Silicon Shadows
All cyphers and artifacts can be used as a tools to reduce the difficulty to break into the datasphere. However, there are a few cyphers which are designed explicitly to grant unfettered access to the datasphere.
Level: 1d10
Wearable: Metallic disk that adheres to temple
Usable: A small, black synth sphere with strange grooves crisscrossing at right angles or a translucent crystal filled with iridescent light.
Effect: The user and any number of other creatures they designate which are within short range and willing have their minds translated to a pre-keyed destination in the datasphere.
Data Interface Matrix (artifact)
Level: D10
Form: a wrist worn device made from a mixture of synth and red metal
Effect: The user and up to five other creatures they designate which are within short range and willing have their minds translated to a pre-keyed destination in the datasphere.
The effect lasts for one hour per level of the artifact, divided by the number of travelers. Thus, four travelers using a level one artifact have 15 minutes of access to the datasphere. At the end of this time the travelers are returned to their bodies if they remain in the datasphere. Each traveler who is returned by the device in this manner increases the likelihood of depletion by 1 on a d20. So a single traveler being retrieved has a 2 in d20 chance of depletion while four travelers have a 5 in d20 chance.
Depletion: 1 in d20
Data Translation Matrix (artifact)
Level: 1d4+6
Form: A small silver box with a set of indecipherable markings on one side
Effect: When activated one of the faces projects a beam which, when it strikes a linear surface, creates shimmering gate large enough for one normal sized human to pass through comfortably. The gate lasts for one hour per level of the artifact. Any number of creatures which are within short range may pass through the gate, their bodies being converted into energy and their minds uploaded directly into a pre-keyed location in the datasphere.
Depletion: 1 in d4
All cyphers and artifacts can be used as a tools to reduce the difficulty to break into the datasphere. However, there are a few cyphers which are designed explicitly to grant unfettered access to the datasphere.
Data Link (anoetic cypher)
Level: 1d6
Wearable: A blue synth torc
Usable: A small orange metal fob or a milky crystal with a glowing latticework in its depths.
Effect: Designed to connect directly to the datasphere, when used to attempt to hotwire access to the datasphere add the full level of this cypher.
Portable Data Node (anoetic cypher)Wearable: A blue synth torc
Usable: A small orange metal fob or a milky crystal with a glowing latticework in its depths.
Effect: Designed to connect directly to the datasphere, when used to attempt to hotwire access to the datasphere add the full level of this cypher.
Data Sync (occultic cypher)
Level: 1d4
Wearable: A pair of wrap-around goggles which are reflective from the outside
Usable: a synth sheet with several nodes on it flickering with inner light.
Effect: When activated the device helps the user attune their signals with those of the datasphere allowing them to add the full level of this cypher plus the bonus of another cypher or artifact to an attempt to hotwire a connection into the datasphere.
Wearable: A pair of wrap-around goggles which are reflective from the outside
Usable: a synth sheet with several nodes on it flickering with inner light.
Effect: When activated the device helps the user attune their signals with those of the datasphere allowing them to add the full level of this cypher plus the bonus of another cypher or artifact to an attempt to hotwire a connection into the datasphere.
Level: 1d10
Wearable: Metallic disk that adheres to temple
Usable: A small, black synth sphere with strange grooves crisscrossing at right angles or a translucent crystal filled with iridescent light.
Effect: The user and any number of other creatures they designate which are within short range and willing have their minds translated to a pre-keyed destination in the datasphere.
Data Conversion Node (occultic cypher)
Level: 1d4+6
Wearable: A metallic ear-cuff worked in a motif of eyes and wheels
Usable: a crystal globe or nodule dashed on a surface within immediate range
Effect: A shimmering gate pops into being large enough for two people to pass through abreast. Any number of creatures which are within short range may pass through the gate, their bodies being converted into energy and their minds uploaded directly into a pre-keyed location in the datasphere. The gate lasts for one hour per level of the cypher.
Level: 1d4+6
Wearable: A metallic ear-cuff worked in a motif of eyes and wheels
Usable: a crystal globe or nodule dashed on a surface within immediate range
Effect: A shimmering gate pops into being large enough for two people to pass through abreast. Any number of creatures which are within short range may pass through the gate, their bodies being converted into energy and their minds uploaded directly into a pre-keyed location in the datasphere. The gate lasts for one hour per level of the cypher.
Data Interface Matrix (artifact)
Level: D10
Form: a wrist worn device made from a mixture of synth and red metal
Effect: The user and up to five other creatures they designate which are within short range and willing have their minds translated to a pre-keyed destination in the datasphere.
The effect lasts for one hour per level of the artifact, divided by the number of travelers. Thus, four travelers using a level one artifact have 15 minutes of access to the datasphere. At the end of this time the travelers are returned to their bodies if they remain in the datasphere. Each traveler who is returned by the device in this manner increases the likelihood of depletion by 1 on a d20. So a single traveler being retrieved has a 2 in d20 chance of depletion while four travelers have a 5 in d20 chance.
Depletion: 1 in d20
Data Translation Matrix (artifact)
Level: 1d4+6
Form: A small silver box with a set of indecipherable markings on one side
Effect: When activated one of the faces projects a beam which, when it strikes a linear surface, creates shimmering gate large enough for one normal sized human to pass through comfortably. The gate lasts for one hour per level of the artifact. Any number of creatures which are within short range may pass through the gate, their bodies being converted into energy and their minds uploaded directly into a pre-keyed location in the datasphere.
Depletion: 1 in d4
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When building a part of a game from scratch like this it's easy to get in deep. One of the goals in this blog is to post twice a week and maintain it over the long term. Training as a writer even as I have to keep my focus on my day job. The result of this commitment and the blog format is that I have to keep reining myself back from spending way too much on a single post and find natural places to break things up so I can maintain that schedule. It also buys me time so that when I do things like suddenly abandon pages of work when I realize existing systems will take the bulk of the load better I don't fall behind.
Today brings us a selection of cyphers and artifacts for game masters to use if they want to send their players into the datasphere on a limited basis. Each comes with its own quirks and dangers, the friendliest of which is probably the Data Interface Matrix. One interesting note is that, unlike a hotwired connection, most of these "easy access" routes present time constraints and some very real existential threats that come from those. For example, while the "personal gates" created default to being only usable by the individual who entered them any number of beings in the cyber realms would certainly love access to the real world may be able to bypass those standard limitations, not only seeing but hijacking such access points. Meanwhile, many of these access methods easily leave characters' consciousness stranded in the datasphere, whether or not their bodies persist in the real world.
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