From: sven@ll.mit.edu Subject: Technomancer Talismans (was Correspondence) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf.mage,alt.games.whitewolf Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 11:54:57 -0500 Organization: MIT NEROC (NorthEast Radio Observatory Consortium) Path: news.kth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-feed5.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!llnews.ll.mit.edu!usenet Lines: 70 Message-ID: <34C8CB61.4C97@ll.mit.edu> References: <34bced48.0@news1.ibm.net> <69jlie$1cp$1@ionews.ionet.net> <34BF1F73.582C@telusplanet.net> <69nrqc$s8n$1@ionews.ionet.net> <885002879.1935081477@dejanews.com> <69piln$qrp$1@ionews.ionet.net> <34C558C6.3B7E@ll.mit.edu> <6a3s21$elu$1@ionews.ionet.net> <885405705.1584332814@dejanews.com> <6a9k40$fl$2@ionews.ionet.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win95; I) Xref: news.kth.se alt.games.whitewolf:124649 Donald Bachman wrote: [in response to Eric] >> What if...and this is a funky idea, admittedly...you allow VAs to >> create programs using the modified Talisman rules in TECHNOMANCER'S >> TOYBOX? It would take a lot of work to create a program, but then >> the VA could use the program like any other Talisman or Device, >> albeit this program would only exist in the computer or on the >> Digital Web... > > Cute... I'm going to have to think on this. It makes a great deal of sense, to me, given that Mages tend to route powers/effects (and hence Talismans) into items/ideals specific to their paradigm -- and what is that for a Virtual Adept if not computer software? (Well, maybe computer hardware, but don't sharpshoot me here) If done with sufficient subtlety (and, obviously, coincidence), I could see these programs being Talismans usable by Sleepers. I even have a real-world example (see below, though it's more a Meme than a Talisman). -- S. Skoog Obligatory Story: OxDEADBEEF (Talisman oo) Once upon a time, in that apocryphal 1950s-1970s time in which all computer-scientist folklore takes place, there was a programmer (perhaps even a team of programmers), and a computer. Some say it was an antiquated IBM-series mainframe with 3270 terminals. Others insist it was an early Apple. Still others steadfastly maintain it was a high-end HP server. The truth has probably diverged into a multiplicity of individual stories. But I digress. This computer, as do many such machines, displayed many of its error messages as hexadecimal numbers (for the uninformed, hexadecimal is 0123456789ABCDEF). It was, therefore, somewhat inconvenient to the designers when, at a nationwide convention, their exhibition mainframe went down (crashed), screen displaying only the string "OxDEADBEEF" ('Ox' meaning 'hexadecimal,' DEADBEEF being the actual error number (a number just over 4 billion, possibly a memory address but more likely a nerd-in-joke). Anyway, OxDEADBEEF seems to have worked its way into consensual Sleeper reality, as a sort of idea-virus, which I have found to have the following effects: Sense Computer Literacy (Mind o) When 'OxDEADBEEF' is mentioned, either as part of this anecdote or by itself, the caster is able to sense general computer/ programming aptitude (likely Computer ooo or higher, if the listener even understands what the caster is talking about). You're a Geek (Mind oo) Those computer-elite who find themselves able to understand what OxDEADBEEF means immediately find themselves overcome with shame, revulsion, and self-loathing ('I'm a geek! I have no life! I can't BELIEVE I'm so obsessed with computers that I understood what OxDEADBEEF meant!'). This generally lasts for a few moments, or until dispelled by a change of subject.