Know Skills & Science

Characters in Eclipse Phase regularly encounter phenomena (substances, organisms, technology) that are unknown or poorly understood by transhumanity. How do they do science the shit out of all these things? Especially if the GM and/or players are not scientists themselves? We suggest following a series of steps that map game mechanics to the steps in the scientific method. This approach can also be used for similar technology or science-related challenges (i.e., tests using Hardware, Interface, Medicine, or Program skills), such as repurposing technology for a new situation or running a statistical analysis.

When deciding how much time to spend on each of the steps below, consider the significance of the question the players are asking to your plot. If completing the research will resolve a major plot point or give the players crucial information, it’s worth spending more play time on the hunt for the answers. For enquiries that are less important to the story, you can skip or shorthand some of the steps below.

Known?

If the answer is known to transhuman science, succeeding at a related Know skill test means a character already knows the answer (or knows where to research more about it).

It is sometimes possible to use the mesh and Research skill to resolve a question, but it should be harder. Characters with good Research skills but little or no background in a field can turn up a lot of information but might not know how to interpret it. Penalties of −10 to −30 should be applied to the Research Test, depending upon how far afield the knowledge in question is from the character’s skill set. If the topic is particularly technical or arcane, a Know Test may still be required to make sense of the search results.

Rep favors can also get you answers — or people who can parse your search results into something that makes sense — particularly r-rep and i-rep.

Frame the Question

If the solution isn’t already known to transhuman science, the characters doing the research formulate a question. Questions can be incredibly broad, the kind of thing that could take a whole campaign to resolve (e.g., what caused the extinction of this particular alien civilization), or they can be the work of a few days' direct observation in the field (e.g., how do we stop the spread of this particular exsurgent plague?).

Ideally, this step in the process should be part roleplay, part skills.

Let the players throw around some ideas. They might hit upon the right question on their own. If they don’t, let the characters with relevant Know skills make tests to see if they think of something. If the players don’t have any related skills, burning an Insight to get a clue or succeeding at an INT Check could get them past this stage.

Hypothesis and Prediction

Before performing an experiment to answer the question, it will help for the PCs to define what their experiment will test and what they think the results will be. To establish why an alien species died off, the PCs might study the planet’s geological record. To figure out how to stop an exsurgent plague, they might hypothesize that it spreads by infected victims biting others. To improve a sensor, characters might hypothesize that they can add a filter to reduce interference from the local electromagnetic environment.

This stage is crucial to real science but can often be glossed over in game. In many cases, you can skip straight from the question (what is this alien thing?) to testing (let’s get it under a microscope and find out). How much you incorporate this step depends on how much of a spotlight you want to put on the trial-and-error aspect of scientific enquiry.

Whether you ask the players for tests at this point depends on how specific the question is. If the hypothesis stage is skippable (let’s just dissect this alien), don’t bother with any tests. If their approach to the question is important to the plot, ask them to detail their plan and call for a test if the players are off base.

Testing

At this point, the characters perform an experiment, lab analysis, or field test. For gatecrashers trying to find the weaknesses of an alien animal, this could involve scanning an immobilized specimen with various sensors. For techies trying to improve upon a piece of equipment, the test could be taking it out and trying to use it. For a statistical analysis based on real-world inputs, this might be the phase where a whole bunch of data mining takes place.

Testing, especially if it’s in the field, is the phase where a wide variety of skill tests can be involved. PCs making observations in the field can make Perceive Tests to catch what they’re looking for. Advanced or unusual use of sensor equipment takes an Interface Test to get the right readings. Examining a biological specimen calls for Medicine Tests, while building an interface to an alien artifact requires Hardware: Electronics.

Consider what skill tests are involved in executing the experiment and have the appropriate characters make them. If they succeed, their experiment is a successful test of the hypothesis, yielding clear data. Superior or critical successes might reveal more information or yield unexpected benefits. Failure means something went wrong with the experiment, producing mixed or garbled results. A critical failure could result in the character becoming temporarily convinced of an incorrect hypothesis.

Analysis

For some questions, the analysis of the test results will be clear cut. This is particularly true of questions with binary results (yes, filtering out the background electromagnetic radiation lets us image this strange asteroid). For others, additional analysis might be needed. Biologists who have sequenced the genome and analyzed the anatomy and body chemistry of an animal might make Know: Biology or even INT Checks to draw inferences about the animal’s life cycle. A mathematician who’s mined the data of several million people looking for stolen identities might make a Know: Mathematics test to infer whether the thefts are the work of a single person or organization. At this point, the PCs have likely made several tests, so make sure there’s a payoff in it if you ask them for even more.

This stage of the scientific method is most interesting in the game when it builds to an a-ha moment. This is even better when the results are unexpected. Perhaps the results indicate a previously undetected menace. Perhaps they implicate a trusted NPC in nefarious deeds. Or perhaps the results break the laws of science as transhumanity knows it, suggesting powerful ASI or alien technology is at work.

Ideally, the answers here should chain to the next step of the overarching mystery and plot the PCs are involved in. Information is most useful when it leads to action and new goals.