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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Damon Griffin" data-source="post: 1743694" data-attributes="member: 3568">I'm trying to anticipate what kinds of EGO conflicts I might have in the future between Robyn (my non-spellcasting variant Ranger character) and Vere (his nifty magic bow.)  Vere was created as a Masterwork Mighty Longbow using wood from a legendary tree called Iolo's Yew; it is a property of items created from this wood that they can be invested with magical qualities, and ultimately become intelligent, by having the owner invest the item with some of his own XP over time.  (The details aren't really relevant to this discussion, but can be found under Personal Growth Items in the Spells & Spellcraft book if anyone's interested.)I'm going to be gradually advancing Vere through six stages of growth, as noted below.  Right now she's at Stage 1. [SIZE=-2]Stage__Characteristics________________ Communication_________Abilities    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------               1______INT 16, WIS 7, CHA 11, EGO 9____Semi-empathy__________Detect Magic at will        2______INT 16, WIS 9, CHA 13, EGO 11___Speech (Common plus___Detect Secret Doors at will     _______________________________________three languages)        3______INT 16, WIS 11 CHA 15, EGO 13___Reads all four________Find Traps at will     _______________________________________languages spoken   4______INT 16, WIS 12 CHA 16, EGO 18___Telepathy____________<Find the Path or Prying Eyes>                                       5______INT 16, WIS 13 CHA 17, EGO 22___Reads magic___________True Seeing at will_______________________________________Reads all languages  6______INT 16, WIS 14 CHA 18, EGO 25_________________________See Invisible at willOPTIONAL FINAL STAGE:   Special Purpose: Reveal that which is hidden (+4 to EGO)   Special Purpose Power: Discern Location [/SIZE]Over the course of her development, Vere will manifest three noticeable personality traits, all of which are to some extent a consequence of being an artificially constructed intelligence: (1) in keeping with her name ("Vere" means "in fact", "real" or "true") and set of abilities, she will be Truthful; (2) she will have No Sense of Humor, able to recognize it occasionally but not appreciate it or participate in its use; (3) she will have Strong Opinions on Morals, on the theory that programmed automata tend to have the zeal of the converted and are actually incapable of deviating from their programmed alignment.When you get into EGO contests with intelligent weapons, this normally involves a Will save with a DC equal to the weapon's EGO; if you lose, the weapon doesn't do what you want and may even be able to force you to do something you don't want to do, like attack an ally.  Robyn's current Will save is only +5 (+9 if wearing his Cloak of Resistance) and isn't likely to be above +7 (+11 with the Cloak) by the time Vere's EGO reaches 25.  This means that when EGO contests come up, Robyn's going to lose most of them.  That makes it VERY important to figure out how likely such contests are to occur.Here are some things to be considered:(1) Vere is not a 100-year-old minor artifact Robyn found in a cave somewhere; Robyn created her and is shaping her growth and development.  While this should not make Vere slavishly loyal to Robyn, it might be argued that their closer-than-normal relationship gives him some slack with regard ot EGO contests; a +2 circumstance bonus, perhaps?(2) Vere, like Robyn, is Chaotic Good.  The most likely time for a personality conflict is when Robyn goes into "scary half-elf" mode and does things our party's cleric doesn't approve of; this may be a deviation toward Chaotic Neutral.  OTOH, it may simply be Robyn's personal interpretation of Chaotic Good, with appropriate situational ethics applied.  If Vere's intelligence and persona develop as a direct result of Robyn investing himself (in the form of XP and time) into the weapon, then doesn't it make sense that Vere's view of the Chaotic Good alignment should match Robyn's?  She's essentially a programmed artificial intelligence, and Robyn is the programmer.  So the important question may be: Can a contructed artificial intelligence be taught situational ethics, or will they be too narrow minded for that?Any thoughts?</blockquote>

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