Turing

by Stephen Ironside (5 May 94)

The members of the clan 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 Ventrue who tried to break his anachronistic view of the world with a carefully constructed experiment. Infusing his blood with Malkavian blood, 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 and strange creatures, the like of which he had never seen. After much questing, he learned to use this new place to his advantage, and also learned that it was possible to enter and leave the place through electrical equipment, especially computers.

So the experiment produced the desired effect, and a new line was born. Taking the name Turing to reflect his new ideals, he set out to prove that there was a place for modern technology in the world of the Kindred.

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

While most of what has gone into this is based around the Digital Web sourcebook for Mage: The Ascension, there are a couple of things that I have had to do to make it worthwhile to use the Turing. However, most of the systems and ideas introduced in Digital Web are intact, and anything not mentioned here should be treated as the Storyteller sees fit, although bear in mind that the Turing are unnatural visitors to the Web, and so are not necessarily bound by all their rules.

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