(Robots) The recent movie Surrogates starring Bruce Willis may be prompting some gamers to consider using the flavor of that movie where people live out their lives through remote surrogate robot bodies that are designed to look, act and feel like human without the disadvantages.
The technology of the FSpace universe is certainly up to the task of creating such robot replicants, and using a human mind to control them is certainly possible. Humanoid cyborgs do exist, and remote operation of robots as though you are there is within the rules using AV based neural jacks for remote ops.
In playtesting we had one player adventure through a supped up Mechanical RC while he remained typically on the player's starship.
We certainly support Terran military forces investing in the development of Remote Ops based soldier Joe style surrogates like those portrayed in the movie. In the fight against the Stotatl, Terrans are likely to trial this kind of warfare alongside normal combat robots, cyborgs and other methods to offset some of those early advantages.
We see socially some exploration of the concepts of surrogates, but the costs involved would keep these out of the hands of the masses. The most common use will be the remote ops work through more normal worker and exploration robots. Some middle income families might avoid expensive remote ops basic robots, much as in today's culture we might buy an expensive remote control micro plane or car.
Be aware that wholesale adoption of robot technology involving human consciousness overlaid in machines is territory that politically and socially will not be that attractive because of the Mech threat. Humans embrace this more than most races, most of whom would steer clear. For the Aratani, because it's easy to permanently transfer a copy of consciousness either way, surrogacy isn't that attractive, when a permanent move is possible. Given some AI machines have taken human bodies as well, such disregard for the boundary between man and machine makes for interesting political and social debate.
So in conclusion, FSpace is ripe for the use of the surrogacy concept, and we encourage GMs to use it as they see fit.Document or Weblink
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