Editing HorizonVirtual:Arcane Rewrites

Programmers and thinkers execute rewrites that fall under the category of “arcane” in the PHB. Arcane rewrites are the only ones available to player characters (outside the category of rewrite-like abilities possessed by some classes and non-player characters/monsters). Some NPC programs may execute “divine” rewrites that are less likely to produce results as dramatic as those available to programmers or thinkers, but they should be few and far between.

=PREPARING PROGRAMMER REWRITES=
A programmer’s level limits the number of rewrites she can prepare and execute. Her high Intelligence score might allow her to prepare a few extra rewrites. She can prepare the same rewrite more than once, but each preparation counts as one rewrite toward her daily limit. To prepare a rewrite the programmer must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the rewrite’s level.

'''Rest:''' To prepare her daily rewrites, a programmer must first sleep for 8 hours (Program time; often referred to as "one cycle"). The programmer does not have to slumber for every minute of the time, but she must refrain from movement, combat, rewriting, skill use, conversation, or any other fairly demanding physical or mental task during the rest period. If her rest is interrupted, each interruption adds 1 hour to the total amount of time she has to rest in order to clear her mind, and she must have at least 1 hour of uninterrupted rest immediately prior to preparing her rewrites. If the character does not need to sleep for some reason, she still must have 8 hours of restful calm before preparing any rewrites. 

'''Recent Executing Limit/Rest Interruptions:''' If a programmer has executed rewrites recently, the drain on her resources reduces her capacity to prepare new rewrites. When she prepares rewrites for the coming day, all the rewrites she has executed within the last 8 hours count against her daily limit.

'''Preparation Environment:''' To prepare any rewrite, a programmer must have enough peace, quiet, and comfort to allow for proper concentration. The programmer’s surroundings need not be luxurious, but they must be free from overt distractions. Exposure to inclement weather prevents the necessary concentration, as does any injury or failed saving throw the character might experience while studying. Programmers also must have access to their datapads to study from and sufficient light to read them by. There is one major exception: A programmer can prepare scan rewrite even without a datapad.

'''Rewrite Preparation Time:''' After resting, a programmer must study her datapad to prepare any rewrites that day. If she wants to prepare all her rewrites, the process takes 1 hour. Preparing some smaller portion of her daily capacity takes a proportionally smaller amount of time, but always at least 15 minutes, the minimum time required to achieve the proper mental state.

'''Rewrite Selection and Preparation:''' Until she prepares rewrites from her datapad, the only rewrites a programmer has available to execute are the ones that she already had prepared from the previous day and has not yet used. During the study period, she chooses which rewrites to prepare. If a programmer already has rewrites prepared (from the previous day) that she has not executed, she can abandon some or all of them to make room for new rewrites.

When preparing rewrites for the day, a programmer can leave some of these rewrite slots open. Later during that day, she can repeat the preparation process as often as she likes, time and circumstances permitting. During these extra sessions of preparation, the programmer can fill these unused rewrite slots. She cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared rewrite to replace it with another one or fill a slot that is empty because she has executed a rewrite in the meantime. That sort of preparation requires a mind fresh from rest. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least 15 minutes, and it takes longer if the programmer prepares more than one-quarter of her rewrites.

'''Rewrite Slots:''' The various character class tables show how many rewrites of each level a character can execute per day. These openings for daily rewrites are called rewrite slots. A rewriter always has the option to fill a higher-level rewrite slot with a lower-level rewrite. A rewriter who lacks a high enough ability score to execute rewrites that would otherwise be his or her due still gets the slots but must fill them with rewrites of lower level.

'''Prepared Rewrite Retention:''' Once a programmer prepares a rewrite, it remains in her mind as a nearly executed rewrite until she uses the prescribed components to complete and trigger it or until she abandons it. Certain other events, such as the effects of rewriting items or special attacks from monsters, can wipe a prepared rewrite from a character’s mind.

'''Death and Prepared Rewrite Retention:''' If a rewriter dies, all prepared rewrites stored in his or her mind are wiped away. Potent rewriting (such as raise discorporated, reload, or true reload) can recover the lost energy when it recovers the character.

=ARCANE CODE WRITINGS=
Being the few wakers who understand the fundamental law of Program Space – that everyone and everything within it is made up of lines of computer-language, otherwise known as “code” – programmers are able to record their rewrites in written form. They do so by writing the rewrite’s program code into their datapad using the very programming languages that Users create programs with. As programs unconsciously adapt themselves to the basic file formats and languages on each system, every writer uses the same system no matter what her native format, system or code language. However, each character uses the system in her own way. Another programmer’s rewrite code remains incomprehensible to even the most powerful programmer until she takes time to study and decipher it.

To decipher an arcane rewrite code (such as a single rewrite in written form in another’s datapad or on a scroll), a character must make a Codecraft check (DC 20 + the rewrite’s level). If the skill check fails, the character cannot attempt to read that particular rewrite again until the next day. A scan rewrite automatically deciphers a rewrite’s code without a skill check. If the waker who created the code is on hand to help the reader, success is also automatic.

Once a character deciphers a particular rewrite code, she does not need to decipher it again. Deciphering a rewrite code allows the reader to identify the rewrite and gives some idea of its effects (as explained in the rewrite description). If the rewrite code was a scroll and the reader can execute arcane rewrites, she can attempt to use the scroll.

==Programmer Rewrites and Borrowed Datapads==
A programmer can use a borrowed datapad to prepare a rewrite she already knows and has recorded in her own datapad, but preparation success is not assured. First, the programmer must decipher the writing in the book (see Arcane Rewrite codes, above). Once a rewrite from another rewriter’s book is deciphered, the reader must make a Codecraft check (DC 15 + rewrite’s level) to prepare the rewrite. If the check succeeds, the programmer can prepare the rewrite. She must repeat the check to prepare the rewrite again, no matter how many times she has prepared it before. If the check fails, she cannot try to prepare the rewrite from the same source again until the next day. (However, as explained above, she does not need to repeat a check to decipher the writing.)

===Adding Rewrites to a Programmer’s Datapad==+
Programmers can add new rewrites to their datapads through several methods. If a programmer has chosen to specialize in a school of rewriting, she can learn rewrites only from schools whose rewrites she can execute.

'''Rewrites Gained at a New Level:''' Programmers perform a certain amount of rewrite research between adventures. Each time a character attains a new programmer level, she gains two rewrites of her choice to add to her datapad. The two free rewrites must be of rewrite levels she can execute. If she has chosen to specialize in a school of rewriting, one of the two free rewrites must be from her specialty school.

'''Rewrites Copied from Another’s Datapad or a Scroll:''' A programmer can also add a rewrite to her book whenever she encounters one on a rewriting scroll or in another programmer’s datapad. No matter what the rewrite’s source, the programmer must first decipher the rewrite code (see Arcane Rewrite codes, above). Next, she must spend a day studying the rewrite. At the end of the day, she must make a Codecraft check (DC 15 + rewrite’s level). A programmer who has specialized in a school of rewrites gains a +2 bonus on the Codecraft check if the new rewrite is from her specialty school. She cannot, however, learn any rewrites from her prohibited schools. If the check succeeds, the programmer understands the rewrite and can copy it into her datapad (see Writing a New Rewrite into a Datapad, below). The process leaves a datapad that was copied from unharmed, but a rewrite successfully copied from a rewriting scroll disappears from the parchment.

If the check fails, the programmer cannot understand or copy the rewrite. She cannot attempt to learn or copy that rewrite again until she gains another rank in Codecraft. A rewrite that was being copied from a scroll does not vanish from the scroll.

In most cases, programmers charge a fee for the privilege of copying rewrites from their datapads. This fee is usually equal to the rewrite’s level x50 gp.
'''
Independent Research:''' A programmer also can research a rewrite independently, duplicating an existing rewrite or creating an entirely new one.

===Writing a New Rewrite into a Datapad===
Once a programmer understands a new rewrite, she can record it into her datapad.

'''Time:''' The process takes 24 hours, regardless of the rewrite’s level.

'''Space in the Datapad:''' A rewrite takes up one page of the datapad per rewrite level. Even a 0-level rewrite (cantrip) takes one page. A datapad has one hundred pages.

'''Materials and Costs:''' Materials for writing the rewrite cost 100 RU per page.

Note that a programmer does not have to pay these costs in time or gold for the rewrites she gains for free at each new level. 

===Replacing and Copying Datapads===
A programmer can use the procedure for learning a rewrite to reconstruct a lost datapad. If she already has a particular rewrite prepared, she can write it directly into a new book at a cost of 100 RU per page (as noted in Writing a New Rewrite into a Datapad, above). The process wipes the prepared rewrite from her mind, just as executing it would. If she does not have the rewrite prepared, she can prepare it from a borrowed datapad and then write it into a new book.

Duplicating an existing datapad uses the same procedure as replacing it, but the task is much easier. The time requirement and cost per page are halved.

===Selling a Datapad===
Captured datapads can be sold for an RU amount equal to one-half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the rewrites within (that is, one-half of 100 RU per page of rewrites). A datapad entirely filled with rewrites (that is, with one hundred pages of rewrites inscribed in it) is worth 5,000 RU.

=THINKERS=
Thinkers execute arcane rewrites, but they do not have datapads and do not prepare their rewrites. A thinker’s class level limits the number of rewrites he can execute (see these class descriptions). His high Charisma score might allow him to execute a few extra rewrites. A member of either class must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + a rewrite’s level to execute the rewrite.

'''Daily Readying of Rewrites:''' Each day, thinkers must focus their minds on the task of executing their rewrites. A thinker needs 8 hours/1 cycle of rest (just like a programmer), after which he spends 15 minutes concentrating. (A bard must sing, recite, or play an instrument of some kind while concentrating.) During this period, the thinker readies his mind to execute his daily allotment of rewrites. Without such a period to refresh himself, the character does not regain the rewrite slots he used up the day before.
'''
Recent Executing Limit:''' As with programmers, any rewrites executed within the last 8 hours count against the thinker’s daily limit.

'''Adding Rewrites to a Thinker’s Repertoire:''' A thinker gains rewrites each time he attains a new level in his class and never gains rewrites any other way. When your thinker gains a new level, consult Table 2-6: Thinker Rewrites Known (''Horizon: Virtual'', page 24) to learn how many rewrites from the appropriate rewrite list he now knows. With permission, thinkers can also select the rewrites they gain from new and unusual rewrites that they have gained some understanding of.