All robot characters start out with the advantages listed on page 9 of GURPS
Robots. (They are repeated on page 55.) This default list is adjusted for
neural-net and sentient robots, as described in the book.
After I read through the Compendium I, I came up with some
additional innate advantages. The list below is long, but, according to the
rules, every robot has each of these benefits. There are a few cases where
innate advantages are lost during design, so start with this list and then
cross them off as you build your robot.
I refer to three GURPS books in this article (the two previously-noted
books and the Basic Set), so my page designations are marked with RO,
CI, and B.
| Immunity to Poison |
15 points |
| High Pain Threshold |
10 points |
| Immunity to Disease |
10 points |
| No Blood |
5 points |
| No Impaling Bonus |
15 points |
| No Vitals |
5 points |
| Vacuum Support |
30 points |
| Doesn't Eat or Drink |
10 points |
| Doesn't Sleep |
20 points |
| No Fatigue Costs |
15 points |
| Unfazeable |
15 points |
| Radio Speech |
25 points |
| Secret Communication |
20 points |
| Total |
195 points |
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Immunity to Poison
This is one of the many hazards to which robots are immune. See the sidebar on
p. RO97. You might want to remove this advantage if the robot has the
Three Bio Features: biomechanical structure, a bioconvertor power plant,
and a biomechanical brain. Or, instead of removing it, you could downgrade it
to Resistant to Poison, which is worth 5 points (p. CI29).
High Pain Threshold
Robots do not suffer from shock or knockdown (p. RO99). A biomechanical
structure eliminates this advantage (see p. RO40).
Immunity to Disease
Unless the robot has a biomechanical structure, it is immune to diseases.
If the Game Master allows, you can make a biomechanical robot Disease-Resistant
to reflect the fact that it is still substantially mechanical. (Disease-Resistant is worth 5 points. It gives the character +8
against diseases.)
Injury Tolerance
Robots do not bleed (p. RO97), so they have the No Blood advantage. There
are two cases that could make the robot a "bleeder" if it has the Three Bio Features, or if it could leak some other precious fluid when it is injured.
Robots do not take double damage from normal impaling attacks. This is the
20-point No Impaling Bonus advantage from p. CI58, reduced to 15 points because
robots still take double damage from impaling energy weapons such as blasters and lasers.
Although robots have vital parts in their abdomens, they don't suffer the
effects listed on p. B248. This gives them the No Vitals advantage.
Vacuum Support
Unless it has an internal combustion engine or a bioconvertor, a robot
doesn't need oxygen to survive. According to page RO35, this benefit is
supposed to be covered by the Doesn't Breathe advantage, worth 20 points (p.
CI53). But a character with Doesn't Breathe still requires oxygen he just
absorbs it through his skin.
I looked for a replacement, something a little more accurate. I tried
Vacuum Adaptation (p. CI69), but it didn't work. It includes a DR bonus, the
cost is weird (twenty-seven points?), and it gives the character "an
extra layer of adipose tissue" (whatever that is).
After reading the list of hazards that robots can resist (p. RO97), I chose
Vacuum Support instead. It's just right. Well, there is a slight
problem: Vacuum Support includes the 15-point version of Pressure Support (p.
CI63). The 15-point Pressure Support allows the robot to survive at the core of
a gas giant. Yeesh! (Why are these advantages combined like this? I have no
idea.) I was planning on adding Pressure Support to the list of innate
advantages anyway, but I was going to use the 5-point version.
So, to make things as complex as possible (ha ha), all robots have a version of
Vacuum Support that includes the 5-point version of Pressure Support.
This is worth a total of 30 points and it covers most of the hazards in the
sidebar of p. RO97.
Doesn't Eat or Drink
. . . or excrete. Unless the robot has a bioconvertor. See p. RO94. But
does a bioconvertor automatically make the robot excrete wastes? Does anyone out there know the official rules for robot poop???
Doesn't Sleep
At 20 points, this is a steal. (I recommend you give this advantage to your
current player character right now.) Not only does your character get a
third of his life back, but he can be active while most of the world is
incapacitated and vulnerable. It's also the shortest complete advantage
description in any GURPS book (see p. CI53).
No Fatigue Costs
"Robots take no Fatigue from combat, long marches, running or swimming, or
losing sleep. They ignore magical or psionic attacks that would cause a human
to take Fatigue" (p. RO93). That's quite a list. We've already covered sleep.
What about the rest of it? Is there an advantage that covers this? I haven't
found it.
After reading p. B134, I'd say this is worth at least 15 points. This also
covers the robot's immunity to Fatigue costs for extreme heat and cold (p.
RO97).
Unfazeable
Unfazeable is at the top of a long list of advantages that allow a character to resist fear. The
others are Cool (+1 against Fright Checks), Composed (+2), Collected (+3),
Imperturbable (+5), and Fearlessness (2 points per +1 against Fright Checks and
Intimidation).
Unfazeable characters don't make any Fright Check rolls. According to page
RO94, robots are immune.
Radio Speech and Secret Communication
A robot with the basic communicator package (p. RO16) can hear and
broadcast radio information. This is the same as Radio Speech. (Radio Speech
includes Radio Hearing.)
Since humans (and most aliens) cannot naturally hear or send radio
transmissions, robot radios are a form of Secret Communication. You can
remove this second advantage if robots are rare in the campaign they don't communicate
with each other enough to justify adding the advantage.
It is possible that, in the campaign, robots are programmed to keep to
themselves. They can hear radioed commands or pick up broadcasts so they can relay the
information to their human masters, but they cannot send information. In this
case, give all of the world's robots a restrictive program (p. RO60), get rid
of Secret Communication, and downgrade Radio Speech to the 10-point Radio
Hearing.
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The following advantages could be innate to all robots. It depends
on the nature of the campaign world and the degree of variation among robots
in it.
Unusual Background
According to p. RO85, a 10-point Unusual Background is recommended in
worlds where robots are rare but not unknown (horror, fantasy, time travel).
The 25-point version is the default in worlds where robots are very rare
(martial arts, modern espionage, historical adventures, etc.).
Zeroed
It's not likely that artificial people will be catalogued as extensively as
living people. If robots are listed in databases, the information will probably
be limited to model and serial numbers.
Zeroed has a downside that is appropriate to most robot characters
assuming that artificial citizens are second-class, they will have trouble
using credit cards and electronic money, getting a driver's license, or getting
a gun license.
No Brain
The No Brain advantage (listed under Injury Tolerance on p. CI58) doesn't
apply to robots because they do suffer knockdown effects when struck in
the brain (p. RO97). However, if the brain is not located in its head, the robot avoids
these effects. You could represent this with a reduced version of No Brain,
perhaps worth 2 points instead of 5.
Pious, Pitiable, and Sanctity
These three 5-point advantages should be used if the rest of the world has
special feelings toward robots. All three are described on p. CI29.
If the people in your campaign world feel that robots have an innate
moral sense a sense of propriety that causes them to show uncommon
respect to the living then all robots are Pious. This doesn't work if
robots are programmed to be Pious. It must be a choice. (And keep in mind that
this general consensus could be wrong. Maybe all of the robots are
secretly evil.)
If people feel compelled to take care of robots, they are Pitiable. To
make this advantage innate, the world's robots must be (a) unable to take care
of themselves, and (b) as cute as puppy dogs. The range of robot designs in
this world will be very narrow.
Sanctity is a good choice if Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are
standard-issue in all robots. Even if a few robots are not trustworthy, a
society that expects them to act as guardians will regard
all of them as Sanctified. This is a secular form of sanctity, of course. For
some real fun, use the religious connotation of Sanctity and imagine a world in
which the word "priest" and "robot" are synonymous.
Immunity to Timesickness
It's likely that all robots are immune to timesickness, no matter what
campaign world you're using. But how often does this come up? Unless the robots
travel through time regularly, this innate advantage should be ignored.
Toughness and Damage Resistance
Almost all robots are made of nonliving, durable material. So it makes
sense to give all of them a built-in DR of 2. If the robot gets too "fleshy" as
it is designed (a biomechanical structure, for example), drop it to DR 1 or get
rid of it.
I was going to put this advantage in the box at the top, but I
decided to play it safe and out it here instead.
Magic Resistance and Psionic Resistance
Robots lack a soul or spirit. This, combined with their metal-and-plastic
bodies, might make them difficult targets for spells. If your campaign world
has a lot of magic and robots, two or three levels of Magic Resistance
should be standard.
Psionic Resistance is even more likely. Not only are robots soulless, but
even the sentient ones have digital brains. It is conceivable that all robots
are immune to psionic attacks that effect the mind, not just resistant.
They should have no special resistance to psi skills like telekinesis, however.
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