[UA] Ethernauts, Neuromancer, and Social Engineers Oh My!

[Hammons, Jade]

This school is not finished, but there are a lot of ideas in it, and of
course, when they're there, write them down. At the moment I'm suffering
a bit of 'concept creep' so this is a good time to stop and post.
Basically the leveled effects follow a certain pattern: Hack the Net.
Hack the Mind. Hack the World.

Neuromancers, Ethernauts, Data Miners, Social Programmers, et al.

A recently discovered school that has much in common with the
infomancers and cliomancers in passing ways. It is based upon the
paradox that only through information filtered through computers
(notably BBS's, Archives, and the Web) can allow one to truly understand
the world outside the computers.
At it's base levels the Ethernaut reaps charges from surfing the web and
finding new or obscure sites, and can use her magick to control, alter,
or discover information from the  internet. As the Ethernaut embraces
the higher levels of Neuromancy (named in honor of the book), they begin
to use their abilities to give themselves the advantages of computers,
eventually spreading it outside themselves and to the world at large. To
the powerful Neuromancer there is no greater goal than that of Neo of
the Matrix, where flesh and data become indistinguishable, but as yet
none of these 'Social Programmers' is known to exist.

Charge gathering:
Minor - Be the first person to hit a website or internet address on a
day.  There have to have been other visitors though since their last
visit
Gain a minor charge for each factor of 10 that visit a website you have
built. (get a point at 1, 10,100,1000, 10000, etc)  Surf the information
superhighway for an hour. Create a new information exchange or data
mining technique or program of high enough quality to be featured on a
reputable website, technical magazine, or news (reputable is up to the
GM.)

Significant - Build or significantly redesign a website. Be the first
visitor to a new website not made or affiliated with you. (visiting a
friend's website du jour for example won't work. You actually have to
hunt it down). Create a new information exchange or data mining
technique or program  that becomes used by at least 100 people. Get
Slashdotted.

Major - Unknown, Most Ethernauts assume it has to be something that
revolutionizes information exchange. There are those that like to claim
Shawn Fanning, Mark Andreeson and Tim Berners-Lee have reaped major
charges but there is no proof that they are adepts, much less
Ethernauts. IF they are though, you can almost be sure they are reaping
charges of all caliber just by breathing at this point, and may be the
fabled 'Social Engineers'

Ethernaut (Minor) Effects:

Screech - At the cost of 1 minor charge, the Ethernaut gains the ability
to function as a modem. By issuing a static hiss through a phone line,
they are able to communicate effectively with another computer. This
ability last for an hour, and the speed of the communication is limited
to the capacity of the data lines involves. 64k and lower for normal
phone lines, up to high DSL speeds for dedicated copper.

Overclock - This is the lowest powered Neuromancer spell, and one that
all Ethernauts aiming for the big time learn. It is a basic rewiring of
the brain and adrenaline. For a cost of 2 charges, the Ethernaut gains a
+10 initiative for the duration of combat (any significant period of
rest, whether still in combat rounds or not will also end it). In
addition they may spend additional minor charges, each charge enables
the proto-Neuromancer to subtract up to 10 points from their mind stat
and add the points temporarily to their Body stat or Initiative skill.
After the overclock ends the caster will be fatigued and at -10 to all
actions for the same amount of time he was overclocked. In addition, the
each extra level of overclocking activated results in 0-9 damage after
the effect wears off.

Turn That Mother Out - For 3 minor charges, an Ethernaut may trick out
their dedicated line and modem to operate at well above it's peak
efficiency, often double or trebling the speed of data transfer. This
effect lasts for one hour, and each minor charge spent after the
required 3 adds another hour of speedier than speedy internet service.

Other minor effects should include finding obscure information on the
net, even if 'logically' it shouldn't be there. Mystically hack a site
and change it. Divine passwords. etc. The majority of minor effects
should be 'Hack the Net', with Overclock being one of the few
exceptions.

Neuromancer (Significant) Effects:

Defrag the Wetware - For 1 significant charge the Ethernaut falls into a
dream-like state for a number of minutes equal to two times her mind
stat. During this time, it takes a minimum of 1 point of damage to
awaken them, as all their sensory input is turned inward towards the
purpose of defragmenting their own mind. At the end of this period, they
gain the Eidetic Memory skill at a level equal to their adept rating.
This skill fades slowly as the adepts normal biological filing system
reasserts itself. Each day the skill lowers by 20%, but if the caster
sleeps, and gets at least 1 REM cycle (3-4 hours of rest) the skill
fades completely. If a caster should be awoken during the initial
defrag, they will be at half on all skills until they sleep or are able
to attempt another defrag, due to the conflicting storage methods in
their mind.

Scheduled Defrag - A recent innovation by one of the leading adepts of
the school. It has similar effects to 'Defrag the Wetware', except it is
cast immediately before going to sleep, thereby altering the bodies own
dream filing system into one of the casters paradigm. It costs 2
significant charges, but there is no negative for waking early other
than the charges being wasted, also while the sleep is deep, it is not
so deep as to require a punch in the head to awaken. Finally there is no
skill loss over time, but a normal REM cycle still removes the skill.

GoSub - One of the hints at the power of the Social Engineers. For a
cost of 1 significant charge you can force a target to move on to
another part of their planned routine, without realizing they have done
so. Guards may suddenly stop patrolling and take a coffee break. A
bouncer may suddenly leave the door he's guarding to go check on the
boss. If this puts the targets life in danger, such as making a cop who
has just pulled a gun on you because of your gun, decide to put his gun
away and report the situation on his radio, the target gets a save with
an appropriate skill or stat versus your adept level.

Other significant effects should include the ability to project ones
self into cyberspace, use cyberpathy and cyberkinesis, and tweak  out
their minds, nervous systems, and glands. The majority of these effects
are of the Hack the Mind/body variety. There may be a couple significant
social engineer magick, but again they would be more as an indication of
how powerful the adept could be as opposed to how powerful they are now.

Social Engineer (Major) effects : Defrag your mind permanently. Become a
permanent part of the internet. Alter a piece of information
permanently. Grant yourself a permanent computer-like ability. Download
a person onto a storage medium. Hack the World.

Jade Hammons

"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be
normal." - Albert Camus