The Orichalcum Universe...Basics

[Johnny1A.2]

EOSIAN PSYCHIC COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

The only practical means available to the Eosian Hegemony to
communicate over interstellar distances (other than sending a
starship), was this device, which served to amplify the natural Power
of a telepath.

In appearance, it looked like a metallic cylinder about three meters
long and a meter in diameter, mounted on an elaborate insulating
framework which incorporated redundant shock absorbers and other
systems to keep the cylinder free of outside motion. The cylinder
contained a sensory deprivation tank, and an elaborate and heavily
redundant life-support system was incorporated into the cylinder, and
linked to support systems at one end.

Encircling the cylinder were rings of metal, within each of which was
a core of properly prepared orichalcum. The devices incorporated
several milligrams of orichalcum all told, making them fantastically
expensive.

The 'sensory-deprivation' system involved an anti-grav system, rather
than floating in liquid, but the effect was similar to the earlier,
cruder techniques. Within the tank would float a telepath who had to
possess at least Power 15 strength. His/her eyes and ears would be
covered by neutralizing devices, the air in the tank was constantly
purified to remove any scent, and the telepath would be catheterized
and otherwise provided with the necessary technological support to
remove any need to eat, drink, or eliminate.

Several psi-active drugs would be intravenously fed to the psion,
until they reached saturation levels, while others were be injected
only at critical points. The exact nature and proper combinations of
those drugs were among the secrets that the company making and using
these psionic communicators kept as propriety data. When everything
worked right, the effect of the drugs was to boost effective Power by
(1D6+2) levels, for up to 48 hours. Typically, a single psion was in
the tank that long, but only about 12 hours of it was at the level of
communication-ready, the rest of the time was involved in bringing
him/her 'on-line' or safely bringing him/her back down, purging the
drugs and administering the necessary antidotes, and letting the body
adjust each way.

Around the core of the machine were spaced a circle of 10 to 20 beds,
something like elaborate hospital beds from TL9 or higher. Lesser
telepaths would occupy these, forming a gestalt with the psion in the
deprivation-core, to boost his or her Power. Much smaller and safer
doses of some of the same drugs used by the lead psion were
administered to these individuals, increasing Power (1d minimum 1)
levels. These telepaths needed to have a minimum native Power of at
least 13.[1]

Even all this would have been unequal to the task except for the
additional factors provided. The orichalcum rings around the
core-tank amplify range, giving the psion+gestalt many times the
effective range even their combined Power would normally have
possessed, and also acted as a booster to sensitivity, enabling the
gestalt to effectively receive Telepathic transmissions at a far
greater range than would normally have been the case.

Additionally, the system incorporated psionic amplifiers, identical in
effect (but not appearance) to the psi-amplifiers from GURPS Psionics,
save that instead of 8 levels, they added 12 levels of the core
psion's Telepathy Power. The dangers were the same as those of the
'amplifier throne' from the Psionics sourcebook, however, and applied
to both the core psion and the gestalt psions.

For practical purposes, as long as all combined Power of the gestalt
plus amplification was at least 50, the psionc communication system
could reach or receive any similar system within 200 light-years. For
ever additional combined level, range increases by 25% (rather than
doubling).

One of the functions of the drugs was to help place the psion in a
trance-like state in which s/he was barely aware of the passage of
time. In that state, anything he/she heard (through the ear-phones),
saw (through the optic patches over each eye), or received
telepathically from outside (via the one permitted only channel) would
be transmitted automatically to any other telepath in linkage. A
microphone enabled the psion to repeat verbal messages, or to describe
(inefficiently) what was received in the form of images or thoughts.

The description was inefficient because the telepath's mind was
effectively in a trance-state, unable to do much processing or apply
much high-level thought. This had to be kept in mind in preparing
visual materials for transmission. Generally, the simpler the better.

Usually a psion remembered little or nothing of what he/she
transmitted or recieved after emerging from trance. A full eidetic
memory would permit such recollection, and they were especially prized
because they could then transcribe written materials, or provide a
superior description of visual materials.

Because of the extreme sensitivity of the gestalt, it is very
vulnerable to Telepathic outside noise or attack. The device
incorporates shielding against random thought from nearby minds, as
well as hostile attack. Any Telepathic attack that penetrates the
shielding of the machinery with Power 2 or greater force remaining
will disrupt the gestalt, and any 'attacking' skill such as Mind Blow
or Mental Stab will operate as if 20 levels higher than its actual
level, as it tears through the hypersensitized mentalities.

It was a delicate task to introduce a dozen different drugs to a
subject, in just the right ratios (which varied from person to
person), while keeping the subject alive and healthy while not
permitting him/her to eat, drink, excrete, move, or otherwise engage
in natural activities. Each psicom system incorporated a TL10
microframe that did nothing but supervise the biological condition of
the telepaths (especially the primary psion) moment-to-moment, and
another microframe to supervise the rest of the system. A third
microframe monitored the other two, and acted as a supervisory
processor.

These systems required a skilled operator, usually an experienced
telepath who was not incorporated into the gestalt. A non-psi could
learn the skill to operate the system from the master control
consoles, though. The task of this person was to supervise the
operation of the machinery, and send messages and 'translate' emerging
messages. Usually such systems had three operators on duty at any
given time, at least one of whom would have high levels of Physician
skills, in case of something going badly wrong.

Since any interruption of power could be fatal or damaging, such
systems generally incorporated their own internal power sources, and
were otherwise designed to 'stand alone' from their surrounding
environment if necessary. A typical power source was a TL10 nuclear
power unit.

Because they were very valuable devices (the orichalcum alone
guaranteed that), and incorporated many elements of proprietary
technology (the drugs, the information to use them, the necessary
software to run the whole system, the design of the psi-amplifiers,
and many others), they were designed with various security features.
Usually, each was designed so that any unauthorized tampering would
cause the supervisory microframes to destroy the drug reservoirs with
a burst from an incorporated UV laser, send a sudden surge of
current sufficient to melt the apparatus through the psi-amps, and
then completely self-erase, all in about 1/2000th of a second. Often
additional security features were incorporated as well.

[1] Only a tiny handful of the population of the Hegemony was
psi-active. Only a small percentage of that population had Power
levels of 14 or more, and an even tinier percentage had Power 21. Of
those with the requisite Power, few had the necessary intelligence and
self-discipline to master the skills sufficiently to be useful as
psicom subjects.

Of that handful, not all were willing to submit to the personal
headaches, indignities, and the very real risks of psicom work.
Naturally, those who were could all but name their price.

[Johnny1A.2]

Attribute Modifications...

Some of the characters in my universe, by their nature, throw off the standard GURPS attribute system. Some of the ways I deal with this:

1. Split IQ. This is used most commonly when a character is very, very old, or otherwise has so much knowledge and experience that it becomes difficult to combine 'reasoning power' and 'knowledge and experience' in one number. The vast age and experience of some near-immortal characters give them an effective IQ for some matters that is enormous, but their native intelligence is the same as it always was. This distinction does not much matter in 'mortal' characters of a normal age, but can become important in others.

The solution I use is a split IQ, a little like the split HT and ST scores used for some non-human characters and some animals. A 3000 year old Avatar, for example, might have an IQ of 15/25. That is, s/he has the native reasoning ability and intelligence of a normal person with IQ 15, but his/her vast experience means that for certain things s/he rolls as if possessing an IQ of 25. The GM arbitrates on which score applies, though it'll usually be pretty clear.

Point cost wise, the split IQ costs the same as the first IQ score, plus an additional cost of ten points per level beyond the first number. Thus an IQ of 15/25 costs 160 points.

Which stat to use in a given roll is a GM call, but usually it will be pretty straightforward. Keeping in mind that the two figures represent the basic reasoning and intelligence for the first, and that plus experience and knowledge for the second. So, for example:

Zadatharion is an Avatar, with five levels of Strong Will and tens of thousands of years old, and has an IQ of 19/35. Which stat applies when?

EXAMPLE 1: Zadatharion is attempting to solve the workings of an alien lock, based on totally different principles than anything use on Earth, even the controls for the lock are adapted to alien manipulators. He's trying to figure out how the lock works and using that a way to either open it or force it, but it's like nothing in all his experience, so normal skills have to applicability to it.

In this case, Zadatharion must roll vs his basic IQ of 19 to solve it, since it's an issue of problem-solving ability, of native, innate intelligence, rather than knowledge or experience.

EXAMPLE 2: Zadatharion is attacked by a powerful telepathic force, hit with a barrage of awesome telepathic strikes. He must resist using Will (IQ+his Strong Will levels). In this case, since experience and knowledge add enormously to his ability to resist, the GM tells the player to use the second stat, and Zadatharion resists as if with a Will of 40! The attack would reduce most mortals to a vegetable status in milliseconds, but Zadatharion shrugs it off and counterattacks.

EXAMPLE 3: Zadatharion finds hmself faced with a poisoned mortal ally, failing fast. The circumstances are such that he dares not use is psionic powers to help. The only medical options available are natural ingredients. Zadatharion is thousands of years old and has often had occasion to use herbal treatments, but he hasn't done it in a very long time. The GM rules he must roll vs IQ to remember the necessary skills in time to save his friend, with a bonus for eidetic memory (this works a little differently when characters are that old), but a larger penalty because it's been over 2000 years since he needed these particular skills in the sort of area where he is, but he can roll vs. his second stat, 35, rather than 19, since this is a knowledge issue.

The GM rules that Zadatharion gets a +5 bonus for eidetic memory, and a -10penalty for long disuse of skills. That leaves him with an effective IQ of 30 and he only fails on a critical failure.

EXAMPLE 4: Zadatharion meets someone who gives him a vague, nagging sense of familiarity, but nothing he can put his finger on. It worries him, and eventually he starts making a conscious, serious effort to pin down the association.

The GM knows that the immortal is being reminded of someone he met back in the Antediluvian Age, from an obscure and unnoteworthy incident about nine thousand years before (or so it seemed at the time).

The GM decides that some penalties on the IQ roll are in order, since it was 9000 years earlier, the incident in question seemed unimportant at the time,
and the similarity is subtle, so the GM decides on a -15 for the long time gap, a -10 for the obscurity, and a -5 for the subtleness of the similarity, and a +5 for the eidetic memory. This adds up to a -25 penalty on the roll, but since it's a memory and knowledge roll, it goes against the second state.

So, 35-25 is 10, Zadatharion must beat a 10 to identify the familiarity.

Example 5: Zadatharion is on an alien world he has never visited before, and nobody else from Earth has either. It has a Solarigen biosphere, but one shaped by 103 million years of separate evolution and so quite different from that on Earth. He wants to apply some of his naturalist and related skills to this semi-alien biosphere.

This is a tricky one, the GM will have to make judgement calls about which stat applies depending on the exact situation. A middle course is possible, using the first stat with a bonus based on the second.

Zadatharion is trying to track down a particular sort of plant, not a given species but something local that fills the same approximate niche. The GM decides that the planetary biosphere is too alien for Zadatharion's experience to be the only factor, he has to solve local problems through native intelligence. OTOH, his experience does guide his thinking in terms of general principles and understanding how living things behave and work.

So the GM rules that Zadatharion's player must roll vs. his basic IQ, 19, but with a bonus of +1 for every 5 levels of the second stat, giving a +7. Thus Zadatharion's effort is based on an effective IQ of 26.

That still sounds like a lot, but Zadatharion is an Avatar, after all, and individual efforts are going to be working under heavy penalties, so this will not necessarily be easy even so.

[Johnny1A.2]

GESTALT HOUSE RULES 1

For the most part, psionics in the Orichalcum Universe follows the rules of GURPS Psionics 3e. A few exceptions have been noted already on this thread, a few more need to be.

To begin with, to form a gestalt requires a specific psionic skill, Basic Gestalt.

NEW PSI SKILL: BASIC GESTALT (M/VH)

This is a 'universal' psionic skill. Because, in my world, essentially everyone is a telepath, if only at a deep latent level, anyone except a Psychonull or other special case can theoretically learn this skill. It is only useful, however, to someone with at least one active Psionic Power.

(Non telepaths can make use of the skill through physical contact, as long as some living part of the body is solidly touching the living body of another potential member of the gestalt, the skill can be used.)

To create a basic gestalt, the coordinator must either make Telepathic contact with the other mind(s) to be part of the fusion, or make physical contact with them (and they with each other, a circle holding hands would work). Then the coordinator must roll vs. his or her Basic Gestalt skill for each member, on a success the two minds merge into a 'basic' gestalt, which operates mostly as a gestalt under GURPS 3e psionics rules does.

The gestalt can be sustained for as many turns as the lowest success on the Basic Gestalt skill on the part of the coordinator when creating the fusion. This generally means the bigger the gestalt, the shorter it will likely endure.

On a critical success the gestalt gains additional stability, double the length of its endurance. A critical failure in creating a gestalt means the coordinator must begin over from scratch.

When the duration of a gestalt ends, the coordinator is allowed to roll once against his or her Basic Gestalt skill, on any success the entire gestalt will last that many turns longer before another roll is necessary. On a critical success on this 'renewing' roll, the gestalt can last until someone intentionally breaks it.

Note that the gestalt is relatively 'fragile', everyone must agree on the goals and anyone can break away (shattering the gestalt) at any time.

1.Gestalts. Under the rules of GURPS 3e psionics, a psychic gestalt can add Power to the directing psion in accordance with the square root of the total added power of the members, rounded down. That's pretty much how it works in the Orichalcum Universe, but there are a couple of catches.

a. Generally speaking, without special skills or special help, no psion can coordinate a gestalt with more members (including the coordinator) than his/her IQ. Certain special skills (requiring unusual background in some settings of the OE) can overcome this limit.

b. Unless certain special skills are possessed (which in many settings will require a major Unusual Background cost), there are limits to how much a gestalt can add. The coordinator of the gestalt can wield additional Power no greater than the Will of the coordinating psion. Also, any time that the difference between the total Power of the gestalt and the Power of the coordinator is greater than the IQ of the coordinator, a -2 applies to whatever psionic skills are being utilized.

This means that the higher the Will, and higher the IQ, of the coordinator of the gestalt, the more effective the overall gestalt can be.

That sounds more complicated than it is.

EXAMPLE: Greg is a psion with Power 10 PK. His IQ is 10 and his Will is 13 (i.e. IQ 10 + 3 levels of Strong Will). He is coordinating a gestalt to gain PK power. Since his IQ is 10, he can coordinate as many as nine more people in a gestalt.

Since his will is 13, that means the gestalt can add as many as 13 levels to his native PK Power. It doesn't matter how this Power is 'distributed'. That is, the gestalt potential Power is still the strength of the strongest member, plus the square root of the combined additional Power. However the Power is distributed among the members, it can add up to 13 levels because Greg has a Will of 13.

However, his IQ is 10, which means that if he adds a full 13 levels, he suffers a skill penalty for the last 3 levels, for a total of -6. Note that the skill of the gestalt Greg uses is still that of the most skilled member, not necessarily Greg himself.

That is, if Greg has a Telekinesis skill of 12, but the highest skill in the group in that skill is 15, then Greg wields a skill of 15 when using this skill as coordinator of the gestalt. The -2 per level for that last 3 levels adds up to a -6, which is applied to the gestalt skill of 15 rather than Greg's native skill of 12.

Note that even if the coordinator of the gestalt is already 'maxed out' on additional Power, it can still be advantageous to add more people to the gestalt if they have extremely high skill levels, because the gestalt still uses the highest skill in the membership.

In the above example, Greg might have 8 people in the gestalt and the total extra Power he can tap might already be maxed out with 13 levels of extra Power. Even if new members bring in more extra Power, Greg can't manage it effectively with his IQ and Will. But if he adds a ninth person with a skill of 17 in Telekinesis (for ex), he can still use that skill as the gestalt group skill when using the Power, so the -6 is applied to that instead of the original 15.

[Johnny1A.2]

SPECIAL PSIONIC SKILL: PRESERVATION

Moved to this thread: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=85203

[Johnny1A.2]

SYMBIOTIC CRYSTALS

These devices are examples of deep paraphysical technology, originally
developed in the Antediluvian Age by Atlantean sages, and utilized as
a tool to increase the efficacy of psionic and Flux skills. In
appearance, such devices appear as flat, circular disks of transparent
material much like extremely fine quality clear glass, with a
hexagonal mass of clear crystalline material embedded entirely within
the outer disk. The standard form of a symbiotic crystal is a
circular disk about 1.5 inches in diameter and 1/8 of an inch in
thickness, often with a metal ring around the edge to enable the
crystal to be attached to a chain or a bracelet or other such carrying
assistance, though this is not always the case.

In essence, a symbiotic crystal generates a pseudomind which links to
the consciousness of its owner, and enables him or her to focus
paraphysical skills for greater precision and reliability. They also
have a positive effect on the local Matrix/Flux, making that fickle
phenomenon more amenable to access and use. This makes it both
easier and much safer for a fluxon to use the power of the Flux.

These devices also have a few other useful properties.

A symbiotic crystal must be linked to one specific person, and can
not be used by any other being. In fact, each symbiotic crystal must,
by its very nature, be created with one specific person in mind, since
its structure and psychic 'programming' must be optimized to the
mental patterns with which it is to be bonded.

The symbiotic crystal must be in physical contact with the living
flesh of its owner to be used. If not in contact, the special
properties of the device are not accessible to the owner, but he or she
can sense its presence and location up to some distance, and will
sense if another living being is touching it or interfering with it.
Any given person can only be bonded to one such device at a time, if a
second one is created the bond to the first is broken by the process,
and the first symbiotic crystal becomes useless.

Because of the one-to-one match of mental patterns between an owner
and a symbiotic crystal, any psion with the signature sniffer skill can
learn the psi-pattern of the owner by examining his/her symbiotic crystal.

In GURPS terms, these symbiotic crystals are approximately similar
to the devices described in GURPS 3e Psionics, page 82. Some key
differences do exist, however.

1. All Flux skills focused through a symbiotic crystal are
increased by 50%, rather than 1/3, rounding down. Thus, for an
example, Flux Mastery 28 would become Flux Mastery 42 if used
in conjunction with a symbiotic crystal.

Psionic skills can also be focused through a symbiotic crystal, but
they gain only the standard '1/3 rounded down' boost. For ex,
Telereceive 10 would work as Telereceive 15 if focused through a
symbiotic crystal.

NOTE: The device can magnify either psi or Flux skills at any given
moment, but never both at the same time. The owner must choose in
any given moment.

2. The symbiotic crystal has the salutary effect of making the Matrix/Flux
more ‘amenable’ to the owner. In GURPS terms, the device provides
200 Flux Points, which an be 'spent' as desired in Flux work, regenerating
at the rate of 10/day.

3. A symbiotic crystal can store a reservoir of psychic energy, sufficient
to enable a psion to produce effects equivalent to the use of 10 Fatigue Points,
regenerating at a rate of 1/every 2 hours. The reservoir will only recharge if the
symbiotic crystal is in close association with the owner, however (meaning
physical contact or no further than a few centimeters away).

4. There is no negative effect of another person handling the device
on the owner, though the owner will sense it if the device is within
range (unless the connection is somehow blocked). The range is the same
as the unmodified Telepathy Power range, minimum one yard. Likewise,
if the device is destroyed within range, the owner will sense it, but take
no harm from the event.

5. Symbiotic crystals are difficult to damage, having extremely high
damage resistance.

5. Some symbiotic crystals have specialized abilities as well.

Physical contact between the crystal and the owner's flesh is
necessary for use of any of the abilities of the device.

WEIGHT: Negligible.
ENDURANCE: 10 hit points, DR 100, -6 to hit
COST: Priceless in most environs to those capable of using one.

If the GM so wishes, a character point cost of around 50 is reasonable
for possession of a usable symbiotic crystal.

[Johnny1A.2]

MATRIX PERCEPTION

The power of the Matrix/Flux can be used as a source of information.
This is one of the subtlest, trickiest, and yet potentially most potent
abilities open to a fluxon.

The Matrix is a mentality, though one so utterly diffuse by Homosapient
standards that it is something of a moot point. Whether the Matrix is
actually, genuinely self-aware and conscious in the human sense is a
question even the Atlantean sages never answered to their own complete
satisfaction. The Eldren may know, but if so no Eldren has ever been
willing to answer the question. If the Matrix is fully conscious, it thinks
and is aware on a scale of space and time utterly beyond anything mortals
operate within, it might take a million years to complete a thought so
vast and wide as to be inconceivable to a mortal.

Nevertheless, the Matrix is 'aware' in a pure information sense of most
things in the Universe. Its senses most of what happens at almost all scales,
and stores it. Furthermore, because the Matrix exists in a hyperspace
outside of the normal reference frames of space and time, it perceives not
only the present but the past, the alternative pasts that could have been,
and the futures that could yet be, like an ESPer on a cosmic scale. This
information can be tapped by mortal fluxons, though not without very
significant difficulty and not entirely without risk.

Trapping this information requires a special type of Controlled
Manifestation, a dangerous type.

First the fluxon must find and contact the Flux using the Flux Awareness
and Flux Mastery skills as usual. Once in contact, the usual procedure
for a Controlled Manifestation must be followed, but upon achieving a
'good' or better result on the Flux reaction roll, instead of describing some
physical effect, the fluxon attempts to program the Matrix to provide
him/her with some specific piece of information. The fluxon must meditate
carefully on the information desired, so as to narrow it down to a single
tiny item amid a mass of information vast beyond mortal comprehension.

The character must meditate very carefully on what he or she wishes to
know, gaining a +1 on the coming success role for each hour of game
time spent meditating, with no upper limit (trust me, s/he'll need the
bonuses). One hour is the minimum possible, giving a base -2 modifier.
(That is, a fluxon must meditate on the desired information for at least
three hours just to reach +0 modifier.)

The meditation can not be interrupted by anything including sleep or
taking food or water, even a momentary interruption undoes the benefit
and forces the fluxon to start over. Note that the fluxon is very
vulnerable to interruption at this point, with potential dangerous effects.

Normally, anything that interrupts a fluxon after reaching the stage
of a successful reaction roll in a Manifestation will cause
something to happen, even if it's not what the fluxon actually
wanted. In this case, since it's a knowledge attempt, the misfire
will result in a knowledge-based disaster, about which more
momentarily.

When the fluxon is ready, he casts his request for information into
the labyrinthine maze of the Matrix. This takes 3d turns of game
time, and any interruption disrupts the effort.

In game terms, the player now asks the GM his/her character's
question, which can be as simple or complex as desired. The GM now
makes a success roll against the fluxon's Flux Mastery skill, modified
as appropriate.

Some suggested modifiers:


+ 1 for each hour of game time spend meditating
+ (the local Flux Rating)
+ 1 to 10 for helpful circumstances (the character is in his/her
familiar lair, character has some assisting technology or item, etc)
+ 1 to 10 for familiarity (i.e. a fluxon who knows a lot about France
is more likely to get a useful answer to a question about France, etc)
+ 1 to 10 for 'connection' (i.e. a question about a given person is more
likely to be successful, or more successful, if that person is
present, and even more so if s/he is cooperative, etc)

- (1 to whatever) for increasing complexity
- (1 to whatever) for unfamiliarity
- 2 if the fluxon spent no more than 1 game hour meditating (the
minimum possible)
Plus other negative modifiers as the GM's judgement. (There's just no
way for Flux skills and work not to require a lot of GM judgement calls.)

The GM should apply heavier penalties as the complexity and number of
subjects of the question grows, as well as unfamiliarity and distance
in space and time grow. Bonuses can be applied for familiarity, for
clarity and specificity of the question, for 'closeness', etc.

As usual, Flux Points can be spent to make up for penalties, and
usually they will have to be.

To Be Continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

MATRIX PERCEPTION continued...

The GM makes the roll, vs. the character's Flux Mastery skill, with
the appropriate bonuses applied and the spent Flux points allowed
for. What happens depends on the outcome of this roll.

On a critical success, the GM should answer the player's question
accurately and completely. On a success, the truth should be told,
the degree of detail being determined by the degree of success. On a
failure, the GM should truthfully answer, but the information should
be 'off-target' to some degree, the worse the failure, the worse the
problem. On a failure by more than 18, the GM should answer some
completely irrelevant question truthfully, the bigger the failure the
further afield the answer can be.

On a critical failure, there is an ‘information overload’.

Also, if the fluxon's concentration is interrupted during his/her
mediations, or during the 'asking' period, there will also be a
potential for information overload. In the event of such an
interruption (which includes falling asleep or unconscious for any
reason!), the GM should roll 3d, on a failure there is information
overload, on a success the character loses 1d Fatigue and all Flux
abilities for 1d days, on a critical success nothing bad happens.


EXAMPLE:

Ylarines wants to know where Adaronades has hidden the other half of
the Great Codex of Atlantis, a two-volume set of ancient lore.
Ylarines has one half of it, Adaronades, Tamara, and Phillip made off
with the other before Ylarines could put the knowledge therein to his
villainous uses. He was going to interrogate Phillip, whom he has
captured, but Phillip placed himself in a death trance and Ylarines
knows any disruption will kill him. While he has no qualms about
killing his enemies, Ylarines has a passing familiarity with the Evil
Overlord List and knows that live hostages give you more leverage than
dead ones.

So he decides to see if he can tap the Matrix for the information he
wants. He makes contact with the Flux as usual, and spends eight
hours meditating, gaining a +5 bonus for the upcoming test. He's in
his lair, he has his supporting apparatus with him, and he has half
the Codex in his physical possession and is familiar with the other
half, all factors working in his favor.

The GM decides that his advantages add up to a +10 bonus, +4 for his
home base, +4 for possession of half the Codex and familiarity, +2 for
an artifact he is using to aid his work. Additionally, the site as a
Flux Rating of +4, which adds in. All in all a +19 bonus to the roll.

The question Ylarines' player asks the GM is: "Where is the second
half of the Codex of Atlantis at this moment?"

The GM decides this is a nice, simple question with clarity and
precision, and gives a +3 bonus for it, so when the skill roll is made
there is a total +22 bonus to the roll. Can anything go wrong?

Yep, because Adaronades has taken extensive protective steps to hide
the other half, knowing this attempt was coming. The GM decides that
those steps were worth a -50 penalty, leaving the skill roll with a
-25 cost at the start. Can Ylarines succeed at all? Yep, but he has
to have Flux Points to bring the penalty back within reasonable range
for a 3d skill roll. The GM should NOT tell Ylarines what the
penalties are! He has to take a good guess about how many Flux Points
to spend!

(The GM should play fair here, and assign the bonuses and penalties
ahead of time, and not fudge the roll if a long shot succeeds.)

The GM makes his/her determinations, Ylarines chooses how many Flux
Points to spend as described upthread in the sections on Flux work.

Let's see what happens depending on the outcome of this roll:

Case 1: Critical Success! The GM answers: "Ylarines suddenly has a
searing vision of cognitive clarity, knowing in the depth of his being
and without possibility of error that the second half of the Codex of
Atlantis is concealed in a hidden compartment in a desk in an office
on the sixth floor of an office building in Nashville, Tennessee. He
sees the office, the desk, and the room in his mind, he knows the
precise physical location relative to himself." The GM gives the
address, room number, and describes the room.

Case 2: Success! The GM describes the location and gives more detail
depending on how good a success, a success by a whisker might narrow
it down to Nashville, Tennessee, with more precision coming in
accordance with greater success.

Case 3: Failure. For a close failure the GM notes truthfully that
Adaronades recently visited Nashville. He says nothing about whether
he hid the book there or not. For a more serious failure the GM might
truthfully inform Ylarines' player that Adaronades no longer has the
book in his physical possession, and no more. (Still relevant to the
question, but with more failure the answer gets further and further
afield.) For a really bad failure, the answer should remain true but
have only the very vaguest connection to the question.

Case 4: Critical Failure! Information Overload!

To Be Continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

MATRIX PERCEPTION continued...

What is information overload? It's a failure mode resulting in just
what the description sounds like, the Matrix gives the fluxon too much
information, which may, or may not (GM's discretion) be related to the
original question. This is a much more serious matter than it sounds
like, because the information comes pouring directly into the mind of
the fluxon with overwhelming clarity and force.

Let us return to case 4 above, the critical failure and the ensuing
information overload.

When an information overload occurs, the GM should roll 3d, the
'overload' lasts as many turns as the result of the roll. On every
turn the fluxon must roll vs. Will, suffering the loss of a Fatigue
point on a failure, 2 points on a critical failure, and a -1 on
further Will rolls for each failure. The overload continues until the
time is up or the character loses so much Fatigue as to pass out,
which ends the overload.

Either way, when it is over, for every failed Will roll, the character
must roll again vs. normal Will, picking up a new quirk on a failure
and a new mental disadvantage on a critical failure. If Will reaches
zero during the overload, the GM should assign a new mental
Disadvantage for that automatically in addition to the other rolls.
Furthermore, the character's Flux abilities will be 'jammed' for 3d
days, all IQ, DX, and HT rolls are at -2 until Fatigue recovers, and
lost Fatigue from the overload will recover at 1/day as the
character's body and mind recover from an overwhelming shock.

The overload will mostly be mercifully forgotten afterward, the sheer
scale of information pouring through the mind is more than most people
can do anything with. However, if the character's Will did not
reach zero during the overload, the GM should roll vs. the character's
normal Will and on a success the character retained something
coherent. The GM should inform the player that his/her character
knows some true thing about the game universe. It can be anything
in that universe, though, in theory, though in practice most minds
cling to something recognizable so it will probably be something
relevant to something in the character’s mental world. Probably, and
it doesn't have to be relevant to the character's personal needs.

On a critical success, though, the character managed to pluck
something directly, personally useful or relevant to his/her needs out
of the flood of facts and data. It's up to the GM what s/he got,
and it does not have to be related to the original failed question.

So, Case 4, Ylarines had a critical failure and information overload
set in. The GM rolls 3d, gets a 9, so the event will last 9 turns.
Ylarines has a Will of 15, so he has to roll vs. Will 9 times in a
row. He blows it four times, including one critical failure, so when
the ordeal is over he's down by 5 Fatigue, exhausted, shaken, and
stunned. The GM will now roll against Ylarines' unmodified Will four
times, and assign a new quirk for each failure and new Disad for any
critical failure. Luckily for Ylarines, he was not down to zero Will
so he is spared an automatic new mental Disad.

Ylarines lucks out, he makes three of the four rolls, and only a
normal failure. The GM decides that Ylarines has picked up the new
quirk: "Nervous around pandas." Whenever he is in sight of a panda, he
is at -1 on all Will rolls, Fright Checks, etc, and must make a Will
roll to concentrate or put the panda out of his mind. [1]

All in all, it could have been worse...and now the GM makes the roll
to see if Ylarines learned anything useful. Ylarines' Will did not
reach zero so he gets a chance at this, the GM rolls 3d and hits a
good success, and decides that Ylarines now knows that that his
girlfriend is cheating on him with one of his lackeys and planning to
poison him at an opportune moment. On a critical success he might
have learned which lackey, what kind of poison, and when...but this
is still useful information to Ylarines, even though it's totally unrelated
to his original question.

So now Ylarines has to wait five days for his strength to fully return
and his mind and body to get back to normal, with plenty of rest to
help that along. So Ylarines clears his schedule, prepares to take a
few days off, and calls up his girlfriend and says, "Honey, yeah, it's
me, I think we really need to talk..."

To Be Continued...


[1] The new quirks and psychological Disads can be anything, since
they are based on things the character saw/knew/felt during an
information overload derived from a universal mentality. Not even
Ylarines remembers what he experienced that makes him nervous around
pandas, but something did. In theory, for ex, he could as easily have
picked up the quirk "Intolerant: Helians". Not that that would
likely to matter to Ylarines, who doesn't know there were ever any
such creatures as Helians or what a Helian might be.

[Johnny1A.2]

MATRIX PERCEPTION continued...

OK, now that we've discussed how the Flux can be used for information,
the question arises as whether there's any limit to it. After all,
given that the Matrix is a cosmic intellect possessing power and
perception beyond mortal comprehension, in theory does that not imply
that a fluxon with sufficient skill and Flux Points can learn any
secret or penetrate any mystery at will? In theory, the answer is
almost yes. In practice, not nearly so much.

To begin with, there is the fact that the Matrix is not in fact God.
It's not quite omniscient, occasionally something happens that it just
misses. Not often, but every now and then, yes. Also, there are ways
to conceal things from the Matrix, and on top of that there are ways
to sway the Matrix to refuse to reveal what it knows.

First of all, the risks and difficulty of using the Flux to seek
information are significant, Ylarines got off rather lightly in his critical
failure above. Since any interruption to the meditation period
produces an information overload, most fluxons will be very
reluctant to risk using these techniques unless they are sure of their
personal security and safety and privacy for a period. It is not
something one uses for quick information in a battlefield situation!

Also, there are many, many factors that a GM can reasonably use to
penalize skill rolls for Matrix information searches. One is the
‘collective security factor’.

Recall that the Matrix/Flux is influenced by the living minds it
touches and vice-versa, it is shaped by mass preferences at a purely
subconscious level. One side effect of that is that any piece of
information that a large number of people would want concealed from a
fluxon makes it harder to find. Conversely, of course, if a large
number of people would approve of the fluxon reaching that
information, the task gets easier. Also, the intensity of that
preference makes a difference.

As a thumb rule, the GM should assign a -1 penalty to any Matrix
Perception attempt for every 10,000 people who would, if they knew of
the effort, wish for it to fail, and a +1 for every 10,000 who would,
if they knew, approve. Double that for every 10,000 who would be
_intensely_ in favor or opposed. The effect only works for people in
the current time, past and future opinions don't matter. (People in
this context means Homosentients.) Add or subtract 1 for each doubled
increase in number, rounding down.

Also, distance does not necessarily matter, though at the GM's
discretion extreme distances might reduce the effect...or not. The
Matrix spans the Universe.

Add additional penalties and bonuses if the people in question have a
conscious group self-identity. Thus, if a fluxon is seeking a piece
of information that the majority of, say, Americans would wish him not
to find, that would be a large group sharing a self-identity (everyone
who thinks of himself/herself as an American), for a hefty negative
bonus. If we assume that, say, 75% of the country would not want the
fluxon to succeed, that's 75% of 300 million, or a -15 penalty. Since
they share a sense of corporate self-identity, i.e. 'Americans' and
oppose the effort as such, or would if they knew about it, the GM
raises the penalty to -20. If they are or would be [i]intensely[i]
opposed, the penalty doubles to a whopping -40!

(But that's what Flux Points and group efforts are for.)

The 25% who don't oppose the fluxon only matter if they would actively
approve of his success, in which case they would partly offset the
majority.

Note that the effect can operate on large or smaller scales and over
huge distances, and requires no knowledge, it's sufficient that these
people would oppose or approve if they knew, since the Matrix spans
the Universe. Which does indeed mean that a large group of people on
another planet entirely, totally unaware of Earth's existence and vice
versa, can affect Matrix Perception efforts. The GM should use this
fairly, but is not obligated to explain it, since the fluxon will not necessarily
know the whys of the situation.

Here are some additional considerations about Matrix Perception:

1. The Eldren are linked to the Matrix in fundamental ways, which has
consequences.

One is that questions about the Eldren are rarely answerable by
Matrix Perception. The attempt, in most cases, automatically fails,
or else produces an information overload (GM's discretion).

2. The Eldren can place certain kinds of information beyond the reach
of a mortal fluxon, though in practice anything that would interest a
mortal is usually so trivial to the Eldren as to not matter.

3. Certain psionic and 'mundane' techniques and technologies can
'block' the Matrix's perceptions, shielding events and facts and
things from Matrix Perception. This is too various a subject to go
into here, it's best handled case by case.

4. No level of success in Matrix Perception permits reading minds by
this method.

5. There are also Flux-based techniques that can 'shield' against
Matrix Perception.


Any sufficiently skilled fluxon can attempt to 'shroud' a place, event,
person, or what have you from Matrix Perception. This is a special
type of Controlled Manifestation, and works similarly to the 'warding'
process described upthread. In effect, the fluxon is 'programming' the
Matrix to refuse to respond to requests for information about the
'shrouded' matter or thing. The effective result is to apply a penalty to
the Matrix Perception roll of someone seeking information, a
sufficiently skilled and powerful fluxon or group of fluxons can mount
the penalties up, to triple or quadruple digits in extreme cases.

6. Nothing can make the Matrix lie to a Perception attempt, not even
the Primordial Eldren. Only true Divine intervention would suffice for
that.

If a fluxon asks a question for which, for whatever reason, the Matrix
does not know the answer, the result is an automatic neutral failure,
that is, no information is gained and no penalty (other than spent
Flux Points and time and effort) is suffered. If the answer is
'shrouded' by whatever means, i.e. the Matrix has the answer but is
blocked from answering, then likewise nothing happens.

7. Certain devices of paraphysical technology can be used to make
Matrix Perception more effective, or easier, or (rarely) to permit
someone lacking the vital skills to perform Matrix Perception directly.

To Be Continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

MATRIX PERCEPTION continued...

Some further considerations...

8. The fluxon must have some idea of what he/she is trying to learn.
The more vague the inquiry, the more likely it is to fail. If in the
GM's opinion the inquiry has no clear or defined answer, then the
Matrix simply does not respond, a neutral failure, or else responds
with something that might fit the inquiry other than what the
fluxon actually sought (GM's discretion).

9. The fluxon can also seek information by means of the physical
senses, as projected by the Matrix, or rather, the fluxon is gaining
information from the Matrix that the mind interprets in terms of
physical sensations. Thus a fluxon could attempt to 'see' and 'hear'
what did, is, or will be happening at some specific place or around
some specific person or thing or in some specific situation. The
'range' of this is, potentially limitless, anywhere in the Universe,
in practice it needs to be some place or thing that the fluxon has
some ability to grasp or about which he/she has some knowledge.

Example: Ylarines goes through the same procedure as previously, but
instead of seeking the answer to a specific question, he seeks to
perceive the environs around a specific _place_, in this case the Oval
Office in real time. As with before, the GM determines the necessary
bonuses and penalties, Ylarines decides how many Flux Points to spend,
and the GM makes the roll. On a success, Ylarines begins to see,
hear, feel, taste, and touch (by sensation) something relevant to the
point he named. The better the success, the closer to his goal and
the more detail he gets, and it lasts as many turns as the success
roll was made, or as long as he maintains concentration on a critical
success.

Also, Flux Points can be spent to extend the length of the
'connection'.

So, he succeeds by 15, pretty good. He can now perceive as if he was
present what is happening right then in the Oval Office in the
White House, even though he is in his lair in the Alps, and he can do
so for 15 turns. At any time before the end of the 'vision' he can
call on the Matrix to extend it. In game terms his player spends a
Flux Point, gaining another 15 turns. He has to do this before the
vision runs out, or start over from scratch, but he can keep it up
until he runs out of Flux Points, at which point the vision is over.
As noted, on a critical success he can watch as long as he wishes, bar
eventually falling asleep or other interruptions, but once he ends the
vision he has to start over to watch again.

On a poorer success, he might have found himself perceiving some place
near the Oval Office, or someplace somehow associated with it, OR
he might have found himself with only vision or only hearing,
or some other lesser accomplishment. Or he might find himself perceiving
the Oval Office as it was in 1950, or as it might be in 2050, rather
than the present. The possibilities are extensive and subject to GM fiat.

On a failure he'd find himself tuned into something other than what he
sought, less and less relevant with worse failure. Again, critical
failure means information overload as described above.

Alternatively, instead of a place Ylarines could try to tune in a
person, like the U.S. President, or the highest military officer of
China, or whoever interested him. The same process and limits apply.

Vague generalities don't work with sensory Perceptions any more than
they with inquiry Perceptions.

Example: Let's leave the present and go back to the Antediluvian Age
for this example. Recall that in the war between Atlantis and
Goravia, the Goravians had a secret weapon: crude radio. The
Atlanteans had no idea of what this was or the physical principles
behind it, their science was heavily paraphysical instead.

An Atlantean fluxon could attempt to learn specific things about the
Goravians by Matrix Perception. For ex, asking the question: "Where
is a <specific person> right now?" might well work. Or asking where a
specific naval vessel of the enemy was could possibly work (though
the Goravians could combat this by the means noted above).

Asking: "What is the Goravians' secret weapon?" would almost
certainly not work, it's too vague, too general. Likewise, an
attempt to have the Matrix, "Show me their secret weapon!" would be
pointless, too vague.

OTOH, if the Atlantean fluxon already knew where one of the secret
radio sites was, he could try to tune in and 'observe' it, though
whether he understood what he saw would be a separate issue. If he
mistook the copper wire in the radio gear for orichalcum, he might
draw an erroneous conclusion from an accurate vision, for example.

To Be Continued...