An Essay About The Robot Thing
So, uh... as you may have noticed by now, I'm doing something weird with Jeff this time around. I figured I should probably explain where I'm coming from and how all this robot stuff will work in play.
So, why is Jeff a robot again?
Long story short: mad science.
Short story long: Near the end of Earthbound, it is revealed that final boss big-bad Giygas, enraged by a bunch of kids disrupting his plans again, has traveled into the distant past. To stop him for good, the protagonist team will also have to travel back in time to face him down. The good news friendly mad scientist Dr. Andonuts has been able to build a working time machine! The bad news... well, the time machine destroys organic matter it transports. The only solution is to transplant the team's souls into robotic bodies that won't be destroyed in transit, so that they can (hopefully) defeat Giygas and (hopefully) make it back to the present in one piece.
In the game, this plan works as intended; after the final battle, the team's souls return to their human bodies, and all is well with the world. However, for camp purposes I'm pulling Jeff from just before this happens -- after the final battle, but before the homecoming, with his soul still welded to the robot.
How exactly does this work?
Basically, Jeff is a literal "ghost in a machine": a human soul in a robot body. This means that he's not a "real" robot in a lot of ways. Among other things, he has very limited programming -- more or less just a motor/sensory control interface, with no additional AI. This means that, mentally and psychologically, Jeff has neither any special robot benefits nor any special robot problems. While he doesn't have any extra memory storage or computation capacity, he also has a full human range of emotions and won't explode if caught in an infinite logic loop.
(Well, he might explode if caught in an infinite logic loop, but no more so than he would have as a human. Y'know.)
This also means that Jeff is metaphysically equivalent to a normal human for the purposes of powers or effects that rely on it. Powers that detect or affect souls will act normally on him, and for most magical/psychic purposes, he's human enough, assuming you don't actually need any flesh. (Since camp viruses are as much magical/metaphysical/crack effects as anything, they will also still work!)
The only major metaphysical difference between Jeff and most people is that, since his soul is artificially secured to his body with Science!, he may be vulnerable to some effects that affect ghosts or disembodied souls. Exorcising him from the robot may or may not work; he's bound securely enough that he can't be casually exorcised, but it could probably work with enough effort or the right techniques. Furthermore, if the robot body takes enough damage to its internal components (or gets completely disintegrated, made to vanish, written out of the Loom of Fate, etc.) Jeff will be left as a disembodied soul until it's repaired or he can figure out some other solution. (Note that, in Earthbound, floating around as a ghost is not necessarily a serious problem, but it's still annoying.) Theoretically, Jeff could also discorporate from the robot voluntarily, but he doesn't know how and would be reluctant to do so even if he did.
Finally, while Jeff is stronger and tougher than a normal human his size would be, he's not as strong or tough as a real, properly-built robot of his size would be. He doesn't have the right motor programming to use his strength to its fullest capacity, and being mentally human (and used to his human capacities) holds him back in this regard.
Executive Summary
* Jeff is currently a robot due to Earthbound's endgame plot!
* He's not a "real" robot; his soul has been transplanted to a robot body. This means that, psychologically, he's as human as he ever was.
* For the purposes of people with powers, Jeff's mind and soul can be interacted with as a normal human. It might also be possible to act on his soul in other ways, since it's not really in its proper body.
* If you have questions about this in play, TALK TO ME and we'll make things awesome.
Comments and questions welcome.
So, why is Jeff a robot again?
Long story short: mad science.
Short story long: Near the end of Earthbound, it is revealed that final boss big-bad Giygas, enraged by a bunch of kids disrupting his plans again, has traveled into the distant past. To stop him for good, the protagonist team will also have to travel back in time to face him down. The good news friendly mad scientist Dr. Andonuts has been able to build a working time machine! The bad news... well, the time machine destroys organic matter it transports. The only solution is to transplant the team's souls into robotic bodies that won't be destroyed in transit, so that they can (hopefully) defeat Giygas and (hopefully) make it back to the present in one piece.
In the game, this plan works as intended; after the final battle, the team's souls return to their human bodies, and all is well with the world. However, for camp purposes I'm pulling Jeff from just before this happens -- after the final battle, but before the homecoming, with his soul still welded to the robot.
How exactly does this work?
Basically, Jeff is a literal "ghost in a machine": a human soul in a robot body. This means that he's not a "real" robot in a lot of ways. Among other things, he has very limited programming -- more or less just a motor/sensory control interface, with no additional AI. This means that, mentally and psychologically, Jeff has neither any special robot benefits nor any special robot problems. While he doesn't have any extra memory storage or computation capacity, he also has a full human range of emotions and won't explode if caught in an infinite logic loop.
(Well, he might explode if caught in an infinite logic loop, but no more so than he would have as a human. Y'know.)
This also means that Jeff is metaphysically equivalent to a normal human for the purposes of powers or effects that rely on it. Powers that detect or affect souls will act normally on him, and for most magical/psychic purposes, he's human enough, assuming you don't actually need any flesh. (Since camp viruses are as much magical/metaphysical/crack effects as anything, they will also still work!)
The only major metaphysical difference between Jeff and most people is that, since his soul is artificially secured to his body with Science!, he may be vulnerable to some effects that affect ghosts or disembodied souls. Exorcising him from the robot may or may not work; he's bound securely enough that he can't be casually exorcised, but it could probably work with enough effort or the right techniques. Furthermore, if the robot body takes enough damage to its internal components (or gets completely disintegrated, made to vanish, written out of the Loom of Fate, etc.) Jeff will be left as a disembodied soul until it's repaired or he can figure out some other solution. (Note that, in Earthbound, floating around as a ghost is not necessarily a serious problem, but it's still annoying.) Theoretically, Jeff could also discorporate from the robot voluntarily, but he doesn't know how and would be reluctant to do so even if he did.
Finally, while Jeff is stronger and tougher than a normal human his size would be, he's not as strong or tough as a real, properly-built robot of his size would be. He doesn't have the right motor programming to use his strength to its fullest capacity, and being mentally human (and used to his human capacities) holds him back in this regard.
Executive Summary
* Jeff is currently a robot due to Earthbound's endgame plot!
* He's not a "real" robot; his soul has been transplanted to a robot body. This means that, psychologically, he's as human as he ever was.
* For the purposes of people with powers, Jeff's mind and soul can be interacted with as a normal human. It might also be possible to act on his soul in other ways, since it's not really in its proper body.
* If you have questions about this in play, TALK TO ME and we'll make things awesome.
Comments and questions welcome.