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Cast-Offs of Divinity - A Merchants of Divinity Quest
- Thread starter JayTar
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Fantasy
- Location
- Sweden
Just noticed that we have stats for Kuthk, our bird:
catch them all acquire better minion chassis via training and then augment them. Might ask that we get some Science (Materials) just to effectively make basic animal armour.
I was thinking of making an intelligence trait our core discounted trait for the Infinium contract, but I wonder if we can't find something better? Something which is almost always useful, even when we're making individual parts for a monster... needs some more thinking. The system heavily encourages making items in as small packages as possible, so it's difficult to find a good "signature combo" which is sufficiently universal.
@JayTar, may I ask how basic skills are distributed for artifical creations? Do they get skills like animals even without a dedicated intelligence effect for it, and do they start at higher than 0? Would make a big difference in the calculus of making our own creature VS augmenting a tamed animal.
Those aren't the highest training rates, but the skills are actually quite respectable. We're certainly not getting higher than 3+3 skills except Science for a very long time. Hmm. I wonder if artificial creatures begin at 0 skill? I guess it depends on if we can install instincts or not. Either way, taming creatures and giving them implants might actually be quite efficient in the short term. Get a big wolfdog or similar, tame it and give it some armour and claws and we'll have quickly have a useful combat minion. After that we can work our way up the tree of dangerous animals and
I was thinking of making an intelligence trait our core discounted trait for the Infinium contract, but I wonder if we can't find something better? Something which is almost always useful, even when we're making individual parts for a monster... needs some more thinking. The system heavily encourages making items in as small packages as possible, so it's difficult to find a good "signature combo" which is sufficiently universal.
@JayTar, may I ask how basic skills are distributed for artifical creations? Do they get skills like animals even without a dedicated intelligence effect for it, and do they start at higher than 0? Would make a big difference in the calculus of making our own creature VS augmenting a tamed animal.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
I'm telling you, the answer is some form of "you can add this to an existing creature to augment them". Symbiote, additional organ, whatever. It's pretty much perfect for "assemble an awesome creature out of more manageable parts" and it helps us augment ourself, too.
Like, we already have Artificial Organ at the T3 level, which is pretty much the no-frills version of this. We'll want to extract whatever advantages we can out of the T5 version we come up with... but if you want something that you can usefully attach to basically everything you do, that's how you do it. It does self-buffing, it does minion assembly, it does making lots of money selling our skills as the biotech equivalent of a cyberdoc. It's the whole package.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
I personally want to master all the sciences not just biology. In which case making everything that we make intelligent seems very cool.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
... but that means that you only use it once per minion... unless you're proposing that we have augments be independently intelligent? That's the kind of thing that could get tiring to deal with pretty quickly.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
More like every augment has a super intelligent user interface. For example our remote that has a single big red button on it.
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- Location
- Sweden
Yeah, that seems like the best idea I can think of so far. ...Kind of does feel like Biology is getting an effect tax here though, since I can't imagine a mech build would need an extra effect to make its guns or exoskeletons or whatever mechanical augment work.
We'd probably need an effect to attach cybernetic enhancements to ourselves rather than wear an exoskeleton externally. Nothing is stopping us from making an exoskeleton out of bone, chiton, and muscle without needing an artificial organ. Most bio effects will work just fine as an external version, would just rather implant them so they can't be removed from us.
Honestly once per minion is probably the best I think we'll be able to do.
Keep in mind if we're using bio initially then it's most likely always going to be a bio brain.
I do think I have an idea that, if allowed, might just be our best choice. A neuroplasticity enhancer-esque effect that enhances mental capacity. It has the advantage of being able to be tacked on to a higher tier brain, so it should be useful even later.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
And I say that we are going learn the base building blocks of intelligence in general such as to make the distinction meaningless.
JayTar
Idea briefcase
I added the artificial intelligence rules in the tutorial informational. They have whatever skills you design them to have (within the limitations of tier).
The skills start at 0, but even with low learning multipliers they can pick up the basics quickly.
They can learn on their own without teaching just like you can after all. (If they have sufficient material/information/data at least).
Sirrocco
Pedantic
No, see. That's the point of the modular plan.
We start with, say, a bog-standard wolf.
- We add an implant that increases its intelligence
- We add an implant that toughens its skin
- We add an implant that improves the power of its bite
- We add an implant that improves the strength of its legs.
That's all fairly basic, simple stuff, but we've leveraged the "we can make awesome implants" feature four times on the same minion... and in so doing, we've broken down the individual effects into more manageable chunks, that we can work on one at a time. Even better, we get to keep usign the same minions. We come up with an upgraded effect, or a new effect? One that's just too good to do without? We just add it in. We keep the creatures we've adapted, with the existing relationships, and any training we may have put them through.
The exponential AP growth DOES tend to favour that method.
Would a biological created intelligence not, generally speaking, be a modified lab-grown version of an existing animal? Does that count as a different mechanic entirely or does growing them in a lab make them dumber? I suppose maybe in the case of a genetically/physically modified creature maybe only the modifications count as crafting effects, as you're not making an intelligence from scratch?
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Thinking about it, I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of adding "hardtech gear" to "biotech implants" in the general modular plan... assuming that there are things that are clearly easier/better when done with the one versus the other.
@JayTar - do we have any idea of the strengths/weaknesses of going biotech versus hardtech as far as minion creation and/or personal augmentation are concerned? It seems like the sort of thing that Leviathan would have paid attention to, studied up on, and developed opinions about.
@JayTar - do we have any idea of the strengths/weaknesses of going biotech versus hardtech as far as minion creation and/or personal augmentation are concerned? It seems like the sort of thing that Leviathan would have paid attention to, studied up on, and developed opinions about.
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Chapter 1: Turn 2 Life in the City (Week 15):
JayTar
Idea briefcase
Chapter 1: Turn 2 Life in the City (Week 15):
[X] Plan: Bones' Weighty AP
-[X] Skill training (Course of study) (Science (Biology)) (4 TAP)
-[X] Work: You have a clinic to run now. Pay based on Medicine + Surgery + Pharmacology roll (2 AP)
-[X] Draft a schematic (Tactical Retreat Injector (TRI)) (1 AP) (Experiment)
--[X] Adrenaline booster: T2 Biology. Cost: 6, Benefit: +6 to Athletics (Running)
-[X] Arrange for an assistant. A final line of defense against interruptions. Someone to make sure all your patients arrive on time, and fill any holes in your schedule. (2 AP)
-[X] Start the marathon. (Consumes all AP until 20 have been spent.)
-[X] Skill training (Course of study) (Science (Biology)) (4 TAP)
-[X] Work: You have a clinic to run now. Pay based on Medicine + Surgery + Pharmacology roll (2 AP)
-[X] Draft a schematic (Tactical Retreat Injector (TRI)) (1 AP) (Experiment)
--[X] Adrenaline booster: T2 Biology. Cost: 6, Benefit: +6 to Athletics (Running)
-[X] Arrange for an assistant. A final line of defense against interruptions. Someone to make sure all your patients arrive on time, and fill any holes in your schedule. (2 AP)
-[X] Start the marathon. (Consumes all AP until 20 have been spent.)
Training at the University (Advanced): (3+3)d(3+1+1)=6d5 per TAP
4 TAP spent.
24d5 =[4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 5, 1, 5, 1, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 5, 2, 1, 5, 5, 3] = 76*2 =152 exp
Science (Biology) now at 4 (480/810)
4 TAP spent.
24d5 =[4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 5, 1, 5, 1, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 5, 2, 1, 5, 5, 3] = 76*2 =152 exp
Science (Biology) now at 4 (480/810)
You nonchalantly flip through your biology textbook on a bench in a transit platform. It's not the same textbook you started the class with.
Across from you a student with oversized goggles waves his hands though the air to manipulate an invisible digital construct. You wonder, is your preference for physical media an outgrowth of your upbringing, or a reflection of your specialization in biology? You vaguely recall hearing about an ancient paper production method using plant fiber.
You idly tease the corner of a page. Were these ultra thin sheets the product of a biological process? Perhaps peeled off a living plant? Or pressed from a vat of algae? You can only speculate.
Perception 3 + Body Language 3 = 6 dice
6d6 = [3, 4, 4, 6, 4, 3] = 24
DC = 15/25
6d6 = [3, 4, 4, 6, 4, 3] = 24
DC = 15/25
Some instinct twitches in the back of your mind. You look up and scan your eyes across the crowd. There, the person two seats down is tensing. Why are they tensing? Follow their gaze, the person five seats down looks alarmed. Follow their gaze. At the end of the platform a disheveled scientist runs though the crowd. This is not in and of itself noteworthy. The way he is frantically accosting strangers however is.
In almost no time he is in front of you. Eyes wide and skittish. "Please please. Something! Anything!"
You make the mistake of returning his attention. "What are you talking about? Speak clearly."
His eyes lock onto you. "Please. I'm almost out of time! Money. Fungibles." He glances down at your book for some reason.
It is only a split second too late you recognize the pure distilled desperation in his eyes.
Leviathan Grimm vs ???
Combat dice: 1d6 vs 4d6-4
Round 1:
[3] = 3 vs [1, 4, 4, 6] = 15-4 = 11
11-3=8
Leviathan has her book stolen?
Round 2:
??? tries to run:
4d6 vs 4d6-4
[2, 5, 1, 1] = 9 vs [5, 5, 4, 2]-4=16-4=12
Distance changes to medium...
Combat dice: 1d6 vs 4d6-4
Round 1:
[3] = 3 vs [1, 4, 4, 6] = 15-4 = 11
11-3=8
Leviathan has her book stolen?
Round 2:
??? tries to run:
4d6 vs 4d6-4
[2, 5, 1, 1] = 9 vs [5, 5, 4, 2]-4=16-4=12
Distance changes to medium...
Without a second of hesitation he lunges at you. You cringe backwards, instinctively brandishing your book. Instead of smashing it aside however he grabs it and tears it from your hands. Then turns and runs?
"Hey!" you shout and rush after him. Not so much thinking as reacting. How dare he steal your textbook! Kutkh caws and bursts into flight after you. Unfortunately your sitting start slowed you down. By the time get to the end of the platform he is already halfway down the next one. Ready to vanish into the crowd.
Leviathan vs ???
4d6 vs 4d6-5
[2, 4, 5, 1] = 12 vs [1, 3, 6, 2]-4=12-4=8
4d6 vs 4d6-5
[2, 4, 5, 1] = 12 vs [1, 3, 6, 2]-4=12-4=8
You refuse. You put on a burst of speed and dash down the articulated ramp. Through the segments of glass and metal you can see the city drifting by below. You burst past the handful of standing passengers and find the thief stopped at the end of the next platform. "There you are! Now give-"
Your words die in your throat when you notice just why the thief stopped. The roof of the platform is peeled back. Wind whistles in. Floating in the gap is a car sized drone. Perfectly matching the platform's movement to appear utterly unnaturally still. It is one of the cities enforcement drones. Bright orange and boxy. Its attachments make you think of some giant insect looming over you. The entire world seems to bend slightly away from it.
The thief cowers back. Clutching your book as if it were a shield in an odd parody of your own actions. "I-I no. I still had time! Just-just a few minutes! I can get the money!"
"[DIRECTIVE #2 ORDNANCE 67 (Petty theft) VIOLATION. 50 CREDIT FINE] – Stupid stupid dumb dumb~"
"[DIRECTIVE #2 ORDNANCE 487 (Causing a public disturbance) VIOLATION. 200 CREDIT FINE] – What you thought we wouldn't see?"
"[DIRECTIVE #2 THRESHOLD 7 MET] – Lol you're screwed."
??? vs Enforcement Drone Gamma-14
Combat dice: ...
Enforcement Drone Gamma-14: "Lol"
Enforcement Drone Gamma-14: "You really thought you had a chance?"
Combat dice: ...
Enforcement Drone Gamma-14: "Lol"
Enforcement Drone Gamma-14: "You really thought you had a chance?"
The thief throws your book in the air and tries to run. He doesn't even make a step. An opaque azure energy field boxes him in before being drawn up into the drone's internal compartment. Your book hits the ground with a thump a moment later.
The drone wiggles oddly in the air before turning and scanning the room. "Hehehe. Nothing to worry about. You may proceed with your activities citizens!" It then peels off into the air. The ceiling clicks shut like the lid of a coffin.
You numbly pick your book up off the ground. The only sign of the entire encounter is three rumpled pages.
You feel a touch on your shoulder and almost jump. "Hey it'll be okay. There wasn't anything you could have done." Next to you is a plain looking office worker. Probably one of the university's administrative staff.
You turn away. "I'm fine"
"It's okay. Seeing something like that is always rough."
You pay no more attention and walk off.
Mental fortitude 2 + Resisting mental pain 0 = 2 dice
2d6 = [2, 3] = 5
DC = 8 - 4 (Support) = 4
2d6 = [2, 3] = 5
DC = 8 - 4 (Support) = 4
You don't care about the half-wit. He is simply no longer a factor in your life, and such any emotions are wasted effort. Set emotional weight to zero. Discard and ignore. Concern regarding his fate is beneath you.
No. What chills your spine is wondering just how closely you edged to the same death spiral.
Science 3 + Biology 4 = 7 dice
7d6 = [2, 3, 1, 2, 6, 6, 6] = 26
AP cost = (((6*2)^(1.5))/(26*1)+0.5)^2 = 4.4 = 5 AP
7d6 = [2, 3, 1, 2, 6, 6, 6] = 26
AP cost = (((6*2)^(1.5))/(26*1)+0.5)^2 = 4.4 = 5 AP
Reworking your latest schematic into something more streamlined gives you time to settle your mind. At least the next time you get into a chase you will have an extra edge
Medicine 3 + Surgery 3 + Pharmacology 2= 8 dice
8d6 = [6, 3, 5, 3, 2, 4, 4, 6] =33
33-18= 15
Gain 4.5 decent dots
8d6 = [6, 3, 5, 3, 2, 4, 4, 6] =33
33-18= 15
Gain 4.5 decent dots
Your usual routine percolates an odd sense of melancholy. Like the last class before a final exam. Does your impending marathon change what you are doing now? It doesn't, yet it feels like it should.
When you finish with your last patient you connect to the city's systems and begin to make the necessary arrangements. It is surprisingly painless. Even scheduling for assistants only requires a few basic button presses and a signature. It is interesting you note, just how much this particular process has been streamlined. You idly think back on Ms. Mask and her deal. Would she have charged you for this too?
With that done you sit down to plan our your schedule for the next two weeks, as least as much as you are able. There are still a few small choices you need to make.
First is your education. Normally you dedicate a portion of every week to study and self improvement. Normally. Needing to devote your every free moment to practicing medicine is the sort of thing which gets in the way of that.
Now you could just cram in all your planned study in before and after the marathon. It would be extremely unpleasant, but you are confident you can handle it.
Alternatively you could temporarily forgo your studies. It would let you complete the marathon well ahead of your expectations.
Additionally you will have to decide on what science you will be doing during the small slivers of time your contract mandates.
Vote on your schedule:
[] Schedule One:
Week 15: 5 AP on marathon.
Week 16: 9 AP on marathon. 1 AP on science
Week 17: 6 AP on marathon. 1 AP on science (Vote on remaining 3 AP)
[] Schedule Two:
Week 15: 5 AP on marathon
Week 16: 13 AP on marathon. 1 AP on science
Week 17: 2 AP on marathon 1 AP on science (Vote on remaining 7 AP)
[] Schedule (Write in):
What will you be doing with your science AP on week 16?
[] Science AP:
-[] (Write in)
AN: Bleh, this took too long to get out. I'll try to get to people's questions.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
That's a good roll. Which makes the plan vote easy.
[X] Schedule One:
-[X]Make Tactical Retreat Injector (TRI)) 5 AP -Science
@JayTar This has come up before but just what are the directives? I feel like we should know them at our level of AI administrator protocols.
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Sirrocco
Pedantic
Ah, right! Because making the tactical retreat injector actually works as a way to spend SCIENCE time.
[X] Schedule One:
-[X]Make Tactical Retreat Injector (TRI)) 5 AP -Science
Some day, I'd like to get to the point where our biological augmentations are not merely chemical boosts... but today is not that day.
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JayTar
Idea briefcase
Different mechanic. The artificial intelligence rules regard ones made from scratch.
Yeah if you want to make a modified version of an animal, you can get the animal and start making modifications using the existing mechanics.
A detailed breakdown would be beyond the scope of what I can quickly answer here. Leviathan does have "opinions", but they are heavily skewed by favoritism.
I will note that pure mechanical engineering can't do personal augmentation though. Like, you can make useful devices, but not like implants and such.
I might write up something in-character to expand on things later.
I can't give a full list, for a number of reasons. The least of which that the administration is often quite enigmatic.
But regarding the ones that have come up so far:
Directive #2: Leviathan might describe this as "negative reinforcement" or perhaps "pruning the garden". Directive #2 actions cover the protection and preservation of ordered society. (Though how exactly the administration defines ordered society is a matter of debate.)
Directive #3: Leviathan might describe this as "positive reinforcement" or perhaps "encouraging growth". Scientific and educational grants fall under directive #3, as well as other beneficial initiatives.
The thing to remember is that the directives are less unbreakable laws, and more guidelines for the administration's decision making. It is theoretically possible to file a permit to commit a murder in broad daylight, though of course Leviathan has never seen any reputable evidence of anyone actually acquiring any such a permit.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Schedule One:
-[X]Make Tactical Retreat Injector (TRI)) 5 AP -Science
-[X]Make Tactical Retreat Injector (TRI)) 5 AP -Science
Sirrocco
Pedantic
So... it occurs to me... there are people out there - even semicompetent scientist types - who are desperately in need of small-to-moderate amounts of funds. Falling off the bottom in this city is very possible and very bad.
So... if we can manage at some point to develop an implant that will ensure a subject's loyalty/obedience to us, and develop enough income, this could be an excellent source of potential minions.
So... if we can manage at some point to develop an implant that will ensure a subject's loyalty/obedience to us, and develop enough income, this could be an excellent source of potential minions.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Would it make sense to apply for a permit when taking that action?
We have seen that there are options if you are desperate for income. One of our starting options was to apply as a test subject. I expect that most would do that before taking on a loyalty chip.
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JayTar
Idea briefcase
If it is relevant, it will be taken care of as part of the action. Good thinking though.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
How much combat skills would we need to see just how beyond us that Drone is?
JayTar
Idea briefcase
Seeing as you only have combat 1+1...
You don't even know that. At your current level you would have trouble observing even say Leader in combat.
It would also require the drone to be in some sort of non-trivial combat which you can observe.
You might have some more luck analyzing it scientifically.
Right now Leviathan would say the energy field was probably some form of high level Energistics. But that is just a guess.
She has no idea how the flight or anything else worked.
