Post by Annabelle Devonshire on May 18, 2020 1:19:48 GMT -5
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The Internet is one of the most powerful weapons in hunters’ arsenal. It allows them to perceive and establish a genuine culture through the interchange of ideas. As time goes on and more hunters propose and debate their similarities and differences, the creeds themselves begin to take shape as political, ideological and even religious organisations. The Internet also gives hunters the opportunity to discuss the fundamentals of their mission and ways to deal with creatures, to dispatch warnings and to give advice on the uses of their strange capabilities.
The Internet in the World of Darkness is basically that of the real world, with some mysterious and supernatural elements thrown in. The two can therefore be compared in a general sense. If you’re net-savvy, you may have already noticed some “holes” or even apparent impossibilities in how the net operates for the imbued. The crux of the matter is: Why haven’t technically adept monsters fully caught on to what hunters are up to? What keeps monsters in the dark or at bay? Sure, the imbued fear online intrusion by the enemy, and there are signs that such compromise has occurred (the loss of the first hunter-net, for example), but why has it happened on such a limited basis where an instantaneous, worldwide communication system is concerned?
Secrecy and privacy on the Internet are functionally impossible. They are a continuous struggle, at best. Even with nearly unlimited funding, security is never absolute - just ask the Pentagon or Microsoft. If you’re experienced with other World of Darkness games, you know that hunters’ security problems are compounded by groups of supernatural creatures that are highly adept with Internet technology. (We’re talking primarily about mages, but even some werewolves are at home with high tech!)
Take just one factor, but a huge component of the forming imbued culture, email. Email doesn’t just exist on a sender and receiver’s computer (even if they were secure). It exists for a time on the computers of the people who run the email service, and it exists on several huge computers that record and forward mail through the main trunk lines of the Internet. All a “techno-monster” has to do is use her supernatural powers to subvert even the most robust mortal firewall and she learns a lot about a hunter’s other life by reading his email.
Founded on email, hunter-net is not secure. Someone or something destroyed the website and list at least once. The same or other forces have also undoubtedly outwitted the techs who support the network in general, and have discovered multiple hunters’ true identities or locations. It’s almost certain that some imbued have lost their lives due to such breaches. And yet, the net remains hunters’ most vital means to organise, exchange ideas and establish an identity. Hunters are a burgeoning cyber-culture, despite the inherent dangers.
The Internet is too complex and dynamic to cover every means by which hunters’ presence could be compromised - or protected. And as was said, some hacker (or monster-hacker) eventually finds a way through around or behind any protection. The following are therefore guidelines that we suggest for online hunter-monster interaction. We hope that the dynamics of the Internet will become part of your plots, but that means taking the good with the bad. These points indicate how hunter-net is organised, offers rationales for how hunters’ online presence remains a relative secret.
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Before creatures can use hunters’ Internet presence against the humans, the enemy must learn that the imbued are even there. Most creatures of the night have no idea what the imbued are, much less that they use the net to organise! Also consider that many of hunters’ enemies have no use for computers, much less the know-how to turn one on. Many ghosts couldn’t give a damn about modern technology, and centuries-old bloodsuckers make human slaves do their accounting. Thus, the imbued largely escape notice online because few enemies know to look for them, there or anywhere.
For the time being, hunters as a group are also very young. They have just joined (or been made aware of?) true World of Darkness cosmology. Given the millennia of momentum behind the supernatural, such a foundling group attracts almost no attention. To ancient eyes, these odd people are merely upstart mortals, if that. Hunters simply haven’t been in existence long enough to make an impact, let alone leave an Internet footprint. They are still easy to overlook. (Time passes quickly on the net, though. Most chips have a production life span of months, not years. The clock is ticking for hunters’ electronic anonymity.)
As for human hackers - normal people who crack the “chosen” code - few would bother with such small fry, especially ones who post nonsensical or fanatical bullshit. Why screw with them?
There’s no glory in adding these crackpots to a kill list. Danger from human attack online thus comes from incidental damage: viruses and the possibility of a website about murders and other illegal activities being reported to law-enforcement agencies.
Fortunately, hunters don’t know the real names of the things with which they deal. Sure, “vampire” is a common term found in one form or another in various cultures, but the imbued have to devise their own names when they enter foreign territory. (What exactly do you call a ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned, muscle-bound brute?)
That said, the content of hunter email rarely raises any warning flags among creatures that observe the net. Discussing “werewolves” or “ghosts” online indicates no knowledge of these creatures’ true nature or existence, and so does not attract their attention. That same can be said for use of terms such as “bloodsuckers,” “goblins” or “man-beasts.” Such names are just so much more static from the ignorant human masses - nothing to worry about.
The same ignorance allows hunters’ posts to slip under the radar of human hackers. Posts about killing demons and vampires are old hat to web geeks; they did all that in their far less “cool” roleplaying days. Such emails are by no means genuine confessions of murder to hacker eyes.
The designers of hunter-net (and other hunter-related sites) also enact policies to secure their sites. Hunter-net email services, for example, are web-based; an imbued with access to an Internet connection and a web browser can log-on and get her mail from anywhere.
Hunter-net is not an Internet Service Provider like Mindspring or AOL, so posters have to gain their general Internet access from independent sources. Thus, no central registry of hunter information exists, and the computers that run hunter-net can be moved around.
Those brave chosen who run the service keep information on users to a minimum. Techs do not archive email and do not keep any message on their servers for long. “Read it or lose it,” is the unspoken rule. The managers also mandate users to update passwords at irregular intervals, and they never ask for personal information that may reveal a contributor’s real name or address when establishing a subscription. Finally, admission to hunter-net is by invitation only and multiple levels of security are used to verify the identity of any would-be subscriber.
Whether they know it or not, hunters online also seem to have an ace in the hole, their best asset: the Messengers.
Simply pit, some weird things have happened online that no known website designer has actively intended, and no one can explain the phenomena. The surprising resurfacing of hunter-net after its crash is a primary example. Various net-hunters believe others responsible for the restoration of the site, but no one claims full credit.
So who got the site back up? The forces that create the imbued in the first place, some say. There’s some credence to this theory. Select hunters profess to be able to reinforce online security, create firewalls and manipulate systems with their edges. The fact that new edges are frequently reported through online dialogue only reinforces such possibilities, although which groups among hunters may possess powers over technology is still unknown.
A few imbued who take the long view of the hunt, even in these early days, are not surprised by the notion of Herald intervention online. These philosophers point to hunters’ instinctive adoption of the Internet as a fundamental tool, positing that the net is intrinsic to imbued destiny and purpose. Perhaps the electronic world can be cleansed of monstrous manipulation whereas the material world is too far gone.
Is the Internet a world to inherit, where human identity might exist unmolested? Perhaps that’s what the Messengers had in mind all along, and they lead the way into the electronic realm. Who can say for certain when so much about the Heralds is unknown?
And yet, there are the inevitable hunters who think this is all bullshit. What good is a tool like the net that you can’t hold in your hands, they say. To them, a 2x4 or broken-off golf club fosters all the communication they need. There’s no risk of jeopardy or compromise behind the business end of a tire iron. For these people, no-nonsense tools are more than enough to win the war and the world, Internet be damned.
Hunter-Net Handles
Hunter-net and some other mailing lists apply a numbering system to member names, with results such as “Bookworm55.” Hunter-net is not AOL - the numbers are there for a reason. The techs call them “position numbers.” They’re assigned in the approximate order in which hunters join the lists. So Steelworker22 has been a subscriber longer than Steelworker122.
Don’t be fooled by position numbers, though. They are not necessarily an indication of a hunter’s experience in the fight. One of the first people ever imbued may have joined hunter-net right away, but is a lurker and doesn’t actually hunt much. Meanwhile, another hunter might become seasoned through his own personal crusade, and discovers hunter-net later on. The wannabe has a lower number on the list, but he’s nowhere near the veteran that is the newcomer. Then again, position numbers might indeed reflect experience. The proof is in the wisdom, passion and hands-on application of a subscriber’s posts - and his continued existence.
The bottom line is, don’t assume position number is necessarily a reflection of your character’s capabilities - or of another hunter’s.
© Copyright White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
A Word About The Internet
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The Internet is one of the most powerful weapons in hunters’ arsenal. It allows them to perceive and establish a genuine culture through the interchange of ideas. As time goes on and more hunters propose and debate their similarities and differences, the creeds themselves begin to take shape as political, ideological and even religious organisations. The Internet also gives hunters the opportunity to discuss the fundamentals of their mission and ways to deal with creatures, to dispatch warnings and to give advice on the uses of their strange capabilities.
The Internet in the World of Darkness is basically that of the real world, with some mysterious and supernatural elements thrown in. The two can therefore be compared in a general sense. If you’re net-savvy, you may have already noticed some “holes” or even apparent impossibilities in how the net operates for the imbued. The crux of the matter is: Why haven’t technically adept monsters fully caught on to what hunters are up to? What keeps monsters in the dark or at bay? Sure, the imbued fear online intrusion by the enemy, and there are signs that such compromise has occurred (the loss of the first hunter-net, for example), but why has it happened on such a limited basis where an instantaneous, worldwide communication system is concerned?
Secrecy and privacy on the Internet are functionally impossible. They are a continuous struggle, at best. Even with nearly unlimited funding, security is never absolute - just ask the Pentagon or Microsoft. If you’re experienced with other World of Darkness games, you know that hunters’ security problems are compounded by groups of supernatural creatures that are highly adept with Internet technology. (We’re talking primarily about mages, but even some werewolves are at home with high tech!)
Take just one factor, but a huge component of the forming imbued culture, email. Email doesn’t just exist on a sender and receiver’s computer (even if they were secure). It exists for a time on the computers of the people who run the email service, and it exists on several huge computers that record and forward mail through the main trunk lines of the Internet. All a “techno-monster” has to do is use her supernatural powers to subvert even the most robust mortal firewall and she learns a lot about a hunter’s other life by reading his email.
Founded on email, hunter-net is not secure. Someone or something destroyed the website and list at least once. The same or other forces have also undoubtedly outwitted the techs who support the network in general, and have discovered multiple hunters’ true identities or locations. It’s almost certain that some imbued have lost their lives due to such breaches. And yet, the net remains hunters’ most vital means to organise, exchange ideas and establish an identity. Hunters are a burgeoning cyber-culture, despite the inherent dangers.
The Internet is too complex and dynamic to cover every means by which hunters’ presence could be compromised - or protected. And as was said, some hacker (or monster-hacker) eventually finds a way through around or behind any protection. The following are therefore guidelines that we suggest for online hunter-monster interaction. We hope that the dynamics of the Internet will become part of your plots, but that means taking the good with the bad. These points indicate how hunter-net is organised, offers rationales for how hunters’ online presence remains a relative secret.
--------------------
Before creatures can use hunters’ Internet presence against the humans, the enemy must learn that the imbued are even there. Most creatures of the night have no idea what the imbued are, much less that they use the net to organise! Also consider that many of hunters’ enemies have no use for computers, much less the know-how to turn one on. Many ghosts couldn’t give a damn about modern technology, and centuries-old bloodsuckers make human slaves do their accounting. Thus, the imbued largely escape notice online because few enemies know to look for them, there or anywhere.
For the time being, hunters as a group are also very young. They have just joined (or been made aware of?) true World of Darkness cosmology. Given the millennia of momentum behind the supernatural, such a foundling group attracts almost no attention. To ancient eyes, these odd people are merely upstart mortals, if that. Hunters simply haven’t been in existence long enough to make an impact, let alone leave an Internet footprint. They are still easy to overlook. (Time passes quickly on the net, though. Most chips have a production life span of months, not years. The clock is ticking for hunters’ electronic anonymity.)
As for human hackers - normal people who crack the “chosen” code - few would bother with such small fry, especially ones who post nonsensical or fanatical bullshit. Why screw with them?
There’s no glory in adding these crackpots to a kill list. Danger from human attack online thus comes from incidental damage: viruses and the possibility of a website about murders and other illegal activities being reported to law-enforcement agencies.
Fortunately, hunters don’t know the real names of the things with which they deal. Sure, “vampire” is a common term found in one form or another in various cultures, but the imbued have to devise their own names when they enter foreign territory. (What exactly do you call a ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned, muscle-bound brute?)
That said, the content of hunter email rarely raises any warning flags among creatures that observe the net. Discussing “werewolves” or “ghosts” online indicates no knowledge of these creatures’ true nature or existence, and so does not attract their attention. That same can be said for use of terms such as “bloodsuckers,” “goblins” or “man-beasts.” Such names are just so much more static from the ignorant human masses - nothing to worry about.
The same ignorance allows hunters’ posts to slip under the radar of human hackers. Posts about killing demons and vampires are old hat to web geeks; they did all that in their far less “cool” roleplaying days. Such emails are by no means genuine confessions of murder to hacker eyes.
The designers of hunter-net (and other hunter-related sites) also enact policies to secure their sites. Hunter-net email services, for example, are web-based; an imbued with access to an Internet connection and a web browser can log-on and get her mail from anywhere.
Hunter-net is not an Internet Service Provider like Mindspring or AOL, so posters have to gain their general Internet access from independent sources. Thus, no central registry of hunter information exists, and the computers that run hunter-net can be moved around.
Those brave chosen who run the service keep information on users to a minimum. Techs do not archive email and do not keep any message on their servers for long. “Read it or lose it,” is the unspoken rule. The managers also mandate users to update passwords at irregular intervals, and they never ask for personal information that may reveal a contributor’s real name or address when establishing a subscription. Finally, admission to hunter-net is by invitation only and multiple levels of security are used to verify the identity of any would-be subscriber.
Whether they know it or not, hunters online also seem to have an ace in the hole, their best asset: the Messengers.
Simply pit, some weird things have happened online that no known website designer has actively intended, and no one can explain the phenomena. The surprising resurfacing of hunter-net after its crash is a primary example. Various net-hunters believe others responsible for the restoration of the site, but no one claims full credit.
So who got the site back up? The forces that create the imbued in the first place, some say. There’s some credence to this theory. Select hunters profess to be able to reinforce online security, create firewalls and manipulate systems with their edges. The fact that new edges are frequently reported through online dialogue only reinforces such possibilities, although which groups among hunters may possess powers over technology is still unknown.
A few imbued who take the long view of the hunt, even in these early days, are not surprised by the notion of Herald intervention online. These philosophers point to hunters’ instinctive adoption of the Internet as a fundamental tool, positing that the net is intrinsic to imbued destiny and purpose. Perhaps the electronic world can be cleansed of monstrous manipulation whereas the material world is too far gone.
Is the Internet a world to inherit, where human identity might exist unmolested? Perhaps that’s what the Messengers had in mind all along, and they lead the way into the electronic realm. Who can say for certain when so much about the Heralds is unknown?
And yet, there are the inevitable hunters who think this is all bullshit. What good is a tool like the net that you can’t hold in your hands, they say. To them, a 2x4 or broken-off golf club fosters all the communication they need. There’s no risk of jeopardy or compromise behind the business end of a tire iron. For these people, no-nonsense tools are more than enough to win the war and the world, Internet be damned.
Hunter-Net Handles
Hunter-net and some other mailing lists apply a numbering system to member names, with results such as “Bookworm55.” Hunter-net is not AOL - the numbers are there for a reason. The techs call them “position numbers.” They’re assigned in the approximate order in which hunters join the lists. So Steelworker22 has been a subscriber longer than Steelworker122.
Don’t be fooled by position numbers, though. They are not necessarily an indication of a hunter’s experience in the fight. One of the first people ever imbued may have joined hunter-net right away, but is a lurker and doesn’t actually hunt much. Meanwhile, another hunter might become seasoned through his own personal crusade, and discovers hunter-net later on. The wannabe has a lower number on the list, but he’s nowhere near the veteran that is the newcomer. Then again, position numbers might indeed reflect experience. The proof is in the wisdom, passion and hands-on application of a subscriber’s posts - and his continued existence.
The bottom line is, don’t assume position number is necessarily a reflection of your character’s capabilities - or of another hunter’s.
© Copyright White Wolf Publishing, Inc.