In juvenile effort to make my 666 post something more than just replying to someone elses topic, in looking over SR rules again, and having burned through Halo 3 again last night, I figured I'd combine a question I had, and also get my "Demon" analogy in the same swing.

In Halo, Master Chief runs around with Cortana, an AI on the fast track to going bonkers, but who also happens to be quite L33T. Looking over SR Companion rules, one could have an AI who's home turf is a Commlink. By extending that, could you have a character that has an internal commlink that also carries an AI? Has anyone run a game with such a setup? In the sense of allowing 2 characters to possibly be run by 1 player?

Also, am I understanding the rules of AI mortality correctly? In the case of this AI riding around in a home turf internal commlink, in regards to the 3 ways to kill an AI: 1)The AI is recompiling and the commlink is simultaneously shut down. 2)This internal commlink is destroyed 3)or as usual if one of its mental attributes is reduced to 0.

Also, in regards to the commlink/AI, is the commlink considered the AI's meatbody for purposes of getting dumped? If the node they're hacking gets shutdown do they get stuck in that location, or do they get dumped back to their hometurf/commlink?

As a GM, I'd much rather run the AI myself as an NPC or, if another player thought it was interesting, let the AI be run as a PC. The reason for that is that it's very hard to get good dialog between two characters if both of them are played by the same player. It would take someone with some acting talent to be able to pull it off properly. And it's a good way for me as GM to give the players some advice when they're about to do something horribly, horribly bad.

Not sure about the Logistics but I like the general concept.

If you read between the lines this kinda already is in play. Most of your gear now has hook ups to your comlink an many of them have personality programs built in. Your AK97 might talk to you in a low brow Russian accent. Your Ares Predator might be a bit trigger happy ect.

While not full AI in their own right, it's a logical evolution from that to what you're describing.

I had one. It was a rigger with an internal commlink, and an AI hacker in his head. Worked like a charm! The hacker would bust in to a building, or a car, or a drone while the rigger did whatever, until the AI was in, and the rigger would take control and wreak havoc.

Just use an agent, unless a real player is controlling the extra character.

Not a full AI, but the Dreamchipper run for 1st edition had 'artificial personality' chips which were a sort of hybrid of BTLs and skillsoft.

Used a variation of that idea with a later PC where the character was one of the bodies used for just such a chip. However in a fight, the chip got damaged and shorted out, leaving the rather surprised original personality in control. They were getting some benefits of the chip, but also weird stuff. I was planning to do things like memory flashes, personality overrides, and eventually have a recovery team show up to try and recover the PC.

Heh holy crap, call me Friday, its Rogue Trooper

How about if the character takes the 10 point erased, and a high level A.I. hacker contact?

Well, a contact wouldn't ride around in your head, and the GM would have to control it. I wouldn't choose that situation for myself.

Indeed, the only thing allowed to ride around in my head is the government.


wait.....

Heh, I also find it interesting that as I tinker, I realize that while prices have dropped dramatically for gear, especially in regards comlinks and stuff, if you wanted to setup a permanent home for a AI (perma-pay the lifestyle cost), you could do it by shelling out the 1 mil creds or so you used to need for an old Fairlight Excalibur deck or cranial cyberdeck.

I'd do this only if I played a veteran with lots of cyberware. Including an extra commlink, computer and datajack in my crotch where the AI could reside.

Works best with free sprites and technomancers, thier node can support them.

But I can also see a muse type deal, with a virtual personality/pet ARE software that is well programmed to interact with the owner (not a real AI but close enough to fool somone with a delusion trait)

Take an Agent with Adaptability 3, interface it with a Virtual Personality and you have yourself, to quote Mass Effect, a Virtual Intelligence.

All I know is, Cortana was the most annoying thing in those games, and I was dying for her to shut up.

Meatpuppet PC...

Wired Reflexes 1
Cybereyes
Cyberears
Commlink

Now the AI controls the motor functions of the body through the commlink as all cyber is slaved through it and the DNI interface is disabled so that the meatpuppet cannot change any settings.

It does NOT control the mouth movement though as I do believe that wired reflexes are mainly for controlling muscle movement of limbs - but I think we can stretch the plausability for that so that the AI controls the merc with a mouth too.

This gives an interesting situation if the AI becomes incapacitated, rebooted etc as the "trapped" person is suddenly free...and perhaps insane, mad, angry as hell.

Who said the 2 people in 1 had to be cooperative with each others?

Borg name? 2 of 1.

Not Wired Reflexes.
You need move by wire.
Or simply the Stirr-Up-Interface

I knew I got something wrong.

It happens.

Hmm, it says that a person rigging an animal with stirrup interface uses their own skills -1D6 but that a pilot program functions just like a drone.

Would then an AI function like a character or a drone? They would RIG it like a character but would be more of a pilot program.

Do both kinds get a -1D6?

More importantly, WHY do one get a -1D6?

Is it because the animal is aware? But in that case the pilot program would have the same problem.

What if one disconnect the brain? A braindead animal controlled with a drone brain?

this is all an incredibly complicated technological way to mimic simple spirit possession.

Although I do feel that shadowrun is lacking in rules that allow a possessing spirit to not be at the forefront of the conciousness & body all the time. Instead simply letting it be a voice in your head sometimes. Anyone play Dark Messiah of Might & Magic? Interesting possession going on there. You could bring the demon to the forefront to control & morph the body sometimes, but other than that it remained as just sort of a tempter and narrator.

Indeed... very useful they are...

A sam, a pact with a possession Free Spirit, an AI that lives in his commlink. The Trinity.

Heheheh... an Unholy one at that...

And given all the gear, heck, why be host to just 1 AI? 1 in your primary gun, one in your armor, the commlink, your car, etc

I currently have a gigantic campaign going on with one of my oldest runners. Whenever we're bored and it is just the two of us, we play this pink mohawk style campaign we've been messing around in. My friend plays his guy and a few NPCs, I play the rest. He is currently trucking around in light oroyoi military armor with a stolen military commlink with an free sprite stuck in it while wielding a sword possessed by a free spirit. He gets to play all three personalities and generally looks insane as he is regularly arguing with his helmet or his sword. Despite sounding incredibly overpowered, it was basically necessary to let one person competently address all of the aspects of your average Shadowrun scenario (astral/matrixical/physical).

Been there, done that, based it off the book 'path of the furry'. You REALLY didn't want to mess with that character.

Maybe I'm just blind, but how long does it take to shutdown a node (OMG CUT THE POWAH!)? I can see how long it takes to shutdown and reboot, but I'm not seeing just shutdown. Tho some of the descriptors in AI stuff say AI may be able to jump out of a node before shutdown...

This seems like it would be a great idea if you're running a solo game with a new-ish player. It's a way to have an NPC with the solo player, but not in a way that seem like you're tinkering with the game too much, and can give a samurai character some hacking help in a pinch.

The path of the fury, by david weber? Read it. Main character was -so- ridiculous by the end, but its still a fairly neat idea to poach.

All I know is that I *REALLY* don't want to mess with 'The Path of the *Furry*'.

the phrase "I am death incarnate" I felt summed(edit) her up rather nicely.

...heh...misread that as 'felt her up rather nicely'.

Anyway, Im reading a heading on AIs, and its signal and response are limited to the node they are in? Does that mean its possible for an AI to get trapped by jumping from a node with a high signal that overlaps the range of the destination, but that destination lacks the distance to reach back to the original node?

In theory, but if that node can not effectively get a signal out, the A.I. shouldn't know it exists, and wouldn't be able to travel to it.

I think a better way would be to have a switch cut power when something gets downloaded into the node. Hard or do anything with the power off.

At that point your node will never be up... at some point you need to balance the need to actually, like, use the Node vs. securing it from intrusion...

Just sayin'

Does anyone have recommendations on what the base freebie programs of an AI that was born of a Home Management Software Suite? Lets say it starts of with a rating 5, as it was a management suite of a mansion, and...because I've been watching too much harem anime that have maids and stuff, its avatar is a maid.

Analyze and Command, likely.

I've been looking, but my eyes are glazing over. When an AI improves a home node to increase its signal, is that a 'virtual signal' in regards to resisting jamming, or can an AI in a home node of a rating 3 commlink, turn that commlink from a 400m range into a 10km broadcasting machine (at rating 6)?