Gardener Fortifications

[RiftJunkie]

When the Gardener Fortifications are not being controlled, how do they determine who/what gets attacked? Machines are an easy given... they are metal. Would TJ's be counted as the Machine by them? Is there a "House specific DNA" that they can sense? Would they work if there is an insurrection in the House? Is there some kind of rudimentary intelligence that you have to line up the "good guys" so they will be recognized and not attacked? Friendly Houses? Retros?

Also, I may have missed it: Are the Fortifications only able to be used by the Gardener that planted them? When the Gardener dies, do the Fortifications just become "feral"?

[The Galactus Kid]

Good questions.
1) they recognize the specific house or friendly houses as assigned by the Gardener. If there was an insurrection, they would only attack if directed by their gardener and will not attack those registering as friendly
2) they can only be controlled by their gardener.

[RiftJunkie]

Cool.
Are "unknown" Resistance automatically treated as hostile?
Can TJ's be "programed" as friendly?
After the Gardener dies, are the now "feral" Fortifications locked into there last protocols or do they begin to target everything?

[boxee]

Damn never thought of this. Well maybe another gardener could eventually take them over if it recognized the house dna? Maybe it would have to be a relative like the proto host armor, frozen at the level they were grown to?

[The Galactus Kid]

Cool.
Are "unknown" Resistance automatically treated as hostile?
Can TJ's be "programed" as friendly?
After the Gardener dies, are the now "feral" Fortifications locked into there last protocols or do they begin to target everything?

1) Generally yes. I would say that a Gardener can set them to hold attacks unless attacked.
2)Yes
3) They will do what they were last set to do.

[RiftJunkie]

Excellent!
Now I know, and knowing is half the battle..... wait.... sorry, wrong setting.

[Tor]

Would be easier to assume they have an 'everyone is an enemy' unless 'designated friendly' or something.

Although how complex you can make these constructions confuses me.

Like could you tell it only to attack warriors of other clans but spare civilians/?

[The Galactus Kid]

Like could you tell it only to attack warriors of other clans but spare civilians/?

Probably not. They are programmed to identify the machine and anyone with a specific genetic marker. Members of a rival house probably won't have that genetic marker, whether they are civilian or soldier.

I'm paying strict attention to this thread and will be tweaking the Gardener a bit when it is included in a book for publication.

[RiftJunkie]

Ok, another thought: Indigenous Wildlife. It would really suck to plant a shroom minefield to have a herd of deer run (try) through it!

If you can sneak into a preserve, can you plant stuff or will it just attack everything until it dies before reaching maturity? There are also alien DNA critters running around too. Maybe Razor Willows or Spikeroot or Tangle Weed to get some of this alien DNA for the Geneticists, Engineers and Librarians?

[Shark_Force]

nothing matures unless a gardener tends it. if a gardener attends it, you can control it directly with relative ease.

that said, i'd say you should be able to choose to set it initially to "only targets the machine" if you want (may target technojackers still of course).

[Tor]

By 'gardener' this means someone with the gardening skill, doesn't have to be the Gardener OCC, in case anyone's wondering.

[Shark_Force]

true, but the gardener is the only one particularly likely to have the skills to have a decent chance at success. you need botany and gardening both at high levels to have a decent shot at it, and while the gardener is tending their first plants they can also plant more as they go.

i mean, it's not like when the great house is setting up a location they're thinking "man, we could really use a single defensive plant here". odds are good they'll want at least enough plants to throw a decent volley that can take out a small machine patrol, if not more.

[RiftJunkie]

Ok. But once again, what about using them in the Preserves in the way I previously listed? Possible? Likely? Probable? What would be the major issues with this tactic?

[Shark_Force]

i'd say you can program them to not attack biological life forms as a general rule, if that's what you're asking. obviously, that has drawbacks (they'd be useless if another splicer house attacked and you don't have the original gardener nearby) but i imagine there are certainly situations where the option would be used.

[RiftJunkie]

At this point, I think I was asking about getting into a Preserve and using Razor Willows or Spikeroot or Tangle Weed to get some of this alien DNA (by capturing or killing some of Gaia's creations) for the Geneticists, Engineers and Librarians? Viable tactic or not and what might be the issues with it?

[Shark_Force]

oh. well, i'd say by default the plants won't keep the DNA for you, and won't be good at distinguishing between preserves life forms and other houses (so you probably don't want to treat it as fire and forget), but if you have a gardener set up a heavily trapped area, then sure, i don't see why you couldn't make use of plant fortifications to kill or incapacitate stuff in the preserves, or even just cut them up a bit so you can recover blood samples and such (note: blood splattered all over the place is probably not ideal as a sample though; subduing the creature and obtaining a blood sample that has not been sprayed all over the jungle is likely to make the geneticists and/or librarians in the house happy. getting a blood sample from a creature that just walked through your sawgrass, less so).