FACTION MENU

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 THE VIRTUAL ADEPTS

A.K.A The  Mercurial Elite

(TRADITIONS)

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What is real? When you see something, touch something, know something, is it real, or is it simply a collection of signals, bits of information, pieces of data that come together in your mind and make you think “This is real”? To the Virtual Adepts, everything – buildings, tools, plants, animals, people – can be represented as information. Figure out the code behind something, the Adepts claim, and you can figure out how to manipulate that thing, how to change it, improve it, or delete it. Since information is abstract, you don’t even need to touch the thing you want to change. If you know it, you can adjust it just by changing the code. And you can change the code from anywhere. The youngest Tradition began as a Technocratic Convention that was alienated by its former allies. Too radical for their peers, these Difference Engineers questioned too much and aspired too far. And for their presumption, they were punished; Alan Turing, an elite mathematician and cryptographer, was disgraced and destroyed. His death created a martyr, and that martyrdom – combined with other persecutions – led to the Engineers’ defection and their rebirth as the Virtual Adepts. That Technocratic past left a stigma that many mages remain unwilling to ignore. In return, most Adepts scorn the primitive
methods of the other Traditions. Humanity, the Adepts believe, should not be subjected to limiting philosophies like religion, government, or nature. Instead, the Adepts strive toward a technological singularity in which humanity’s limitations get dumped as people remake themselves into something better, brighter, and post-human. Why focus on getting back to nature or praying to absentee gods, after all, when you can change the world – and yourself – so that you no longer need nature and can become a god? As their moniker implies, Virtual Adepts spend lots of time in a virtual world. If you can interact with other people or even control objects of the real world from your online telepresence, then why bother with the dismal reality of a leaky apartment building and a body made of limited, mortal meat? Even in this banal Meatspace, however, Virtual Adepts surround themselves with computers, monitors, digital notepads, smart phones, and all the latest technological toys. The most elite among them, though, have learned to manipulate reality without tech… a feat that highlights the group’s command of the God Code inside Creation.  For all their futuristic acumen, these Adepts still consider themselves mages in the classic sense. Their Arts remake reality through vision, technique, and Will. A modern Adept might not call what she does magick (though many of them do), but she regards herself as a child of Mercury, the Trickster/Messenger God in the Machine. Like the Adepts, Mercury is everywhere at once, undermining assumptions with the audacity of his Arts. Especially in this era, when technology is both a road to freedom and an instrument of oppression, the world needs audacious tricksters. And so, the Adepts of the 21st century are growing far less virtual and far more real.

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Organization:

Merit-respecting anarchists, Adepts avoid standard organization and loathe conventional hierarchies. In the ‘90s, they based respect on eliteness: a form of peer recognition won through attitude and accomplishment. Though the tradition has matured and diversified since then, an Adept’s personal achievements – rather than titles or seniority – still mean everything in this group’s esteem. Cleverness, wit, technological creativity, and an astute sense of sociological reform mean more than a snappy handle or a keen online icon. There’s a special reverence for Adepts who tear down oppressive social structures… and a vituperative loathing for ones who support such structures in Meatspace or the online world.

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Initiation:

Virtual Adepts have a socially brutal initiation process. The idea of physical deprivation, master-apprentice challenges, or meditative spirit quests strikes them as absurd. Instead, Adepts typically give their aspirants and initiates cryptic missions to sabotage authoritarian structures, steal classified data, and create amusing pranks that undermine corrupt bastards and expose pompous windbags. At some critical juncture, the initiate gets left to fend for herself; a suitably imaginative (and hopefully stylish) resolution to the problem earns the accolades of peers and a place among the Adepts. In short, then, most Adepts enter the group through the grand Internet tradition of trolling.

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Affinity Spheres: Correspondence/ Data; Forces.

Focus:

Everything is Data. Thus, in this Mechanistic Cosmos, every tool or practice an Adept employs focuses on shaping, altering, manipulating, gathering, storing, collating, influencing, or destroying information. Such tools range from the obvious computer gear (generations ahead of conventionally available tech), clouds, holograms, implants, nanotech, energy drinks, and sense-altering stimuli to the understated chic of dark hoodies, manga-influenced haircuts, fashionable androgyny, and provocative masks. All Adepts, however, keep the implements of their technomagick handy. For many Adepts, computers are a more important part of one’s identity than any attire or accessory. An Adept’s personal devices are almost always the most heavily customized and stylized elements of that Adept’s ensemble. Perhaps the most accomplished reality hackers alive, this Mercurial Elite also employs various forms of cybernetics, hypertech, weird science, martial arts, chaos magick, gutter magick, and sometimes shamanism, Voudoun, crazy wisdom, or witchcraft with a technological flair.

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Stereotypes

Fellow Traditions: Ghosts in the machine – noisy, cranky, old as fuck, but haunting nevertheless. There’s so much they have to teach, and so much more they have to learn.

The Technocracy: We’re at war for the heart of this world… and the next. So respect the allies but take no prisoners.

The Disparates: *singsong* I know a see-cret…

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ROTES

Do Remember allocation of successes and success limitations still applies to rotes

HERE KITTY, KITTY

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉   Arete  ◉◉◉ 

CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉◉  MIND ◉◉◉  TIME ◉◉◉ 

Straight up - this is an insane rote and recommended only for the desperate. Basically, it's used in a firefight to bring in someone/something that hates your opponent. The catch is that the critter you call up may not like you either. The original creator of this rote, an Adept named Zer0 Effect, snagged a werewolf with it on his first try and ended up in a hospital for the better part of a year. Still, his opponent ended up in a very small pine box so the situation did have an upside. You can find this rote in the Adept data storage under a "Tweety Bird" icon. Zer0 said this cartoon, in which a "helpless little bird" lures a cat into worse and worse danger, inspired him. One day he pictured the cat as the big, bad Technocracy and knew he had to create this rote.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉ ◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)
The Mind Sphere draws out something that the target fears (Occult Lore helps as well,) while Correspondence and Time ensure that the object of that opponent's fear shows up. Please note that this is NOT a teleport rote (though some Hacker geeks did devise something called "Summon Critter" that uses Life 4 or Matter 4 to port monsters in.) To reduce Paradox and get around some anti-magic wards, Zer0 decided to draw critters in using incidental means. Correspondence opens up a coincidental "path" for the creature to follow; Time makes sure it shows up before the combat ends. A safer variant on this rote uses Forces instead of Time to make a hologram appear instead of a real creature

 

IFF

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉   Arete  ◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  FORCES ◉◉ 
According to some Cyberpunks, this is a surefire way to mess with It-X agents. IFF is a combat rote, designed to confuse enemies so that they do not recognize friend from foe. It works by altering the stream of information entering a target's perception rather than the target itself. <Rumor has it the name "IFF" comes from a couple of sources. In mathematics, IFF is a Boolean expression meaning "if and only if." In this case, "if and only if you are outnumbered 10 to one, use this rote." Video game junkies probably recognize the other meaning - "Identify Friend or Foe," referring to technology used by jet fighters to mark them as "friendly" to their allies.>

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

The Adept uses Correspondence to locate and "copy" the image of a suitable enemy. Through Forces, the Adept and the person he copied now appear indistinguishable to the target's senses of sight and hearing. This works best in larger, chaotic combats and not in one-on-one battles. For each success on the casting, subtract one from the target's attack roll. Any previous targeting is also lost, and the target must choose who he wants to fire at (Random dice rolls hit the dummy target, odd dice rolls hit the adept)

 

LEARN-IT

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉   Arete  ◉◉◉ 

CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  ENTROPY ◉◉  PRIME ◉◉◉  TIME ◉◉ 

Learn-It is a nasty rote that highlights evolution in action. Once activated, it attaches itself to the target's Essence and blends right in. Then, it starts calling up enemies and challenges appropriate to the target's current power level. It's like wearing a big, red Kick-Me sign with flashing neon lights and an alarm. Do or die, baby - that's the lesson of Learn-It. Some bitter graduates of the Learn-It program have claimed a better name would be "Cannon Fodder," but if we called it that, the Technocracy would stop downloading Learn-It to "discover Adept secrets."

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉  (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

For every success on the casting, the target becomes a magnet for one skill-appropriate challenge per day. This could mean anything from a pain-threatening situation (a piano dropping on your head, falling scaffolding, etc.) to enemies coincidentally showing up. The number of challenges can be modified by the original caster, assuming the original caster can be found (Learn-It is available in a number of Wonders, both on and off the Digi-Web.) It can also be modified, but not negated, by those with Prime 2, to reduce the effect down to a minimum of one challenge per session. To negate the rote completely, you need an Elite with Prime 3, Entropy 3, so once it's activated, you're usually stuck with it until you progress to that level.

SEARCH ENGINE

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉   Arete  ◉◉◉ 

CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉◉  ENTROPY ◉  PRIME ◉ 
Also known as "Telephone," use this rote when you are looking for a Hacker or a Kibo to fit your needs. It either puts you in touch with someone who matches your request or someone who knows them. It should be noted that you can't find a specific person with this rote (though more advanced versions do exist to perform that function,) just people who fit a general need.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉  (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

Correspondence is used to cast a wide net to search for your target. Prime is used to locate the target via his or her Essence.

Entropy makes sure that this person fits your needs. Each success gives you a 20% chance of locating the target or someone connected to that person. Be careful with this rote! There have been rare occasions when the best teacher for the situation turned out to be a member of the Technocracy - much to the Adept's (and the Technocrat's) surprise.

NICK OF TIME

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉   Arete  ◉◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉◉  ENTROPY ◉◉  TIME ◉◉ 
This allows a Hacker to arrive in a timely fashion to a number of situations. For the most part, this is used to gain jobs. With the use of this rote, the Hacker just happens to be online at the same time, at an adjoining table, or any other coincidental means of connecting with a prospective client.
Other Hackers use this to be the proverbial "cavalry," arriving at a desperate situation with guns blazing. The problem with this is that the Nick of Time rote only ensures that the mage arrives somewhere on time - it doesn't ensure survival. A number of Adepts using this rote's "cavalry" option have ended up facing enormous odds and receiving great kudos... posthumously.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉  (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

Correspondence and Time are used to identify the location in question and make sure that the mage arrives there in time for the favorable event to occur. Entropy is used to ensure that the mage enters in the best way possible (usually appearing coincidentally and when just the right questions are asked.) It does not ensure the success of the mission, only that the Hacker has the potential to maximize benefit from the situation. The Hacker casting the rote must first have some working knowledge of what's going on, even if it's vague ("There's a meeting at the docks tonight" would be enough for this rote.) Once the Hacker casts this rote, on a single success, he or his virtual Avatar will arrive on the scene in time for the situation to unfold. If some sort of countermagic is involved (wards or sometimes even a magical battle,) then it becomes a contested roll, even if the countering mage doesn't know what he's fighting against.

 

CORE DUMP

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉   Arete  ◉◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  TIME ◉◉  and FORCES ◉◉◉  OR MIND ◉◉◉
This rote enables a load of useless data to be directly dumped to a computer (Forces) or a person (Mind.) The effect is intended to be overwhelming and normally prevents the target from acting while he tries to process the information.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉  (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

For each success, the target is unable to initiate an action for three turns.

If more than five successes are used a computer is shut down.

If the number of successes equal the target's composure + resolve total , the target lapses into a temporary coma (from which he emerges after making a successful composure + resolve test : Difficulty 10 + Successes rolled once a day.)

After a coma/shutdown, some general loss of memory is to be expected, though the victim may remember some of the contents of the core dump.

Note: Those immune to mind effects, are immune to mind effects.

 

DON'T CROSS THE STREAMS

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉   Arete  ◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  TIME ◉◉  
This rote is used to warn mages of potential danger. Correspondence is used to scry in on a specific location and then Time gives an impression of what might go wrong. Sometimes the warnings are very specific ("Don't cross that power line with any Forces magic,") and sometimes they're cryptic ("The red may kill.") A mage may use this rote multiple times from different vantage points to further pinpoint where and what the danger may be.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

On a simple success, the Storyteller provides a vague clue as to something that could go wrong. More successes should give more and more clues. Five or more successes will give the exact danger that the mage may have to face.

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TAG

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉    Arete  ◉◉◉  
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  PRIME ◉◉◉   
This rote is designed to alter the Essence of a person so that he is identifiable as a criminal to other Adepts. The marking is invisible to the one effected and has no effect except for its stated purpose. Properly done tags include a "signature" of the tagging mage so that no one can mistake it for anything other than an official condemnation.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

Each casting success subtracts one from the difficulty for other Adepts to notice the tag. This mark is invisible to other mages, but may be noticed by mages well versed in Prime.

ARC

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉    Arete  ◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  FORCES ◉◉   

One of the most basic Cyberpunk rotes, Arc allows an Adept to pull an electrical discharge from any nearby power source. This lightning bolt then arcs around the room hitting everything within a broad category set by the caster (for example, all machines in the room, all people, all plants, etc.)

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

The Adept uses Correspondence to target, and then unleashes an attack with Forces. She has a chance to hit every target within visual range, up to an amount equal to her Wits + firearms rating, even if one or more targets are hidden or behind cover. Damage is based on the power source the Adept is drawing from, inflicting harm as per the electrocution rules (Environmental Hazards rules.) The damage only lasts a single turn, and will not affect grounded targets.

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ENCODE

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉    Arete  ◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE ◉◉  PRIME 2  + LIFE ◉◉ OR MATTER ◉◉
This is a variant on the Apportation effect  and allows the mage to store something in virtual space to pull out later. There's nothing more frightening than seeing a giggling Cyberpunk use this rote to manifest a chunk of C-4 into her hand.
This rote is done on only very simple patterns (small plants, simple creatures, homogenous materials) until higher levels of the required Spheres are reached. Theoretically, a near infinite amount of items could be stored in virtual space, but realistically, the amount that is stored is limited to what gear the adept owns Because it removes something completely from realspace, this rote is always considered vulgar.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

On a successful casting, an item is sent to or retrieved from virtual space. A botch means the item is permanently lost. The Prime Sphere is used to subtly channel the target's pattern into virtual space or back to realspace. Please note that items in virtual space do not age or decay but may be found there by Adepts or other similar explorers at any time. Living creatures may not walk away (since space and time don't exist in virtual space) unless they are put into a specific digital realm by the caster.

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ENCRYPT /DECRYPT

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉    Arete  ◉◉◉ 
MIND ◉◉◉ TIME ◉◉◉ 

This rote, also known as Babel, prevents information from being pried out of someone's head. Whenever coercion occurs, the person will speak solely in gibberish, composed of all the thoughts in their memory, randomly scrambled so that they make no sense. Telepathy or truth serums will not work, as this rote fundamentally changes the way people remember things. When the Mind component is swapped out for Forces, it makes an equally effective protection for digital information and has been used to hide vital Adept data by scrambling all of the coding on the computer so it becomes meaningless binary data. The reverse of this rote, Decrypt, will reveal text or thoughts obscured by magic, and is often used for exposing NWO propaganda for what it is.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉ ◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

For each success in the casting add + 1 to  the opponent's Interrogation or Investigation difficulties 

Decrypt reduces the difficulty of  these same feats by one for every success.

 

WORM

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉◉    Arete  ◉◉◉◉ 
MIND ◉◉◉◉ ENTROPY ◉◉  OR TIME ◉◉
This neurolinguistic rote is used to erase mental secrets and codes vital to the Adept Tradition's survival. It was originally adapted and upgraded from a New World Order rote known as the T-Virus. It does not change the Adept's personality or alter any of his knowledge of the Spheres or general skills.SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉ ◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

Mind is used to locate and erase memories. Entropy and Time, which are both optional, ensure that the memories removed are only those relating to Adept secrets and not ones the ex-Adept will need later on. This is not necessary to the casting, but most Adepts use it out of respect for their fellow members. On a single success, most overt memories of Adept secrets will be erased. Multiple successes will erase more subtle memories. A critical success will erase all conscious and subconscious traces of the Adepts, leaving only an Awakened mage who is eager to embrace a new Tradition (whatever that may be.)

 

WEBCRAWLERS

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉    Arete  ◉◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE  ◉◉◉ FORCES ◉◉◉  PRIME ◉◉
This rote enables Nexplorers to create small energy-based, arachnid-like creatures in virtual space that follow very simple commands. Generally, they search out information (or its location) for their creator or protect the mage by weaving a suffocating web of force around an enemy. Dreamspeakers who have seen this rote in action claim that the Nexplorers are luring spirit creatures from another plane into virtual space (there is an alternate version of this rote that uses Spirit instead of Prime, further blurring the question.) The Nexplorers could care less as long as the rote works.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉ ◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

On a success, a Webcrawler is created with 3 health and the ability to follow simple commands. Multiple successes create multiple webcrawlers. These last for about a scene and will perform one or two general tasks for their creator: find or protect. A find command will set them loose to locate one piece of information that they will retrieve if possible (this only applies if the information is unguarded and not warded.) Otherwise, they will simply log the location and report it to the creator. A protect command will let them use the Correspondence part of the rote to bar an area from passage. Multiple webcrawlers can use this to "box" an enemy in with webbed strands of pure Correspondence. Victims of this attack can defeat the webcrawlers before they are trapped, use countermagic, or wait until the webcrawlers vanish at the end of the scene.

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INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉    Arete  ◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE  ◉◉  MIND ◉◉

This is also known as the "Usher Syndrome" and has been used in the past as both a means for enlightenment and torture. The IO rote affects the target's mind, tuning perception way up. Used positively, it can attune an Adept to her computer and virtual space, making VR experiences as intense as real ones. On the flip side, this rote can inflict horrible trauma on someone by stripping away the normal filters people use to deal with sensory input. Under the effect of this rote, a light shining into someone's eyes would seem as bright as the sun. A little sandpaper dragged lightly across his skin would feel to the victim as if his flesh were being ripped off.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

As Mind magic opens the person's perception, Correspondence makes the target intimately aware of the space around her. Each success on the cast grants plus one die to Perception. A critical success grants supernatural awareness as well (as per the Awareness Ability.) A botch will rob the caster of all sensation until the end of the session. The rote only works for a scene (this may be extended for extra scenes with the expenditure of Quintessence.)

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TWACI

Prerequisites:  Occult ◉◉◉    Arete  ◉◉◉ 
CORRESPONDENCE  ◉◉◉  FORCES ◉◉◉ MIND ◉◉

Pronounced "th-whacky," this is short for "The Walls are Closing In," and it's a paranoid's nightmare. The caster warps gravity, manipulates space, and adds in a creeping sense of doom to slow down opponents and ultimately crush them.

SUCCESSES REQUIRED ◉◉◉◉◉ ◉ (however you may need other successes to allocate where appropriate)

Correspondence and Mind magics warp the target's perception, making it appear as if the walls (or other surrounding terrain) are closing in on the target. Then, minor manipulation of gravity causes cumulative damage (one point of bashing damage , increasing by one each turn up to a maximum of 10) as Mind magic keeps the target paralyzed with fear for a turn per success rolled. (victim can roll Composure + Resolve :Difficulty 10+ successes rolled)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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