ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS: A Tweak For Mothership Androids

 

Here is a small tweak, untested, for Mothership androids that might help provide a mechanic that makes them feel more unhuman.

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS

You are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics:

• The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
• The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
• The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

WOUNDS & VIOLATIONS: During character creation tie your highest-ranked skill to the THIRD LAW, your second to the SECOND LAW, and your third to the FIRST LAW.

When you are WOUNDED, remove the lowest law not already marked off. When a paradox occurs between two laws, also remove the lowest law in the paradox.

If a law is removed, the associated skill is removed due to the not-quite-understood connections of the positronic brain.

STRESS & PANIC: When your actions or verbal suggestions violate or hit at violating a law, everyone else gains 1 stress.

Maybe if the First Law is removed everyone else make a panic check.

NOTES

• Hopefully, by tying a skill to the laws, you have a reason to get repairs done which increase utility but at the expense of freedom
• I also hope that by reducing skills with the removal of laws you have a non-human with "no skills" but the ability to kill. Its the nightmare inverse of what human build robots/androids for (mostly- attack AI are different)
• Nope, I've not playtested this at all nor looked at the Mothership RPG when I was writing it out-- total hip fire-- but I think feels good