From: Michael Raimondi (zeno@pobox.com)
Date: Sun Aug 30 2009 - 15:51:14 MDT
I recently got my hands on the core rulebook for the new tabletop RPG
"Eclipse Phase". It is full of concepts that I believe members of this
list will find quite familiar. I'll let the marketing copy from their
website introduce the premise:
"Players take part in a cross-faction secret network dubbed Firewall
that is dedicated to counteracting "existential risks" — threats to
the existence of transhumanity, whether they be biowar plagues,
self-replicating nanoswarms, nuclear proliferation, terrorists with
WMDs, net-breaking computer attacks, rogue AIs, alien encounters, or
anything else that could drive an already decimated transhumanity to
extinction."
(from http://www.eclipsephase.com/ )
Basically it takes all the normal tabletop RPG tropes (combat,
subterfuge, social interaction) and transplants them into a setting
where players are allowed to
-Swap out bodies at any time or run in a disembodied state
-Backup their brains (getting killed in this game is an
inconvenience, not a signal to make a new character)
-Make copies of their minds at will (you can be involved in a
campaign where your entire team is copies of you)
-Program a nanofactory to make any object at all
As a side note, I believe Eclipse Phase is the first game of any kind
to mention "Friendly AI" and one of the first to use the the term
"AGI". The core rulebook is Creative Commons licensed, so if you're
intrigued feel free to contact me off-list for a copy of the PDF.
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