Virtual

Despite the vastness of space separating individuals, communities, and civilizations, invisible webs of data connect them. Some societies use these networks for purely utilitarian purposes, while others build entire worlds within them, giving rise to virtual cultures.

Virtual cultures represent highly advanced societies that have blurred the lines between virtual and physical worlds. Commonly, virtual cultures are composed of physical life forms, organic or synthetic, that have integrated digital overlays or worlds into their daily existence using technology that connects an individual’s consciousness directly.

Some virtual cultures are composed of synthetic intelligences, existing almost entirely within a virtual space and inhabiting robots or cloned shells when they need to interact with the physical world. Individuals from other virtual cultures have eschew their bodies in favor of their digital worlds, perhaps leaving them in nutrient tanks to be cared for by automatic systems, robotic caretakers, or members of a different caste, species, or social class.

Rarely, the inhabitants of some virtual cultures might not even realize that they exist within a simulation, either because they’re connected from birth or because their synthetic consciousness was born there.

Virtual cultures are often superficially egalitarian, although many possess deep socioeconomic divides beneath the surface. They tend to be fast-paced, as the ability to access data at the speed of thought creates the expectation of instant access. Most also emphasize leisure, creativity, and individualism. Other than computer skills, no single skill set is prized, and most individuals are free to pursue whatever interests them. Sometimes the replication of actual social, political, and economic systems in some virtual environments can cause them to differ significantly.

Many virtual cultures have loose familial bonds, and some dispense with traditional family structures entirely, with communal childrearing leading to cohorts based on shared interests or other qualifiers forming. In some large and particularly advanced civilizations, virtual cultures might exist as a subculture within a broader society, developing as an escape from or a rebellion against existence within physical space.

Regardless of the circumstances, individuals raised in virtual cultures are often disinterested in physical space, given the limitless possibilities of their virtual homes. Their intuitive ability with computer systems, and data, means individuals from virtual cultures are often highly prized by other cultures, who employ them as software engineers, hackers, and virtual artisans.

Characters raised in a virtual culture share a variety of traits in common with one another.

Digital Literacy. You are proficient with computers and gain an expertise die on checks using them and hacking tools.

Information Overlay. You can navigate and access data much faster than others. During a short or long rest, you may choose to become proficient with one skill, weapon, or tool of your choice. You remain proficient with your chosen skill, weapon, or tool until you choose another.

Neural Interface. In addition to your normal starting gear, you begin play with a set of hacking tools that are integrated into your brain or neural processor, all of which you are proficient with. Assuming that you have the proper credentials, these tools allow you to access a network through purely mental commands, although you still need physical proximity to an access point for certain procedures.

Languages. You can read, sign, speak, and write Common and Machine.