User Profile

[Dataweaver]

It's niché enough and potentially lengthy enough that I won't be surprised if the core book doesn't cover it (though I'll be happy if proven wrong); but if not, including it in the Companion (assuming there is one) would be the next best thing.

[Dataweaver]

For what it's worth, instantaneous travel is something that's a standard part of Correspondence. What I'm looking for is something along the lines of what Mount Qaf itself is like, and how to integrate visits to Mount Qaf into a story. Remember, Mount Qaf is the spiritual antecedent of the Digital Web; and if you believe the stories about the Matterhorn, it may still be there in modern times. The Difference Engineers/Analytical Reckoners have not yet discovered the Digital Web, and won't until well into the 20th century, long after the Victorian Age is over; so if you want something vaguely along...

[Dataweaver]

Check your spam folder; that's where I found mine....

[Dataweaver]

I'm really hoping that Victorian Mage will do something with the Batini that's been hinted at but never actually done in any other Mage book, anywhere: actually get into Mount Qaf as an active story element. Modern Mage games always talk about what a great loss the Batini suffered when they lost access to Mount Qaf in the early 20th century, and Sorcerers Crusade and Dark Ages presumably take place long before the Batini started talking full advantage of what Mount Qaf had to offer — at least, that's the only explanation I can think of as to why the Mountain barely gets a mention in either of...

[Dataweaver]

In that regard, I have concerns; of there's a way to change your Perk or to alter your selection of Add-ons, I don't know what it is. As things stand, I'm looking at waiting until Backerkit to make these adjustments, which means waiting until the campaign is over....

[Dataweaver]

True — though keep in mind that the Lightbringers are explicitly post-Protestant, as the Protestants are still Christian in nature.

The Syndicate has, in recent years, mused that the NWO is two Conventions in one, one dealing with academics and the other with political intrigue, and that they probably ought to be divided into separate Conventions. During the Victorian Age, my understanding is that they essentially were so divided, with the Lightbringers being the academics and the Skeleton Keys being the espionage/political intrigue. “Lightbringers” as a term had to to with bringing...

[Dataweaver]

According to the White Wolf Wiki, the destruction of the Gabrielites took place at the beginning of the Victorian Age (around the 1830s). There was roughly a one to two decade period between that point and the formation of the Technocracy, during which the remnants of the Cabal of Pure Thought sought to restructure themselves in keeping with the Order of Reason's newly atheistic stance before formally taking on the mantle of the Lightkeepers when the Union was founded.

(Those who weren't willing or able to make the adjustment were either killed or fled the Order; an example of the...

[Dataweaver]

Exactly. Where Iteration X deals with material science, the Progenitors deal with biology, the NWO deals with social sciences, and the Syndicate deals with economics, the Virtual Adepts deal with the formal sciences. And when push comes to shove, all of the formal sciences can be reduced to mathematics.

As such, Virtual Adepts aren't engineers; they're mathematicians. And when they go full-on mystical, they get into weird math — thus my earlier references to numerology and Sacred Geometry. But as Ramnesis just said, they're not likely to go to Hermetic numerology or Sacred Geometry,...

[Dataweaver]

Hmm... While I'd like to pledge right away, I'm afraid I'm going to have to hold off for a bit. Right now I'm in the middle of a financial crisis (as in, I'm trying to figure out if I'll have enough money for food to get me through the next few days). With Kickstarter, that wouldn't be a problem; I'll definitely be back on my feet in a month from now; and if the worst happens and I'm not, I could easily cancel my pledge before the deadline. But with Indie Gogo's pay up front policy, I can't do that.

Still, I'm going to be following with interest. And if the cheapest buy-in gets me...

[Dataweaver]

I don't know what it is; but for some reason, I just haven't been able to get into Discord. I'm just not getting it. Mailing lists? Fine. Web forums? No problem! Discord? I don't get it.

[Dataweaver]

The thing about the VAs is that they're practically Techgnosi/Scientific Mystics as written: their view about the nature of Information is borderline mystical as is. All that's needed to make them full-on hybrids is to go with different Instruments: say, an Abacus or slide-rule as a computational assist rather than a calculator or computer; or meditating on a book as a repository of information.

In my games, I allow Correspondence to be used to alter the information content of a book, in a manner similar to how Mind can be used to alter a person's memories. Part of that is me borrowing...

[Dataweaver]

I could see the Memory Palace treating human mindscapes in a manner similar to Digital Web sites; a bit like Inception. When another person appears in the mind that's being visited, the VA could use Correspondence to skip over to that person's mindscape, with the Correspondence Range being set by how accurate the representation is — thus, it would be easier to “mind-run” between people who know each other intimately than between people who are merely passing acquaintances, or complete strangers.

I could also see that faction positing that sapient minds are connected to some...

[Dataweaver]

A bit of head-canon: there have been at least two iterations of the Fallen World: the first didn't have Irem, and coincides with the “new World of Darkness”; the second was brought about by the Rite of Return, introduced the Arisen to the setting, and on a meta level transitioned the setting to the “Chronicles of Darkness”. Though the God-Machine might dispute that point....

[Dataweaver]

Indeed; the Aided aren't particularly necromantic in their approach to fate. They're very much Euthanatos, in that a significant part of their practices involve determining how one is going to die; but the Aided don't really have much of an association with Agama Sojourns, for instance. Indeed, there are lots of members of the Tradition that I'd never think of as being associated with necromancy; members who are more interested in studying and shaping the effects of fate upon the living, and not just (or even primarily) when death is on the line.

Likewise with the Heirochthonoi:...

[Dataweaver]

The Cult Creation section seems oddly placed; it's sandwiched between the Merits and the Pillars. I'd expect it to be either before all of the traits (that is, immediately after the Example of Character Creation and just before the section detailing Balance, p.102) or after all of them (at the end of the chapter). I could see arguments for either; but it seems weird to start talking about Balance and Burden, then go to Merits, then go off onto a Cult Creation tangent before getting into Pillars, Affinity, Utterances, and so on.

[Dataweaver]

VAs are keen on numerology, and their views about the Hypersphere* have something vaguely gnostic about it: the Digital Web is a manifestation of a deeper level of reality where information is real — something that you can “physically” interact with.

[Dataweaver]

Just a suggestion, but could we maybe wait to see the manuscript before condemning it? I mean, there's a big difference between “this book is going to be a pile of woke garbage” and “the company's track record doesn't inspire much confidence”.

[Dataweaver]

Character creation is in the Immortals section, and amounts to a revised Step Five for the mortal character creation rules. I'll have to check on the Immortal merits; I believe they're in with all the other Merits.

[Dataweaver]

Thanks for pointing out Hungry Shadows. I like that take on the Purified; and the context of Werewolf is more appropriate for them, given their ties to the Shadow. With that in mind, maybe a better place for the Patchwork People would be a Promethean STV supplement, presumably one that deals with mortals who mess with Pyros, such as Alchemists, Genitors, and Rathbens; or maybe a Deviant supplement that deals with Deviant-like efforts that don't rise to the level of “cracking the soul” and producing a proper Deviant.

That just leaves the Visitors…

[Dataweaver]

I'm looking forward to the Storyteller's Vault opening up for Mummy. In particular, I'm hoping for a supplement that provides a 2e update for the Patchwork People, the Purified, and the Visitors (the “other Immortals”) in the context of Mummy.