Machine Spirit Personalities for Various Vehicles and Gear

[ElectricPaladin]

Land raiders. Fellblades. Rhinos. Typhon siege tanks. Most of them have machine spirits. Some, like a land raider's, are practically sentient. Some, like a super-heavies, probably are sentient. Some of them even already have fluff that tells us about them - like the story behind typhon siege tanks, which states that their machine spirits are surly, resentful, and hard to control. Others, like the rhino's, are barely there and barely mentioned in the backstory.

Nevertheless, based on the vehicle's background, purpose, and reputation, what do you think their machine spirits are like?

[DETHMOKIL]

Well in the new Guard codex, it mentions a bolt pistol that kills commissars for cowardice, before it happens. Clearly not because it fire heavy bolter rounds.

[Blood Shadow]

Well in the new Guard codex, it mentions a bolt pistol that kills commissars for cowardice, before it happens. Clearly not because it fire heavy bolter rounds.

I think you're doing something wrong Bro...

As for PoMS I'm pretty sure it's just autonomous targeting system, any implied "personality" is an anthropomorphic impression of the technical difficulty/ complexity of the system.

So a Rhino only has a simplistic limited capability, where as a Typhon's autonomous systems are highly complex making tinkering difficult and therefore "surly" no doubt these systems have servitor type voices which will add to the mysticism. But I like to think they're just technological, no ghosts in there.

[Mr Mystery]

Warlord Titans were described in Adeptus Titanicus as being programmed with a Bear like personality, whereas Warhounds had, appropriately, Wolf engrams and that.

[ElectricPaladin]

I think you're doing something wrong Bro...

As for PoMS I'm pretty sure it's just autonomous targeting system, any implied "personality" is an anthropomorphic impression of the technical difficulty/ complexity of the system.

So a Rhino only has a simplistic limited capability, where as a Typhon's autonomous systems are highly complex making tinkering difficult and therefore "surly" no doubt these systems have servitor type voices which will add to the mysticism. But I like to think they're just technological, no ghosts in there.

Eh… I seem to recall there being some fluff to the effect that many of these devices are so complex as to be sentient or semi-sentient and also there are shards of programming hidden in them from the Men of Iron who tried to enslave mankind. And also, some of the fluff about machine spirits having personalities comes from the rational anti-superstition Heresy-era works.

[Lord-Boofhead]

Warlord Titans were described in Adeptus Titanicus as being programmed with a Bear like personality, whereas Warhounds had, appropriately, Wolf engrams and that.

Titans are different they have a partially Organic cortex the the Princeps interfaces with.

[Lord Asterion]

Eh… I seem to recall there being some fluff to the effect that many of these devices are so complex as to be sentient or semi-sentient and also there are shards of programming hidden in them from the Men of Iron who tried to enslave mankind. And also, some of the fluff about machine spirits having personalities comes from the rational anti-superstition Heresy-era works.

I think in bigger things like tanks and titans, its mainly complicated automation routines that is misunderstood, so its seen to be aggressive because it picks out targets and fires or beligerent becuase it can drive itself and so its assumed to be the "machine spirit", given bigger machines have spirits, then is why things like Bolters and even Lasguns are said to have spirits, when you have no idea how something works, any temperamentality is going to be the work of spirits. I can't recall seeing anywhere that implied the spirits were ever an actual spirit or anything to do with the Men of Iron.

Even in the age of the Great Crusade, technology was a mystery to the Mechanicus, the Dark Age of Technology was thousands of years ago, they've not lost as much as they have by 40k, but the Mechanicum still don't understand HOW technology works, they're still just replicating and maintaining things from the past.

[Jmaximum]

Ok wow, I am missing something.
Who are the Men of Iron? Is this pre-unification?
Also, I remember reading a short story where a Predator tank during an Tyranid invasion that kept fighting after its crew were killed, and it kept going until its magazines ran dry, its lascannons melted from over use, and finally resorted to driving over the bugs until it ran out of fuel.

[ElectricPaladin]

Ok wow, I am missing something.
Who are the Men of Iron? Is this pre-unification?
Also, I remember reading a short story where a Predator tank during an Tyranid invasion that kept fighting after its crew were killed, and it kept going until its magazines ran dry, its lascannons melted from over use, and finally resorted to driving over the bugs until it ran out of fuel.

There's a Crimson Fists land raider that did the same thing to Orks, except that it's final ploy was to pretend to be abandoned, with its doors wide open, and then, once the warboss ran inside to claim it as a trophy, overloading its reactor and exploding, killing the warboss, all his nobs, and many of the other Orks who had gathered around to watch... all of this done by the "machine spirit" acting independently.

[Bigred]

I may be mistaken but I believed the Machine spirits of all types are part of the same "family tree" at the legio cybernetica - ie there must be at least some small organic component at the core of the machine to guide it. So in effect a living brain of some capacity slaved to other mechanical components that then interfaces with a larger machine to control it.

Now whether that brain is from a cockroach, or a large animal like a bear could determine its capability, and innate "character".

It's a 100% non-organic artificial intelligence that is the giant no-no of the Mechanicus in the post Men-of-Iron era.