Technomancy

Default Attribute: Wit | Core rules: AX.C.09.3

Lore

Gnomish Technomancy is the only Harmonic Tradition that the general public interacts with daily. Every smartphone, every smart-home system, every networked vehicle is a small piece of Technomancy, a rune-scribed silicon wafer processing instructions by manipulating the Axioms at a micro-scale.

What makes a Gnome a Technomancer rather than simply an engineer is the ability to do this consciously, at scale, and in real time. A Gnomish Logic-Binder doesn't use an app to hack a system; they write the code in the moment, inscribing it into the hardware's harmonic substrate directly. A Plane-Runner doesn't browse the internet; they navigate the Silicon Demi-Plane in person, physically manifesting within the architecture of a network the way other practitioners might physically enter a building.

For full Technomancy rules, see AX.C.09.03. The following disciplines are Iron Lattice-specific extensions of that framework, reflecting the NTC's current state of the art.

Mechanics Summary

Feature	Detail
Default Attribute	Wit
Action Type	Varies by Discipline; Plane-Walking requires Full Action (see below)
Signature Feel	Requires hardware (physical device or neural-jack); effects are precise, cold, and scalable
Power Access	NTC Logic-Binder, Plane-Runner, Hardware Exorcist (Professions); NTC-licensed independent study
Signature Focus	The Neural-Jack

Hardware Requirement: All IL Technomancy Disciplines require access to a physical device or network node, either carried equipment, an environmental installation, or a Neural-Jack implant. Attempting Technomancy without hardware access is possible (representing raw will-based imposition) but imposes Disadvantage automatically, regardless of Friction state. The Neural-Jack Focus removes this requirement.

Setting Specific Disciplines

Logic-Binding

Writing function directly into hardware.

Logic-Binding is the foundational Technomancy Discipline, the ability to inscribe instructions into silicon and bound hardware in real time, without pre-written code or traditional interfaces. A Logic-Binder can give a simple device new capabilities, alter an AI's base directives, patch a security vulnerability from the physical component level, or write a Logic-Virus that travels through a network destroying specific processes.

Challenge Applications:

Reprogram a simple device to perform an unintended function (Threshold 1–2; scene duration unless permanently inscribed)
Alter the behavioral parameters of an NTC-standard AI, loyalty flags, response protocols, access permissions (Threshold 2–3 depending on the AI's complexity and the significance of the change)
Create a Logic-Virus: a self-propagating harmonic instruction set that spreads through a network performing a specific function until purged (Threshold 3; duration until purged; a Logic-Virus that affects physical infrastructure, power grids, traffic systems, requires Threshold 4)
Permanently inscribe a new function into a device: it now does this as a native capability (Threshold 3–4; requires one hour of work unless a Critical Success on a faster roll)
Exorcise a rogue Logic-Virus or bound spirit acting contrary to its intended function (Threshold equals the Threshold of the original binding; see Hardware Exorcist Profession)

Scaling: Excess successes improve the stability of the inscription (harder to detect or purge) or extend the propagation range of a Logic-Virus.

Backlash: The inscription inverts, Minor: the device the practitioner is working on immediately fails and requires repair; Moderate: a Logic-Virus escapes into the local network unintentionally, performing a random or contrary function (GM's choice); Severe: the practitioner's own neural interface or electronic equipment temporarily Logic-Binds against them, all their electronic devices malfunction for 1D6 Turns, and if they have a Neural-Jack, they take Psychic damage equal to 1D6 and are Stunned for one Turn.

Plane-Walking

Physical navigation of the Silicon Demi-Plane.

Plane-Walking is the Gnomish ability that other lineages find most alien: the practitioner's consciousness detaches from their body and traverses the Silicon Demi-Plane, the literal, navigable spatial architecture of the global network, as a physical presence. To a Plane-Walker, a corporate network's firewall is a wall they must find a door in. A data vault is a room they must physically pick the lock of. A Logic-Virus is an enemy they can fight.

While Plane-Walking, the practitioner's body is unconscious and vulnerable. Their presence in the Net is substantial enough to interact with other Plane-Walkers, bound spirits, and network defenses, but not with the physical world.

Challenge Applications:

Enter a connected network and navigate its architecture (Threshold 1 for an open network; Threshold 2–4 for increasingly secured networks)
Locate a specific piece of data, system, or construct within a network (Threshold 2–3 depending on security and obfuscation)
Engage and disrupt a network defense, bound spirit, or hostile Plane-Walker (Threshold equals target's effective Technomancy dice; treat as a contested roll in most cases)
Extract data physically from the Net, bring information back to the physical world in a form that can be used (Threshold 2; the data manifests as a hardened memory crystal or direct neural transfer)
Create a Pocket, a small section of the Net isolated from the broader network, usable as a secure communication channel or staging area (Threshold 4; requires the Neural-Jack; duration until the practitioner dissolves it)

Scaling: Excess successes on navigation rolls reduce the time spent in the Net (less body-vulnerability window). On extraction, excess successes may bring back more data than targeted.

Full Action: Entering the Plane is a Full Round Action, the practitioner takes no other actions this Turn. Returning requires a Minor Action from within the Net and is immediate.

Backlash: The Net ejects the practitioner violently, Minor: forcibly disconnected, disoriented; Disadvantage on all Wit-based rolls for the scene; Moderate: a fragment of a bound spirit attaches during ejection, acts as a persistent Minor Condition (Wit-reducing) until exorcised with a Threshold 3 Technomancy roll; Severe: the practitioner's consciousness is partially trapped; they are physically conscious but mentally operating at half capacity (all Wit-based Talent pools halved, round down) until they receive a Full Rest or a successful Threshold 4 exorcism.

Digital Alchemy

Turning information into physical effect.

Digital Alchemy is the NTC's most commercially valuable capability and the Discipline that most clearly demonstrates the unique nature of Gnomish Technomancy. By treating data not as representation but as Axiomatic instruction, a Digital Alchemist can produce real physical consequences through information manipulation.

A "Combat App" that projects a kinetic barrier is not metaphorical. The Gnome is using harmonic energy channeled through the device to produce a real force field, using the app's code as the instruction set. A surveillance system that "sees everything in an area" can be made to literally enhance visibility in that area through light-manipulation Alchemy. The limit is the practitioner's ability to write the translation layer between digital instruction and Axiomatic effect.

Challenge Applications:

Project a kinetic barrier from a device: provides +1 Defense to one target within Near range for one Turn (Threshold 2; at-will in combat at Minor Action cost once the app is running)
Use a device's data layer to enhance physical environment: improve lighting, reduce noise, project structural reinforcement fields (Threshold 2–3; scene duration)
Detonate a Logic-Bomb: a piece of data that, when read by a system, produces a physical electrical discharge, damages devices and any creature in Close range with a Neural-Jack or active digital interface (Threshold 3; 1D6 per success of electrical damage, Speed Save vs Threshold 3 for half)
Perform a remote physical intervention through a connected system, unlock a physical lock, activate a suppression system, trigger a device's hardware failsafe (Threshold 2–4 depending on the system's security and the practitioner's access level)
Create a long-duration Alchemy effect inscribed in a device: the device passively produces the physical effect whenever active (Threshold 4; permanent; this is the technology behind NTC-branded "smart environments")

Scaling: Excess successes on persistent effects increase their duration or add a secondary physical consequence.

Backlash: Alchemy reverses, Minor: the device being used discharges harmlessly but overheats and cannot be used for the scene; Moderate: the intended physical effect occurs in reverse, a barrier becomes an attractor, enhanced light becomes blinding darkness, etc., affecting the practitioner rather than the target; Severe: a catastrophic digital-to-physical conversion discharges, all electronic devices within Near range spark and fail for 1D6 Turns, and the practitioner takes 2D6 electrical damage.

Network Presence

Being everywhere the network is.

A practitioner with Network Presence maintains an ambient awareness of the network state of their environment without fully entering the Plane. They perceive signal strength as a sixth sense, can read the broad strokes of traffic patterns and device states passively, and can initiate lightweight interactions with connected systems as free actions rather than requiring full Plane-Walking.

This is the Discipline that makes NTC Network Fixers so effective in negotiation; they always know exactly who in the room is sending messages, whether a contract document has been modified, and whether the building's security system just got an alert about them.

Challenge Applications:

Passively sense the presence and approximate nature of all connected devices within Far range (Free Action; always on for a practitioner with Network Presence 1D+)
Identify specific device signatures, know that the device you're looking for is in the building, roughly where, and whether it is active (Threshold 1)
Read surface-level network traffic without full Plane-Walking: who is communicating with whom, whether encrypted, rough content of unencrypted transmissions (Threshold 2)
Send a short message or data packet through the network without a physical device, the practitioner is the transmitter (Threshold 2)
Perform a lightweight intrusion: access a low-security system, read a file, check a status, without entering the Plane (Threshold 3; limited to systems within Far range; does not work against NTC-grade security or Halfling Hearth-Net nodes)
Establish a persistent Network Presence in a location: even after leaving, the practitioner retains passive awareness of device states within the area for a number of days equal to successes (Threshold 4)

Scaling: Excess successes extend the range of passive sensing or increase the depth of traffic information readable passively.

Backlash: The network inverts against the practitioner, Minor: they become "visible" on the local network, any device monitoring for anomalies detects their Harmonic signature immediately; Moderate: their own electronic devices broadcast their location, biometrics, and the last 10 minutes of their microphone data to the local network (uncontrolled); Severe: a hostile network presence detects the Backlash and actively intrudes on the practitioner's neural-jack or electronic interface, treat as a Plane-Runner combat encounter with the practitioner at Disadvantage.

The Neural-Jack (Technomancy Focus)

A sub-dermal interface port or external rig that creates a direct physical connection between the practitioner's nervous system and the global network. Standard NTC-issue; consumer versions are available, though the NTC's End-User License Agreement for neural-jacks is approximately 400 pages and almost universally unread.

Mechanical Effect: Grants +2D to Plane-Walking and Network Presence rolls. Removes the Hardware Requirement for all Technomancy rolls, the practitioner is their own hardware. Additionally, the practitioner may enter and exit Plane-Walking as a Minor Action rather than a Full Round Action.

Availability: Commercially available through NTC-licensed vendors. The installation procedure requires a Minor medical procedure and a 24-hour integration period. The NTC retains access logs for all Neural-Jack-equipped individuals, which is buried in the EULA's section 347, paragraph 9.