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[Evil Marahadja]

I did, but what does it mean practically? If I try to stab you though the breast. Is it impossible for me to penetrate it (since the force spreads out all over the body)? Same thing with guns, does the shots just fall of/don't penetrate that deep? Or have I misread?

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

I did, but what does it mean practically? If I try to stab you though the breast. Is it impossible for me to penetrate it (since the force spreads out all over the body)? Same thing with guns, does the shots just fall of/don't penetrate that deep? Or have I misread?

I made an edit.  For convenience, here it is.

The shielding would stop the knife completely.  Then damage is distributed.  Repeated stabs (alot!) may split skin, but not much.  A shot would maybe bruise a bone (depends upon caliber), but up until .40(?) I would be fine.  .40(?) and higher, would do some fairly decent damage.

[Wayward Device]

He has noticed its effects before, but he doesn't know about it.  All he knows is that, as long as his energy keeps up, he can fight for an extremely long time.

I forgot to mention this earlier.  It stays away from vital organs, and only places damage on those not-so vital (ex. skin, appendix, etc.) and bones, but only to a point.

I have yet another idea for a category for a character.  Knowledge.  While this may not seem like much, it could help characters to do things not on their skill list.  example-sufficient knowledge in chemistry and circuitry would allow someone to build an explosive, despite having no skill for that.  Just an idea I was kicking around in my head.

K, sounds good. So basically, he's spreading the energy over the surface of his body, as opposed to evenly right through it. Be warned, being hit by stuff with a lot of energy behind it may still mess you up pretty bad. What level do you want for it? I'd suggest +2 to start out, since you're pretty well protected already (and having a +2 roll when something hits you to tank the damage is pretty sweet). 

With Knowledge, that's basically what I meant by " non number things that will effect how you use skills and powers". Not the best description, I know. Basically, they will effect the difficulty of the situation, how its framed with the roll.

For example, lets say your a +3 Chemist. You've done your time, built up your skills and experience. If its a reaction you can do in a lab, you can do it. One day you decide you need money so you decide to start cooking crystal meth. But all your Knowledge pertains to nice, shiny clean labs with fancy safety equipment, and all those experiments you ran were for pure academic research purposes. You've never worked in an unventilated basement without safety equipment, under possible threat of a violent end from your "business partners". So that +3 is going  to be hit with a penalty in such a situation (probably -1 in this case), at least until you get some experience of that particular situation. It'll effect other stuff as well, including how wrong things can go. Things will go way more badly for a chemist making C4 at home with no experience of basic bomb making safety than for one who does it all the time.   

So, add some specific areas of knowledge to your skills if you want, I'll rule of thumb it i cases where its obvious though (i.e. Elrod clearly has some knowledge of programing for cybernetic systems, Lars' acting will serve him better in conman type situations that if he tried to, say, audition for a sitcom). I will allow knowledge of areas that you aren't skilled in (I mean, I could talk your ear off about the pros and cons of Mech design, but since my RL Mechanics and Electronics skills are 0 and +1 respectively I don't really stand a snowballs chance in hell of building one, even if I had access to the necessary materials). For stuff like that (knowledge in areas that you aren't skilled in) will give minor situational bonuses. Example, a knowledge of Military procedure might help you trying to convince military officials to do something, but not by much.       

DAMN NINJAS!

I made an edit.  For convenience, here it is.

The shielding would stop the knife completely.  Then damage is distributed.  Repeated stabs (alot!) may split skin, but not much.  A shot would split skin in a few places, and maybe bruise a bone, but up until .40(?) I would be fine.  .40(?) and higher, would do some fairly major damage.

Yeah, I'm gonna rule that the energy is spread over the surface of your body and partially reduced. So getting shot with a high caliber bullet is going to feel like you got bitchslapped across your entire body. Being hit by .50 machine gun fire will likely pulp you (at least at the start of the game). So don't stand in front of machine guns. One .50 bullet might give you all over bruises, possibly some fractures. Knives will be stopped, but there are things that this doesn't cover. If someone hit you with an electroknife, or a hand taser then you're still going to be shocked. You can be burnt, or suffocate, or be poisoned. For now.   

Damn, long post and I almost lost it.

[jaass]

John S. Shain

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Your name: John S. Shain

Age: 38

Gender: M

Occupation: He is currently a founder a multinational company but think of him as Tony Stark except not much as a "social" type.

Location: He travels around quite a bit to oversee certain projects that other are to incompetent to complete. But when he is in his private bunker that is located in the rocky mountains in Canada working on his own private projects that he feels that shouldn't be reveal to the world just yet.

Bunker: Totally self-sustaining, nearly impenetrable with numerous defenses from any outside force, but has some defenses just encase of some inside force. This is where he keeps most of his private projects.

Stats:

Strength: 9 (15 if he kicks someone with his bionic leg)
Dexterity:16 (This is use with his hands, I didn't know this includes agility)
Constitution:11
Intelligence:18
Will:18
Charisma:10


Skills:
Physics (+4)
Engineering(+4)
Mathematics (+4)
Biology (+3)
computer science (+3)
Chemistry (+3)
Mechanics skills (+3)
Electronic skills (+3)
Metallurgy(+3)   
psychology (+2)
Medicine (+2)
Astronomy(+1)
+1 in different earth sciences
+1 in different survival skills and techniques


Personality Flaws
Isolationist
Wild mood swings
multiple personality disorder

Biography:
He was born in the Albuquerque, New Mexico in USA, as he was growing up he was constantly being abused by his father due to him being always reading books and not being a normal kid. He did not have a mother due to her "mysterious disappearance" according to his father in his usual drunken haze. Even at school he couldn't get away from being abused from the School facility and even his peers, but there is one person that usually bring light to his usual dark world. She was a kind, middle aged woman that encourage him to read books about different areas of science. This woman eventually encourage him to focus on his studies and isolate himself in order to make a break through in prosthetic limbs by making a full developed bionic limb that can be directly be linked into the user's nervous system for non-delayed movement of the limb but in order to test this he to use himself by cutting one of his own limbs. What is surprising about the bionic limb is can produce very cheaply and on a massive scale due to how simple the design is.

This eventually got attention of some major corporations and offer him a high paying job at one of their R and D department at only age 22 despite him having no degrees in any scientific field. Eventually he meet a young, handsome looking man. This man was very demanding and bold, he would constantly tell John that he was just being abused and being take advantage by these companies just like his father did before when he was young.

 He told him that their would be consequences if he didn't quit this R and D job (despite him being the head of the department) and start his own company and crush all these other companies under his foot. So, he quit at age 26 and started his own company and named it Hephaestus, this company eventually was able to make it to the top of numerous markets because of the numerous breakthroughs he made in different fields but John was never credited for it because the kind woman was always saying that it is never good to bring to much attention to yourself. So instead he was a simple "employee" in R and D department but was given a lot more free reign to go into different scientific endeavors.
It was a good thing he followed the kind woman advice because eventually someone who was credited for one of his inventions were eventually kidnapped and killed. 

In 2029 he is rarely seen in the public eye preferring to keep to himself, hardly anyone knows that he is the the original founder of Hephaestus, but he is usually found in his companies numerous R and D department around the world or his private bunker.

edit: did some things you suggest thanks for the help. Also, some help on what defenses I put into the bunker and what to research.

[HailFire]

Just so you know, Deep and I are planning to have our characters start out as associates- hopefully, we can get the sheets in before the other slots are taken up.   

[Wayward Device]

@jaass:

Ok, so at first I was a bit "aargh, this seems crazy overpowered", but then I looked it over a bit more thoroughly and realized that it's a good old fashioned mad scientist build (nothing wrong with that). Some things are a bit OP though and will have to be scaled back. And I've got some questions and stuff. So:

Intelligence: Definitely too high. Yeah, he's a polymath, highly skilled in multiple branches of the sciences but he's not superhuman (yet). As I said earlier in the thread, Steven Hawking might have an Int of 17 if he appeared as an NPC. In this case, I'm saying it should be 18, 'cos John has that "hahaha! I easily master all the sciences!" thing going for him that Leornardo Da Vinci and other assorted come-outta-nowhere geniuses had.

Will: This is really very high indeed, but then again he cut of his own leg (from the +2 medicine I'm guessing he did it himself under local anesthetic) to test an invention, vowed vengeance on the corporate world that was oppressing him and followed through. I'm going to allow it, but with the caveat that it's only 18 when John is In Control (see bellow).

Char: An average charisma, nothing crazy about that. You can be as sociable as most human's are expected to be, once again only when you are In Control (see bellow). 

Personality Flaws:

I like this. This will be Fun. It's one of the things that really sold me on the character. Isolationist, Wild Mood Swings and Multiple Personality Disorder. Blam. You're not fooling with the Mad Scientist theme. These really are going to make things tricky for you (again, nothing wrong with that). THERE WILL BE ROLLS AS APPROPRIATE. *Ahem* Sorry about that. But there will be rolls for all three of these, depending on the circumstances.

Isolationist will be triggered when you have to interact with others and a failure will likely give (temporary) penalties to all the mental/social stats (Intelligence, Will, Charisma), maybe involuntary reactions in extreme cases. Same goes for you Zanzetkuken.
 
Wild Mood Swings will be triggered by stuff that happens (you succeed, you fail etc) + a roll and will give penalties/bonuses as relevant. May also happen randomly and will definitely happen in situations of maximum social awkwardness.

Multiple personality Disorder will also, of course, have rolls to determine stuff, but will be more random in what triggers it. Also, it'll have some plot relevant effects.

Your Friendly 2029 MD recommends using the harshest drugs your money can buy to suppress these little problems, but this may have... side effects. Up to you how you proceed. 

Hephaestus:

Now, this is a tricky one. You basically own and control a large and powerful corporate entity. Kinda OP. However, it is integral to the whole point of your character and you're already being threatened by shadowy forces. And I did say you could be anyone. I've thought about it and I'm going to allow it. However, be warned. As a high profile individual you are going to be much more threatened from the start. You may be drawn into things you do not fully understand, with results that make a painful death seam the desirable option. Also, large scale research projects, although not quite as arduously slow as in real life, will take a considerable amount of time and require large amounts of resources. Certain things may... greatly accelerate the process, but will carry with them proportionate risks. 

So, with that in mind, I need to know what projects Hephaestus is working on now. Pick one major project, one personal secret project and two side projects. Also, pick three locations for major research labs. You already have the Artificial Leg Patent, but please list any other inventions that you get income from.  Also, list any other major corporate offices, Swiss bank accounts, hidden stashes of Nazi gold, illegal forces of former Navy Seals, blackmail information or other vital corporate supplies.

With the bunker, you can specify some specific security systems but I'll assume reasonable stuff for a rich mad scientist's bunker as outfitted with the best 2029 tech money can buy.

Right, that seems to be it. Just time for...   

Giant Quick Note On Technology 

In Alternate 2029, many of the technologies we are just starting to bear fruit to the awesomeness we expected those asshole scientists to have sorted out by 2001, 2002 tops. 2026, the year of the invasion of N.K. by the Multinational Alliance saw the first deployment of not one but two combat exoskeleton systems, the M1 Giant, for the U.S forces and the P.X.J.17 for the P.R.C.. Both were ergonomic, both could deflect small arms fire and I.E.D. explosions without difficulty. Both suffered terribly in damp conditions. Like in North Korea, for more than half the year. 

2028 saw the first successful launch of a Javelin Orbital Rocket, able to lift 1000kg  into low earth orbit for less than $12 million, leading to a rash of reckless satellite launches and attempts to build ecologically stable space habitats, most of which failed spectacularly since they were built by rich space hippies.

2029 marks the fifth year of stem cell therapy being both practice and affordable (if you're somewhat flexible with the word affordable). There is currently a debate raging in congress about the legalization of man-portable military grade lasers (which are unreliable, impractical and extremely expensive) for personal ownership.

Gah, that's enough for now. If this wall of text falls over I'll certainly be crushed to death.

Just so you know, Deep and I are planning to have our characters start out as associates- hopefully, we can get the sheets in before the other slots are taken up.   

Ok, you and Deep Waters are in (hey, you were the first to post in the thread, that's gotta be worth something) and as soon as you post chars, we can get going. Well, soon after that. If 10ebbor10 comes back I'll bump the number of players to six, otherwise its on the waitlist. I may let more people in depending on how things go.   

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

I remember reading somewhere that it takes 10000 hours of work in one field to become a master in a field.  At 38, I seriously doubt that John S. has managed to truly master (and go beyond that point) all of those skills.  Just my two cents.

[Wayward Device]

K, few more things about John S. Shane.

Dex 16. He's about as agile as a particularly good athlete. Anything behind this? I.e. why is he so agile?

Skills:

I remember reading somewhere that it takes 10000 hours of work in one field to become a master in a field.  At 38, I seriously doubt that John S. has managed to truly master (and go beyond that point) all of those skills.  Just my two cents.

Ok yeah, some of the skills are a bit too high, particularly Mathematics. But the whole concept of this character is that he's a polymath who grew up obsessed with science. His alcoholic father beat him for reading sissy science books, but he kept doing it anyway. And he's highly mentally unstable. He built a one-man isolationist bunker. He cut off his leg and attached a robotic one he made himself. Apart from the stuff about robot legs and crazyman bunkers, there totally are people like this, they're just really rare and, human society being what it is, often don't get to use/discover their full potential (abusive fathers being a case in point). Also, those skills are John on a good day. He really does have some very serious mental health problems. Which is in itself a vulnerability. *evil laughter so horrible that it cannot be adequately described*. Not that I've got anything planned. I swear.

That said, some of them are going to have to go down.  Also, most of those skills are interrelated to a great degree and science is all he's good at. So things do balance out a little.

I'd say something like:
Physics (+4)
Engineering(+4)
Mathematics (+4)
Biology (+3)
computer science (+3)
Chemistry (+3)
Mechanics skills (+3)
Electronic skills (+3)
Metallurgy(+3)   
psychology (+2)
Medicine (+2)
Astronomy(+1)
+1 in different earth sciences
+1 in different survival skills and techniques

That's a bit better. You have 3 +4's, all heavily related to mathematics, and then other associated science skills. Still a master of the sciences, but a bit less OP. 

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He has noticed its effects before, but he doesn't know about it.  All he knows is that, as long as his energy keeps up, he can fight for an extremely long time.

I forgot to mention this earlier.  It stays away from vital organs, and only places damage on those not-so vital (ex. skin, appendix, etc.) and bones, but only to a point.

I have yet another idea for a category for a character.  Knowledge.  While this may not seem like much, it could help characters to do things not on their skill list.  example-sufficient knowledge in chemistry and circuitry would allow someone to build an explosive, despite having no skill for that.  Just an idea I was kicking around in my head.

1) K, sounds good. So basically, he's spreading the energy over the surface of his body, as opposed to evenly right through it. Be warned, being hit by stuff with a lot of energy behind it may still mess you up pretty bad. What level do you want for it? I'd suggest +2 to start out, since you're pretty well protected already (and having a +2 roll when something hits you to tank the damage is pretty sweet). 
2) For example, lets say your a +3 Chemist. You've done your time, built up your skills and experience. If its a reaction you can do in a lab, you can do it. One day you decide you need money so you decide to start cooking crystal meth. But all your Knowledge pertains to nice, shiny clean labs with fancy safety equipment, and all those experiments you ran were for pure academic research purposes. You've never worked in an unventilated basement without safety equipment, under possible threat of a violent end from your "business partners". So that +3 is going  to be hit with a penalty in such a situation (probably -1 in this case), at least until you get some experience of that particular situation. It'll effect other stuff as well, including how wrong things can go. Things will go way more badly for a chemist making C4 at home with no experience of basic bomb making safety than for one who does it all the time.   

So, add some specific areas of knowledge to your skills if you want, I'll rule of thumb it i cases where its obvious though (i.e. Elrod clearly has some knowledge of programing for cybernetic systems, Lars' acting will serve him better in conman type situations that if he tried to, say, audition for a sitcom). I will allow knowledge of areas that you aren't skilled in (I mean, I could talk your ear off about the pros and cons of Mech design, but since my RL Mechanics and Electronics skills are 0 and +1 respectively I don't really stand a snowballs chance in hell of building one, even if I had access to the necessary materials). For stuff like that (knowledge in areas that you aren't skilled in) will give minor situational bonuses. Example, a knowledge of Military procedure might help you trying to convince military officials to do something, but not by much.       
3) DAMN NINJAS!

I made an edit.  For convenience, here it is.

The shielding would stop the knife completely.  Then damage is distributed.  Repeated stabs (alot!) may split skin, but not much.  A shot would split skin in a few places, and maybe bruise a bone, but up until .40(?) I would be fine.  .40(?) and higher, would do some fairly major damage.

4)Yeah, I'm gonna rule that the energy is spread over the surface of your body and partially reduced. So getting shot with a high caliber bullet is going to feel like you got bitchslapped across your entire body. Being hit by .50 machine gun fire will likely pulp you (at least at the start of the game). So don't stand in front of machine guns. One .50 bullet might give you all over bruises, possibly some fractures. Knives will be stopped, but there are things that this doesn't cover. If someone hit you with an electroknife, or a hand taser then you're still going to be shocked. You can be burnt, or suffocate, or be poisoned. For now.

1) Exactly.  Exact level I thought of as well.
2) Now I understand that.  I'm going to add to that category only 5 things.
3) I was on "If bay forum were a mountain hall."  Don't complain.  There were 20 at a time at some points.
4) I have some ideas on how to level the shielding.  Change the ordering if you wish.  Note: up until level 10, the energy can only be transferred to one object, and excess remains on the body.

1st level Aural Shielding (starting): transfers energy across the skin and bones.
2nd level Aural Shielding: gain ability to transfer the energy to an inanimate low-strength object (ex. glass)
3rd level Aural Shielding: electrical immunity
4th level Aural Shielding: gain ability to transfer energy to stronger material (ex. iron)
5th level Aural Shielding: fire immunity
6th level Aural Shielding: gain ability to transfer energy to stronger material (ex. titanium)
7th level Aural Shielding: poison immunity
8th level Aural Shielding: gain ability to transfer energy to stronger material (ex. diamond)
9th level Aural Shielding: no longer requires air
10th level Aural Shielding: gain ability to transfer energy to the surrounding material.

[jaass]

Did some edits to the character thanks for the help. Also, some help with the research projects and bunker defenses will be helpful.

[10ebbor10]

Yeah, I doubt I ll post my character in time. For now I' m just going to watch and join the waitlist.

[Wayward Device]

@Zenzetkuken:

 Hmmm, there's no problem with any of those effects but how they level will be much more branching. For example, poison immunity/no longer requires air would likely be under a separate power, Physiological Control. Also, "no longer requires air" is tricky. You might have powers that defy conventional science, but you can't break the laws of physics/biology like that. There's a (pseudo) rational explanation behind everything. However, with advanced Physiological Control you could, say, hyperoyxgenate your blood so that you don't have to breath for half and hour or so, or maybe temporarily alter you lungs to filter oxygen from water. That would be pretty advanced stuff. Other things on the list, like electrical immunity, could fall under either Aura Shielding (you diffuse the electricity throughout your entire body/funnel it onto something else) or Physiological Control (you alter your body to resist the electricity, like that Russian guy who can tazer his neck and be fine). As Aura Shielding Develops it will likely lead to better, conscious control forces, with an emphasis on fine control over power (I.E. you won't be stomping people with your Telekinetic Mind Fist, you'll be manipulating already existing energies around them to crush them into tiny spheres (or something like that)). Learning to transfer force to other objects will actually be the point at which it really begins to branch out, that coupled with Conscious Control will really get things going. Although, of course, all this development will depend heavily on what actually happens in the game. 

@jaass:

Hephaestus research projects and patents:

Ok, patents first. You've already got the patent for the Low Cost High Quality Bionic Leg. Then you got screwed over by some big companies, so lets say that you didn't get the rights to the next logical invention, the Low Cost High Quality Bionic Arm. So then you go and found your own company. I reckon the next logical step is to build on that basic Leg concept. The Leg "links into the user's nervous system for non-delayed movement", so lets say that Hephaestus' first major patent as a company was for a whole body suit that can receive and process data from whole body. Note, not a full blown mech/exoskeleton/suit of power armor by itself, just what you need to build one that actually responds well to the users movements. Licensing the rights to this Neural Interface Underlay to both the government (for combat exoskeletons) and to the civilian market (for lifting/work exoskeletons that are just staring to turn working in a warehouse in an awesome job again). This would be the foundation the company built itself on. Also, this would make you a mad scientist in charge of one of the world's first mech/exoskeleton corporations. This is a good thing.

 So,
 Patents:
   Low Cost High Quality Bionic Arm 
   Neural Interface Underlay

Feel free to name them if you want, I suggest Greek Mythology for the various product lines, after all, Hephaestus. But whatever.

Current Research:

Ok, so if your a mech/exoskeleton corporation, it stands to reason that you would be developing something in that field. However, there are a hell of a lot of options open to you. You have one major project and two minor ones available. I'll throw out a few ideas, but it's up to you to decide. Two of the largest areas of current technical development relevant to your companies' field are C.A.R.C.F.V's (Computer Assisted Remote Controlled Fighting Vehicles) and the race to create a working Neural Implant.

C.A.R.C.F.V's are receiving a lot of funding from both the public and private sectors for a number of reasons. Understandably, governments are worried about making their A.I. controlled U.F.V's smarter and more independent (the two key areas for improving their performance), as focus groups have deemed bringing about a literal interpretation of Terminator to be bad for a politician's chances for reelection. C.A.R.C.F.V's, which combine the best of A.I. reactions with the independent thinking and loyalty of human soldiers, are seen as the logical answer to this problem.

A Neural Implant is a theoretical device that would be surgically implanted in your skull and would do away with the need for a phone, laptop, tablet, wrist tablet or any other computational device. Its obviously the future and has been since the dawn of the new millennium. Whoever manages to build and sell a working one of these will not only achieve a level of dominance over the computer industry that makes Microsoft look like a bunch of playground bullies, but will also have the potential to destroy Googles' three decade rulership of the internet by disallowing their services from the proprietary Neural Implant OS. 

Also, some sort of Mech/Exoskeleton! If your a mech/exoskeleton company, you're probably developing some kind of mech/exoskeleton.

There are plenty of other applications for your technology in the civilian market. Medical and geriatric exoskeletons (for people who are to sick/old to easily move) may also yield large returns, although they are pretty boring.   

Secret/Personal Research, Please pick one of the following: 

1. Reverse engineering a piece of "unusual" alloy that your company has "acquired"

2. An investigation into mysterious signals form an unknown satellite, coming form Low Earth Orbit.

3. A program and associated transmission equipment that lets you take control of any products built using the Neural Interface Underlay against the operators will

4. Something completely different.

The Bunker:

Ok, since you have strong isolationist tendencies, I'd say that you wouldn't have any security staff on site. However, having no one to protect you is the kind of silliness that you, as a highly intelligent individual, wouldn't be cool with. So lets say there's a security team to respond to threats at a separate, nearby facility. Takes them two and a half minutes to send a response team by chopper if the alarms are triggered. For the bunker itself...hmm, lets see. Steel blast doors and sensors/cameras obviously, a supercomputer to run all the systems through a custom A.I. (again, not quite a "bring the singularity and turn us all into Gods/ enslave humanity" level, but it does its job). Also, a friend/foe facial recognition system, perhaps paired with some highly illegal flying minidrones with tiny shaped charges to deal with intruders. Oh, and obviously a helipad and assortment of escape tunnels. How's that sound?     


Hope that give you some ideas, feel free to use/change it as you like.               

@10ebbor10:

K, waitlist it is.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

@Zenzetkuken:

1) Hmmm, there's no problem with any of those effects but how they level will be much more branching. For example, poison immunity/no longer requires air would likely be under a separate power, Physiological Control. Also, "no longer requires air" is tricky. You might have powers that defy conventional science, but you can't break the laws of physics/biology like that. There's a (pseudo) rational explanation behind everything. However, with advanced Physiological Control you could, say, hyperoyxgenate your blood so that you don't have to breath for half and hour or so, or maybe temporarily alter you lungs to filter oxygen from water. That would be pretty advanced stuff. Other things on the list, like electrical immunity, could fall under either Aura Shielding (you diffuse the electricity throughout your entire body/funnel it onto something else) or Physiological Control (you alter your body to resist the electricity, like that Russian guy who can tazer his neck and be fine). As Aura Shielding Develops it will likely lead to better, conscious control forces, with an emphasis on fine control over power (I.E. you won't be stomping people with your Telekinetic Mind Fist, you'll be manipulating already existing energies around them to crush them into tiny spheres (or something like that)). Learning to transfer force to other objects will actually be the point at which it really begins to branch out, that coupled with Conscious Control will really get things going. Although, of course, all this development will depend heavily on what actually happens in the game. 
2) jaass's patents and current research.

1) So, eventually my powers would branch to include Aural Manipulation.  Sweet.
2) So I am working on the military branch of the combat suit.  The items relating to AI already be patented by me, since I have already done that.  See: the "Dwarf" AI.

[Wayward Device]

2) So I am working on the military branch of the combat suit.  The items relating to AI already be patented by me, since I have already done that.  See: the "Dwarf" AI.

Yeah, basically. Or rather the next generation, the one that will replace the M1 Giant (as well as suffering from the damp, it also doesn't take well to grit, like you might find in desert environments. It has some issues.). The Holographic Cloak is likely for the Special Forces variant.

With the A.I. patents, I'll let you have some, but you can't own patents on all A.I. tech ever. Not because it would be overpowered (it would) but because it doesn't fit. Basically, the last ten years or so (i.e. rough length of time you've been working as a programer) have seen smart programs that could learn become a reality. We're currently in the "try out all different crazy ideas" stage, like when we used to have something like 17 different types of USB port, so there's a lot of competition out there. I'm not saying your not important in the A.I. field, just that you can't be the one man inventor of everything. This is also tied up with how A.I.s will work.

I'm going to rule that the creation of a real, self aware (for a given value of self aware) A.I.s (like the Dwarf A.I.) is a complex and extremely hard to repeat process. Lesser, non-self aware learning programs (like in military drones) can be mas produced (copied, patched and updated) but something like the Dwarf A.I. cannot be produced as easily and is almost impossible to copy.

Basically, since an A.I. is a learning program it's primary value is what it has learnt and how well it has learnt it. If you expose the base code (the code that lets it learn and interpret information) to exactly the same data on separate occasions, the personality that develops will be almost completely different. You might be thinking "but we can just copypasta the whole thing when we get a good, stable personality that can excel at the role it was designed for!", but there are big problems with that. It works fine for simple things (i.e. military drones, anything not self aware) but when you start to get to the higher levels of complexity (which you want for a really smart, self aware A.I.) you run into big problems. Copying an established self aware A.I. (like the Dwarf A.I.) almost always results in rapid massive instability and personality shift in the copy because you're causing a sort of existential crisis for it, if its smart enough to be self aware then it will notice that its a copy and go nuts. Or at least, that's the current leading theory as to why this happens. This is actually one of the big problems in the field right now, as it puts limitations and, more importantly, high costs on A.I. production. I imagine that the gist of the S.P.A.R.T.A.N. Combat AI project is to get the best copyable A.I. possible for the new generation of suit, not self aware but able to adapt to the operator, to learn to respond to their commands ever more intuitively, as well as taking over in emergency situations (i.e. the suit detects incoming artillery fire that you wouldn't be able to react to in time and the A.I. makes you jump aside or duck or whatever as quickly as possible).

So, for patents I will allow you to have some patents for learning algorithms, information architecture and maybe some code that help the formation of stable personalities. There are other companies/research institutions/people out there doing this sort of thing though, including companies that custom build A.I.s for rich people/corporations/governments for a lot of money. One of these is where John S. Shane's bunker A.I. came from, although they may have used part of your proprietary code to make it (that's the point of patents after all, licensing stuff to get cash) . You can also be relatively well known in the field of A.I. research, maybe with some academic papers and the like as well (hell, your clearly good enough that the government wanted you, makes sense that you would be academically respected). 

How's that sound?

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

That sounds good.  There would be not quality photos of me, due to distortion caused by the Aura Shielding.