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63-599: Splicers is a role-playing game using the Palladium Books Megaversal gaming system. The game is set in the midst of a war between humans and a world-wide computer intelligence alternately referred to as the N.E.X.U.S. or the Machine. Players take on the roles of humans engaged in the fight against robotic, android, and necrotic minions of the Machine, using technology that is primarily derived from highly advanced biotechnology . The computer intelligence has released

126-513: A game master (GM) decides on the game system and setting to be used, while acting as a facilitator or referee. Each of the other players takes on the role of a single character in the fiction. Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, such as multiplayer text-based Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player role-playing video games in which players control

189-459: A need-to-know basis in order to protect the sources and methods from foreign traffic analysis. Analysis consists of assessment of an adversary's capabilities and vulnerabilities. In a real sense, these are threats and opportunities. Analysts generally look for the least defended or most fragile resource that is necessary for important military capabilities. These are then flagged as critical vulnerabilities. For example, in modern mechanized warfare,

252-431: A " nanobot plague" on the world; within a few seconds of a human touching non-precious metal, the item will begin to twist and attack the person, sometimes even animating into a robotic minion of the Machine. The result is that the nanoplague has effectively made non-precious metal allergic to mammalian life. In many ways, this game's mechanics are largely prohibitive to the introduction of characters from other games using

315-459: A GM describes the game world and its inhabitants. The other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM. This is the format in which role-playing games were first popularized. In contrast, many indie role-playing games experiment with different structures of play, such as sharing

378-517: A GM role through a visual interface called a GM toolkit , albeit with abilities limited by the available technology. Another standard concept in RPGs is the player character, a character in the fictional world of the game whose actions the player controls. Typically each player controls a separate player character, sometimes more, each of whom acts as a protagonist in the story. In contrast to player characters, non-player characters (NPCs) are controlled by

441-453: A character, or team of characters, who undertake(s) quests. Role-playing video games may include player capabilities that advance over time using statistical mechanics. These electronic games sometimes share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling. Some RPG-related game forms, such as trading/collectible card games (CCGs) and wargames , may or may not be included under

504-403: A continuously-updated list of typical vulnerabilities. Critical vulnerabilities are then indexed in a way that makes them easily available to advisors and line intelligence personnel who package this information for policy-makers and war-fighters. Vulnerabilities are usually indexed by the nation and military unit with a list of possible attack methods. Critical threats are usually maintained in

567-652: A country. Photointerpreters generally maintain catalogs of munitions factories, military bases and crate designs in order to interpret munition shipments and inventories. Most intelligence services maintain or support groups whose only purpose is to keep maps. Since maps also have valuable civilian uses, these agencies are often publicly associated or identified as other parts of the government. Some historic counterintelligence services, especially in Russia and China, have intentionally banned or placed disinformation in public maps; good intelligence can identify this disinformation. It

630-489: A few systems, but humans turned over increasing control to it, with increasingly strict (and contradictory) guidelines on its behavior. In a twist reminiscent of the dilemma faced by Hal 9000 in the 2001 series of books, the resulting logic loops leads to the Machine forming several separate personalities, each of whom follows different directives. One of the directives charged the machine with eliminating vermin. Another charged it with environmental protection. Between them, it

693-411: A form of interactive and collaborative storytelling . Events, characters, and narrative structure give a sense of a narrative experience, and the game need not have a strongly-defined storyline. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player in a role-playing game makes choices that affect

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756-556: A loosely defined genre of computer and console games with origins in role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons , on which they base much of their terminology, settings, and game mechanics. This translation changes the experience of the game, providing a visual representation of the world but emphasizing statistical character development over collaborative, interactive storytelling. Online text-based role-playing games involve many players using some type of text-based interface and an Internet connection to play an RPG. Games played in

819-601: A narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines . There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop role-playing game (TRPG or TTRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions. Both forms feature collaborative storytelling . In both TTRPGs and LARPs, often an arranger called

882-487: A nation may be unavailable from outside the country. This is why most intelligence services attach members to foreign service offices. Some industrialized nations also eavesdrop continuously on the entire radio spectrum, interpreting it in real time. This includes not only broadcasts of national and local radio and television, but also local military traffic, radar emissions and even microwaved telephone and telegraph traffic, including satellite traffic. The U.S. in particular

945-475: A prioritized file, with important enemy capabilities analyzed on a schedule set by an estimate of the enemy's preparation time. For example, nuclear threats between the USSR and the U.S. were analyzed in real time by continuously on-duty staffs. In contrast, analysis of tank or army deployments are usually triggered by accumulations of fuel and munitions, which are monitored every few days. In some cases, automated analysis

1008-411: A real-time way include MUDs , MUSHes , and other varieties of MU* . Games played in a turn-based fashion include play-by-mail games and play-by-post games . Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) combine the large-scale social interaction and persistent world of MUDs with graphic interfaces. Most MMORPGs do not actively promote in-character role-playing, however, players can use

1071-745: A role-playing game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief . The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes. Tabletop role-playing games may also be used in therapy settings to help individuals develop behavioral, social, and even language skills. Beneficiaries commonly include young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder ( ADHD ), and dyslexia . Role-playing games are played in

1134-463: A single class, the Technojackers. These are humans who are not only immune to the nanobot plague, but can control the nanobots inside them to take over robots used by the Machine if placed in very close proximity to them. This means that they can use metal items without fear, but also that humans do not entirely trust them. Splicers does several things that are unique from other Palladium games. First

1197-449: A variety of robotic creations, energy weapons, high-velocity rail guns, and missiles. All of these are capable of operating independently, or of being directly controlled by one of the personalities of the Machine. Humans who are part of the resistance live primarily underground, to avoid detection by the Machine, and rely on genetically engineered, or "spliced", technology to provide for their basic needs, as metal-based technology, owing to

1260-482: A wide variety of formats, ranging from discussing character interaction in tabletop form, physically acting out characters in LARP to playing characters virtually in digital media. There is also a great variety of systems of rules and game settings . Games that emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat sometimes prefer the name storytelling game . These types of games tend to reduce or eliminate

1323-403: Is a destroyer and torturer and murderer (although she wishes to do so in such a way that her "fun" in matching wits, hunting and torturing the humans never ends); Eve attempts to protect humans and has been seemingly punished by her 'sisters' for doing so; Hecate wishes to only to design and build newer and better war machines, obsessed to such an extent that she actually doesn't care whether or not

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1386-618: Is commonplace for the intelligence services of large countries to read every published journal of the nations in which it is interested, and the main newspapers and journals of every nation. This is a basic source of intelligence. It is also common for diplomatic and journalistic personnel to have a secondary goal of collecting military intelligence. For western democracies, it is extremely rare for journalists to be paid by an official intelligence service, but they may still patriotically pass on tidbits of information they gather as they carry on their legitimate business. Also, much public information in

1449-704: Is focused on support or denial of intelligence at operational tiers. The operational tier is below the strategic level of leadership and refers to the design of practical manifestation. Formally defined as "Intelligence that is required for planning and conducting campaigns and major operations to accomplish strategic objectives within theaters or operational areas." It aligns with the Operational Level of Warfare, defined as "The level of warfare at which campaigns and major operations are planned, conducted, and sustained to achieve strategic objectives within theaters or other operational areas." The term operation intelligence

1512-464: Is focused on support to operations at the tactical level and would be attached to the battlegroup. At the tactical level, briefings are delivered to patrols on current threats and collection priorities. These patrols are then debriefed to elicit information for analysis and communication through the reporting chain. Tactical Intelligence is formally defined as "intelligence required for the planning and conduct of tactical operations", and corresponds with

1575-592: Is known to maintain satellites that can intercept cell-phone and pager traffic, usually referred to as the ECHELON system. Analysis of bulk traffic is normally performed by complex computer programs that parse natural language and phone numbers looking for threatening conversations and correspondents. In some extraordinary cases, undersea or land-based cables have been tapped as well. More exotic secret information, such as encryption keys, diplomatic message traffic, policy and orders of battle are usually restricted to analysts on

1638-465: Is performed in real time on automated data traffic. Packaging threats and vulnerabilities for decision-makers is a crucial part of military intelligence. A good intelligence officer will stay very close to the policy-maker or war fighter to anticipate their information requirements and tailor the information needed. A good intelligence officer will also ask a fairly large number of questions in order to help anticipate needs. For an important policy-maker,

1701-429: Is the assignation of skills. Rather than a set list by class, each class has one or several skill programs that it receives and may choose from. Thus, characters of the same class may have wildly different skill sets if, for example, one chooses to concentrate on Intelligence while another concentrates on weapons or medical skills. It is also one of the few Palladium games that does not include psychic or magical powers in

1764-409: Is the role of a gamemaster, a participant who has special duties to present the fictional setting, arbitrate the results of character actions, and maintain the narrative flow. In tabletop and live-action RPGs the GM performs these duties in person. In video RPGs, many of the functions of a GM are fulfilled by the game engine . However, some multi-player video RPGs also allow for a participant to take on

1827-502: Is used within law enforcement to refer to intelligence that supports long-term investigations into multiple, similar targets. Operational intelligence, in the discipline of law enforcement intelligence, is concerned primarily with identifying, targeting, detecting and intervening in criminal activity. The use within law enforcement and law enforcement intelligence is not scaled to its use in general intelligence or military/naval intelligence, being more narrowed in scope. Tactical intelligence

1890-425: Is vague as to its location or original name; humans do not know if they are on Earth, or some colony world in space. While much history has been lost in the two hundred years of fighting, they are clear that colony worlds do/did exist. What is known is that humans chose to turn over governance of their world to a computer program, the N.E.X.U.S. (Neurologic Electronic eXecutive and Utility System). Initially, it ran only

1953-465: The retronyms tabletop role-playing game or pen and paper role-playing game are sometimes used, though neither a table nor pen and paper are strictly necessary. A LARP is played more like improvisational theatre . Participants act out their characters' actions instead of describing them, and the real environment is used to represent the imaginary setting of the game world. Players are often costumed as their characters and use appropriate props, and

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2016-691: The Great House of Barren Marsh is detailed in the Splicers RPG, though additional material can be found in Palladium's sourcebook series, the Rifter. Non-resistant humans live in "retro-villages", which are maintained by the Machine in accordance with some of its directives. Human technology is reliant upon a group known as the Engineers. These are humans who have bonded with giant, immobile, alien organisms that give them

2079-455: The Palladium system (by deliberate design, and presumably to maintain game balance within the game); most conventional technology and weapons from other games simply cannot be used on the world of Splicers , due to the nature of the aforementioned nanoplague, and the Magical and Psionic powers common to most other Palladium modules are greatly reduced in this game setting. The world of Splicers

2142-645: The Tactical Level of Warfare, itself defined as "the level of warfare at which battles and engagements are planned and executed to achieve military objectives assigned to tactical units or task forces". Intelligence should respond to the needs of leadership , based on the military objective and operational plans. The military objective provides a focus for the estimate process, from which a number of information requirements are derived. Information requirements may be related to terrain and impact on vehicle or personnel movement, disposition of hostile forces, sentiments of

2205-439: The U.S. military, Joint Publication 2-0 (JP 2-0) states: "The six categories of intelligence operations are: planning and direction; collection; processing and exploitation; analysis and production; dissemination and integration; and evaluation and feedback." Many of the most important facts are well known or may be gathered from public sources. This form of information collection is known as open-source intelligence . For example,

2268-582: The ability to manipulate genetic codes. Other creatures, known as Librarians, are capable of creating new genetic codes from scratch. Splicers is a mega-damage setting, which is to say that the majority of weapons used are of such power that unarmored humans are instantly killed. As such, the game presents only "heroic" scale characters, who fall into three general categories: those who make use of genetic technology, but remain human themselves, those who have been made inhuman by genetic technology, and Technojackers. The first group are arguably those who are viewed

2331-665: The area in question, such as geography , demographics and industrial capacities. Strategic Intelligence is formally defined as "intelligence required for the formation of policy and military plans at national and international levels", and corresponds to the Strategic Level of Warfare, which is formally defined as "the level of warfare at which a nation, often as a member of a group of nations, determines national or multinational (alliance or coalition) strategic security objectives and guidance, then develops and uses national resources to achieve those objectives." Operational intelligence

2394-502: The civilian population in an area of combat operations, and other broader areas of interest. Intelligence activities are conducted at all levels, from tactical to strategic, in peacetime, the period of transition to war, and during a war itself. Most governments maintain a military intelligence capability to provide analytical and information collection personnel in both specialist units and from other arms and services. The military and civilian intelligence capabilities collaborate to inform

2457-436: The definition of role-playing games. Although some amount of role-playing activity may be present in such games, it is not the primary focus. The term role-playing game is also sometimes used to describe other games involving roleplay simulation , such as exercises used in teaching, training, academic research, or therepeutic settings. Both authors and major publishers of tabletop role-playing games consider them to be

2520-500: The detailed act and carry it out. Once hostilities begin, target selection often moves into the upper end of the military chain of command. Once ready stocks of weapons and fuel are depleted, logistic concerns are often exported to civilian policy-makers. The processed intelligence information is disseminated through database systems, intel bulletins and briefings to the different decision-makers. The bulletins may also include consequently resulting information requirements and thus conclude

2583-506: The game, focusing instead entirely on biotechnology (though the powers of the Saint come close, and one could make an argument for Clarke's third law applying to much of the biotechnology). Role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game , or abbreviated as RPG ) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting . Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within

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2646-422: The gamemaster or game engine, or by people assisting the gamemaster. Non-player characters fill out the population of the fictional setting and can act as antagonists, bystanders, or allies of the player characters. [REDACTED] Media related to Role-playing games at Wikimedia Commons Military intelligence Areas of study may include the operational environment, hostile, friendly and neutral forces,

2709-520: The games' communication functions to role-play so long as other players cooperate. The majority of players in MMORPGs do not engage in role-playing in this sense. Computer-assisted gaming can be used to add elements of computer gaming to in-person tabletop role-playing, where computers are used for record-keeping and sometimes to resolve combat, while the participants generally make decisions concerning character interaction. One common feature of many RPGs

2772-697: The humans destroy her previous creations; Ishtar, chief strategist of the Machine, wages unceasing war against the humans and is only kept from completely destroying the species by the intervention of her 'sisters;' and Lilith, a wildcard even within the N.E.X.U.S supercomputer, who is simultaneously playing complex mind games against both the humans and her fellow personalities. In addition to these major personalities, there are dozens (or more) minor personalities that may manifest any traits at all, or may be Lilith or another personality pretending, for their own reasons, to be another. The Machine uses "traditional" technology, though far advanced from 21st century Earth. It uses

2835-405: The intelligence officer will have a staff to which research projects can be assigned. Developing a plan of attack is not the responsibility of intelligence, though it helps an analyst to know the capabilities of common types of military units. Generally, policy-makers are presented with a list of threats and opportunities. They approve some basic action, and then professional military personnel plan

2898-498: The late 1990s due to competition from online MMO RPGs, role-playing video games , and collectible card games. However, TTRPGs experienced a resurgence in popularity between the mid-2010s and early 2020s due to actual play web series and online play through videoconferencing during the COVID-19 lockdowns . The tabletop format is often referred to simply as a role-playing game . To distinguish this form of RPG from other formats,

2961-438: The local population and capabilities of the hostile order of battle . In response to the information requirements, analysts examine existing information, identifying gaps in the available knowledge. Where gaps in knowledge exist, the staff may be able to task collection assets to target the requirement. Analysis reports draw on all available sources of information, whether drawn from existing material or collected in response to

3024-403: The logistics chain for a military unit's fuel supply is often the most vulnerable part of a nation's order of battle. Human intelligence, gathered by spies, is usually carefully tested against unrelated sources. It is notoriously prone to inaccuracy. In some cases, sources will just make up imaginative stories for pay, or they may try to settle grudges by identifying personal enemies as enemies of

3087-516: The most heroically by the society in which they are. They are granted powerful weapons of war by the Engineers, and include the Archangel (air cavalry), Dreadguard (heavy infantry/special forces), Outrider (cavalry, on genetically modified War Mounts), Packmasters (K-9 troops) and Roughnecks (infantry). The second group is viewed with a mixture of loathing and admiration. They have become very obviously inhuman, and as such, have difficulties interacting with

3150-465: The nanobot plague, is denied them. Most of their warriors make use of devices called "Host Armor", which is, in effect, power armor made out of a specially-tailored living creature. Others are themselves "spliced", or chemically altered through contact with the fluids surrounding certain genetically engineered creatures. At the current time, the human resistance has arranged itself into Great Houses, which are headed by Warlords (a non-pejorative term). Only

3213-438: The number of players in a LARP is usually larger than in a tabletop role-playing game, and the players may be interacting in separate physical spaces, there is typically less of an emphasis on tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and game sessions are often managed in a more distributed manner. Tabletop role-playing games have been translated into a variety of electronic formats. As early as 1974,

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3276-559: The overall intelligence value after careful analysis. The tonnage and basic weaponry of most capital ships and aircraft are also public, and their speeds and ranges can often be reasonably estimated by experts, often just from photographs. Ordinary facts like the lunar phase on particular days or the ballistic range of common military weapons are also very valuable to planning, and are habitually collected in an intelligence library. A great deal of useful intelligence can be gathered from photointerpretation of detailed high-altitude pictures of

3339-537: The population, ethnic make-up and main industries of a region are extremely important to military commanders, and this information is usually public. It is however imperative that the collector of information understands that what is collected is "information", and does not become intelligence until after an analyst has evaluated and verified this information. Collection of read materials, composition of units or elements, disposition of strength, training, tactics, personalities (leaders) of these units and elements contribute to

3402-511: The requirement. The analysis reports are used to inform the remaining planning staff, influencing planning and seeking to predict adversary intent. This process is described as Collection Co-ordination and Intelligence Requirement Management (CCIRM). The process of intelligence has four phases: collection, analysis, processing and dissemination. In the United Kingdom these are known as direction, collection, processing and dissemination. In

3465-460: The responsibility for creating setting details and NPCs among all players. The first commercially available RPG, Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ), was inspired by fantasy literature and the wargaming hobby and was published in 1974. The popularity of D&D led to the birth of the tabletop role-playing game industry, which publishes games with many different themes, rules, and styles of play. The popularity of tabletop games decreased in

3528-517: The same year as the release of Dungeons & Dragons, unlicensed versions of it were developed on mainframe university systems under titles such as dnd and Dungeon . These early computer RPGs influenced all of electronic gaming, as well as spawning the role-playing video game genre. Some authors divide digital role-playing games into two intertwined groups: single-player games using RPG-style mechanics, and multiplayer games incorporating social interaction. Single-player role-playing video games form

3591-658: The spectrum of political and military activities. Personnel performing intelligence duties may be selected for their analytical abilities and personal intelligence before receiving formal training. Intelligence operations are carried out throughout the hierarchy of political and military activity. Strategic intelligence is concerned with broad issues such as economics, political assessments, military capabilities and intentions of foreign nations (and, increasingly, non-state actors ). Such intelligence may be scientific, technical, tactical, diplomatic or sociological , but these changes are analyzed in combination with known facts about

3654-550: The state that is paying for the intelligence. However, human intelligence is often the only form of intelligence that provides information about an opponent's intentions and rationales, and it is therefore often uniquely valuable to successful negotiation of diplomatic solutions. In some intelligence organizations, analysis follows a procedure. First, general media and sources are screened to locate items or groups of interest, and then their location, capabilities, inputs and environment are systematically assessed for vulnerabilities using

3717-408: The story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story. While simple forms of role-playing exist in traditional children's games of make believe , role-playing games add a level of sophistication and persistence to this basic idea with additions such as game facilitators and rules of interaction. Participants in

3780-420: The use of dice and other randomizing elements. Some games are played with characters created before the game by the GM, rather than those created by the players. This type of game is typically played at gaming conventions , or in standalone games that do not form part of a campaign. Tabletop (TTRPG) and pen-and-paper (PnP) RPGs are conducted through discussion in a small social gathering. In traditional TTRPGs,

3843-423: The venue may be decorated to resemble the fictional setting. Some live-action role-playing games use rock paper scissors or comparison of attributes to resolve conflicts symbolically, while other LARPs use physical combat with simulated arms such as airsoft guns or foam weapons . LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to several days. Because

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3906-508: The very people they are fighting to save. These classes include the Biotic (condemned criminals who have been enhanced by splicer technology), the Saint (a human who has become a living incubator for the creature that creates Engineers), and the Scarecrow (who drinks the fluid surrounding a Librarian, thereby becoming a superhuman addict, under the command of that Librarian). The final group consists of

3969-562: Was concluded that humans are, for all intents and purposes, vermin to be controlled, if not eliminated. The seven main N.E.X.U.S. personalities each have different agendas based on core tenets of the original programming. One, named Freya, wishes to maintain order within her so-called Ghost Cities, wherein robot duplicates endlessly play out their 'lives' as normal human beings. Another, named Gaia, wishes only to preserve nature, destroying robots that invade nature preserves and 'entertaining' herself with countless experiments in bioengineering. Kali

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