Path of Technomancy

Prerequisite: Blood Sorcery 3. The newest path to be accepted by the Tremere hierarchy as part of the Clan’s official body of knowledge, the Path of Technomancy is a relatively recent innovation, developed in the latter half of the 20th century. The path focuses on the control of electronic devices, from cell phones to laptops, and its proponents maintain that it is a prime example of the versatility of Thaumaturgy with regards to a changing world. More conservative Tremere, however, state that mixing Tremere magic with mortal science borders on treason or even blasphemy, and some European Regents have gone so far as to declare knowledge of Technomancy grounds for expulsion from their chantries. The Inner Council did approve the introduction of the path into the Clan’s grimoires, but had yet to voice any opinion on the conservative opposition to Technomancy prior to the fall of vienna. Taking dots in this loresheet gives you blood sorcery powers to add to your character's repertoire, the power’s level is equal to its dot cost. Dots in this loresheet must be taken in order of 1 to 5

•	Analyse
Mortals are constantly developing new innovations, and any vampire who would work Technomancy must be able to understand that upon which he practices his magic. The most basic power of this path allows the thaumaturge to project his perceptions into a device, granting him a temporary understanding of its purpose, the principles of its functioning, and its means of operation. This does not grant permanent knowledge, only a momentary flash of insight which fades after the effect is gone. Cost: Free Dice Pools: Wits+Blood Sorcery System: A character must touch the device in order to apply this power. The difficulty is determined by the intricacy of the system, for example a laptop would be difficulty 3. However the combined components of a server rack might be difficulty 7 due to its complexity. On a win the caster can add their dots in this loresheet to any technology rolls for that device. For example Ben has the first 3 dots of the loresheet and uses Analyse on a laptop. On a win he is able to add 3 dice to all technology rolls he makes with that laptop. However if Ben tries to use his laptop to hack into another system he will have to use this power on that system first to gain the benefit. This power does not stack with itself. This power can also be used to understand a nonphysical technological innovation — generally a piece of software — at a 2 dice penalty. The character must touch the computer on which the software is installed — simply holding the flash drive or CD-ROM is not enough. Software applied remotely to a device (such as through an app store) also cannot be analysed until it is installed. Duration: Scene
••	Burnout
It is usually easier to destroy than to create, and sensitive electronics are no exception to this rule. Burnout is used to cause a device’s power supply (either internal or external) to surge, damaging or destroying the target. Burnout cannot be used to directly injure another individual, although the sudden destruction of a pacemaker or a car’s fuel injection control chip can certainly create a health hazard. Cost: 1 rouse check Dice Pools: Resolve+Blood Sorcery System: To use this power the caster must first touch the device they wish to destroy, rolling Resolve+Blood Sorcery and making the Rouse check as normal. The difficulty of the roll is determined by the size and complexity of the System. A phone might only have a difficulty of 2. where as an airplane might have a difficulty of 7. The difficulty should be the size and complexity of the system, how many points of failure are required for damage to have a great effect. On a win the device is broken, making it completely inoperable until repaired. On a critical win the device has all logic boards and internal electronic components reduced to slag, irrecoverably destroying it. Burnout may be used to destroy electronic data storage, in which case on a win all data is lost with only small segments being able to be recovered with mundane data recovery, with roll of Intelligence+technology VS the result of the original roll the restorer can partially reclaim the data, the exact data restored being up to the ST. On a critical win even magical recovery cannot reclaim the information the device once stored. Duration: instant
•••	Encrypt/Decrypt
Electronic security is a paramount concern of governments and corporations alike. Those thaumaturges who are techno-savvy enough to understand the issues at stake have become quite enamored of this power,which allows them to scramble a device’s controls mystically, making it inaccessible to anyone else. Encrypt/Decrypt also works on electronic media; a DVD under the influence of this power displays just snow and static if played back without the owner’s approval, similarly usbs or harddrives protected by this power will not be picked up by any device they are connected to. Some neonates have taken to calling this power “DRM.” Cost: 1 rouse check Dice Pools: Intelligence+Blood Sorcery System:The character touches the device or data container that he wishes to encrypt. The player rolls Normally against difficulty 4. On a success all the data on the device is encrypted and unavailable to any user that is not the caster. If a user other than the caster tries to access the data on the device they simply fail. If someone tries to use mundane data recovery techniques on the device they must spend 5 nights, making an extended Intelligence + Technology roll vs difficulty 4. If they fail on any night they must restart the process as the encryption changes in response to the tampering. On a critical win the difficulty to mundanely crack the encryption is increased to 6. The caster can dispel the effect at any time by simply touching the target item no new rouse check required. This power may also be used to counter another thaumaturge’s use of Encrypt/Decrypt. The player rolls normally at difficulty 4; each margin of success negates one of the owner’s original margin. On a critical win this difficulty increases to 6. Duration: Until dispelled
••••	Remote Access
With this power, a skilled thaumaturge can bypass the need for physical contact to operate a device. This is not a form of telekinesis; the vampire does not manipulate the item’s controls, but rather touches it directly with the power of his mind. This power does not allow the user any special ability to sense from the device they inhabit. Cost: 1 rouse check Dice Pools: Intelligence+Blood Sorcery System: This power may be used on any electronic device within the character’s line of sight, the caster rolls against difficulty 4 and makes a rouse check as normal. On a win the caster can use the technology skill or path of technomancy powers on the device as if they had physical contact with that device. Remote Access can only be used on one item at a time, which mean you cannot daisy chain from one device to another. If an item is destroyed while under the effects of Remote Access, the character takes a point of superficial willpower damage and 3 non-halved superficial health damage due to the shock of having his perceptions rudely shunted back into his own body. Damage from this shock cannot be reduced by fortitude. Duration: 1 scene
•••••	Telecomute
A progressive derivation of Remote Access, Telecommute allows a thaumaturge to project her consciousness into the Internet, intranet or other digital signal network. Sending her mind through network connections as fast as they can transfer her. While immersed in the network, she can use any other Technomancy power on the devices with which she makes contact. The caster has the ability to sense other devices connected to the same network as they currently inhabit, however they cannot see outside the device they inhabit unless the device has a camera, microphone or other input device that can be used to approximate a sense. Cost: 2 rouse checks and 1 superficial willpower damage. Dice Pools: Intelligence+Blood Sorcery System: The character touches any form of communications device: a phone, tablet, or anything else that is connected directly or indirectly to the Internet. The player rolls normally against a difficulty of 5 and takes 1 superficial Willpower damage. On a win they are able to project their consciousness through electromagnetic signals, be they cellphone, bluetooth or wifi starting at the device they touched to channel the power. Note that this leaves their physical form completely helpless as if in torpor, needing to make a Wits+Awareness roll against difficulty 4 to detect any danger near their body. Telecommuting can be ended by the caster at any time safely so long as they are able to travel through the network back to their body. While the user can get information from any website or server that is connected to the internet, directly or indirectly (with the necessary hacking rolls if needed). The caster can only inhabit devices within their current city as the magic cannot sustain their consciousness beyond that range, the character can apply any other Path of Technomancy power to any device or data with which she comes in contact however they lose the ability to other discipline powers. A loss of connection, either through the destruction of a part of the network or simply a loss of cell signal, hurls her consciousness back to her body and inflicts 1 aggravated willpower damage and 6 non halved superficial health damage. This damage cannot be reduced with fortitude. A character traveling through the Internet by means of this power can use her Path of Technomancy powers at a normal difficulty. Characters cannot perform any physical actions whilst using this ability other than technomancy powers and normal technology rolls. On a critical win the caster does not take any damage from a loss of connection. Protected networks require an additional intelligence+Technology roll to hack into or brute force past, Travelling into a device that is inside a warded haven requires a resolve + Blood Sorcery roll difficulty equal to the level of warding+1. Failing this roll causes the caster to be flung back into their body as if they had lost connection. Wards against spirits and Warding circles against spirits work against the casters digital form as normal, causing wounds to suddenly form on their physical body once triggered. However since the user is not able to use other non technomancy powers, they cannot detect these wards with Auspex. Duration: up to 1 night

Credits

Author: Blue Vox, https://www.v5homebrew.com/wiki/User:Blue_Vox

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