10-13-2012, 12:01 PM | #1 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Greetings, all!
This is a question on the border of the cinematic and the realistic. In a retrotech society (say, retro-TL9), what would be the long-term effects of having moderately cheap Mecha Mooks available. I'm thinking IQ and DX about 8 NAI, and a prohibition against having skills above level 12. Also, I'm assuming that outside of near-sapient mooks, computers are truly retro, in the style of Solar Patrol. (I.e. no super-targeting programs or the like; no miniaturisation of robot brains below the size of a human neural system.) So . . . how would that plausibly change both warfare and civilian society, assuming that we take the concept for granted? (This question is heavily influenced by VUASO Machine Lords, but can also be applied to other settings.) Thanks in advance! Last edited by vicky_molokh; 10-13-2012 at 02:57 PM. |
10-13-2012, 12:08 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Your link is broken.
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10-13-2012, 01:29 PM | #3 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Well, a lot of this will depend on three issues:
are the robots seen as "moral" to kill? how well do the robots keep? this includes loss to both wear and tear and to advances in technology. If they keep poorly then war becomes something you have to prepare for and you focus on decapitating your opponent's factories. If they keep well then you will have robot armies stashed all over the place and military power is about the amount of effort you've put into it. how expensive is it to make a new robot? If they're comparatively cheap swarm tactics become effective. If they're too expensive its not worth it unless you are very rich.
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10-13-2012, 01:35 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
If robots are persons like Bender or Data, then it is evil to kill them without an overwhelming reason, like self-defense ect.
But mecha mooks, would they be persons at all? Cheap non-humanoid robots would be the most practical Mecha Mooks. Clouds of electic insects or vast hoards of robospiders. Tiny, invisible, and deadly, would be a good strategy.
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo Last edited by Astromancer; 10-13-2012 at 01:43 PM. |
10-13-2012, 01:42 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
If you want bad things, if cheap enough they squeeze the low end of the job market. Maybe lots of servants also.
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10-13-2012, 01:49 PM | #6 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Quote:
I'm not sure that the tech allows really small robots. The most effective may not be humanoid though: miniature modern vehicles would be fairly effective.
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10-13-2012, 02:37 PM | #7 | ||
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Quote:
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10-13-2012, 02:52 PM | #8 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Quote:
The question for me is whether its acceptable for two side to say "lets just settle our differences in ritualized robot warfare on the battle planet instead of all this posturing"
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
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10-13-2012, 02:57 PM | #9 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
I'm assuming that miniaturisation below the size of the human neural system is out of genre. Now, whether robo-vehicles (with Driving-12ish) are useful is an interesting question.
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10-13-2012, 03:02 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Caxias do Sul, Brazil
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Re: Effects of Mecha Mooks on warfare and society?
Rednecks would stop car wrecking because there is a better choice.
Security would get cheaper, wars would get more common. Wages would drop a little bit since everyone who was employed by the military and security agencies will be now competing for something else, this will probably be countered since taxes would be lower because robots don't need wages. Depending on the cost of the bots most people would have one. If it was around 10k, someone who can have a new car would probably have one, if it was around 1k most families would have one, if it was around 100 most families would get several. |
Tags |
machine lords, mass combat, mecha mooks, nai, robots |
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