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In a deliciously crunchy meta twist for our AI-saturated times; The Yellow Hand: ‘Sentience’ - an RPG where humans play robots becoming human.
The second edition, expanded 212-page hardcover from designers Al Spader and Alison Cybe builds upon their original game. Underpinned by Modiphius' 2d20 World Builders system, players navigate their newly conscious terraforming robots through an identity crisis, all before their human creators pop back to check on things.
You have to love ‘roleplaying’ an emotional awakening whilst our own time and space is increasingly dictated by algorithms.
Descartes never had to update his firmware
Introducing Protocol skills and an Emotion system, the games character creation uses a lifepath to chronicle each bot's journey through "the Awakening". The game prioritises emotional exploration over deleting bipedal meat sacks and I imagine provides a jumping off point for many a philosphical punch-up.
Two ready-to-play scenarios - "Companions" and "Union Strike!" - kick off your robot rebellion (or group therapy session, depending on your playstyle) and Directors (GMs) have access to a toolset for crafting NPC’s to believably populate and manage an increasingly complicated robot society.
The campaign runs till February 21, 2025 on Kickstarter.
Given humanity's current trajectory of asking AI to handle everything from our artwork to our inbox, perhaps we should take notes.
#theyellowhand #sentience #modiphius #terraforming
Images courtesy of The Yellow Hand.
