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TooB Infopod

Page history last edited by Michael 15 years ago

back to the 2056 Equipment List

Infopods are created by the UN world government of the 2056 Juncture. The memories they contain are extracted from people, using arcanowave technology and some materials found in the Hell Juncture. The process doesn't kill the donor, but it's not pleasant, and they lose the skill/memory extracted. When you use a pod, it's used up, nothing left in it.

Thus infopods aren't "mass market" items, since even the Buro can't suck language skills out of half the population to sell to the other half! They're for the military and the cultural/political elites, according to the Kamonkaze. The amount of skill received is less than the donor possessed, also. Purely knowledge-type skills transfer best.

Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Shanghainese, are the commonest pods in the Jammers' collection. 2009-style English written language is, oddly enough, not an uncommon pod.

Military skills are pretty common: Pistol, Rifle. Also present are "Martial Arts" of various sorts, Mechanical Repair, Electrical Repair, Computer Programming, Driving, Forensic Science/Detective, Operate Heavy Machinery, Oratory ... Bedroom Arts, a large amount of "I swallowed part of the Wikipedia" pods: Taoist Philosophy, Gothic Literature, Mexican Cooking, Quantum Physics, etc. Intrusion and Demolitions are of course also present. Any technical skills will be more applicable to 2056 technology and science. "Gee, my knowledge of Daetubaes Kummand Laengwij doesn't seem to help in 2008."

Three-quarters of the pods are useless to almost anyone. "Missile Waxing" ... "Knowledge Skill: Leave It To Beaver Episodes" ... "Viking Cooking" ... "Criminal Law, 2056 Style" ...

No geography of Hell, no history of the Secret Time War, nothing about Feng Shui's true power. Nothing about mysticism that you couldn't find in the public library in the 2008 Juncture.

Multiple pods cause cumulative problems. One pod = okay. Two pods = chance of wierdness. Three pods = more (it's a roll made each time you get injected with a pod).

The arcanowave port can be quickly installed, and helps cut down on the cumulative effect. The arcanowave port has no chance of wierdness on its own (though it's a little freaky looking) but cuts the cumulative effect chance a lot.

Wierdness: Personality disorders, blemishes, supernatural .. er ... mutations. Oh, and can cause birth defects; women expecting to have children should not use infopod. Read instructions carefully. Some of the 1019 Jammers have a few, you didn't really notice.

"Boomer here has a patch of reddish skin, about the size of a playing card, that glows faintly (you can't tell most of the time). Fumble Freddy has stigmata on his palms. Arthur One-Eye had a sort of Chinese occult sigil appear on his back. Two-Gun Sam here has really long, hard fingernails. Of course, these men come from 2056, where mutagens and environmental problems are sadly prevalent."

"Knew a guy in the 7th Century, grew long teeth, boss." ... "Oh, yes, Moray Murray."

Actually, the Jammers don't use infopods very often. Rebels, unlucky, etc. ... and it's Buro stuff. Only six or so of the twenty in Trebizond admitted to (ab)using them; those guys used several pods each, and are almost by definition unlucky and resistant to/incompatible with arcanowave stuff and Feng Shui.

The Kamonkaze says, "I advise you, if you are hesitant, to not use the pods. Your natural form, your soul, should remain strong for as long as possible. But ... sacrifices must be made, as well."

Likely game mechanic: (CON + 6) x 5% roll for second pod, (CON + 4) x 5% for third, etc.; +10% if you use an arcanowave port. However, as is usual for RQ, 96% is always a fail, and fumbles are bad. For rolls 80% chance or more, 00 is a still a fumble.

The amount of skill varies a bit, since donors vary. For knowledge skills (including languages), the infopod confers half the donor's skill level, or the donor's skill level -20%, whichever is larger. For other skills, the infopod confers half of the donor's skill level, or the donor's skill level -20%, whichever is less.

The Buro has many donors for Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Shanghainese, and 20th Century written English; the resulting pods confer skill at 50% to 75%. Most physical skills are rarely conferred above 40%.