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I'm a a new DM at Eclipse Phase and was wondering if a AI or Muse could control an evolved animal.

I have a player who wants to play an evolved flying squirrel and an evolved gorilla that escaped from a lab. He's going to RP them at the same time, and would like to be able to switch between the two depending on the situation at hand. When the player is in the squirrel, the muse/AI will control the gorilla and when the player is in the gorilla, the AI/muse will control the squirrel.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by the rulebook and I didn't find an answer in it.

It is only one player switching between two bodies. Only one animal was evolved with an ego/to consciousness. For background reasons the player can't remember which one is the original body.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Two questions: First, is the player switching between the two characters or is a single ego (read character) switching between the two bodies? Second, if it's the later, what happened to the extra original ego? \$\endgroup\$ – Epsilon Rose Oct 2 '15 at 8:16
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There are several ways that you can allow this using RAW and without too many complications on the player side. I believe the easiest way is using a Puppet Sock, which requires no resleeving.

Puppet Sock (EP p 307, 3rd Edition) [Moderate cost]

Basically, having a Puppet Sock installed allows another character to "jam" or take full control of the body where it is installed. Using it in the way you intend would require a direct connection between both characters (mesh, radio, laser, cable, etc). If communication cannot be sustained, the controller can use "Ghostrider Module" so they can jump in there and maintain control directly. In your case, both morphs should have the Puppet Sock installed.

Also there is nothing in the rules stopping your Muse from being an AI capable enough of handling the morph, in fact your Muse could also be a full transhuman NPC, EP p264 has a bunch of info about it. In this regard, its just up to the GM to allow it or not, based on what they and the other players consider appropriate for the tone of the game.

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It sounds like your player does not get egos vs morphs. In Eclipse Phase, your body (aka morph) is piece of equipment no different from a pen, a car, or a house: It's expensive, useful, and sometime a hindrance. As a player, you play an ego, a mind (or a version of a mind) with its own skills, knowledge, and personalities.

If what the player wants is to have access to two morphs (aka a gorilla and a squirrel one), then there is no problems whatsoever: just have two morphs. Furthermore, if the player wants the second morph to continue functioning while they are in full control of the other, just fork a beta. Once in a while, merge the beta fork back into the "main" ego.

If the player wants to play two egos, then he has two characters. But why do that?...

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  • \$\begingroup\$ He won't be playing two ego. The morph control by the AI/Muse would be like a pet in a fantasy game, able to follow and understand simple order (this is what my player has in mind). Will he need to recreate a fork each time he switch between the two morph ? \$\endgroup\$ – Sir_Glancelot_du_Lag Oct 2 '15 at 12:33
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    \$\begingroup\$ While @Sardathrion is right (morphs are just equipment), switching between morphs is not a gentle process; it involves additional equipment and acclimation time (and dice rolls). It isn't something you do on the fly. I don't have my EP materials on had, but I recall there are ways to make it easier. \$\endgroup\$ – T.J.L. Oct 2 '15 at 12:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ A fork would be the easiest way to do it both in term of the rules and world logic. Muses are more to do with the Mesh and can be viewed as your personal assistant. A true AI would be unwise, even if it is not a seed AI. \$\endgroup\$ – Sardathrion - against SE abuse Oct 2 '15 at 12:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Sardathrion Why would a true, non-seed, ai be an issue? It would just be an ego like any other. Though, I suppose that would get you back into playing two characters territory. Also, it's probably worth pointing out that sleeving into a cyberbrain is a lot easier than an organic one. \$\endgroup\$ – Epsilon Rose Oct 3 '15 at 2:35
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This would work best if the brains were cyber brains. The squirrel would have have a cyber brains as the says that transhumanity have been unable to uplift dogs and cats much less squirrel. The morph book states that any biomorph can be created with a cyberbrain. The resleeving section indicates that an ego in a cyberbrain can be transferred in a couple of seconds. The only question is the cost to the Ego's sanity, which assuming this happened a lot would be minimal.

Note that sock puppeting the squirrel would be easier, but limited to places where you had free mesh access.

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