I am confused by the costs of the following two abilities: Chatty (5 BP, +2 dice pool modifier to Social Skill Tests when communicating via AR or VR), and Synthetic Sympathy (10 BP, +2 dice pool modifier for all Social Skill Tests with AIs).

1) If I have an internal comlink, and an image link, would Chatty give it's bonus dice all the time, for all interactions, since I can always be using AR? If so is it not a little too cheap?

2) Since all communication with AIs would be via AR or VR, Chatty is more powerful than Synthetic Sympathy, at half the cost.

3) Synthetic Sympathy also starts with "A character with Synthetic Sympathy has an instinct for the cognitive processes of artificial intelligences of all kinds." Based on the description , should it also apply to sprites?

Assuming I am not missing something, do you think that: A) the costs should be switched; B) Chatty should cost more like 15 BP; C) Synthetic Sympathy should cost 5 BP for AIs or Sprites, and 10 BP for both; or D) something other solution entirely.

I would make the distinction that Sprites are more like summoned Bots and AI's are Artificial Intelligences. AI's are self aware on a scale that Sprites have yet to achive or that they have to be "free" sprites.

As for the first question, the answer should be an emphatic NO. The idea is that the character is more comfortable in social situations that have the distance and separation from the other person that you'd have in a commcall or online chat. The fact of the matter is, if the person really is right in front of you, addressing you directly, that really isn't the same thing. Where exactly the line is drawn will depend on the GM, of course.

Agreed with Eryk. You're not communicating *through* VR or AR, just using AR to augment when the person is right in front of you. Communicating *through* it would be a remote communication, like a phone call.

As to the difference in the qualities, I'd rule that AI's, being artificial, are inherently different and thus more difficult to understand. Anyone who is able to communicate with them effectively has either spent a lot of time studying and practicing, or has their brain wired a little off to make it easy for them (not literal wire, just predisposed). Yes, technically the first quality could also apply to AI's, but then due to the difference in beings, it may also balance back to a 0 modifier if the GM imposes penalties for speaking to what is essentially an alien. A nice GM would let you take both and have the bonuses stack when talking to AIs.

Unless I'm quite mistaken, "via" means "by way of." For example, if I am holding a cell phone, am I communicating via phone if I am talking to someone next to me? I suppose you could communicate with someone via AR when they're sitting next to you, but if it was me behind the Big Black Screen, I'd rule that the awkwardness of ignoring the person next to you in RL would negate the bonus ("You're coming in loud and clear." "Because I'm standing right here.").


That's a fair point. Let me check my notes ... it looks like the original draft for Chatty had only a +1 for AR, and the original Synthetic Sympathy offered a bonus on all tests against AIs, not just Social ones. When the final draft was sent it, Chatty still had the lower modifier, so I can't tell you the reasoning behind that. Synthetic Sympathy did get changed in the final draft, so that one's my fault; it's possible that the reasoning behind that one is that it opens some doors for dealing with protosapient and xenosapient AIs that other characters wouldn't have, and so it's 10 BP as intended. Actually, now that I think about it, that makes a lot of sense.


I'm fairly certain that sprites aren't AIs, similar to the way that a spirit isn't an Awakened sapient critter.


Personally, I'd leave Chatty as it is. A +2 bonus is usually 10 BP, but with the additional limitation of context, that would knock it down, even without the lower modifier. Plus, there are plenty of people you can't use it against, like spirits, and sapient critters, not to mention that it's no good in a stand-off ("Okay, before you beat me, I'd like to chat with you real quick; would you mind giving me your commcode?").

On reading this thread, I initially agreed that Synthetic Sympathy should be cheaper: it has the same bonus-plus-context-limitation thing that Chatty does. But then it occurred to me that it also works on proto- and xenosapients, who are pretty hard to reason with. Codeslinger also has a +2 in a limited context, and that's 10 BP for one application of one skill, not for an entire set of skills. Compare also Trustworthy, which for 5 BP grants a +1 for one skill.

So yeah. I think in the context of The Whole World, I'd leave the costs as they are.

I'm still unclear on a couple of points.

Are not free sprites sentient?

Aaron, are you suggesting that Chatty should not apply to interactions with some or all AIs despite it's current wording? Or just reinforcing that Synthetic Sympathy could be stacked on top of Chatty for a +4 bonus with AIs.

FREE sprites could be sentient and should be treated as a digital free spirit or an AI (both are similar but different)

Regular sprites are not.

Wild sprites are more or less uncontrolled digital creatures much like uncontrolled spirits - they are however not sentient.

Whether they are or not, are they AIs? As written, they are not.


I'm not sure what I wrote that might suggest that I implied that Chatty does not apply to interactions with AIs, but that was not my intent.

As an aside, I'd also like to mention that it is possible to communicate with AIs outside of AR and VR.