ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

The mage in my chronicle is a Virtual Adept. He is forced to come face to face with vampires, werewolves and all the assorted nasties that exist in a crosover World of Darkness game. He is not very powerful (in his opinion) and is always complaining about how he should be able to use magick as fast as a werewolf is able to jump him or quick enough to pre-empt a vampiric assault. I say, his requirement of computers is necessarily limiting, especially since he must "write" programs for effects, and even in the case of rotes already stored, it is still going to take the computer time to call them up and run them.

He says this is not fair, and he should be able to use voice-activated controls and even eye-movement-activated controls so that his effects are as instantaneous as those of other mages. We had a long talk last night, and after having reread Digital Web, Mage and the Book of Shadows, I have arrived at the following rules for handling the limitations of technological foci:

Processing Limits

Non-trinary computers do not possess the necessary computing power to produce effects greater than Level Three. Period.

The size of the computer roughly corresponds to computing power, so this will also limit the effects possible.

Laptop	Level Two
Message Pad	Level Two
HP-Calculator	Level One
Sharp Wizard	Level One

Trinary computers don't come in really small packages yet, but even the smallest available have full performance capabilities (see Book of Shadows).

Networking

Almost all Virtual Adepts will have their peripherals (calculators, phones, etc.) networked with their primary focus computer back in their sanctum. A mage can ignore all the processing limitations listed above so long as a good, uninterrupted connection is made with the main focus computer.

Many things can disrupt a connection long enough to ruin any "effect" program that the mage was attempting to run. Aside from normal interference of all kinds (and there are many, folks), there is always power loss (at either end of the connection), physical damage or actual separation (Hey! Give me back my calculator!). In combat situations, this is very important, as dropping one's cellular phone might mean THE END!

Speed, Difficulty and Reliability

Speed is very important. As most mages create unique "programs" for each desired effect, writing the program takes time. For each level of Sphere complexity, a full turn is required. This means that if someone wants to create an effect that requires Prime 2, Matter 2, Forces 1, Time 1, it would take six turns! Not bad, really, considering it is magick! This time can be reduced by increasing the difficulty level by +1 per turn of reduction.

Additionally, the actual input device used would impose limitations on speed (and therefore difficulty) due to the ease by which it can be used. For simplicity's sake, the actual size of the device is a good rule of thumb, as the smaller the device, the more difficult it is to ensure that the correct button is pressed, and the less buttons it has available (requiring "double-keying", etc.).

Message Pad	+1 turn
Portable Phone	+2 turns
Calculater size	+3 turns
Wristwatch size	+4 turns

Some mages will undoubtedly wish to acquire "power-gloves" and "HUD goggles" to increase their speed. This seems OK, so long as these characters are able to actually acquire such cutting-edge technology, probably from Sons of Ether friends, or the Pentagon. Stuff from Radio Shack will not be very useful as it is highly unreliable and inaccurate, to say the least. Especially when one considers the incredible perfection necessary to create a technomagick effect. Such devices should probably incur a difficulty penalty of from +1 to +3, enough of a risk to scare most VA's from simply shopping from the Sharper Image Catalog for their gadgetry.

Things like Voice Recognition, Script Recognition and even more complex stuff should be approached similarly.

Use of Rotes

Rotes will not reduce the difficulty of an effect (that would be philosophically counter-intuitive to the beliefs of the Traditions), but it can assist in speeding things up. The time requirements listed above would be negated for rotes, allowing someone to simply "program rote numbers" into the recall of their cellular phone, Wizard or what have you. Assuming that most mages would know their systems better than the back of their hands, they would have little difficulty quickly pressing the "code" for a needed rote, even when pressed. This is a good rationalization for the VA's having rotes, and trading them so much (perhaps more than all the other Traditions). They are not innately "better" than newly devised effects, just faster for those who are in a hurry.

Failures & Botches

Failure means pressing the wrong key, forgetting the password and any other number of things that anyone using a computer experiences. It can also be interference, power fluctuation or other external troubles.

Botches are the worst, but remember — they are not the fault of the technology, but rather the intended effect itself. For technomancers though, the release of pent-up Paradox often affects their devices as easily as themselves, and enduring Paradox can mean lasting "ghosts in the machine" (bugs that can't be worked out, recurring errors, etc.).

For backlashes, Paradox Spirits often attack the very technology used, often undetectable until they are accessed. Then things can get real hairy.

Quiet for technomancers often involves their devices "playing tricks on them". Phones pick up odd conversations elsewhere, displays act strangely, mundane programs seem to suddenly work differently, the calculator begins giving wrong answers...

All in all, have fun, but keep the emphasis on the spirit of technology. Even though our mage battles the undead and Garou folk, he depends upon his silicon and cellular link-ups for his abilities, things which he knows he can lose at the perfectly wrong moment.