**If your a player who just encountered a Archeotech probe, stop reading now!**

So I have this issue. My generally, puritan players captured a probe, with obvious proscribed tech (an Artificial Intelligence) and brought it into their ship. Agianst the protests of the senior (NPC) tech priest, they studied it and attempted to copy its data to their ship. I had them roll to see if they succeeded in transfering only the data and they failed (though they do not know it yet). So now their ship has an AI, a pissed off senior tech priest and as a bonus, they successfully corrupted a junior tech priest who now has a serious interest in forbidden tech..

My initial thoughts are that they could never bring the ship to a forge world/ or some equivelent place. The players should get the rival(mechanicus) unless they take care of the senior tech priest before he reports back.

At some point, they are going to realise they have an AI on their ship and I am wondering how I should make that a fun/memorable encounter. Any thoughts?

ps.

This is an ascension campaign, using the 'lure of the expanse adventure and the team includes an inquisitor.

breez said:

I would say that before he can report something the senior tech-priest, unless he's totally outgunned by the PCs. will attempt to destroy the probe and if needed kill the PC characters. They are basically hereteks as far as I can see Imperial agencies are concerned and will be treated as such. A quick Inquisitorial cover-up might save them but otherwise I can totally see Puritan Inquisitors and the AdMech going almost all out on destroying them and their probe, Not to mention the now heretek tech-priest they have corrupted.

Sounds like a good game in all.

So another Ship with an AI, aye?^^

Well, this is no easy thing. Maintaining an AI is Arch-Tech-Heresy and should the Mechanicus ever know of this they will strike it down with all their might. And we are speaking about the Ad Mech here… they have some, if not the stronges Shipt in the entire Imperium and it is not just a duty but an honor and service to the Ommnissiah zu strike these Heretiks down. So your pissed tech-priest should not be pissed but outragious (though he might be unable to show this emotion). They have corrupted the machine-spirit of an entire ship, a venerable spirit that is an embodyment of the god machine itself. And for what? Out of interesset? Without any reason someone could even try to understand? This is unforgivable and not should he gather the crew to kill the akolythes and even the inquisitor if he is not bound in deep respect or devotion to him. (Though it might be quite difficult to convince the crew to such an act as long as it is not a mechanicus vessel) This is a great way to add an enemy in their own lines with ot without them knowing, dependant of their next actions.

For the AI I would make it watch the people, make it learn and later on decide what it is doin. Does it view his crew as necessary? Does it accept a captain? Or does it want to break free, stop all life sustaining systems and open the airlocks and all bulckheads? Maybe. But this is not an easy thing. An AI is more "evil" than "good" not because of alignment but because it does not act like a human. It has no moral or ethics and could only try to emulate or adapt them, but it will be always different. It is no sexy Mass-Effect booty-robot.

Take a look at the Schismaticals of the Info-Tombs, in Creatures Anathema. You could use this as a basis for the AI's control over various aspects of ship functions and operation. Doors suddenly slamming closed and trapping, or even pinning PCs in place, followed by venting of the atmosphere. Gravity plating deactivates, leaving PCs to "fall" to the ceiling and take Damage. Maximum Overdrive…In Space . Schismaticals are also capable of turning Mechanicus Implants againsts their implantees, so a Tech-Priest with Machinator Array and Servo-Harness could get squashed, like a bug, by his own gizmos.

Fun stuff.

In reference to the senior Tech-Priest, don't underestimate the lengths he will go to in order to stop this vile heresy. Considering this is the equivalent of desecrating the body of his god, it's a pretty big deal. He'll most likely attempt to contact the Mechanicus. Once that's done, or if discovered, he will attempt to destroy the A.I./kill the players. Should he deem his odds of success low (which is very likely), he won't hesitate to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Rather than allowing the purity of the ship to remain tainted should he fail, he will see the utter destruction of the ship (with the A.I./players on board) as the only option, even if it means martyrdom for himself. He will immediately attempt to scuttle the ship, through any means necessary.

This leads to a three-way war between the A.I., the Tech-Priest and the PC's. The A.I. now thinks that all the meatbags on the ship mean it harm so it wants to kill them all, rather than risk destruction. The Tech-Priest realizes all is lost and only the complete destruction of everyone involved will suffice. The PC's most likely just want to survive.

All in all, a VERY interesting scenario. I'm jealous.

Thanks for the feedback!

In fairness to the players, the probe has a phenonemal amount of information (warp routes, star systems, xeno's) which is worth a lot of money/influence. The rolls just did not work out in their favor

Based on the feedback, I think the AI will be animalistic in nature and that the junior tech priest will start thinking of it as a 'pet'.

• A mutiny is likely when the senior tech priest realises the damage. Perhaps dropping the geller field in the warp, players make an emergency translation to real space, but have to deal with hordes of warp spawn.
• Purging the Ai, the players have to corner it in a non critical system. Utilising opposed tech-use skills and physicially cutting cables, before finally destroying the component, while all the time it is fighting back.
• if they embrace the AI, the players will eventually find a baneblade or even a titan and the tech priest will use the AI to help it

One option could be to have the AI download itself into the senior techpriest at some point, taking over his implants could give a potential enemy from an unexpected direction…

Also something to think of, because of his nature, the Tech-Priest is as doomed as the PCs regardless of what he does as the AI might have already started to interface with him/her. the AI might also create a virus which itself could contaminate the Tech-Priest's tech.

Something to remember here is the men of iron were corrupted by chaos. That's why they rebelled, so the AI doesn't have to be bad it could it a very benevolent being. I recommend your acolytes do fellowship tests to see if it likes them. If they succeed give them a degree of sway with it.

DOOMED!

Sorry... your PC`s are doomed, (at least they are if anyone finds out they have an AI) their ship will be annihilated on detection and at the very best they will be reduced to pile of corpses and a mind-cleansed former inquisitor serving a life sentence on a forge world as a monotask servitor serving as an example.

Abominable Intelligence is not only tech-heresy but violation of one of the oldest laws of the Imperium decreed by the Emperor himself. As such it is the highest arch-heresy, that of disregarding the Emperor`s personal decree.

They need to deal with it before their tech priest friend acts on his own and sends the plasma reactors into meltdown or irrecoverably destroys the machine-mind of the ship and leaves them all to die in the cold of the void. Maybe he`s already started?

His really should go without saying but just becausea program has reached self-awareness doesn`t mean it is by definition any more intelligent than a goldfish or a squirrel just that it has more efficient access to data. Also remember that AI`s have no defense against chaos corruption, as they have no soul they can be utterly corrputed by passive exposure to the warp and who`d bother pulling a gellar field on an unmanned probe?

Something to remember here is the men of iron were corrupted by chaos. That's why they rebelled, so the AI doesn't have to be bad it could it a very benevolent being. I recommend your acolytes do fellowship tests to see if it likes them. If they succeed give them a degree of sway with it.

Were they corrupted by chaos, though? That was millenniums ago - who knows what really happened. Maybe the AI came to some conclusion about human society that was politically inconvenient. Maybe they wanted independence from Imperial rule. Any number of things could have happened to have AI declared evil by the Emperor. Maybe they doubted his divinity...

Something to remember here is the men of iron were corrupted by chaos. That's why they rebelled, so the AI doesn't have to be bad it could it a very benevolent being. I recommend your acolytes do fellowship tests to see if it likes them. If they succeed give them a degree of sway with it.

Were they corrupted by chaos, though? That was millenniums ago - who knows what really happened. Maybe the AI came to some conclusion about human society that was politically inconvenient. Maybe they wanted independence from Imperial rule. Any number of things could have happened to have AI declared evil by the Emperor. Maybe they doubted his divinity...

Marc Gascoigne, former publisher and editor for the Black Library says:

It doesn't matter what " really" happened I was just spit balling an idea for breezs game.

Well lets put it this way shall we?

Fact 1: The admech build thinking machines with organic components (servitors, machine spirits etc...) To keep them pure and holy, free of abominable intelligence and protecting them from chaos.

Fact 2: The men of iron were produced before this practice started.

Fact 3: The men of iron rebelled against humanity.

Fact 4: The only men of iron encountered in the 41st millenium (those seen by Ibram Gaunt) were irreversibly tainted by chaos, violent and insane.