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Message no. 1
From: Skye Comstock <bilbo@****.NWLINK.COM>
Subject: Robots?
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 1997 20:07:44 -0800
I was just watching a Japanese television show that was featuring a new
robot that is about to be released there. It can navigate it's way through
halls/doorways/elevators/etc, go back to it's recharging post after 3
hours of use, warn of fires and wet floors, and can operate in hazardous
places where (meta..heh)humans are at risk.

Getting to the point, I really haven't seen much use of physical robotics
in the Shadowrun universe in novels or sourcebooks. I was wondering if
any GM's or players out there have incorporated a robotic presence in
the gaming environement. From anything as simple as robotic waitresses,
meter maids, or even Fuzzy Logic-like AI robots... or real AI. 8-]

-Skye
Message no. 2
From: TEGTMEBC@******.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: Robots?
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 1997 23:14:46 -0500
Skye wrote:
> Getting to the point, I really haven't seen much use of physical robotics
> in the Shadowrun universe in novels or sourcebooks. I was wondering if
> any GM's or players out there have incorporated a robotic presence in
> the gaming environement. From anything as simple as robotic waitresses,
> meter maids, or even Fuzzy Logic-like AI robots... or real AI. 8-]

Fuzzy Logic, isn't that your thought process after too much to drink?:)
But seriously, I think SR stayed away from the robotics, at least in the
beginnings, so they could avoid the stereotypical Sci-fi stuff. All of the
really futuristic games have robots in them, and Shadowrun just wouldn't have
had a clear identity if they were blending in with all of these other games. I
don't know if this is even close to teh real reason or not, but I like the
idea. Another possiblity, one that is much more likely, is that FASA never
thought about robots when they created SR. Personally, I like my first idea
better, just because it gives FASA some credit for thinking ahead and whatnot.
As far as using robotics in games, I just play, luckily I haven't had
to GM anything, and my GM hasn't used anything like that. In a way I'm glad, if
robots became too prevalent it wouldn't seem like SR anymore. Just my 2 cents.

-The Immortal Mental
Message no. 3
From: Zach Hall <fdelirium@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Robots?
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 1997 23:33:14 -0500
>Getting to the point, I really haven't seen much use of physical robotics
>in the Shadowrun universe in novels or sourcebooks. I was wondering if
>any GM's or players out there have incorporated a robotic presence in
>the gaming environement. From anything as simple as robotic waitresses,
>meter maids, or even Fuzzy Logic-like AI robots... or real AI. 8-]

I have an otaku in my game who reads comics.. so one day he got paid for a
run (several thousand) and decided to go buy some comics. He went to the
best place in town, and upon entering a small one foot box on wheels
scooted up and helped him in finding the comics he would like to purchase
and offered reviews and suggestions of which comics to look at based upon
reviews and previews given to it via the matrix.

I've had real AI's, but none of the players ever figured out it was an AI.
They just thought it was a regular decker with a lot of resources.
Message no. 4
From: Czar Eggbert <czregbrt@*********.EDU>
Subject: Re: Robots?
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 04:35:50 -0600
On Thu, 3 Apr 1997, Skye Comstock wrote:

> Getting to the point, I really haven't seen much use of physical robotics
> in the Shadowrun universe in novels or sourcebooks. I was wondering if
> any GM's or players out there have incorporated a robotic presence in
> the gaming environement. From anything as simple as robotic waitresses,
> meter maids, or even Fuzzy Logic-like AI robots... or real AI. 8-]
>
> -Skye

I'm trying an idea i got on Shadowland...Smart Drones. It is
basicly a drone who can take voice commands and respond to them in kind.
Kinda like what some people can do now with psudo-AI programs. Mostlt
these are just so the rigger doesn't have to be jacked in at all times. If
anyone is interested i'll post my rules reguarding them later.

I think the real reason that there are no autonomus robots in SR
are riggers. Why bother putting in a nonflexable robot when you can have a
human mind do it for a fraction of the cost.

Czar_Batteries Not Included_Eggbert
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czar-"What-ABOUT-boB?"- Eggbert
Ruler, Dark Side of the Moon.
homepage: http:\\www.creighton.edu\~czregbrt
mailto:czregbrt@*********.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Reality!? Is that some new game?"
-MDF
"It's not the heat, it's the humidity.It's not the voltage, it's the current.
It's not the meat, it's the motion. And it's not the pipe - it's the will."
- Jeff Vogel
Scorched Earth Party
http://cspo.queensu.ca/~fletcher/Scorch/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 5
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Robots?
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 06:48:13 -0700
Skye Comstock wrote:
|
| Getting to the point, I really haven't seen much use of physical robotics
| in the Shadowrun universe in novels or sourcebooks. I was wondering if
| any GM's or players out there have incorporated a robotic presence in
| the gaming environement. From anything as simple as robotic waitresses,
| meter maids, or even Fuzzy Logic-like AI robots... or real AI. 8-]

Naw, I rely on computers and automated systems. For example, the meter
maid is handled by the LS computer and simple sensors on the meters. If a
car is parked and the meter hasn't been paid the meter queries the
identifier chip in the license plate and within 24 hours the owner recieves
a fine. If there is no license plate then a patrolman is sent to the
scene.

For a restaruant that wants to go with the high-tech theme I just use
custom drones run by riggers (probably people with just a datajack).

In my game the general populace trusts computers with their lives but are
extremely leary of true robots. Go fig :)

-David
--
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 6
From: GRANITE <granite@**.NET>
Subject: ROBOTS?
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 22:07:32 -0700
>I was wondering if
>any GM's or players out there have incorporated a robotic presence in
>the gaming environement. From anything as simple as robotic
>waitresses, meter maids, or even Fuzzy Logic-like AI robots... or
>real AI. 8-]

I have a rigger that likes to run robotic drones..It works out fairly
well..and it enables him to stay in his vehicle and make sure it isn't
stolen and is able to participate in the run through the drone..As for
Fuzzy AIs and such I go with the straight AutoPilot rules for
automated stuff...

--------------------------------GRANITE
=================================================================
Lord, Grant Me The Serenity To Accept The Things I Cannot Change,
The Courage To Change The Things I Can,
And The Wisdom To Hide The Bodies Of Those People I Had To Kill
Because They Pissed Me Off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ShadowRunner's Serenity Prayer
Message no. 7
From: danturek@*******.com (Dan Turek)
Subject: Robots
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 13:47:06 -0400
So I'm tired of the clone thread and will revisit another old topic never
covered well by the books. Robots. Since there is no AI that would fit in a
robot (though that is not to say an AI couldn't control one) the best
programming would be the SK's and such, meaning somewhat specialized
functions. I notice the skills for autoguns are pretty decent, but
autopilots for vehicles are so much more expensive.
I'm guessing the "average" robot in SR would have a skill of 3, and unlike a
living counterpart cannot spend karma to avoid an "oops" - which would
probably result in mechanical failure.

For some reasons my players have usually wanted AI robots, whether as kinky
sex partners, or a cute robotic dog to guard and radio them of intruders.

I haven't really looked at Rigger 3, so I might have missed something.

How have you used robots in your campaigns?

Please limit yourself to SR campaigns. TS is so far in the future I don't
see any logical comparison. Cyberpunk, CyberSpace, etc. always tried to
avoid the issue as far as I could tell.

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Message no. 8
From: talmeta@*******.net (Tal Meta)
Subject: Robots
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 15:12:42 -0400
Dan Turek wrote:
> Please limit yourself to SR campaigns. TS is so far in the future I
> don't see any logical comparison. Cyberpunk, CyberSpace, etc. always
> tried to avoid the issue as far as I could tell.

Actually, Cyberpunk 2020 (in one of the chrome books) discusses how it
would be possible to either download a brain engram or an AI into one of
their full conversion borg bodies, IRC. In a campaign I'm plotting, this
is a common practice, and some Sam's make a good residual in licensing
their skillset to corporate security 'droids...

--
talmeta@*******.net - Heretic, Dilettante, & God-Machine
AIM - talmeta
ICQ - 12594453
Homepage - <http://talmeta.net>;

Culture is the habit of being pleased with the best and knowing why.
Message no. 9
From: jameserec@*****.ca (Kato Combat Cabbie)
Subject: Robots
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 18:50:04 -0400 (EDT)
--- Dan Turek <danturek@*******.com> wrote: > So I'm
tired of the clone thread and will revisit
> another old topic never
> covered well by the books. Robots. Since there is no
> AI that would fit in a
> robot (though that is not to say an AI couldn't
> control one) the best
> programming would be the SK's and such, meaning
> somewhat specialized
> functions. I notice the skills for autoguns are
> pretty decent, but
> autopilots for vehicles are so much more expensive.
> I'm guessing the "average" robot in SR would have a
> skill of 3
> I haven't really looked at Rigger 3, so I might have
> missed something.
>
> How have you used robots in your campaigns?
> Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection
> with MSN 8.
> http://join.msn.com/?pageþatures/junkmail
>
Robots have been used extensively in our campaign.
They function as autonomous drones and perform mainly
fire support functions. Since a rigger is limited to
controlling 6 drones on an RC(6) deck it helps to have
some extra guns which are smarter than drones linked
into his battletac system. The rules for creating and
using robots are covered in Rigger3 pg 120 and 121.
Read it carefully though because there is not a lot
there and it took me a couple read throughs to catch
all the subtle nuances and differences between them
and drones. Bottom line is that they are aproximately
twice as smart as a drone and function similar to a
very specialized NPC. This is mainly due to their
adaption pool. I could go on and discribe them in
detail but that would get very long so we'll just see
where this thread goes first.


====Kato Combat Cabbie

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Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
Message no. 10
From: sf_fuller@********.com.au (Simon & Fiona)
Subject: Robots
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 12:44:27 +1000
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Turek <danturek@*******.com>
To: <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 3:47 AM
Subject: Robots


>Since there is no AI that would fit in a
> robot (though that is not to say an AI couldn't control one)

Or more than one. A chilling thought, having an army of robots, or a
society, or just human-looking robots in key positions throughout the world,
all secretly sharing the mind of an AI.


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Message no. 11
From: cmd_jackryan@***.net (Phillip Gawlowski)
Subject: Robots
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 16:45:06 +0200
Am Sun, 22 Jun 2003 12:44:27 +1000 hat Simon & Fiona
<sf_fuller@********.com.au> geschrieben:


> Or more than one. A chilling thought, having an army of robots, or a
> society, or just human-looking robots in key positions throughout the
> world,
> all secretly sharing the mind of an AI.

Don't you tell them guys at FanPro how to do their job.

I guess looking into Threats 2 ("Gefährliche 6. Welt" for the Germans here)

, could ttrip off some nasty things for the not so distant SR3 future.

--
Phillip Gawlowski
Bastard GameMaster from Hell and GeneralIdiot

http://www.jack-ryan.de/shadowrun
The Linux ShadowRun Character Generator Developer's Mailinglist : LSRCG-
developers@***********.net
Message no. 12
From: sf_fuller@********.com.au (Simon & Fiona)
Subject: Robots
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 13:20:46 +1000
----- Original Message -----
From: Phillip Gawlowski <cmd_jackryan@***.net>
To: Shadowrun Discussion <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 12:45 AM
Subject: Re: Robots


> I guess looking into Threats 2 ("Gefährliche 6. Welt" for the Germans
here)
> , could ttrip off some nasty things for the not so distant SR3 future.
>

Which bit?


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