Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Rules and such => Topic started by: Liam oConnor on <02-24-13/1518:44>
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After reading up on the technomancer background, I wondered:
How interlinked are a technomancer's different senses?
Could a technomancer read a (printed or hand-written) page of program-code and his brain translates it into what it "means"/describes?
Or is his understanding of code limited to code actually provided through the matrix?
I don't mean by this that a technomancer can just understand any code he reads (making him a walking unbeatable decryption-unit), but that he sees for example not this:
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en-US">
<head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11">
<title>Shadowrun RPG - Catalyst Game Labs</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<meta name="description" content="Runners Unite!" />
<meta name="robots" content="index,follow" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.shadowrun4.com/wp-content/themes/shadowrun4x/style.css" />
<link rel="pingback" href="http://www.shadowrun4.com/xmlrpc.php" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Shadowrun 4 » Feed" href="http://www.shadowrun4.com/feed/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Shadowrun 4 » Comments Feed" href="http://www.shadowrun4.com/comments/feed/" />
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.shadowrun4.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js?ver=1.8.3'></script>
<link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="http://www.shadowrun4.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" />
<link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="http://www.shadowrun4.com/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" />
he actually sees: www.shadowrun4.com (http://www.shadowrun4.com)
Any ideas on this?
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I don't even see the code anymore. All I see is blonde, brunette, redhead. Hey uh, you want a drink?
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Programming languages are abstractions that aren't an element of how a technomancer interacts with technology. Machine code, I could honestly see them having an easier time with than most. But as it gets more and more abstracted, and thus further and further from the machine, it's likely less intuitive to a technomancer.
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After reading up on the technomancer background, I wondered:
How interlinked are a technomancer's different senses?
Could a technomancer read a (printed or hand-written) page of program-code and his brain translates it into what it "means"/describes?
Or is his understanding of code limited to code actually provided through the matrix?
I don't mean by this that a technomancer can just understand any code he reads (making him a walking unbeatable decryption-unit) ....
First, understand that the way a technomancer sees depends on his or her Stream. IMO, most will look at a complex piece of code and intuit its function in the way you suggested - but then, that's exactly what a computer system does anyhow, process code into 'what is meant to be shown'. Some will see the code and comprehend not only how it opens that link, but why, more in a philosophical sense than anything. Others will see how that link changes the digital surroundings, alters the 'feng shui' of the node that it's in. Others, how people use it, what sort of people, etc. All of this is Stream-dependent.
However, understand that a technomancer can just understand any code he reads. However, you're confusing 'code' as in 'instructions to a computer' with 'code' as in 'secret writings meant for only a few people'. These are not necessarily exclusive, but for the purposes of our discussion, they should be treated as such. Encrypted information is encrypted information; a technomancer has to decrypt it just like the rest of us, as it were. But he can read fifty thousand lines of computer commands and 'see' how they work, at least if he puts his mind to it - by his reading, and actively 'loading' the program into the Matrix.
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After reading up on the technomancer background, I wondered:
How interlinked are a technomancer's different senses?
Could a technomancer read a (printed or hand-written) page of program-code and his brain translates it into what it "means"/describes?
Or is his understanding of code limited to code actually provided through the matrix?
I don't mean by this that a technomancer can just understand any code he reads (making him a walking unbeatable decryption-unit) ....
First, understand that the way a technomancer sees depends on his or her Stream. IMO, most will look at a complex piece of code and intuit its function in the way you suggested - but then, that's exactly what a computer system does anyhow, process code into 'what is meant to be shown'. Some will see the code and comprehend not only how it opens that link, but why, more in a philosophical sense than anything. Others will see how that link changes the digital surroundings, alters the 'feng shui' of the node that it's in. Others, how people use it, what sort of people, etc. All of this is Stream-dependent.
However, understand that a technomancer can just understand any code he reads. However, you're confusing 'code' as in 'instructions to a computer' with 'code' as in 'secret writings meant for only a few people'. These are not necessarily exclusive, but for the purposes of our discussion, they should be treated as such. Encrypted information is encrypted information; a technomancer has to decrypt it just like the rest of us, as it were. But he can read fifty thousand lines of computer commands and 'see' how they work, at least if he puts his mind to it - by his reading, and actively 'loading' the program into the Matrix.
Here's an off-the-wall one for you: Can they run Decrypt on a written encrypted message? Seems to me they could convert it into digital form by reading it...
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Next you'll be asking if they can bend spoons with their mind because they understand the math behind it.
No actually that is an interesting question, much better than a certain bad trilogy of movies.
So, if they could, could their be like 1940's style codemaster technomancers who can just work it out in their head (Like an active decrypt) because they understand the math mechanics behind it?
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Here's an off-the-wall one for you: Can they run Decrypt on a written encrypted message? Seems to me they could convert it into digital form by reading it...
I would allow it, yes. But then I'd allow an ordinary hacker to image the written encrypted message, upload it, and then set a Decrypt to work on it as well, so there isn't much difference there.
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If a hacker with cybereyes and their builtin OCR software, can convert it to a digital file and then crack it, then the technomancer should be able to do so too.
So yes in my universe he should be able to use his complex form decryption on handwritten text.