The Noosphere
The Noosphere is a proprietary form of Iolar technology that has replaced the traditional notion of the internet. It is an all-pervasive, mostly wireless digital landscape that blankets the worlds of the Iolar civilization as soon as sufficient infrastructure and power generation is available. Like the internet it is mostly available everywhere but significant portions, perhaps most of it, is not publicly accessible. Private sub sections and local spheres are maintained by businesses, government offices, and individuals for all sorts of reasons. Links between these private spheres and the overall planetary network are usually closely monitored if their implementation is more than amateur.
Mechanically, the noosphere introduces three distinct differences to the framework of Cyberpunk RED.
The Noospheric Link is a new piece of cyberware that functions very similarly to an Internal Agent. Unlike the Agent, however, a cyberaudio suite is not required to use a basic noospheric link. Almost everyone has one and it provides the basic benefits of an Internal Agent, except basic links only provide a +1 to Library Search. These basic links are wired directly into the user's CNS and provide an almost intuitive response system for information that can be quite jarring at first. All characters with a noospheric link count as having an Interface Skill of 0 (unless they otherwise have Interface), so while they can attempt to interact with things over the noosphere, any real resistance will pull them up short in a hurry. Getting Krashed Out for poking where you shouldn't is a right of passage for most Iolar citizens. The noospheric link does not replace the need for a cyberdeck for most netrunners and does not replace the need for Neural Link cyberware. Cyberware options that interact with Agents can also be applied to a Noospheric link. A basic Noospheric Link has 2 option slots.
In the base game of Cyberpunk RED, netrunners cannot access networks and architectures without being physically close and connected to an Access Point. Due to the nature of the noosphere, most networks and architectures can be interacted with remotely, even at significant distance, but the penalties for doing this grow quite severe when attempted unaided. Scoping out a job is an essential part of any run and that is especially true for netrunners. Penalties add up quickly, especially for complicated architectures so making sure the netrunner is sufficiently supported, either with an architecture of their own or allies on the ground or running tandem, is required for all but the most well geared and highly skilled netrunners.
Extreme Distance: -3 to Interface. This applies, and stacks, with the penalty for Long Distance. This is for operating at more than a half a kilometer away from a given Access Point. Standard precautions include an ice bath and a minder ready with either a bullet or a hypo of anti-krash drugs.
Heavily Obscured: -2 to Interface. If there's a lot of intervening physical material between a runner and the target it becomes difficult to interface directly, causing them to have to route between public noospheric relays. This costs time and really starts to bake a lone runner's brain pan.
Remote Architecture: -1 to Interface for every 2 levels of architecture while netrunning remotely. Whenever a netrunner is not directly connected with a given architecture, the deeper they go the harder it gets to maintain the link. Trying to run corporate raids from a few blocks away and getting greedy has popped more runners than Black ICE ever has.
Hardened Noospheric Link: Variable depending on quality. Both architectures and other people tend to secure their most vulnerable areas with specialized hardware baffles. They're pricey and draw a lot of power but can really put a stop to nefarious intrusion. Unless mechanically disabled, the penalties here apply to all actions taken while running through systems to which they connect.
Noospheric Link Upgrades: Variable depending on quality, these are where the netrunners of the future really start to mortgage their futures as high end noospheric links are extremely expensive.
Tandem Running: +1 for a single netrunner per Turn for each allied runner working together. A script-kiddie favorite, bringing friends along is one of the easiest ways to keep from overloading on a complicated run. Each additional participant lends a bit of their brainpower to a single lead runner. Each of the other runners can still act normally but suffers the full penalties. Be wary of bringing unqualified buddies on a dangerous run, losing them to a krashout at a critical moment can get everyone killed in rapid succession.
If the penalties for a given noospheric Interface ever bring the total Interface modifier for a runner to 0 or less, they must immediately make a Krashout check. Starting at DV 15, the runner adds their unmodified Interface + Body + 1d10 to see if they Krash Out. Certain pieces of Noospheric hardware can help with this check, but remaining connected forces another Krashout check at the beginning of each of the Netrunner's turns, increasing the DV by 1 each time, as long as the penalties remain or get worse. If the netrunner fails the Krashout check they are forcibly removed from the noosphere and any connected architectures. This carries all the penalties of being involuntarily Jacked Out and they suffer an additional 1d6 damage for each point by which they missed the DV.
1. Noospheric Link
The Noospheric Link is a new piece of cyberware that functions very similarly to an Internal Agent. Unlike the Agent, however, a cyberaudio suite is not required to use a basic noospheric link. Almost everyone has one and it provides the basic benefits of an Internal Agent, except basic links only provide a +1 to Library Search. These basic links are wired directly into the user's CNS and provide an almost intuitive response system for information that can be quite jarring at first. All characters with a noospheric link count as having an Interface Skill of 0 (unless they otherwise have Interface), so while they can attempt to interact with things over the noosphere, any real resistance will pull them up short in a hurry. Getting Krashed Out for poking where you shouldn't is a right of passage for most Iolar citizens. The noospheric link does not replace the need for a cyberdeck for most netrunners and does not replace the need for Neural Link cyberware. Cyberware options that interact with Agents can also be applied to a Noospheric link. A basic Noospheric Link has 2 option slots.
2. Remote Access Points
In the base game of Cyberpunk RED, netrunners cannot access networks and architectures without being physically close and connected to an Access Point. Due to the nature of the noosphere, most networks and architectures can be interacted with remotely, even at significant distance, but the penalties for doing this grow quite severe when attempted unaided. Scoping out a job is an essential part of any run and that is especially true for netrunners. Penalties add up quickly, especially for complicated architectures so making sure the netrunner is sufficiently supported, either with an architecture of their own or allies on the ground or running tandem, is required for all but the most well geared and highly skilled netrunners.
Noospheric Netrunning Penalties:
Long Distance: -2 to Interface. This applies when outside the standard radius of Access Point connections as bridging the gap across the public noosphere is always going to introduce some serious noise.Extreme Distance: -3 to Interface. This applies, and stacks, with the penalty for Long Distance. This is for operating at more than a half a kilometer away from a given Access Point. Standard precautions include an ice bath and a minder ready with either a bullet or a hypo of anti-krash drugs.
Heavily Obscured: -2 to Interface. If there's a lot of intervening physical material between a runner and the target it becomes difficult to interface directly, causing them to have to route between public noospheric relays. This costs time and really starts to bake a lone runner's brain pan.
Remote Architecture: -1 to Interface for every 2 levels of architecture while netrunning remotely. Whenever a netrunner is not directly connected with a given architecture, the deeper they go the harder it gets to maintain the link. Trying to run corporate raids from a few blocks away and getting greedy has popped more runners than Black ICE ever has.
Hardened Noospheric Link: Variable depending on quality. Both architectures and other people tend to secure their most vulnerable areas with specialized hardware baffles. They're pricey and draw a lot of power but can really put a stop to nefarious intrusion. Unless mechanically disabled, the penalties here apply to all actions taken while running through systems to which they connect.
Noospheric Netrunning Bonuses:
Support Architecture: +1 to Interface for every directly linked "Noospheric Processing" architecture level. A quick and dirty method of boosting a netrunner's abilities, being hardwired into a supporting architecture via Interface Plugs lets a single netrunner tap into extra computing power for an edge. The catch is these architectures tend to be poorly secured to make the most of the available processing. Placing more passwords or ICE between potential intruders and the processing layers quickly drives up the price. Breaking up layers can help with redundancy but likewise drives costs through the roof. Remember that Noospheric Processing layers need to be directly connected to count their bonuses.Noospheric Link Upgrades: Variable depending on quality, these are where the netrunners of the future really start to mortgage their futures as high end noospheric links are extremely expensive.
Tandem Running: +1 for a single netrunner per Turn for each allied runner working together. A script-kiddie favorite, bringing friends along is one of the easiest ways to keep from overloading on a complicated run. Each additional participant lends a bit of their brainpower to a single lead runner. Each of the other runners can still act normally but suffers the full penalties. Be wary of bringing unqualified buddies on a dangerous run, losing them to a krashout at a critical moment can get everyone killed in rapid succession.
3. Noospheric Krashout
If the penalties for a given noospheric Interface ever bring the total Interface modifier for a runner to 0 or less, they must immediately make a Krashout check. Starting at DV 15, the runner adds their unmodified Interface + Body + 1d10 to see if they Krash Out. Certain pieces of Noospheric hardware can help with this check, but remaining connected forces another Krashout check at the beginning of each of the Netrunner's turns, increasing the DV by 1 each time, as long as the penalties remain or get worse. If the netrunner fails the Krashout check they are forcibly removed from the noosphere and any connected architectures. This carries all the penalties of being involuntarily Jacked Out and they suffer an additional 1d6 damage for each point by which they missed the DV.
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