Personality Simulation
Personality Simulation programs appear at TL-12. They are designed to predict what a sophont would do in any given circumstance, based on past actions and statements. They require, as a basis to run, an extensive database of known past actions based on specific known circumstances, a Personality Profile. Because of this, these programs do not work at all on children (especially for those species, like Humaniti, whose children do not complete higher-order neural development until early adulthood). They are also fairly unreliable when the database of past actions and statements is incomplete. People who are secretive or who have remained unobtrusive their whole lives are often effectively impossible to read. (Note: PCs have the PC Glow, and any attempt to read them is at a -2 DM.)
Personality Simulation programs are used by the Imperial Government, Megacorporations, and the Imperial Navy and Marines. They are used as first-line vetting and revetting loyalty checkers, and more importantly, to try and determine the actions of political or military figures of importance.
Even the best Personality Simulations are not completely perfect, and do not give accurate results at all times, but they are frightening tools when used by only one side of a conflict.
Personality Simulation programs may also be used to counter themselves. By inputing a complete cooperatively-produced Personality Profile, an individual may attempt to see what they themselves would most likely do in a given situation, and then take some other action, and thus foil someone else's attempt to "read" them.
These programs may not run on Computer Models with a TL lower than the TL of the program itself. They are also some of the most expensive programs known.
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Costs, Space, TL, History Limits, DM
Std Min
TL History History Cost Space DM
12 50 yrs 30 MCr20 10 0
13 40 yrs 20 MCr30 20 +1
14 30 yrs 10 MCr40 30 +2
15 20 yrs 10 MCr50 40 +3</pre>[/QUOTE]The Standard History is the length of the personality profile required for basic functioning.
The Minimum History is the absolute smallest personality profile, any less, and results are effectively random.
The DM is a basic bonus for the increasing sophistication of the programming.
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">General Personality Profile DMs
Years Years
Under DM Over DM
10 -1 10 +1
20 -2 20 +2
N/A N/A 50 +3
N/A N/A 100 +4</pre>[/QUOTE]Years Under: The penalty for having an incomplete personality profile.
Years Over: A bonus is definitely available for having a lengthier than normal personality profile.
Pesonality Profiles are based on making at least one recorded action or statement per week; in which the reasons for and the facts about the actions or statements are known. For a full 50 year history at TL-12, this obviously requires a massive and accurate database.
The actions or statements need not be public, they only need to be known to the compiler of the Personality Profile.
It is up to the GM to determine if any sophont has made sufficient known actions or statements for long enough to have a complete Personality Profile.
Most active public figures are going to be relatively easy to get full profiles on.
For all those who are not so forthcoming, it is the job of various intelligence agencies to compile sufficient information to make up the difference.
For indivdiuals who conduct Counter-Profile activities (noted above), all time spent doing things other than the predicted actions counts as negative information that actualy penalizes any profile compiler's activities. However, this is quite difficult. People are who they are, and on important issues, they frequently can't help doing exactly what their personality and memory history tells them that they should do.
As far as game mechanics go, it's probably impossible to know just how far anyone has compiled information of whatever quality for certain about anyone. Simply wing it and assign arbitrary values for most cases. Decide that entity X knows Y years on sophont Z. If sophont Z is a secretive intelligence agent, well, unfortunately, entity X only has 12 weeks of known actions or statements after five years of investigation.
Roll Computer Skill vs. Target 8 (1 hour/6 hours into the future the target prediction is being made), with all DMs noted above, to successfuly predict an action or statement that is projected to occur no more than 6 hours in the future based on specific inputs (which in turn must actually happen to the sophont in question, or must have just happened). For each 6 hours beyond the first, apply a -1 DM. Roll Psychology vs. Target 8 (1 hour) to try and use judgement to offset one -1 DM penalty for extra time. Each attempt past the first to offest an extra time penalty incurs its own -1 DM on successive Psychology rolls to offest extra time penalties (requires Psychology-3 to even try).
Each known action or statement must be successfully interpreted and compiled into a Personality Profile. Requires Psychology-3 to even try. Roll vs. Target 8 (1 hour). DM -2 if facts surrounding action or statement are less than 100% certain. DM -4 if facts are less than 90% certain. If facts are less than 80% certain, the action or statement is useless and must be discarded.
In individual cases where it is necessary to decide on the validity of facts surrounding an action or statement, it is up to the GM to assign a validity rating (just arbitrarily assign a value based on what the PCs say they know vs. what you know happened).
It is a Liaison or Psychology roll vs. Target 8 to determine the validity rating of facts (8 hours of fact checking). Most professional profile-compilers routinely check their facts before committing them to the Personality Profile. Failure to successfully identify a useless action or statement, and it's commitment to the Personality Profile, actually subtracts the value of that action or statement from the total on file (although there is no way to tell this under normal operations; only the GM will know).
The truth of any prediction is unknown until the event specified by the prediction comes to pass (and any variance in the conditions specified and the actual events that occur almost always causes an error of some degree).
The skill Psychology may be considered a cascade variant of Medical.
As mentioned above, it is possible to voluntarily cooperate in the compilation of a Personality Profile. Each hour of interviews (min. Psychology-3, Roll vs. Target 8 for each hour) qualifies as 8 actions or statements made over a normal two month period. Typically, one form of truth detection or another is employed simultaneously during this process to assure validity of the interview facts.
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Personality Profile Costs
Research Cost Interview Cost
10 yrs MCr1 60 hrs KCr18
Cost for Research is x3 of the research subject is secretive; and is x5 if the subject is a recluse.</pre>[/QUOTE]Imperial Edict 3: It is forbidden to possess or use a Personality Profile of any member of the Imperial Family. Imprisonment or Death may be the punishment.
Most Ruling Nobles have passed similar, if less all-encompassing, laws within their own domains.
The heads of states of most governments view the use or existence of Personality Profiles on themselves in a poor light.
Some worlds have laws against their ownership, use, or creation.
Intelligence forces from all polities use them extensively.
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Wow, that turned out to be longer than I thought.
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EDIT--Shortly after posting.
Added in a section about Psychology and cooperative compliation of a Personality Profile. Also added a section about legality, etc.
EDIT--04/18/2005--1725--MST
Added costs to produce Personality Profiles. Minor corrections.
EDIT--05/28/2005--0027--MDT
Corrected a few typos.
EDIT--05/27/2007--0754--MDT
Corrected a few more typos.