[Space] Autopilots and Autoturrets

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Ultratech games are rather prone to 'IQ is the only useful stat'.

Why is that though, I wonder? I personally feel like a lot of Ultra Tech games focus around non-combat and more mental and social challenges. Physical, non combat challenges, do seem to be rather trivial for most ultra tech setting.

I think where this changes is when you get into more physical genres, especially cyberpunk. Then physical attributes and skills start muscling their way back into the deal.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Why is that though, I wonder?

Because machines are prone to being better at physical stuff than humans (of course, you have the degenerate option where machines are better at everything than humans).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

I think where this changes is when you get into more physical genres, especially cyberpunk. Then physical attributes and skills start muscling their way back into the deal.

So long as you somehow make sure that the physical action can't be performed by drones and bots.

[AlexanderHowl]

Well, that can be easily accomplished by capping DX at the same level as IQ in AIs, by limiting the amount of points that AIs can invest in skills/techniques to (Complexity×4), and by enforcing learning times for AIs. If a Complexity 8 SAI only has a maximum of DX 10, IQ 10, and 32 CP in skills/techniques, they will not be much of a threat to human dominance. They might have one very high skill, but humans will be better generalists, especially with genetic engineering.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Well, that can be easily accomplished by capping DX at the same level as IQ in AIs, by limiting the amount of points that AIs can invest in skills/techniques to (Complexity×4), and by enforcing learning times for AIs.

It's generally problematic when ultratech is less capable than things that exist today. The reality is that there's a fair number of skills, including some rather adventuring relevant ones (such as shooting things) where computers are rather notably better than human even today.

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

So long as you somehow make sure that the physical action can't be performed by drones and bots.

Well, there's no reason why the bot isn't a player character. And a warbot isn't really defined by it's IQ score.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Well, there's no reason why the bot isn't a player character. And a warbot isn't really defined by it's IQ score.

Yep. As the Player of the AI drone rigger in ericthered's last cyberpunk game, I can attest. DX was my highest stat.

Granted, skills wise, I put almost as many points in IQ skills as I did DX skills, but I used Talents instead of IQ to bring those up.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Well, there's no reason why the bot isn't a player character. And a warbot isn't really defined by it's IQ score.

Depends on how accessible and portable people-grade AI in your cyberpunk is. Classic cyberpunk sapient AI tends to be vaguely godlike stuff that lives in corporate mainframes or 'the net' rather than fitting inside a warbot.

And whether you're playing with people who insist that machine characters aren't interesting...

But really the biggest GURPS reason not to do that is that a warbot player character is a pretty terrible point-sink. Spending character points rather than dollars on your hardware gets decidedly punitive.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Why is that though, I wonder? .

Because people aren't the best choice to do anything physical once your technology advances that far. Therefore actually doing things will be reserved for automatic systems.

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

Well, there's no reason why the bot isn't a player character. And a warbot isn't really defined by it's IQ score.

Actually it is. Given that you can just pull out it's CPU and put it into any chassis, IQ is the primary thing that defines it.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Actually it is. Given that you can just pull out it's CPU and put it into any chassis, IQ is the primary thing that defines it.

That's one way to look at it.

The other is that its DX represents its motive system programming and thus how well it interacts with any shell you 'drop' it into.