                                   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.

   Whereas a mage has some Attributes changed during Upload, this does
   not happen for the Kindred using Neuromancy.

   Where a mage has to carry data (a side effect of his not truly being
   there), a Turing can simply file it in Online Storage using Databurst.
   The way of working out what can be carried is this: the character can
   store as much Virtual Weight as she has points in Online Storage.

    If a character should enter a sector which is based around either
   fire or sunlight (or any other material to which the vampire is
   sensitive), then they take damage as normal, and any damage is
   translated when the vampire downloads.

   While a vampire does not generate Paradox, and so will not cause a
   Paradox Backlash. However, should a vampire get caught in a Whiteout,
   she is in trouble. With a successful Wits + Alertness roll, the player
   may be able to do something to save herself (for example, a quickly
   whipped up teleport program which will dump the character to another
   part of the Web, or a rapid Download)

   Don't forget that all vampiric Disciplines work in the Web, and that
   this essentially gives a set of 'ready to run' programs.

   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.

   View Neuromancy discipline.
