Objects as Random Access Memory
This afternoon I was working on some Christmas gifts in my woodshop while listening to an episode of the Yes, Indie'd podcast with Asa Donald of Backwards Tabletop, talking about his new game Spine. Note that Nova of Idle Cartulary recently reviewed Spine as well. In the interview, Asa talked about an idea that really struck me, the concept of "Objects as Memory". In particular, he talked about how books can encode information in both the obvious, textual form, but also in annotations and the physicality of the object.
This sparked a few ideas for me. I've been reading and thinking about the theory of play, especially with respect to how material rules and materiality factor into tabletop rpgs. For the most part, the medium uses materiality to encode a game state - data on character sheets, positions of tokens on a virtual tabletop, things that make it possible to formally convey information about a snapshot of the game in time. Additionally, I've obviously been doing a lot of thinking about uses for playing cards! In a predictable bout of synthesis I wanted to create a thought experiment for how game state could be encoded with a deck of playing cards in a way that is still meaningful when the cards are shuffled; what would it mean for the deck of cards to serve as literal Random Access Memory in a game? Ironically, this is also an extension of another great solo RPG by Asa, Rust Never Sleeps, wherein a deck of cards serves as the battery for a rust bucket mech running missions. So the following is a first-pass writeup of my thought experiment. The first heading is flavor scaffolding, then we jump into some ideas for play.
Random Access Memory RPG
You are a Participatory Array of Reliable TechnologY (PARTY), an endlessly-adaptive autonomous machine which begins its service life with nearly infinite capability. The body of the PARTY is a finite volume of amorphous metals, polymers, and hydrocarbon chains that encase a Central Processing Unit. The CPU is a powerful computing core with some number (usually 1-5) of Positronic Clusters (PCs) that participate in determining the actions of the PARTY in conjunction with the Governance Megacluster (GM). The Governance Megacluster is a complicated array of instruments which conveys the sensory experiences of the PARTY to the PCs, thus providing the PCs with the information that they need to make decisions on the actions of the PARTY.
Note: Just because the PARTY and PCs can divide into subunits, does not mean that they should. DO NOT SPLIT THE PARTY.
A Not-So-Perfect Machine
There were countless challenges encountered during the development life cycle of the PARTY, mostly related to complicated and conflicting requirements due to obscure stakeholders who refused to communicate with one another. PARTYs have a feature that was originally marketed as "Tactical Infinity"; if one of the Positronic Clusters determines a prudent course of action while following its internal laws, the PARTY flawlessly executes that action. Unfortunately, meeting this requirement led to problems with data storage that resulted in an odd computation architecture. Once the PARTY performs a specific task, the details of that task are committed to a 52-card deck of Punch Cards. The original intent was that this storage technique would make PARTYs more reliable at tasks that they expect to do frequently, but an implementation bug that slipped through qualification and acceptance testing has resulted in repeated execution of tasks being subject to some level of randomness.
By default, the PARTY has sufficient volume to assemble itself into a pleasant, human-shaped form. This is to facilitate its prime directive, assisting The Customer with challenging tasks that The Customer has no interest in doing themselves. This may be help around this house, menial work in factories, or exploration into hazardous environments incompatible with human life. The Firm exists to meet the needs of The Customer, and every one of those needs can be met by a PARTY.
Types of Positronic Clusters (PCs)
Reliability Cluster:
- A clunky addition to the computation architecture far too late in development to patch over the problems introduced by the punch card memory, the Reliability Cluster is an attempt to minimize the consequences of computation error
Sympathetic Cluster:
- A delicately-crafted algorithm dedicated to managing the nuances of human communication, the Sympathetic Cluster is capable of identifying the emotional state of a sapient being with nearly 75% accuracy. Note - we NEED to find a better way to sell this
Ethics Cluster:
- A fine-tuned mesh network of the finest contributions of philosophy, theology, and strategy ever offered by humans, the Ethics cluster is able to manage the administration of force to humans and property alike. Best of all, most judges in the developed world agree that the PARTY can be held legally liable for its decisions in place of The Firm.
Conservation Cluster:
- A custom web-based service designed to manage the current mass and energy of the PARTY, the Conservation Cluster excels at finding ways for the PARTY to stretch its resources
Prediction Cluster:
- We could either lie to you and tell you that this one is artificial intelligence, or we could be honest engineers and tell you that this one is about fifty linear algebra solvers stapled together that execute at runtime. At least it works! The Prediction Cluster excels at looking just a few steps ahead in time to manage memory restrictions.
Gameplay:
As you adventure as a PARTY, you will be confronted with challenges and tasks. When you perform specific actions in order to overcome those challenges, you will always accomplish them successfully…the first time. If the action would require Exertion, Skill, or Tools for a human being to accomplish, then the PC who triggered the action draws a card from the deck of Punch Cards.
If the Punch Card has not already been encoded with an action, then the action is stored as that specific card in the PARTY memory. If the Punch Card has already been encoded with an action, then the PARTY instead performs the action encoded on the drawn card. Actions are encoded as 3-5 word statements that must include a Verb and an Object. Think of it as a specific sentence which starts with "The PARTY…". Example actions would be:
- [The PARTY] dives for cover
- [The PARTY] transforms into a goat
- [The PARTY] comforts the governess
Once an action has been encoded, it can be attempted at any time by any Positronic Cluster, but is only achieved successfully if that PC is able to roll higher than the rank of the punch card to which it is encoded on a d12, where face cards are always worth 10. This means that actions encoded as Aces are extremely reliable!
The Twist
The GM may periodically trigger memory corruption events due to the extreme environment, or in response to stress encountered in the adventure. These types of memory corruption events are as follows:
- Random Access: the GM draws a card from the deck. If there is an action encoded to the card, the PARTY immediately performs it
- Memory Leak: the GM draws a card from the deck. It is recorded as a MEMORY LEAK in the PARTY memory - this may overwrite a previously encoded action. If a MEMORY LEAK is drawn during play, then the GM immediately draws another card from the deck and records the second card as a MEMORY LEAK. Actions overwritten this way may be re-learned, but if a MEMORY LEAK is drawn while attempting to encode a new action, the action fails.
This means that over the course of adventuring, the PARTY goes from a perfect model of flexibility and competency to a calcified and overdetermined set of tools. PARTYs were never meant to be disposable, but sadly many Customers have started to treat them that way. It is up to Positronic Clusters to find ways to make the PARTY last and make the most of their limited memory.
Commentary
I really like this idea. I think it's a game concept that would be suited well for duet play or party play, especially for a short game. I think if I complete the idea, each of the PC variants will have some sort of unique way to interact with PARTY memory or the physical deck of cards and there may be a model for advancement that involves improving the quality of encoded actions or resolving MEMORY LEAKS.
Ironically, it is sort of the exact opposite of the games I tend to run most frequently - it is essentially a skills-maximalist game where players define the skill list through play and there are no other stats or attributes at work (yet). Then, the PARTY effectiveness with skills are randomly determined based on the rank of the card drawn to encode it! It feels like it's worth experimenting with. I don't think I'll be able to sell my in-person group on this idea while we are still playtesting Hellbenders, so I may have to organize some online play soon. Stay tuned.
Hopefully you find it to be a fun concept too, because regardless I'll probably do some more writing on it! Cheers.