[What's O.L.D Is N.E.W] Iain M Banks-inspired sci-fi campaign!

[GlassEye]

[section]

Poju Whitten-Loiri, a distracted human Media personality who dreams of the stars.

As a youth Poju was obsessed with celebrity and technology. He wanted nothing more than to be on the cutting edge and famous for it. While still young his parents had polycognitive processors implanted; processors and software that could spin off a partial personality 'ghost', run simulations, and reintegrate the ghost and information.

For Poju's parents it was an educational tool and a safety net should the unthinkable happen. Poju used it carelessly: he activated a complete upload of his personality (whom he called Poul), treated it like a digital valet, and rarely reintegrated ghosts or ended simulations leaving that for his upload to manage.

In college Poju focused on media studies and his social life; Poul on upload/AI rights, exploring the limits of his digital mind, and making sure Poju passed his classes. After graduation Poju and Poul split. Poju and his lover, Simon, bummed around Europe pulling cons and skipping town before they could be reported to the authorities. Poul downloaded into Simon's clone and went to explore his own non-virtual life.

After nearly a year of travel Poju discovered his video journal on travel, technology, celebrity, and society had developed a small but growing following. He spent the next several years building his career as a media personality.​

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Grade 5; Hook attribute: Cha

Strength 4 (2d6)
Agility 6 (3d6)
Endurance 5 (2d6)
Willpower 4 (2d6)
Intuition 3 (2d6)
Logic 3 (2d6)
Charisma 9 (3d6)
Luck 6 (3d6)
Reputation 3 (2d6)

Health: 0 [roll0]
Speed: 5 (2 climb/swim)
Jump: 12' horiz, 4' vert
Carry: 90 lbs
Initiative: 2d6
Defense
- Melee: 4d6 [14]
- Ranged: 4d6 [14]
- Mental: 2d6+5 [12]

Attacks:
- Unarmed: 3d6 (1d6+2)
- Melee: 3d6
- Ranged: 3d6

Skills
Acting 3 (2d6)
Bluffing 2 (1d6)
Carousing 4 (2d6)
Computers 1 (1d6)
Dancing 1 (1d6)
Dodging 1 (1d6)
Hardy 1 (1d6)
Journalism 3 (2d6)
Singing 1 (1d6)
Trivia: Celebrities 1 (1d6)

Exploits:
- Aim: +1d6 to ranged attack roll
- Deadly Strike: +1d6 dmg on hit (ranged)
- Distracted: 1/day ally gains +2d6 on attribute check

Gear
Credits: 380 ([roll1] *20; min 100)

Weapons


Armor


[sblock=Specifics of Species, Origin, Career, etc]Species: Augmented (28 yrs old)
End +1, Str +1, Agi +1
Skill choices: Computers, Hardy, Trivia: Celebrities
Exploits
- Alteration: begin with 2 minor cybernetic alterations.
-- Polycognitive Processor: +5 Mental Defense
-- Voice synthesizer: +1d6 Cha to deceive others
- Adaptive: Routine [10] End check for successful implanting. +2 alterations beyond End limit
Trait
- Distracted

Origin: Everyman ([roll2] yrs)
End +1, Agi +1 (s), Cha +1, Luc +1
Skill Choices: Dodging (d), Acting
Exploits
- Ordinary: +1d6 to bluff, disguise, or otherwise blend in unremarked

Career:
College [Journalism] (4 yrs)
Log +1, Wil +1, Cha +1, Rep +1
Skills: Bluffing, Carousing
Exploits
- Bachelor: Journalism 3; +1d6 to research attempts

Con Artist ([roll3] yrs)
Int +1, Agi +1 (s), Cha +1, Luc +1
Skills: Bluffing, Carousing
Exploits
- Beguiling: Cha vs. Mental Defense to charm target
Prison check [roll4]

Performer ([roll5] yrs)
Cha +2, Luc +1, Rep +1
Skills: Acting, Carousing
Exploits
- Triple-threat: Singing, dancing, & acting at 1 rank.

Performer
Cha +2, Luc +1, Rep +1
Skills: Acting, Carousing
Exploits
-Fearful: w/ two actions per turn (and failed Cha vs. Mental Def.) target takes -1d6 to all interactions with you

Notes:
Did a fair amount of tweaking, particularly with species & attribute substitution to balance out the character a little more so it isn't just mental/Cha.
Currently only four careers since I needed to make the prison check after the Con Artist career. After I know, I'll add a 5th career.
(s): species attribute substitution
(d): defense skill
Polycognitive Processor: as 'Psionic scrambler' (which was on the WOIN website but not in the NEW chargen pdf) but implanted processors that run personality fragments for increased cognition.
Still need to work out history.
[/sblock]

 

[GlassEye]

Ok, I've added the last career and a history for the character. Poju is... unlikeable. Or rather, he's very likeable but I don't think I like him. Not so much so that I would find him unplayable, though. And the history is still mutable, especially the bits about Poul (and being downloaded) since I'm not entirely convinced that I want or am capable of playing a second PC in this setting. Your idea is intriguing, though, and why I added Poul.

Mechanically, Poju ages [roll0] for his last career and gains an additional [roll1] to his CR calculation from increased Luck and Rep pools.

 

[Unsung]

Very, very cool. Even if you don't end up playing Poul, that's a great background element to draw upon. And it's good sometimes to play characters who aren't exactly heroes themselves to start with. They can still become more likable with time and effort, or at the least they can throw the real heroes into sharp relief. Cynicism contrasts well with Culture idealism. Flaws are interesting, conflict is good.

Poju and Poul also fit nicely into the whole cyber-pre-stellar-post-noir setup in general-- the whole Prince and the Pauper angle (or is it Town Mouse, Country Mouse?). The one of them travelling the world(s?), bumming around while living off an inheritance, falling bass-ackwards into money and celebrity. It's a nice precipice for a potentially humbling fall, perhaps.

 

[Shayuri]

One thing I like about your background for Poju is that I can immediately see where my AI character would select him out of the sea of possible choices to try to contact. His experience with digital intelligences, having created one in fact, makes him a natural choice.

Of course, I might be dismayed to see just how little regard Poju has for his act of creation.

It also makes an interesting question...is there a distinction between an artificial intelligence that is a copy of a human mind, and one that is completely artificially constructed? Should there be? Is Poul 'less' artificial because of his origin?

 

[GlassEye]

The difficulty I have in thinking about Poju/Poul is that they are identical up to the point of uploading and share years of development; how much divergence would there really be in the two? Poju is superficial and driven by celebrity*. How much of that survives in Poul who might be legally considered nothing more than a clever simulation and must deal with being a non-entity? These questions are mostly why I stopped with Poul after a certain point; I wasn't sure who he would be.

There are two possibilities that I see for Poul at the start of game. 1) He's still digital and in Poju's implant/wearables or 2) he's already downloaded into a body. But this question is less important than the previous identity question, imo.

If Poju/Poul are still jointly incarnate it would certainly be easier to draw Poju into aiding Shayuri's character.

As for the question of distinction between upload and AI? If there is a distinction it's a pretty fine one. Poul is no less artificial because of his origin but probably more likely to be eventually accepted as human than an AI. Of course, this is less important when we reach the Culture.

* Hmm. If Poju's desire for celebrity is a desire to be recognized as somebody of importance it isn't too far off to think that Poul modifies that desire to simply be recognized as a separate entity.

 

[Shayuri]

Arr...one thing to consider is the cultural ramifications. Is it commonplace to digitally upload your mind? Are there laws regarding the practice? Are the copies considered property? And if it's fairly common and easy to digitally copy your mind and download it into a body, then we have immortality for those who can keep 'spare' bodies, or arrange for the preparation of one posthumously.

Does that mean this futuristic human society is approaching the Culture's technology level, at least in this regard?

There are some interesting possibilities.

For example, suppose Poul is, for the moment, not embodied. He's a 'virtual intelligence' that serves as your personal assistant. Supposedly non-volitional, but because he's a copy of you he shares your quirks.

Then, once we contact the Culture, the expanded technology let you contemplate 'uplifting' Poul to a true AI. Or perhaps you'd prefer to simply delete him and make a new copy using this superior technology?

That puts some of the questions and conflicts front and center during the game's events instead of as part of your background...and it lets us sidestep the questions of how access to braintapes and technological immortality would transform human society, until we get to the Culture where they've been dealing with that sort of thing for awhile now.

 

[GlassEye]

Very good points. I started a post half a dozen times last night addressing various tangents to the issues you've mentioned but eventually opted to try to keep it as close to a character level as I could because I didn't want to arbitrarily make world decisions. The background as is right now does make certain assumptions but it is easily edited. I like your solutions to move this to game rather than background.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

I have been MIA for a week of vacation and then a week getting caught up at work. I'm here now, however, and will be resuming activity today and tomorrow.

 

[Unsung]

It also makes an interesting question...is there a distinction between an artificial intelligence that is a copy of a human mind, and one that is completely artificially constructed? Should there be? Is Poul 'less' artificial because of his origin?

The most Cultured answer I could give in this situation might be mu (unask the question).

...Which is to say there is a distinction, but not a meaningful one. Sentience and thought have inherent value. Whether the owner of the mind in question is machine or organic, intelligence by their definition can't be artificial.

Of course, I think it's strongly implicated by our discussion thus far that the majority of Earthers don't feel the same. Human rights are for humans only-- possibly for 'citizens' only, if this future is as bleak as the live organ farming trade would suggest. And they're hardly inalienable. If there is a vogue for mental uploads, then anti-machine bigotry is probably rising.

But what if it works the other way, too? If your upload can be resleeved into another body in the event of your death, then what about an upload arranging for the murder of the original, to take their place?

There are two possibilities that I see for Poul at the start of game. 1) He's still digital and in Poju's implant/wearables or 2) he's already downloaded into a body. But this question is less important than the previous identity question, imo.

I see other possibilities. He could be harboured on the net somewhere, ferried about in digital form to stand in for Poju for those parts of his life he finds onerous. Celebrity appearances, talking to family, etc.

But going back to what you actually suggested... The first possibility also brings up the question of how powerful and readily available implants and wearables are. I've got to assume that an entire mental construct takes up a lot of electronic real estate. The second possibility, on the other hand... Uploading is a relatively new technology, from the sound of things. How reliable is the downloading process, then? Would you want to simply have a copy of yourself walking around in the real? If not, what recourse does the upload have to achieving download? For that matter, where does the body in question come from? Volunteers? Cloning vats? Condemned convicts? And what happens if a download goes awry, and the persona is incomplete or corrupted?

Food for thought. Personally I say don't worry too much about pinning down backstory or setting details absolutely. Some things can be allowed to emerge during play.

 

[Unsung]

I have been MIA for a week of vacation and then a week getting caught up at work. I'm here now, however, and will be resuming activity today and tomorrow.

No problem. It's understandable. This month's been all over the place for me. I don't know what's going to happen to my availability in August, either, between moving and weddings and the rest of it.