We ran a demo session of EP last week and had some difficulties working out exactly how a Guardian Angel bot was to be used.
Does the GA operate on its own initiative?
Is the GA supposed to operate independently from the player (i.e., not need to be controlled by the player)?
Does the GA come with an AI? If not, how much does one cost?
Regarding the AI, what are the stats for a typical robot AI? Where can we find one in the core book?
Is the GA meant to be used as an offensive weapon? IT is listed has having eelware, can the player use it to attack stuff? If so, what are are the attack rolls? (This is why we assumed it needed an AI, because the blurb on it in the gear section listed no attack ratings, but noted it has a +5 REF).
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Questions about Guardian Angels
Mon, 2013-09-23 11:12
#1
Nebelwerfer41
Questions about Guardian Angels
Mon, 2013-09-23 20:11
#2
nerdnumber1
Bots can be used autonomously
Bots can be used autonomously, tele-operated, or jammed. For autonomous function, the bot uses its own AI (presumably included unless there is a good reason for it to be blank). There are basic stats for bot AIs in the AI section, but as a rule of thumb bot active skills are no more than 40 and attributes are at 10 unless otherwise stated. When tele-operated, an outside ego controls the both remotely using their own piloting and gunnery skills at -10. Jamming is one step below sleeving, causing the character to be almost oblivious to their own sensory inputs and using their own skill values at full.
Guardian angels are mostly armored, flying sensor platforms, helping you by feeding a bird's eye view of any situation. Its eelware can be used offensively in a pinch, but if you want a fire-support bot, you should probably add some better weapons. As is, it can find who is trying to kill you and, with tacnet, let you fire seekers at them with indirect fire.
Wed, 2013-09-25 09:34
#3
Nebelwerfer41
nerdnumber1 wrote:There are
Just to be clear, you're talking about the specs on Pg 331? Thanks for the clarification. We thought that was the case, but it was never fully stated anywhere in the book that all other Attributes are assumed to be 10.
One other oddity about Bot AIs is that often times the physical bot is cheaper than the AI (most are Low-Mod, AIs are High)
Wed, 2013-09-25 13:04
#4
DivineWrath
The information regarding AI
The information regarding AI limitations is on (Core Rulebook, p. 264).
Actually, I double checked and I found that the latest version of the pdf does mention you can look on p. 264 (same page I mentioned) for more information. Its mentioned in the same area you are looking at (the Limited AI gear section). You can find stuff like that throughout the book (especially in the gear section) so you can often find where to look for more details.
A quick overview
-Aptitudes are usually 10, but may be higher or lower. It never is higher than 20.
-Active skills may not exceed 40. (Sometimes I find it is a 30 with a specialization, if the purpose can be that narrowly defined).
-Knowledge skills may not exceed 90 (Are there limited AIs with 90? I can only find them as high as 80).
-May not have moxie.
-They can not learn in such a way that improves skills. They can remember names, behaviors of people, and requirements of their jobs, but they will never be better than what they were programed to be.
As for prices of AIs and robots. I think that the AIs on the robots would be generic and not very good. The key word should be "Good enough", like being able to drive without crashing and stuff. That or they might have copy locks and loyalty programs to prevent people from simply buying a bot for cheap and then selling the AI on the open market at higher prices.
It should be noted that many things in the game are priced 1 price category higher than something else (like blueprints). It is entirely possible that the AIs are priced as such, and that an OEM version (a license version that is only allowed to be installed on one machine ever) might be 1 price category lower. Following that train of thought, AIs might range in cost from [Low] to [High] instead of [Moderate] to [Expensive]. Mind you, things like Kaos AIs might not be sold as such (for various reasons).
It should be noted that only the cheapest robots are priced [Low]. Usually these are things like a Creepy and small spy bots like a Speck. I don't expect their software to be that impressive.
Wed, 2013-09-25 13:41
#5
Decimator
It's probably worth noting
It's probably worth noting here that you can also equip limited AIs with skillsofts, which are cost High. So you can give your AI multiple active skills of 40, if you want.