Data Wizard

Data Wizard (•)

 * Regalia
 * Action: Permanent

A portable computer becomes part of the Noble’s Regalia. (When this Charm was first discovered the computer usually looked like a modern laptop or notebook; in recent years Nobles get smartphones.) The Regalia bonus applies to mundane Computer actions using the computer. It can store data in practically unlimited quantities, has adapters to connect to any computer networks available where the Noble lives, and reads from or writes to all common forms of removable media she can find. The Noble still has to supply passwords to gain access to a network, or else defeat the network’s security.

Recording
The Noble can link her own senses with her computer. With a reflexive action, she can start or stop recording everything she sees and hears, exactly as it appears to her eyes and ears. She may record her perceptions as long as her computer is physically manifested. She can stream the record to other computers, too, but setting up such streaming connections takes at least an instant action.

Assisting

 * Requires Acqua ••

The Noble’s computer monitors networks constantly, looking for scraps of data she might need. As an instant action, the Noble may roll Acqua + the computer’s equipment bonus when confronted by something outside her normal experience. Success means her computer’s trawl for data has found a relevant article or post on the Net, and brings it to her attention; the Storyteller must supply a useful fact or detail about the issue at hand.

If the Noble has access to the Net where she is, she may spend 1 Wisp to start her computer on a focused search for relevant information. If a roll of Acqua + the computer’s equipment bonus succeeds, the computer gathers enough data to give the Noble the Informed Condition [CofD 289] after several minutes of study. The computer stores the data locally, so the Noble need not read it immediately, but she does have to take the time to read it before she may resolve the Condition.

The computer is limited to information that is available to the general public through the Net, or is on computers the Noble already has access to. If the only relevant information available must be paid for, or can’t be read without supplying an ID, the computer will tell the Noble so.

Traceless

 * Requires Aria ••

The Noble can gain access through her computer to any computer or network she knows of, without cables or radio signals. By spending 1 Wisp, she can hack into a computer over a sympathetic connection to it, modifying her dice pool for the task by Sympathy. The Noble must always defeat the computer’s security to connect to it, even if she knows the proper passwords, as she isn’t logging in normally; on the other hand, a sysadmin contesting her hacking attempt cannot trace her address, unless he has an appropriate supernatural power (Ordinary tracing tools usually return an address that constantly changes).