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Sentient Buildings

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Steven Jones

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Nov 4, 2009, 12:09:46 AM11/4/09
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A recent Halloween airing of 'Treehouse of Horror #1' got me thinking, how
would you portray a sentient building in GURPS? Is it an magical artifact
or an NPC? It would be a great way to freak out a party by having them
investigate a building that wants to kill them, or is simply as intrigued by
them as they are by it.

David Johnston

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Nov 4, 2009, 12:36:42 AM11/4/09
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They have one in Biotech and another one in Creatures of the Night.

Steven Jones

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Nov 4, 2009, 1:53:31 AM11/4/09
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I was thinking less of organic buildings and more of a sentience in a
supernatural sense, ala the Overlook from 'The Shining', or the titular
building from 'Rose Red'. These are made from nonliving materials, but are
self-aware and can manipulate people and things within them.

Johnny1a

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Nov 4, 2009, 2:14:33 AM11/4/09
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I think the best way to do that is to assume that it isn't really the
building _itself_ that is sentient, but rather that some kind of nasty
(or otherwise) spiritual entity has taken up residence. The question
then becames what kind of spirit it is, what it wants, and why it does
what it does, and how to deal with it.

The building might be 'special' in some way, though, say if it was
designed to serve as a host for such a spirit or spirits, i.e. "The
Legend of Hell House'.

Joseph Duggan

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Nov 4, 2009, 2:23:04 AM11/4/09
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I would use a NPC for ease and for versatility.
The advantage is that it can learn and be adapted to the story easier and
with out having to change the artificial all the time.

"Steven Jones" <stev...@aapt.net.au> wrote in message
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Peter Knutsen

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Nov 4, 2009, 3:50:20 AM11/4/09
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There is a building template in GURPS Bio-Tech for 3rd Edition, and I'm
pretty sure it got mostly, if not fully, updated for the 4th Edition
version.

--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org

Peter Knutsen

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Nov 4, 2009, 3:51:19 AM11/4/09
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I'm pretty sure there are rules for that in the newest Bio-Tech.
Advantages to represent the ability of a creature to observe and
manipulate its insides, e.g. the spaces where human passengers or
inhabitants are.

--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org

Steffan O'Sullivan

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Nov 4, 2009, 8:30:32 AM11/4/09
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I don't know about game details, but be sure to read Philip K. Dick's
_Eye in the Sky_ for another take on a sentient building.

--
-Steffan O'Sullivan, www.panix.com/~sos || "We talked a little more of
Milesians and Firbolgs; but I do not write what he told me here, as
it is at variance with things I have written already, as is often the
case with legend, whence comes a pleasing variety." -Lord Dunsany

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