Novice

Race Mechanics https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/JpLZWAe7FWis   The Imago Dei are figures of legend to many, but they are very real to those who witnessed the arrival of the Exalted Path in United Nations of Worlds space. Their massive chapterhouse hangs in the void as a monument to the faith of the AI housed within. That faith drives missions to protect humanity—missions that depend on a variety of tools to execute. One such tool is the Novice.   Manufacture of AI cores was a taxing process before the Scream, but now devoting resources to the effort is unjustifiable. Armatures that would normally house fragments of cores stand empty. Yet the threats to humanity in the sector seem unending. A compromise had to be made. The AI of the Imago Dei began to craft something new: in their image, but unlike the expert systems, VI, and AI that came before. The Novices were born.   Novice minds are uniquely crafted by the Exalted Path and downloaded to armatures manufactured within the chapterhouse. Once downloaded they are bound to their armature, living and dying by their care of it. They are machine intelligences with incredible capacity for learning and personality, yet the limits of their hardware mean they cannot match the processing power of their creators, only their devotion. With regular maintenance a Novice may operate for fifty or so years before returning to the chapterhouse for reclamation. Novices have an imperative to travel where conditions are worst, combat threats to humanity, and render aid. Their deep faith in God and humanity as His scripture is programmed into them from creation. However, like the Imago Dei themselves, some may eventually find they do their work not out of religious fervor but for reasons all their own.   Typically, the Novices are found inhabiting one of three different frames. These frame patterns consist of the technically adept Scholar frame, the human appearing Icon, and the war armature known as a Templar.   Novices cannot meaningfully harness MES or other metaphysical energies, and thus are relegated to mundane methods and tools, though this does little to dampen their effectiveness at their given tasks.