AI was invented before the apocalypse, and it persists long after it.
Artificial Intelligence, the means by which a computer or robot gains sentience, was developed decades before the apocalypse. It saw extensive use in defence technology, so-called ‘living weapons’, management of nuclear stockpiles, and early warning systems. It could be surprising, therefore, that there is no indication AI had any hand in the global catastrophe that brought civilisation crashing down... That was all on humans.
Even ignoring the military funding for AI applications, it was commonplace technology in everything from chatbots to robot butlers. In the last few years before everything fell apart, it had actually become more usual one would see robots roaming the streets than cars driving along them... But that may have been connected to increasing fuel shortages. Powered by self-contained batteries, rechargeable at all good shops, self-capable robotics became a very viable replacement for personal transportation and convenience.
Given the dominance of the technology pre-poc, it’s no surprise that numerous units still operate today. Largely denied any kind of legal rights before the bombs, AI found new life in the anarchic wastes where all intelligent beings survived off their own abilities. Seizing and restoring a few of the countless robotics plants across the UE, some even able to replicate their functionality in more compact and defensible locations, AI-powered robots became just another genus that embraced their new lease on existence.
These days robots of all kinds are accepted to be as free and individual as humans themselves, although they don’t often receive the same protections from groups like the Vanguard Militia. There are some settlements, however, where an extra working pair of hands, without adding a hungry mouth, is a welcome addition.
Robots, unsurprisingly, are not made of flesh and blood. You therefore do not suffer from many of the same weaknesses that organic creatures do. The flip side, however, is that you are vulnerable to things that organic brains are not.
You automatically pass any Mind and Body Checks you’re required to make, except those that make sense affecting a machine. You are also susceptible to hacking, which is resisted by either a Mind or Body Check.
In addition, you never need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. Instead you must power down for 4 hours a day or suffer effects identical to sleep deprivation. You must also recharge from a Tier 4 power source for at least an hour once a week.
You are immune to Nerve, Toxic, and Radiation damage, and you cannot mutate or gain Mutation Slots. You cannot be healed by compounds. Mechanics checks replace any use Medicine checks would normally have on you.
The mechanics around what Mind and Body Checks robots make, and what healing would be effective, are deliberately vague; it’d be virtually impossible to try and predict or list what would and wouldn’t make sense for them, so this is a case of putting trust in the individual GMs. Similarly hacking can be resisted by either Mind or Body Checks. Perhaps the best way to determine which to roll is whether the hacking is trying to inhibit function (Body Check) or hijack control (Mind Check). Finally, note that robots must take Soul Checks as normal; you’ll find that the term ‘soulless machines’ is actually quite offensive.
Technically speaking, an android is any robot that ‘looks like a human being’. Ever a popular aesthetic, most of the first generation of free-moving robots looked somewhat human, the designs only improving as time went on. By the time of the apocalypse, especially after the invention of artificial intelligence, androids were one of the most profitable consumer products on the planet. It’s no different post-poc, with humanoid robots being overwhelmingly the most common kind seen in and around the Far Wastes. It’s no accident that humanity became the dominant species in the world...perhaps their secret lies in their design.
Most units are roughly comparable to a similar being of flesh and blood, with hardened combat androids being a rarity. For obvious reasons they tend to have a better than average understanding of machinery, but androids are no more likely to become mechanics than humans are to become doctors. With fully generated personalities and learning matrices, they also benefit from an almost literal photographic memory, albeit generally short-term. In fact, the range of individuality among androids is no less than their organic neighbours, even extending to appearance; some units seem content to exist as barely more than metal endoskeletons, while other models sport cutting edge, photorealistic faux skin, and even hair.
These days the term ‘android’ is a bit paradoxical; it is both generically broad and strangely exclusive. Humans are no longer the only intelligent bipedal genus out there, but robots taking inspiration from Kraken, Elsterians, or any other non-human species are still considered ‘androids’. They have the same basic functions, after all, even if they have vestigial wings or mouth arms. On the other hand, there are examples of humanoid, bipedal robots that are not called androids, such as Ferrodryads and some Vectaline units seen. Essentially if there’s something that supersedes their basic functioning, a robot is known by that. Otherwise a humanoid robot is an android.
+2 and a +1 to different stats, one of which must be TEK.
Back in the day, it was common to ship ‘factory-standard’ robots with boosted RAM to allow them to comfortably learn and perform their tasks. Very few manufacturing hubs choose to deviate from that blueprint, meaning most androids today sport a little over 4 petabytes of RAM in their CPUs. This gives you an impressive short term memory.
You can accurately recall details you have seen in the last week; this includes things like maps, routes taken, passwords and codes, numbers up to 12 digits, and anything you’ve seen written down. You cannot necessarily replicate images, but you have a perfect mental picture.
At Lv6, or upon any future level up, you can choose to give up your 4PB RAM trait to immediately increase any stat by 2. Once done, this cannot be reversed.