Trinity Universe: Trinity campaign musings

[Heritage]

Okay, I finished watching all four Alien movies in two days, and I've come to the following conclussions. We see three different androids: Ash, Bishop and Call. Their properties are:

Enhanced strength

Manifested by Ash and Bishop

Enhanced speed/reflexes

Manifested by Bishop

Enhanced intelligence (arguably)

Manifested by all three

Enhanced endurance/damage resistance

Manifested by all three

Direct computer interface

Manifested by Call

(Bishop used a satellite dish and remote control to bring down the second dropship in 'Aliens' - they sent him because he could go through that tiny shaft without going nuts, and as an android he seemed to think of himself as being more expendable than a human, not because he had an internal modem like Call.)

Furthur notes:

1. Ash goes nuts and tries to kill Ripley. He admires the alien for its perfection ::blink

2. Bishop says those earlier models were a bit touchy; his advanced programing won't allow him to hurt a human. Sounds like the three laws, which Ash might actually not have had ::crazy Bishop also admires the alien, but doesn't want to pick out curtains or anything ::sly Bishop is also insanely cool ::cool

3. In Alien 3, a badly-damaged Bishop says he could be re-configured, but he'll never be a top of the line model again, and would rather die; he asks Ripley to disconnect him. Other than this scene, not too crazy about the movie ::sarcasm

3. Call is technically an 'auton' (not to be confused with the Autons from Doctor Who ::thumbsup), a second-generation android created by other androids. Apparently they rebelled and were suppossed to be recalled, but many refused to comply, burning out their modems to protect themselves from over-ride commands; however, Call did still have an internal jack that allowed her to interface with Fa-Th-Ur, override 'him', and start up the 'Betty'. Call also appeared to be a Catholic ("They programed you for that?") and found her inhuman nature 'disgusting'. I know lots of folks don't like Alien: Resurrection, and I admit the second two are nowhere near as good as the first two, but I like A:R and think Call's pretty cool, though nowhere near Bishop's rating on the cool-o-meter ::smokin

So what do we see here? An evolution of design and even robot philosophy, and differing 'power levels', though maybe Call just chose not to use her enhanced physical abilities; still working out the details, but I just thought I'd share my findings. For my money, the Alien Quadrology is the best exploration of artificial life in mainstream movies, but I'm also gonna watch Blade Runner and A.I. again, too, to finish out my 'research'. Anyone else have any favorite android movies they can recommend?

And thanks for the link, Zeke! Will check out ME in more detail.

[ezekiel]

(Bishop used a satellite dish and remote control to bring down the second dropship in 'Aliens' - they sent him because he could go through that tiny shaft without going nuts, and as an android he seemed to think of himself as being more expendable than a human, not because he had an internal modem like Call.)

From the movie:

I'm really the only one qualified to remote-pilot the ship anyway. Believe me, I'd prefer not to.  I may be synthetic but I'm not stupid.

I always thought this was due to some androidism though I guess that might've been me reading into the script. Could've been just his dexterity that helps instead of a jack. Actually that's probably what it was...Bishop is way cool, so cool I'm playing a bishop instead of a porter, mostly 'cause I don't know the rules well enough.

[ProfPotts]

... Anyone else have any favorite android movies they can recommend?

Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (android babe)

Ice Pirates ("Why is he black?", "I wanted him to be perfect...")

So I'm a 'B' movie junkie - so sue me... ::tongue

... I'm playing a bishop instead of a porter...

Ah... so your character will be wearing a big ol' purple dress & a silly pointy hat ::priest instead of carrying our bags? I guess it never hurts to have the Church on your side: you can declare the mission a Holy Crusade! Don't forget to buy those Holy Handgrenades as Devices... ::laugh

[ezekiel]

"M'lord, someone has sprayed fvk da cherch on the altar room's door again..."

These heathens desecrated our holy relics...

*pumps shotgun*

The church has had enough...it's payback time...

[ProfPotts]

LOL! ::laugh

Yes - play him! ::priest

(Actually reminds he of an old GURPS character of mine - based off the CyberPunk 'Brothers of the Purpetual RailGun' concept of religious expression... ::m60 )

[Heritage]

Okay, here's what we've got so far:

1. Prof is playing a Legionaire

2. Zeke is playing Marvin the Paranoid Android or some such thing

3. Tooho is going to play a clear

That leaves the following folks without declared characters:

Prince of Boredom

Grizzly (who was given a slot by the marvelous malkboy ::biggrin)

ConcreteDragon

Asbjorn

I'm sure a big part of this is the fact that I haven't posted any more stuff about the campaign, which I shall now try and rectify.

Final allowed character types:

Neutrals or latents, using rules from TPG

Psions, from any order or independant

Synthetics (androids) (got one!)

Superiors (but you better have a darn good reason for being outside of Nippon ::sly)

I think we're going to begin with everyone being new to Sunset-Kalkay, so no one should take them as an Allegience just yet - I'd say use a previous Allegience for the purposes of skills and such, and either still keep them as your group of choice, or consider yourself an Independant if you've parted ways.

A few notes about Synthetics:

Three years ago, the GENEius Corporation introduced the first synthetic humanoids, Victor and Victoria Walker, and since then they have continued to turn out newer models each year. After some initial nervousness from the general public, most models have a slight tint, pleasant but clearly unnatural, added to their skin to safely acknowledge their artificial status, but it is well-known that private individuals who order 'synths' typically forgo this addition for a variety of reasons.

All GENEius synthetics have built-in '3Law' programing, based of course on Asimov's classic 3 Laws of Robotics - rumors of private individuals attempting to bypass the 3Law circuits have been circulating for some time, but no can confirm if any such attempts have proven to be successful.

A synthetic comes with a 'contract', which is a standard agreement of ownership, supposedly without the negative slavery associations - when a synth is sold, his central processor is wiped and the contract signed over to the new owner, who typical does a visual inspection of the unit. The one part that is never erased is a copy of the unit's schematics, including a list of any modifications made to the unit's frame (the physical body) during the period of ownership. The schematics can be easily accessed in a number of ways.

The third generation units are leaps ahead of the second gens in terms of appearance and capabilities, and light years ahead of the 'old' first gens. Many 'Vics' have already been severely discounted, and are finally becoming available to the upper middle class at somewhat more reasonable prices, primarily for use as domestics. In contrast, top-of-the-line third gen synths can easily have their processors removed and placed into a different frame, and many of the wealthier GENEius clients own several frames for a variety of uses.

There is now, not surprisingly, a market for synthetic prostitutes, and indeed many of the larger cities of human space have 'bodyshops' of various degrees of respectability. Using units in this way falls into a rather gray legal area, since at this point synths really don't have any rights, though there is of course a movement to change this lack of status. The Interplanetary Committee for Synthetic Rights (ICSR) was founded in 2120 to establish some sort of code of ethical conduct for the use of synthetics, but at this point many still see them as being 'left wing wackos'. The ICSR is pushing for the legal use of the term 'artificial persons'.

Due to the costs involved, the total population of synthetics in human space is still relatively small, less than 2000 (this number is subject to possible change by the ST ::wink). Common slang terms for synths include 'droids', 'Vics' (first gens only), 'dum-dums' and 'toasters'.

[ezekiel]

Superiors (but you better have a darn good reason for being outside of Nippon )

You mean other than Absolute Zero belonging to Japanese shareholders? ::wink

...

We are starting on AZ aren't we?

[ezekiel]

Since the other wayback machine ME links are sometimes down here's the mirrored link mirrored at the New Library of Alexandria.

[Heritage]

You mean other than Absolute Zero belonging to Japanese shareholders? ::wink 

...

We are starting on AZ aren't we?

Some of them may indeed by Nihonjin, but it's not like it's an Imperial colony or anything ::tongue

And yes, we'll be starting at A-Z, but we might not stay there too long, depending on where the call to adventure takes us!

[Heritage]

Okay, I've been given at least rough ideas from both CDragon and Prince o' Boredom, so I think I'm just waiting for ideas from Grizzly and Asbjorn ::thumbsup

Probably tomorrow I'm going to start a New Guardians OOC thread, just to take things up to the next level...which might just be the mezzanine ::wink