[Interface Zero] Virtual Worlds

[Masada]

With the first I-Zine released RDP introduces some mechanics for dealing with immersive, persistant virtual worlds. The module even goes so far as to rate various aspects/modules with a ranking like "Physics +8". It later suggests at the end of the module that a character can modify how the physics of the virtual world work for them in this example...

For example a hacker attempting to rewrite Kamarati’s
gravity so the she could fly without in-world
aid would be at a total +12 Difficulty (Physics +8,
+4 because of human expectations) because of the
world’s similarity to what a human character living
on earth might expect.

The flow of these descriptions is choppy and the main IZ setting book contains nothing on the topic. I can see where you're headed with this, but I was curious how you guys have played these types of scenes. Does a Hacker just declare they are using Computers Skill while standing on the street of the virtual world or is it implied that the Hackers have already compromised the system (probably a series of much harder skill checks). Which then makes me wonder why rate the elements of the virtual world at all when it seems admin access to the system would cover it. Or is this a sort of "I use the Force" trick where you are using the Computers Skill, but not really in a direct programming sort of way? It looks like an intriguing mechanic. I think it would all become more clear with just a little more discussion of how you see it being used.

My guess here is that this was material you created for the first IZ book, but probably trimmed for size and potential expandability. Will there be another publication devoted to virtual world mechanics?

[MdavidJ]

With the first I-Zine released RDP introduces some mechanics for dealing with immersive, persistant virtual worlds. The module even goes so far as to rate various aspects/modules with a ranking like "Physics +8". It later suggests at the end of the module that a character can modify how the physics of the virtual world work for them in this example...

For example a hacker attempting to rewrite Kamarati’s
gravity so the she could fly without in-world
aid would be at a total +12 Difficulty (Physics +8,
+4 because of human expectations) because of the
world’s similarity to what a human character living
on earth might expect.

The flow of these descriptions is choppy and the main IZ setting book contains nothing on the topic. I can see where you're headed with this, but I was curious how you guys have played these types of scenes. Does a Hacker just declare they are using Computers Skill while standing on the street of the virtual world or is it implied that the Hackers have already compromised the system (probably a series of much harder skill checks). Which then makes me wonder why rate the elements of the virtual world at all when it seems admin access to the system would cover it. Or is this a sort of "I use the Force" trick where you are using the Computers Skill, but not really in a direct programming sort of way? It looks like an intriguing mechanic. I think it would all become more clear with just a little more discussion of how you see it being used.

My guess here is that this was material you created for the first IZ book, but probably trimmed for size and potential expandability. Will there be another publication devoted to virtual world mechanics?

Very good question!

First, trying to manipulate the VR world doesn't always mean the character has first hacked said VR world. The character might simply be interacting with it normally, but decide they want to try and manipulate it or tweak some minor aspect of the world. If this is the situation, then she would use the afore-mentioned example. ( Difficulty 12 (Physics +8,+4 because of human expectations).

If, say, the character wants to completely alter the core framework of said VR world, then I would rule the character needs to have admin access, which requires a more in depth hack, using the hacking rules in the IZ core book.

In some ways, you're right. It's a like a "I use the force" or a "matrix" type of instance, where the character is bending the existing rules of the vR world to do what he or she wants.

There will be more information about constructing VR worlds in Future I-Zines, definitely, as well as creating Otaku-like characters.

I hope this helped.

[MdavidJ]

I've been thinking more on this subject, and what I think is needed, is a VR world template.

The template would define the world parameters:

Existing VR rules (like gravity, geography, etc)
Allowed VR feats
VR security (the base difficulty to modify the VR rules)
VR portals
Cost to create the VR world

I have to think on this some more, but generally speaking, this should help Narrators define the specifics of a VR world.

[Masada]

Well you probably don't need a Virtual World mechanic until you want to introduce how players may create their own worlds. As the Narrator, I ignore most Crafting rules / creation mechanics. That's way too much work. I toss together things I like.

I've been studying the concept in more detail. "Message in a Bottle" is a great teaser. I'll point out for those that don't have the PDF, that Virtual World mechanics are not necessary to the straight forward play of the module. You could ignore all the world mechanics and just stick to "it's the Deep" for purposes of combat and obstacle resolution. That said I'll pose a few more questions about virtual worlds which have nothing to do with "Message in a Bottle" but will use it as an example.

Kamarati is a virtual personal dating world with the following stats...
Level: 5
Abilities: Pro +4, Fin +3, Rob +5
Combat Bonus: +3, VR Fortitude: +8
Modules: Mood (romance) +8, Physics (realistic
physical laws) +8, Injury +8, Status +8, Translation
(light, sensual, romantic) +8

We've already covered bending Physics--that's cool. Now what is ponderous is when exactly all those other modules might come in to play.

Mood (romance) +8: Well in the PDF mood is described as mind altering. A fear example works better where the characters are inspired to really fear a "monster" in the virtual world. But this world's mood is romance at a value of +8. I would describe to the players that they just feel happy here, ready to party, and hopeful about meeting someone. But what would +8 mean in game terms? Would it be a DC to hit to shake off the mood effects? Would it provide a bonus to romantic Diplomacy or Bluff? Would it make it impossible for the character to initiate combat?

Injury +8: Well I hope that isn't the world's damage bonus... But I also hope it isn't the DC to resist all damage done by the world?

Status +8: The PDF suggests that when players roll under this value, the World will check up on them to insure they're following the conventions of the modules. This makes sense. Then it goes on to say it insures that characters have the appropriate level of access for the module... Again this implies Computer skill hacking of the system rather than bending of world mechanics. But if I were to imagine some fun ways to use this, then perhaps the characters can hack some limited element of the world--say a double decker bus so that they can "steal" it and crash it through buildings. Not a hack on the world servers themselves. Is this what you're thinking?

Translation +8: Translation is described as the virtual worlds ability to force the rules of appearance on to your avatar. So if your avatar looks like Mad Max complete with chainsaw shotgun cutter programs, Kamarati is going to nerf you to girlie man dresses with cupid bows (if cutter programs could be allowed at all). Your target to resist this effect is +8 and each time you roll under 8 in Kamarati, the Status module has a shot at discoverying you and then... what? Automatically forcing you back to dresses and bows? The player has to make a save to resist? How crazy will the Status module be enforcing the Translation rules? (NOTE: your avatar's appearance has no impact on its effectiveness. All your stats and abilities work the same, you just look silly).

Combat Bonus: +3, VR Fortitude: +8: When is "the world" going to be using a Combat Bonus? Also, when would "the world" need to make a Fort save?

[MdavidJ]

Well you probably don't need a Virtual World mechanic until you want to introduce how players may create their own worlds. As the Narrator, I ignore most Crafting rules / creation mechanics. That's way too much work. I toss together things I like.

Right, but I'm thinking in general when a Narrator wants a VR world and needs to define the characteristics/mechanics "on the fly."

Still creation rules would also be great.

I've been studying the concept in more detail. "Message in a Bottle" is a great teaser. I'll point out for those that don't have the PDF, that Virtual World mechanics are not necessary to the straight forward play of the module. You could ignore all the world mechanics and just stick to "it's the Deep" for purposes of combat and obstacle resolution. That said I'll pose a few more questions about virtual worlds which have nothing to do with "Message in a Bottle" but will use it as an example.

Kamarati is a virtual personal dating world with the following stats...
Level: 5
Abilities: Pro +4, Fin +3, Rob +5
Combat Bonus: +3, VR Fortitude: +8
Modules: Mood (romance) +8, Physics (realistic
physical laws) +8, Injury +8, Status +8, Translation
(light, sensual, romantic) +8

You know, for a first/second level adventure, I'm inclined to think that Kamarti's module stats are a bit high. I'd probably go with a +6 for all module stats, maybe even lower. It's not like Kamarati is a government-run VR world, or some super-secret, ultra-secure VR world.

Mood (romance) +8: Well in the PDF mood is described as mind altering. A fear example works better where the characters are inspired to really fear a "monster" in the virtual world. But this world's mood is romance at a value of +8. I would describe to the players that they just feel happy here, ready to party, and hopeful about meeting someone. But what would +8 mean in game terms? Would it be a DC to hit to shake off the mood effects? Would it provide a bonus to romantic Diplomacy or Bluff? Would it make it impossible for the character to initiate combat?

It's the difficulty to alter/shake off the mood effects of Kamarati. I'd also rule that it would provide a bonus to romance-related skill checks (Diplomacy or Bluff), and make it harder for the character to initiate combat, but not impossible. To initiate combat, characters would probably need to shake off the module's effects on their avatar.

Injury +8: Well I hope that isn't the world's damage bonus... But I also hope it isn't the DC to resist all damage done by the world?

Actually, this is the difficulty to alter various damage values for a given effect.

For instance, you can try and re-define damage for a gun, or a punch in a VR world ( dropping a gun's damage from, say, +4 to +3). It's not clear enough, and probably needs more rules as to how much you can alter a damage value.

Status +8: The PDF suggests that when players roll under this value, the World will check up on them to insure they're following the conventions of the modules. This makes sense. Then it goes on to say it insures that characters have the appropriate level of access for the module... Again this implies Computer skill hacking of the system rather than bending of world mechanics. But if I were to imagine some fun ways to use this, then perhaps the characters can hack some limited element of the world--say a double decker bus so that they can "steal" it and crash it through buildings. Not a hack on the world servers themselves. Is this what you're thinking?

That's correct.

Translation +8: Translation is described as the virtual worlds ability to force the rules of appearance on to your avatar. So if your avatar looks like Mad Max complete with chainsaw shotgun cutter programs, Kamarati is going to nerf you to girlie man dresses with cupid bows (if cutter programs could be allowed at all). Your target to resist this effect is +8 and each time you roll under 8 in Kamarati, the Status module has a shot at discovering you and then... what? Automatically forcing you back to dresses and bows? The player has to make a save to resist? How crazy will the Status module be enforcing the Translation rules? (NOTE: your avatar's appearance has no impact on its effectiveness. All your stats and abilities work the same, you just look silly).

Combat Bonus: +3, VR Fortitude: +8: When is "the world" going to be using a Combat Bonus? Also, when would "the world" need to make a Fort save?

I think that, if the World runs a sweep and discovers you, it could either attempt to force you back into the proper rules of appearance, or, in the case of having an improper user level, it will attempt to derezz your avatar and might even trace your IP.b As the narrator, you can feel free to determine how crazy it will get.

In the case of trying to derezz your avatar, you should expect that this becomes combat against the system itself, which will employ whatever security resources it has to remove you from the world.

The world itself won't be using the combat bonus, it's security avatars will. Say Kamarti's security manifests as a police force. So any police avatars which show up to "arrest" your avatar will have the world's combat bonus, VR fort save bonus, etc.

[Masada]

After considering the wide array of options that could all be described as either "virtual world" or "virtual reality" (or even Hyper Reality), I have determined that Interface Zero is going to need an expanded vocabulary (IMO). Here are the defintions of different types of virtual environments and perhaps there can be some suggestions for what to call them.

For example, we know MMORPG... but this not pronouncable and fairly specific to role playing game. So what about MMO environments that are not RPGs (much like Kamarati in I-Zine 2). I propose the term Massively Multi-user Online Reality Engine or MMORE. Single Person Online Reality Engine could then be a SPORE. Examples only... Feel free to suggest something better.

MMORE: A completely virtual world environment with defined boundaries all sharing the same Modules accessible to many users simultaneously.

SPORE: A personal completely virtual world with only limited access to vistors (say 5).

<blank>: A theme applied to the living space where a person would live. This environment masks a real world environment, but doesn't entirely hide it. Objects are still represented in theme. A pile of rags might be represented by a flowering plant covering the same area as the rags.

<blank>: Public appearance of a location in the Deep. This would be like the outside appearance of MMORE as seen from the Deep.

<blank>: Real-time playback. A complete virtual re-creation of a real event played like a tape.

<blank>: An entertainment experience like a movie, but the viewer perceives the movie through the eyes of one of the movie's characters. The viewer either has no ability or only limited ability to alter the content (like choosing different endings).

<blank:> An album of personal media--pictures, video clips, and scrapbook memorabilia.

<blank>: A virtual sports game with no modified physics.

<blank>: A virtual sports game with various modified physics or properties.

<blank>: Blended sports taking place in the real world and the Deep.

<blank>: Blended live theatre having both real and Deep elements.

<blank>: A minor personal appearance makeover made up of only digital elements. This is much more subtle than a full personal Avatar overlaying your real form.

<blank>: Virtual feedback. Physical sensations that are entirely Deep generated.

<blank>: Real world suppression. The ability of a virtual environment to completely hide real world sensations including pain.

[MdavidJ]

wow,

That's alot of terms!

I'll try and give them some thought.

[Masada]

Well you don't have to tackle them all at once! I'm also not sure how many of those idea would survive to matter in game term. I was brainstorming a bit. But you can see the general idea. The term VR and Virtual World apply to every concept and yet if we were to see these concepts launch today, each would have a name like IRC, IM, Social Network site, YouTube, Facebook, etc... I realize some of those are trademarks, but even these would exist in IZ. If you just picked one or two that struck your fancy that would be good enough. Folks can always come back later and add to it.

[ValhallaGH]

<blank>: A theme applied to the living space where a person would live. This environment masks a real world environment, but doesn't entirely hide it. Objects are still represented in theme. A pile of rags might be represented by a flowering plant covering the same area as the rags.

Veil

<blank>: Real-time playback. A complete virtual re-creation of a real event played like a tape.

Replay

<blank>: A minor personal appearance makeover made up of only digital elements. This is much more subtle than a full personal Avatar overlaying your real form.

Glamor

<blank>: Real world suppression. The ability of a virtual environment to completely hide real world sensations including pain.

Never Never. Short for Never Never Land, a reference to the mythic home of Peter Pan.

Just a couple ideas.

[Masada]

Of course any name is as good as any other. But coming from my own personal background in communications I know all these widgets would have flashier names. Some that would be acronyms and others that would be brand names.

So maybe Virtual Enhanced Interior Landscape or VEIL. But that's a bit cumbersome. The net effect of a "veil" is similar to desktop wallpaper, a theme, or a skin only applied to the whole interior of your house. I came up with User Specified Environment or USE.

Stilll just thinking outl loud...

[Masada]

I'm thinking that with a TAP you would see a lot of things floating in your view depending on what you may be doing. The obvious one is while working you'd want to see work related messages, document drafts, doc editors, and other useful media. But while out walking around you might want to see a GPS map, or ads for local shops, or perhaps warnings of ongoing crime in the area. You would have a number of views that would be quickly swappable. What are these views called? I'd like to avoid the word "virtual" or "desktop"...

[Masada]

More thoughts on virtual worlds...

It occurred to me that a world server might impose limits on some users while placing no restrictions on others. System Admins for example in their own worlds would be more godlike to some greater or lesser degree. I can see making an adventure more interesting if the characters had to track down a supreme hacker in his/her own world... Anyways, just a thought that struck me. The rules would not have to be evenly applied to all users.

In my own writing, I have decided that the hyper reality environment you create for your real home is an "eHome" or "eHome skin". It will be visible to everyone that enters your living space and relatively public. A private Deep space shared by only a few users is a Small Purpose Online Reality Environment (SPORE, as before). Visitors not invited to the SPORE only see a mirrored ball from the outside.

I have also decided that physically touching another player makes a totally secure chat connection for communication. This is like have an instant message window in your head for text and media sharing. But only works for two targets at a time (so holding hands in a circle only allows you completely secure comms to the characters on your left or right. This may seem a fine detail, but in a world where everything is translated to bits in the air, security could be important.

[Lester]

I've been thinking more on this subject, and what I think is needed, is a VR world template.

The template would define the world parameters:

Existing VR rules (like gravity, geography, etc)
Allowed VR feats
VR security (the base difficulty to modify the VR rules)
VR portals
Cost to create the VR world

I have to think on this some more, but generally speaking, this should help Narrators define the specifics of a VR world.

I would definitely like to see a supplement in the future on this.

[bryan.mullins]

I'm thinking that with a TAP you would see a lot of things floating in your view depending on what you may be doing. The obvious one is while working you'd want to see work related messages, document drafts, doc editors, and other useful media. But while out walking around you might want to see a GPS map, or ads for local shops, or perhaps warnings of ongoing crime in the area. You would have a number of views that would be quickly swappable. What are these views called? I'd like to avoid the word "virtual" or "desktop"...

Maybe I'm not in the spirit of the exercise....or maybe I am.

Could you call that a Consumer User Display (and make an obvious joke about sheep/cattle chewing the CUD? Did I mention I'm bad at this game?

I think you are right about the word 'virtual' though...while it has its utility...in the game world it would get truncated or dropped altogether. There would be a specific set of vocabulary for "V" elements, or they would simply be tagged as "v-HUDS" (for virtual Heads Up Display) etc...Maybe "D" for Deep elements?

Just shooting off random ideas. I will be quiet now.

>WBM

[MdavidJ]

hmm

Digitally Rendered Entertainment and Informative Media Tags, or DREAM Tags, for short.