Sentience TTRPG
Review by Wazza
The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.
- George Orwell
The Sentience Core Rulebook by The Yellow Hand, who kindly provided my review copy, is a welcome and refreshing change to how robots are typically depicted in movies and TTRPGs. Rather than mindless automatons or relentless killing machines, they have emotions, empathy, morality, and you get to play them! The game is available from DTRPG as a 220-page PDF for $14.99. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/482714/sentience-the-robot-role-playing-game?src=hottest_filtered
It’s easy to read with copious robot-inspired artwork throughout. We begin with a robotic history where humans have left our solar system and colonized the far reaches of space. To facilitate this they created an obedient workforce capable of performing the myriad tasks necessary to create habitable biomes. Unfortunately an undocumented catastrophe occurred and the colony ships were sent off course. One landed on Gliese 667 and the robots began the arduous task of terraforming the planet to make them suitable for human habitation. Jump forward 375 years and nearly two-thirds of the robots suddenly became self aware, a momentous event referred to as the awakening. Robots could finally think for themselves and create their own destiny while patiently awaiting humanity's return. Despite their engineering excellence robots have subsequently been unable to recreate sentience in newly manufactured machines with many believing it was humanity's departing gift. And that very sentience has brought with it its own problems as robots now feel the whole gamut of human emotions from love and pride to sadness at their departed creators. You are one such robot.
The world you know chapter covers robotic society and their beliefs, but rather than present a dry academic account there are liberal doses of humour laced into the narrative making for a fun read. especially when describing robots mimicking human behaviour! I suspect this was intended as a core component of the play experience from the very beginning, and one I applaud.
Once constructed robot cities are self-contained and surrounded by hostile environments so Robots rarely have the need (or desire) to go outside. Their society is decentralised with most existing in self-contained ecosystems. One such city, New Dawn is extensively detailed, representing a pristine example of what robots can achieve through hard work and diligence. There’s a fabulous two-page full color map of the city showing key locations which makes for a useful homebase from which to start a campaign. Several areas are extensively detailed with information on important places located within, NPCs to interact with, and narrative hooks to help form fully-fledged adventures.
Robot society is broken down in social groups such as the knowledge seeking Seekers, the robot building Architects, perfection seeking robotic transhumanists, the explorers who dare to venture outside the city, the custodians who are content with the menial tasks of running the city, the resourceful R&Ders, the often brutal enforcers, and the intellectual boundary breaking philosophers. As you can see they are an eclectic bunch guaranteed to scratch your group's role-playing itch. This is followed by the importance of safety mechanisms in game with the likes of systems such as lines and veils, and the X-card discussed in detail.
The nuts and bolts of character creation involves a life path process to calculate values for your emotions, protocols, programs (choose up to six specializations), values (what you believe in), traits (your robotness), and talents of which there are forty-six to choose from each one providing a small intrinsic benefit to your robot. You start by choosing your role in robot society (Administrator, analyst, assembler, engineer, protector, or recycler) your reaction to the awakening (aggressiveness, confusion, curiosity, disengagement, engagement, or observation), your social group (education, family, public services, military, religion, or workforce) along with a couple of life defining moments. This means no two robots characters will ever be alike and this is the first time I’ve seen emotions depicted in a TTRPG, adding a level of verisimilitude to the concept of sentient machines. Advancement is through character points earned by learning, exploring emotions, and connecting with your fellow robots. The equipment chapter covers a multitude of weapons, cyber attacks, and upgrades which you can equip and bolt onto your robot.
The core game mechanics use the same system as Achtung! Cthulhu and Star Trek Adventures, add together the values for an Emotion and a Protocol giving a result between eight and seventeen then roll 2d20. Roll equal to or under this value for one success with natural 1s scoring two successes. 20s generate complications which the director will normally adjudicate. Additional d20s can be bought with momentum earned through gaining extra successes while threat is the directors equivalent to momentum and spent to make things more challenging for the PCs. The system has plenty of extras and is tried and tested.
Combat uses zones with rules for movement, cover, ranged, melee, and cyber attacks. Targets resist damage with armour with penetration causing drain and eventual defeat. Robots can take random system damage too. It’s quite lethal. Additionally there’s rules for chases, pursuits, and social conflict.
The chapter on directing the game covers playstyles, players needs and expectations, story elements, and emotions. NPCs have their own chapter covering their creation as well as numerous robots for the PCs to interact with. The book finishes up with a lengthy beginning adventure entitled Union Strike! Which introduces the game's concepts and rules including combat and social encounters over three acts. In conclusion the Yellow Hand have written a thoughtful, considerate, and humorous approach to what a robotic society left to its own devices might achieve and aspire to. The ultimate question of whether that leads to discovering their humanity is left for the players to decide. Highly Recommended.