a player, or just treat it like an Agent software (albeit one with higher intelligence).
Thanx!
Yep but the rules really seem oriented towards AI in robots, Starship computers are a lot more powerful and expensive.
Just wondering if I give it skills like a character and stats, then is there a point in spending money on software (esp expert software) since its skills would cover that?
One thing I'm thinking is the possibilities of players finding an old device (made by the Ancients) or encountering a highly-advanced sentient AI race (nicking the idea from the Star Trek novel Synthesis) and this will cause the computer to become a sentient AI (or a sentient AI code decides to move into the computer system and integrates with it). Up till then the computer would probably function just like in Star Trek, with it being able to respond to the players, but do little other than it's essential programming.
Whaddya think? Sorry to be a noob, but I'm new to traveller - this'll be my first game and still getting to grips with the nuances of it...
AndrewW
Emperor Mongoose
FentonGib said:
The Terra/Sol games Twilight Sector setting has AI's and uses the Traveller rules, you could mine that for some ideas.
http://terrasolgames.com/
Book 9: Robot also covers some on AI (even if for robot's those are still computers):
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1871&qsSeries=Traveller
I think an AI would need software to start with, but would then be ableFentonGib said:
to learn and to improve its skills without the need for any other softwa-
re than databases. So, my idea would be to give the AI skill software of
Level 1, and then let it work from there. In my view it should be able to
reach Level 4 in all often used "mental" skills and Level 2 or 3 in all the
other skills it has rather quickly.
The actual problem would probably not be to design the AI with Traveller
rules, but to roleplay it convincingly. For example, a true AI should well
be able to change its own program code as it pleases, so there is no rea-
son why it should continue to obey the human characters, or even to co-
operate with them - it will have its own ideas where it wants to go, and
what it wants to do. In the end the "master and slave" relationship be-
tween the AI and the humans may well be turned on its head, with the AI
giving the orders ...
Of course, you do not have to play it that way, but I think you should at
least try to consider all the options a true (or almost true) AI would have
and how this would influence the game before you introduce one into your
setting. :wink:
Thanks for that, some great ideas there.
Going what it says in the book about TL15 being "false AI" and thus not self-aware, though it can learn, I'd expect at the start it would be very much an automated program capable of interaction, conversation, but very limited in its scope. TL 16+ would be different. That's why I quite like the idea of something like in the Synthesis novel, where the Titan's computer becomes sentient thanks to outside intervention, and then it suddenly develops a personality which even gets scared at times and refuses to carry out Riker's orders because it doesn't want to die. I think having ancient tech or another race cause this may also add to the dramaticism?
Oh definitely. I imagine there being a lot of "safety protocols" that the players have to constantly bypass, and the ship having a mind of its own that may disagree with the players... but I think I can't do this with TL15 (other than "that is not a permissable operation") if I want to stick to the canon rules on AI.
I admit to being normally a bit reluctant to move away from the canon, unless I seriously disagree with it. House Rules for me are usually to resolve clashes in rules or clarification/brevity. But I may take your advice and make TL 15 be what TL 16 is described or simply make a TL15 version of the Intellect software which doesn't just allow verbal command recognition, but is actually self-aware limited AI.
I'm gearing atm on using alien tech, since I think we can make a nice session out of it, add mystery, and have the dramatic effect of their computer actually come to life. I agree with what you said about skills, so think it would begin with skills equivalent of its software, but like 'the doctor' in Voyager its AI would quickly learn and improve.
Thanks again.
RAW? Sorry, lost you there.
Was looking at the twilight sector campaign book, and that gives some info there about AI, though it differs tremendously (and is weakly mentioned) from OTU sources.
lol yeah I see me doing that, but it's my first game coming up, generally try not to bring in house rules until I've played a bit and seen where it makes sense.
You weren't, I just had a brainfart. lol.
I've spend most of my 22 years of rpg doing WoD, d20, Star Wars and Battletech mostly... Traveller is a new foray for me, and though I love it I just don't know it as intimately as I do the other systems I'm more used to. Stumbled across it with the new Judge Dredd rules, and I love it. But I sometimes find that things could be better explained (and mongoose do tend to make a lot of mistakes and often leave out bits, which doesn't help) and better exampled.
Thanx for the support
I've spend most of my 22 years of rpg doing WoD, d20, Star Wars and Battletech mostly... Traveller is a new foray for me, and though I love it I just don't know it as intimately as I do the other systems I'm more used to. Stumbled across it with the new Judge Dredd rules, and I love it. But I sometimes find that things could be better explained (and mongoose do tend to make a lot of mistakes and often leave out bits, which doesn't help) and better exampled.
Thanx for the support
Appendum:
Atm what I've done is create an alternative of the Intellect (rating 10) software which I've called Intellect/AI (rating 15). It costs 3 million per model of the computer and is TL 15 - and the model of the computer is it's INT and EDU. E.g. a Model-5 computer would have INT and EDU 5 and cost 15MCr. Since the players in my game have a Model-7 computer than means the AI will have Int/Edu 7 and the Intellect/AI software cost is 21 Mcr. I'm coming up with a backstory to how this is a prototype (the whole ship is a prototype) and the feasibility of using an AI computer in a starship is being tested.
Of course with a rating 15 it means that it's sucking a lot of power, so I see the players "turning it off" when they need the extra juice.
Anyone have any mods for running more software than your computer rating? I know PCs irl will let you run almost as much as you want, but they run as a brick... am thinking of a house rule where you can actually go over the computer's rating, but perhaps each +5 over gives you a -1 DM to relevant actions because the computer is less responsive/overtasked. How does that sound?
Atm what I've done is create an alternative of the Intellect (rating 10) software which I've called Intellect/AI (rating 15). It costs 3 million per model of the computer and is TL 15 - and the model of the computer is it's INT and EDU. E.g. a Model-5 computer would have INT and EDU 5 and cost 15MCr. Since the players in my game have a Model-7 computer than means the AI will have Int/Edu 7 and the Intellect/AI software cost is 21 Mcr. I'm coming up with a backstory to how this is a prototype (the whole ship is a prototype) and the feasibility of using an AI computer in a starship is being tested.
Of course with a rating 15 it means that it's sucking a lot of power, so I see the players "turning it off" when they need the extra juice.
Anyone have any mods for running more software than your computer rating? I know PCs irl will let you run almost as much as you want, but they run as a brick... am thinking of a house rule where you can actually go over the computer's rating, but perhaps each +5 over gives you a -1 DM to relevant actions because the computer is less responsive/overtasked. How does that sound?
