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AI's (and Tech heroes) vs Technopaths/kinetics...
mordray001
Posts: 220 Arc User
Any idea how this would play out?
I've been thinking about that hacking of Socrates and began to wonder how an AI could deal with an organic's attempts to infiltrate them. In some thought experiments I equated telepathy to wifi and 'mental defenses' to firewalls and I'm to the point that I'm wondering if there is anything official, ie via the books, about this?
As presented in the Socrates hack Cybermind seemed to just be doing coding... which fits with the concept. Even the cybermind alert is set up on this assumption... but that can't be the only interpretation... can it?
I've been thinking about that hacking of Socrates and began to wonder how an AI could deal with an organic's attempts to infiltrate them. In some thought experiments I equated telepathy to wifi and 'mental defenses' to firewalls and I'm to the point that I'm wondering if there is anything official, ie via the books, about this?
As presented in the Socrates hack Cybermind seemed to just be doing coding... which fits with the concept. Even the cybermind alert is set up on this assumption... but that can't be the only interpretation... can it?
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Hero System also has a Power called Mental Defense, which directly reduces the amount of effect the target takes from what the attacker rolled. Again, there's more to it, but that should be enough to grasp the concept.
But that's just the mechanical definition of how it works. Another major component of Hero is "special effects, " i.e. why it works within the game reality, how it looks and "feels." For example, you could define a "mind" in different ways: organic brain, computer intelligence, golem's enchantment, cloud of psychic energy, whatever. Similarly, the Special Effect of a Mental Power could be magic spell, hypnotic gaze, psionic influence, drugs, brain-infecting viruses or nanobots... the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. By the same token, Mental Defense could be a computer's firewall, or a psychic force-field, or a warding enchantment, or wearing psionic-proof devices or materials, or just a very disciplined mind.
Some constructs of Mental Powers may be Limited to only function against particular types of minds, e.g. humans, animals, AIs, machines, reptilian aliens, and so on. Particular types of "mind," like unintelligent computers and robots, magical constructs, and similar beings which can only follow set orders, may be immune to most Mental Powers as their default, but can be defined to be vulnerable to specific Special Effects; common examples from the books are computers vs "cyberkinesis," and undead vs "necromancy."
What all that's leading up to is that in the case of Cybermind specifically, while his cyberkinetic powers may appear like coding, he's really taking direct control of those machines with the energy from his mind. Cybermind has never formally studied computer science, and despite being the world's most effective hacker he's rather ignorant of common hacker terms, practices and equipment. But that's really just one possible description and explanation for that particular iteration of Hero's generalized Powers. You could just as easily say that a computer manipulator changes the flow of electricity and magnetic fields within the machine, or alters its hardware on a molecular level, or projects his psyche directly into it like a possessing ghost. The AI might defend itself with a firewall, or a dampening field against electromagnetic or even psychic intrusion, or its mental architecture may extend into more than three dimensions and be unreachable, or it might even be able to generate a retaliatory mental "feedback."
I don't know whether any of that answered your question, so please feel free to post followups if you require more.
I'm curious though, how does destroyer protect his creations from these beings? IIRC he's got an AI of his own.
Incidentally, Doctor D's PnP write-up has several types of cumulative Mental Defense. His helmet, made from his unique Destreum alloy, provides some. Additional defense is defined as "Intense Willpower," while another amount which only works against Mind Control comes from "Intense Sense Of Self." Finally, if he anticipates facing a powerful mentalist like Menton, DD can attach a Psychic Shield device to his helmet which adds even more Mental Defense.
So the AI has its own mental defense and unspecified encryption and stealth systems... alright... I can work with that.
Thanks for the info looks like the writers took the easy path.
Sennacherib's radio-frequency communication system is built with an Advantage, "Invisible To Tracing," which hides it from attempts to track its transmissions. Advantages are additional Hero System mechanics allowing someone to tailor a particular Power build in a very wide range of specific ways.
Sennacherib ultimately destroyed Babylon because the city’s people never accepted Assyrian rule. Sounds pretty on-brand for a type-A Malthusian megalomaniac like Destroyer. Or he has a stanza tattooed on his back like Pam from Archer. Could go either way.
They're not there in the beginning, but when your story ends / Gonna last with you longer than your friends
I suspect what it really comes down to is, former Hero Games Line Developer Steve Long just liked the name, "Sennacherib." It wouldn't be the first character he named for that reason, even if its literal meaning wasn't the most appropriate -- see "Incubus" in CV Vol.3.
EDIT: BTW, CV3 has another villain called Sargon, or rather, SARGON, because the first three letters are an acronym for, " Seismic Amplification and Redirection." You can probably guess his powers/weapons from that.