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Old 09-01-2017, 10:36 PM   #1
hal
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
Default Convertin GURPS CLASSIC ROBOTS for use with 4e

Hello Folks,
For those who have wanted to be able to utilize the Computer rules from GURPS ULTRATECH for 4e, and using GURPS CLASSIC ROBOTS to design robots in general, the following may prove to be useful...

First, the design philosophy behind the modifications:
The general idea was to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges in the sense of making things compatible. If something required a Microcomputer as the minimum unmodified computer to run software, then in the newer rules of GURPS ULTRATECH, the same computer TYPE had to be used to run it under 4e. This meant adjusting some "complexity values" for certain software.

Secondly - the newer "adaptations" for the computer type had to generally get the same IQ and DX values as the older rules did. For instance, in the original rules, IQ was equal to Complexity+3, or was equal to Complexity+4 if the computer was built using the Neural net option. Ditto with the DX.

Thirdly, that the Old Tech Level (now used as OTL for Classic Tech level) and TL for 4e are such that the "Just around the corner from now would be Classic OTL 8 = TL 9.

That being said? The new IQ formula becomes:

IQ+1 or IQ+2 for Neural Net computers. The reason for this is because the new revised rules for computers places the complexity at 2 higher than their Classic Counter parts.

DX used to be Complexity/2 + 8 for OTL 8 rules, while the new DX value now becomes Complexity/2 + 7.

Next, we have the rules for "skills" based on complexity of skill program and the number of points the program gets for its skill for the robotic brain. In the original rules, Complexity 1 software gave the bare minimum points possible to give. In Classic Traveller, that was 1/2 character point. In the Current GURPS rules, this has become 1. Each subsequent "skill" complexity level, doubled the previous. The difference between Classic GURPS and 4e didn't end there however. Page 61 lists the number of points after a certain complexity level, as being each +1 complexity gave the program an additional +8 character points for skills. In the old days, this was the difference between one skill level and the next for both Hard DX skills and Very Hard mental skills.

The new progression? Start at 1, then 2, then 4, then 8, then 12 etc. Each +1 complexity granting +4 character points. This mirrors the new design philosophy of the maximum points required to reach the next skill level regardless of what skill we're talking about.

Now - some people might not like the idea of forcing robots to stick to the "non-eidetic" bonus of x4 value for each 1 point put into a mental skill. I pointed out to a buddy of mine (as we worked on the conversion rules), that do you really want to deal with a character that after putting in 40 character points into a mental skill, was the same as putting in 160 character points for a normal character? Initially, he said "Yeah, I still want it". Then I put the shoe on HIS foot saying "Oh, so let's see. A complexity 9 computer would have an IQ of around 11. 10 character points would make a mental easy skill be worth Stat+5. Subtracting 10 points from 160, means we have 150 left unallocated. Dividing that by 2 (because in the older GURPS rules, each mental skill was only capped at 2 points per level increase), we get +75. So, Stat+5+75 for mental easy, Stat+4+ 75 for Mental Average, Stat+3+75 for Mental Hard, and Stat+2+75 for Mental Very Hard. Imagine a Complexity 9 Megacomputer with a skill of Stat+77 in something like Nuclear Physics.

The moment I pointed that out to him, he saw that the rules for inventions would be absurdedly easy for such a computer if permitted to "keep" the x4 bonus to Mental skills that was part of the original Scheme.

So, we were able to get the following things hammered out:

Limited Personality Complexity level was now 6 instead of the old 4 that it used to be in GURPS ROBOTS. Why? Because that is what the complexity level for the same computer class in GURP CLASSIC TRAVELLER for Complexity 4, which in 4e, has become a complexity 6 computer. Likewise, a Full personality simulation package would require a complexity 7 rating.

The following post were things that we discussed as addenda items...

Added Information: I should have added this WAY long back instead of waiting until today to add this...

When trying to estimate volumes for any living creature - it helps to have the following information handy:

Density of Muscle and bone for most creatures able to mostly float and/or swim will approximate the density of water. As a consequence of this, a series of conversions are required in order to determine how much volume you should allocate towards a realistic looking robotic creatures.

Weight of Flesh per cubic foot:

1 cubic foot (Volume) = 28316.846592 cubic centimeters
1 cubic foot of flesh = 28316.846592 grams (assuming a density of water at 1 gram per cubic centimeter)
28316.846592 grams = 62.4279605761446 pounds

Thus, a dog that weights about 62 lbs by mass, will require about 1 cubic feet in volume.

Last edited by hal; 07-18-2018 at 12:20 PM. Reason: Added Information:
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