Digital Web (book)

See also: Digital Web 2.0

Digital Web is a sourcebook for Mage: The Ascension first edition detailing the Realm of the Digital Web and the mages and Sleepers who use it.

Summary

From the White Wolf catalog:

Silken Threads of Thought...
Between the keyboard and the mind lies the Digital Web, a Net of virtual reality spinning in an endless loop of format and creation. Fed by Quintessence and shaped by the Awakened, this unexplored Realm of living thought forms the newest frontier in the Ascension War.
Weave Tapestries of Reality
The Traditions, Nephandi and Technocracy wage a covert war for this new reality – a war hedged by the guidelines of the Realms and haunted by the threat of "whiteout." Wise mages tread cleverly and carefully.
Digital Web is a sourcebook for Mage: The Ascension, covering the vast expanse of the VR Net. This book includes:
  • New rules for the virtual reality Realms, including magick ratings, formatting, combat and "whiteout," the systems crash caused by Paradox.
  • The Spy's Demise, a BBS speakeasy where Sleepers and Cybernauts chat, conspire and plan.
  • Two ready-to-run tales set in the Net Realms, plus crossover suggestions for Werewolf and Vampire.

Contents

Prelude: Passing the Buck

Introduction: The Word Made Flesh

Chapter One: Tangles in the Web

The game mechanics of the Web, including access, Sphere ratings, history and tie-ins for Vampire and Werewolf.

  • Talisman
    • "Terror" - Level 2 ancient gladius, Arete 5, Quintessence 15

Chapter Two: The Spy's Demise

The details of the VR hangout, including key NPCs, atmosphere and topography.

Chapter Three: Tale Recursion

By John Cooper. This chapter, and the next, should be left to Storytellers.

  • Security Mechanisms
    • Distortion Encoder (Correspondence 5)
    • Echoplex Generator (Correspondence 5)
    • Bit Masks (Mind 3)
    • Signal-to-Noise Translator (Mind 3)
  • Talisman
    • The Fiberopticon Arete 8, Quintessence 20

Chapter Four: Deus Ex Machina

By Harry Heckel.

Chapter Five: Permutations

Rotes and Net denizens, plus pules for computer technology in Mage and an expanded list of Net terminology.

  • Rotes for the Digital Web
    • Correspondence Rotes
      • Hardware Entry ( Correspondence)
      • Wetware Entry ( Correspondence)
      • Instant Offline ( Correspondence, Forces)
      • TechnoVision ( Correspondence, Entropy, Forces, Mind, Prime)
    • Entropy Rotes
      • Doe's Password ( Mind, Entropy)
      • Hacker's Glance ( Entropy, Correspondence)
    • Forces Rotes
      • Create Virtual Object ( Forces, Prime)
      • Joshua's Goodbye ( Forces, Entropy, Prime)
    • Life Rotes
      • Energy Transformation ( Life, Forces, Correspondence)
    • Matter Rotes
      • Virtual Talisman Transmogrification ( Matter, Prime, Forces)
    • Mind Rotes
      • High Memory ( Mind, Entropy)
      • Restrict Sector ( Mind, Prime)
    • Prime Rotes
      • Captain's Treasure ( Prime, Entropy)
      • Overwrite ( Prime, Entropy, Forces)
      • Tag ( Prime, Correspondence, Mind)
    • Spirit Rotes
      • Create Daemon ( Spirit, Prime, Forces, Mind)
    • Time Rotes
      • Information Superhighway ( Time, Correspondence)
      • Virtual Lockpick ( Time, Correspondence, Forces, Mind) Ability Requirements: Computer 3
  • Talismans
    • Digital Online Package - Arete 3, Quintessence 10
    • Seekers - Arete 6, Quintessence 15
    • Cosmic Communications Package - Arete 3, Quintessence 6
    • Electroephemeral Scanner - Arete 3, Quintessence 10
    • Jump Box - Arete 5, Quintessence 20
    • Thought Programs - Arete 5, Quintessence 5
    • Digital Drill - Arete 8, Quintessence 20
    • Magickal Marco Keyboard - Arete 7, Quintessence 30
    • Lazarus Transmitter - Arete 10, Quintessence 10
  • Net.Denizens
    • Computer Virii and Viruses - Stats
    • Webspiders - Umbrood minions, Stats
    • Guardians - Umbrood, Stats
    • Informational Geomids - Stats
    • Attack Geomids - Stats
    • Data Beasts - Stats
    • AI's
    • The Technocracy

Appendix

A list of recommended source material for cyberspace tales.

  • Books
    • Fiction
      • Crichton. Michael - Jurassic Park, Electonic Life
      • Gibson, William - Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome
      • Gleick, James - Chaos
      • Heinlein, Robert - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love
      • Sterling, Bruce - Islands in the Net, Globalhead, The Hacker Crackdown
      • Stephenson, Neal - Snowcrash
      • Vonnegut, Kurt - Player Piano
    • Nonfiction
    • Benedikt, Michael - Cyberspace: First Steps
    • Gelernter, David - Mirror Worlds
    • Heim, Michael - The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality
    • Rheingold, Howard - Virtual Reality
  • Music
    • Brian Eno
    • D' Cuckoo
    • Tom Waits
    • Ministry
    • 808 State
    • Front 242
    • Skinny Puppy
    • Nine Inch Nails
    • New Order
    • Front Line Assembly
  • Magazines
    • Wired Magazine
    • Mondo 2000
    • Phrack
    • 2600
    • boing boing

Index

Background Information

(...)

Memorable Quotes

(...)

Characters

  • The Spy's Demise
  • Tale Recursion
    • Dr. John von Neumann, a Son of Ether, who has recently disappeared
    • Bertrand Gerard, a Virtual Adept, von Neumann's apprentice
    • Captain Vance Douglas, a Son of Ether, would-be starship captain
    • Ilyana Tanov, a Son of Ether, assistant to Captain Douglas
  • Deus ex Machina
    • Ambrose Channing, Virtual Adept, a former Technocrat
    • RES, a sophisticated computer system designed by Iteration X
  • Others
    • Dante
    • Thomas Jefferson, past president
    • Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the phone
    • Charles Babbage, past Son of Ether
    • Alan Turing
    • "Laserfire"
    • Norel
    • Joshua, Order of Hermes
    • Jeanne D'Ark, Mage
    • Johnny V, Mage
    • Rachel, Virtual Adept
    • Rachel Hunter, Akashic Brotherhood
    • Tricia, Virtual Adept barabbi
    • Brenda, Sleeper
    • Kestrel, Mage
    • Ripbeak
    • Alexis Hastings
    • Dr. Volcano, Virtual Adept
    • Demonseed Elite
    • Tricia Tarkington, Celestial Chorus
    • Dr. Solaris, Son of Ether
    • Tiva, Cult of Ecstasy and Chantry Leader of Club Dionysis
    • Iman Asrawi, Euthanatos and Chantry Leader of Entropitorium
    • "Epicurus," Cult of Ecstasy
    • Doppler
    • Klein
  • Who's Who on the Web
    • Arns Wrath, "The Wraith," Nephandi
    • Captain Feedback
    • Kibo
    • Hen of Grainekarm - An Oracle (?)

Terminology

Abyss, Ahl-i-Batin, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Astral Immersion, Autochthonia, The Barrier, BBS, The Board Room, Bush Boys, Cathedral, Club Dionysis (Cult of Ecstasy Chantry), Cockroach, Computer Hell, Conduits, Construct 1010, CyberRealm: Computer Web, Data, Deck, Deep Umbra, Difference Engineers, The Digital Dictionary: A-K Brother, Barkeep, C o X, Cell, Conduit, Constraint Realm, Construct, The Crater, Cybernaut (Webslingers), Data Beast, Data Rider, De-rez, Digital Death, Digital Web, Disk Dealer, Dumped, The Ether Ether Land, Feedback, Flathead, Flatscreen, Formatted Web, Free, Great Escape, Great Race, Grid Sector, Handle, Help, Icon, Iconification, Jack In/Out, Junklands, Net, Net Runner, Net Space, Netspeak, Offline, Online, The Other Side, Parameter, Realspace, Restricted, Room, Sector, Sleepwalker, Spy's Demise (Callahan's Annex), Stacked File, Tangle, Techno Turf, Tree, Unformatted Web, Virgin Web, Virtual Realm, Virtual Reality (VR), Webslinger, XTC, :); Dream Realms, Endeavor (Starship), End-users, Entropitorium (Euthanatos Chantry), Fetish, Free Sectors, Glass Walkers, Grid, High Amalgam Prime, HIT Marks, Holistic Immersion, Horizon Realm, Human Genome Project, IM, Iteration X, Kibology, Kill Sectors (Iteration X Constructs), Malkavian, Malkavian Madness Network, The Matterhorn, Monkeywrencher, Mount Qaf, Near Umbra, Net Magick, Net Slang: Automagically, Backdoor Man, Bang, Bit Bucket, Blowing Data, Burn, Byte Swapping, Crash, Cowboy, Daemon, Garbage Collection Daemon, Mail Daemon, Security Daemon, Dense, Flame, Flamefest, Fried, Gibson, Glitch, Grok, Ice, Kibo, Lurking, Packet Switching, Pull a Turning, Snarf, Splat, Sucking Data, Trashing; Net-spiders, New World Order, Paradise, Paradox, Paradox Backlash, Paradox Realm, Paradox Spirits, Pattern Web, Pentex, Pentex ICS, Pits of Hell, The Pool of Infinite Reflection, Progenitors, Realm, Recursive Loop, RES, Restricted Zone, ROSE (AI; Sentient Silicon), Scar, Sensory Immersion, Serenity Grove, Sons of Ether, Spaceport 1 (Big Bubble 1, Space Fleet: Cabal), Syndicate, Technocracy, Technomagicks, Technomancer, Telephone Network (Past), Tellurian, Theory of Correspondence, Trash Sector, Triat, Trinary Computer, Umbra, Umbrae, Virtual Adepts, Void Seekers, VR Goggles, Weaver, Web, Werewolves, Whiteout Blacklash, Wyld, Wyrm,

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