Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 10:36:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Drew Campbell <chicanery@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [SW-RPG] Two, two droids in one!
Sender: Star Wars Role Playing Game Discussion Group <SW-RPG@LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
To: SW-RPG@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Reply-to: Drew Campbell <chicanery@HOTMAIL.COM>
Message-id: <19971105183610.8332.qmail@hotmail.com>
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Comments: To: David.Lucas@CRHA-HEALTH.AB.CA

>   Has anybody ever thought about designing a 'droid that had two
>brains?  In the example of a war 'droid, it may have a locomotion
>brain and a weapons brain.  That way, the locomotion 'droid could >run,
dodge, jump, parry, etc. and the other 'droid could fire all >those
weapons without having a multiple action penalty.

That's actually a really cool idea... there are problems that need to be
dealt with of course.

Are the weapons mounted on the droid's arms?  Unless it has Auto-Balance
legs (Whatever those are, I never managed to figure that little toy
out... oh well), I'd rule that you need your arms for balance when
running, jumping, dodging, etc.  That'd throw off the aiming
capabilities of the Gun-Brain.

On second thought... I hate getting THAT detailed... It'd just be fun to
have a scitzophrenic droid constantly arguing with itself.

SY-BL
Model: Holowan Mechanicals BL Infantry Support Unit
Degree: 4
DEX: 3D
(1)Blaster: 5D
(2)Dodge: 5D
(1)Missle Weapons: 4D
(1)Grenade: 4D
(2)Running: 4D
KNO: 1D
MEC: 1D
PER: 3D
(1)Search: 4D
STR: 5D
(1)Brawling: 5D+1
TEC: 1D

Special Abilities: Due to the dual nature of the droid's interface,
the droid may perform two actions (one per brain) in a round without a
multiple action penalty.  Each brain acts as a solo entity. For
instance.  The SY-BL wishes to use Search to track a target and Blaster
to fire at it.  The primary brain (1) of the SY-BL gains a multiple
action penalty for two actions (-1D).  However, the SY-BL is also
Dodging a incoming blast.  Because the droid's Dodging functions are a
part of the secondary brain (2), no multiple action penalties are
incurred.

Personality Matrix: (1)Complex, (2)Moderate

Equipped With:
*Heavy Blaster (5D)
*Grenade Launcher (5D, Ammo: 10)
*Mini-Concussion Missle Launcher (6D, Ammo: 10)
*Humanoid Body (Head, Torso, Two arms, Two legs)
*Two "Auto-Balance" legs
*Cybot-Galactica AC-5 Verbobrain
*Holowan Mechanicals TQ SynIntel Package
*Motion tracking sensor package (+1D to Search for moving targets up  to
100 meters away.)

CAPSULE: The standing contract between Holowan Mechanicals and the
Empire caused several military prototypes to be built, tested, and
destroyed.  The SY-BL is one of these expensive test cases.  Based on a
"Binary Intelligence" system, the SY-BL was intended to show processing
and reactive speeds unseen in a standard military model.  The tests were
unimpressive.  The droid's dual-nature constantly argued with itself,
presumably over who got to use which part of the SY-BL's body. Though
the two droid brains could be convinced to work together, the cost of
the droid, combined with the time involved getting the brains synched,
made the SY-BL a engineering nightmare.

Several prototypes were made, though not all of them are accounted for.
It is also possible that the now defunct Holowan Mechanicals engineers
have continued to experiment with "multiple intelligence" droids in
private.

Cost: Too damned expensive.



Okay, it's silly... But hey...

-Drew Campbell

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