Photographic Memory and TM's, Can they use it to store data? Options

[Lagomorph]

A thread spun off from the Uncouth thread. If a TM takes the Photographic Memory positive quality, would you let them store matrix data in their brain since they can't normally?

[Rotbart van Dain...]

No. This quality just influences the accuracy of TMs mind when remembering things - it doesn't add a new memory.

[GrinderTheTroll]

TM's aren't interfacing with there programs the same way "regular" hackers too anyways. The whole idea of computer memory is not the technical one a classically trained person would have.

Albeit there are many sorts of exceptional recollection abilities (aural, visual, numerics, etc.) I'd argue Photographic memory (visual) is not the same as Random Access Memory type computer storage (data). I'd say not.

[James McMurray]

I'd allow it on a very limited basis, anything beyond a few files, minutes of video, etc. would require memory tests.

[Samaels Ghost]

Would that Adept power, eidetic memory, be able to convert complex info into data via a simrig? Like if they didn't have a comm on them in prison and they wanted to have a photo of some dude that "knifed" him for friends look at and hunt him down with. Or converting a book to data real quick.

Granted, a TM can't take advantage of an Adept power....

BACK ON TOPIC: I don't see why they couldn't make a memory check to see if the info trying to be remembered could be reproduced mentally. Like the prison example above. But it wouldn't be data that was "stored" with photo memory. Or at least it wouldn't function as such. Complex things like programs I would say no way. Someone's face, sure. But it would technically be simsense data. Very limited stuff, too.

[James McMurray]

Heck, I'd probably go as far as to have a 30BP quality that let TMs store electronic data in their head, maybe 20BP and let it be hackable.

[Samaels Ghost]

Ultraviolet nodes? Being hackable would only open up another can of worms we're not prepared for. If their brains were hackable so would the rest of their bodies and their actual memories.

[James McMurray]

Why? It's one way to do it, but not the only way. Allowing hacking to only hit that one datastore could work equally well.

Normal memories are already "hackable" via magic and to some extent technology.

[Dogsoup]

I'm pretty sure the netbook for 4ed will expand on TMs and give them some sort of storage option.

[Samaels Ghost]

Besides "carry a chip"? Why would you need anything else?

[James McMurray]

Do you mean why would you need anything besides carrying a memory chip for storage? There are several reasons:

- storage in your brain can't be spotted
- storage in your brain can be carried anywhere
- storage in your brain is going to be a lot harder to hack into then your commlink, since first they'd have to realize you're a TM, then they have to figure out that you're one of the rare ones with a hackable brain.

Theres probably a lot more, but those alone would be enough of a reason for me to buy the quality if I were playing a TM and it were allowed.

[Brahm]

To me having the ability to stream a reasonably small amout of digital data, such as a video feed or computer file, into your head with perfect recall ability, or perhaps a Memory Test to recall, seems to be a suitable capability for an Echo.

[Samaels Ghost]

[James McMurray]

Cool. Differing opinions and all that. If offered, my techno will take it, yours won't. No biggie. :)

[Samaels Ghost]

Nope, no biggie at all. Except for those hackable technos....poor things.

[Lagomorph]

[Samaels Ghost]

page. 232. Implants and Resonance
"...take any [essence loss] and round up to the nearest whole number."

[Brahm]

[Lagomorph]

[Samaels Ghost]

my mistake. :dead:

[WhiskeyMac]

What you guys are forgetting is that you don't have to carry around a memory chip at all. As long as you have access to the wireless matrix (which TMs do have about 99.99% of the time) then you can store data in a wireless data node, or that wireless enabled slab of memory you have back at your favorite bar or anywhere else in the world with a wireless connection. No need to carry around a memory chip at all.

[Samaels Ghost]

ooo, good point. Unless you're in a wireless no-zone or a wireless secure facility.

[booklord]

90% of technomancers probably carry a commlink on them anyways.

Technomancers don't emit their personal information and identification constantly like your average commlink. ( At least as far as I know. Actually I suspect their natural state is Hidden mode. ) They need a commlink so they don't show up like a sore thumb whenever they go someplace that requires people to keep their commlinks on active mode.

In addition to that, the commlink provides all the memory storage the technomancer could want. A technomacner could even keep his sprites on his commlink node so he'll have someplace to keep them while he breaks into that wireless no-zone or a wireless secure facility.

[Brahm]

That's why I think it would be doable as an Echo, and without the "more hackable head than other TMs" drawback. Providing a relatively secure storage that can go with the TM no matter what. Not a huge advantage, but a cool and interesting twist. It could also allow them to act like a commlink proper, storing their fake or real SIN, banking info, and other stuff like that. Which I don't get the impression that they can do now.

[James McMurray]

I'd definitely allow it as an echo as well, lowering the BP cost of the quality to compensate (to 10 or 15, depending on what the group felt was reasonable).