Turing

by Stephen Ironside (5 May 94, revised 4 Dec 94)

The members of this bloodline are fiercely dedicated to the rise of computer technology in all forms. Others, especially the Ventrue see them as unruly technofreaks who, despite their unnatural affinity for and love of electronic gadgets, are useful as pawns in the youthful information war. Not unsurprisingly, the Nosferatu are unsure where they stand, seeing them as useful allies in information gathering, but as more and more information becomes stored on computer, they fear that the Turing may become a great threat to their bargaining position.

The Turing are a most unnatural creation, the founder being a 5th generation Ventrue who tried to break his anachronistic view of the world with a carefully constructed experiment. Infusing his blood with Malkavian blood using strange apparatus, he hoped to gain enough insight into the world to see it in a new light. After several failed attempts, he tried again one night during a thunderstorm. A chance lightning strike flooded his apparatus with large quantities of electrical energy, and transformation occured. As new power coursed through his body, the apparatus overloaded, and when he came round, he found himself in a strange place, filled with neon, energy, and strange creatures, the like of which he had never seen. After much questing, he learned the name of this curious place - the Digital Web - and discovered how to use this new place to his advantage, finding on his way that it was possible to enter and leave the place through electronic equipment, particularly computers.

Leaving behind his own clan, who were somewhat shocked by his new outlook, he travelled widely, visiting especially those regions which were contributing heavily to the technological revolution. He left a few Childer throughout the world, under the protection of his former clan, seeding what he saw as a computerised Kindred Information Network. It is this which the Nosferatu fear, seeing it as, at the same time, a threat, and a useful tool in high-speed communication.

In the last few years, he has been investigating the 'Internet' from his current home in London, where he calls himself 'Max'. He suspects that there may be many direct access points from there to the Digital Web, and he is determined to prove to the Kindred population that this wonderful innovation should be used as a tool, not treated as a passing fad, or feared as a dangerous weapon. He maintains a number of accesses on the Internet (BBS, FTP, and WWW), and these do contain some information which could be treated as a breach of the Masquerade. However, they are also being used by an increasing number of techno-savvy Kindred as an information exchange and 'talking shop'. His point is becoming more and more strongly proved, and he hopes it is only a matter of time before Kindred Society as a whole appreciate what he has done.

Turing

Nickname: Neuromancers

Appearance: The Turing have many different styles, but all are obsessed with technology, and their Concept will generally reflect this.

Haven: Anywhere will do, although they will generally surround themselves with computers and technical looking gadgets.

Background: Generally, members of the clan are either fans of the cyberpunk genre, or computer adepts.

Character Creation: Concepts are usually some form of technonut. Visionary, Competitor and Thrill-Seeker Natures and Demeanors are common. Mental Attributes are usually primary, though more Physical characters are appearing.

Clan Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Neuromancy.

Weaknesses: Due to their immersion in technology, the Neuromancers have difficulty relating to the outside world. As such, all difficulties in Social Tests are increased by two, and the character may not develop any Social Skills (Empathy, Intimidation, Leadership, Etiquette) beyond that chosen at character creation.

Organization: The Turing are highly organized, meeting regularly in the Digital Web, and passing around passwords, programs and the like.

Development: While most Kindred use only 10% of their mental potential (as when they were mortal), the Turing have developed the ability to carry data in spare portions of their brain. This Skill is known as Online Storage, and is used to carry all data the Neuromancer uses in the Web. The Skill can never be more than the Intelligence rating of the character, however.


Some Changes to the Web for using the Turing

Okay, so things have moved on since the first version of the Turing came out, and extensive testing has brought out a number of flaws <?> in the systems quoted, and I felt it was time to redress the balance slightly. Here then is the original systems, plus the new updated notes and observations of the Turing at play:

For the Turing to work effectively, I really must recommend the Digital Web sourcebook. It provides an excellent feel for what the Web is, how it changes, and who can be found there. It might not be essential to running the Turing, but it certainly makes live a hell of a lot simpler!

Existing Systems

There are some systems in Digital Web that relate quite well to the Turing, and some which don't. I'll quickly list those which may be used practically whole (they can be found in Digital Web, pp35-46):

Unfortunately, the rest require a little modification to allow for the fact that the Turing are vampires, not mages:

Extra Systems

So what else can go wrong? Well:


Thank you for visiting, and as usual I'll quote the Golden Rule of Storyteller - there are no rules. use, abuse, whatever you see fit, all I can do is make suggestions, but I'd love to hear if anyone actually uses this to any great effect in their stories!

Have fun!

Stephen Ironside

ceesi@cee.hw.ac.uk