HorizonVirtual:Main Page

About Horizon: Virtual

Virtual is one of the five books that comprise the Horizon product line, a series of "mini-roleplaying games" by Fantasy Flight Games. The line is intended to work with the D20 System with the aim of providing a short campaign in an alternate setting. Virtual uses the D20 System as presented in the Version 3.5 Core Rulebooks to create a playable world inspired by the movie TRON and the animated TV series ReBoot, a world where sentient programs called 'wakers' roam an electronic world that exists inside our computer networks.

About the Horizon: Virtual WikiProject

This WikiProject has been set up and is being run by myself, IMAGinES. Ever since I purchased Horizon: Virtual, I’ve wanted to develop the ideas, rules and setting and contained therein a bit more. Virtual can only do so much in sixty-four pages, and although it tries to not be Another Fantasy Setting, its very reliance on the D20 SRD winds up being rather constraining.

As a virtual world can look like anything, it starts to look like a fantasy wilderness so it can use the regular environments and beasts rules. And although the classes known as Programmers and Thinkers have been able to gain some level of universal Admin privileges due to their intuitive understanding of programming languages, use of said privileges is accomplished by using the standard D&D magic spells (with some of the names changed). Now don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a very natty idea, not to mention one of the best explanations I’ve seen for “magic” in any given setting. But I think the re-skinning needs to go a bit deeper, so that immersion in the game isn’t wrecked by having to leaf through the spells lists in the Magic section of the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook v3.5 and trying to remember that Magic Missile is called "Code Bolt" in Virtual.

Thankfully, the Open Game License allows one to do just that. In other words, chunks of the System Reference Document (such as the Skills, Feats and Magic Spells lists) can be re-worked to fit in more with the world of Horizon: Virtual and posted on the Web. Such re-working still takes time, but using a Wiki allows other interested parties to check the work in progress and make their own suggestions and corrections.

The Aim of the WikiProject

This WikiProject has two aims:

1. To develop the ideas, rules and setting and contained in Fantasy Flight Games’ Horizon: Virtual mini-RPG in order to assist ease of play and extended campaigning (without infringing the Closed Content and Product Identity of Fantasy Flight Games).
2. To "re-skin" the D20 System Reference Document for direct use with Horizon: Virtual without infringing the Open Game License that the D20 SRD is published under or the Closed Content and Product Identity of Fantasy Flight Games.

Project Want List

This is the list of the main items that require development work in this project. Also, the discussion tab for each main section of the site will have its own "want list", specific issues or potential changes that have yet to be addressed.

I'd also like to see the discussion feature used by modifiers to post and/or discuss any such ideas or suggestions for additions and alterations. If the idea survives peer-review, the Project moderator will post it into the page's Want List.

Updates Required

• Renaming the D20 SRD's common system terms to more closely match the Program Space of Horizon: Virtual.
• Renaming of the D20 SRD spells as Horizon: Virtual rewrites and appropriate revision of their descriptive texts.

Groupthink

Although this project is concieved as a group effort, there are certain updates that we think require special attention from as many people as possible, mainly becuase not only does the original text need revision, but the concepts behind that text also need some rethinking to ensure they fit Horizon: Virtual before the updates can be done.

At the moment, these are:

• The overhaul of the Astral Plane required to turn it into Wireless Space.
• The overhaul of the descriptive text of the rewrites Contact User, Programmer Circle against Chaos/Evil/Law/Good, and Detect/Hide Alignment.

Guidelines for Contributors

If you'd like to contribute to this project, I do ask you have the following:

• A familiarity with the Horizon: Virtual RPG and the D20 System in general.
• A willingness to discuss any changes you plan to make to an article on the discussion tab for that article prior to making your changes.

Content

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to Program Space

This section is intended as an encyclopaedia of the electronic world of Horizon: Virtual. It's meant to provide a springboard of general and coherent ideas (guidelines and plot-hooks, for example) rather than a developed-down-to-the-bolts world, thus allowing players and GMs to mix and match to their taste.

1. Places
   1. Major Systems: Life in the Big City
   2. Timekeeping
   3. Travel
   4. Planes
      1. Electron (Ethereal) Plane
      2. Wireless (Astral) Plane
2. Things
   1. Sleepers
   2. Dreamers
   3. Equipment
   4. Subroutines (Magic Items)
3. Wakers
   1. Waker Physiology: So what do they eat?
   2. Waker Psychology: Suggestions for Roleplaying a Sentient Computer Program
   3. Razors
   4. The Waker Dictionary
4. Organisations
   1. Détente
   2. The Snake Eaters
   3. Fox & Gekko
   4. The Pontifex Group
   5. User Cults
5. Progenitor Viruses
6. User Space
   1. What do the Programs know of User Space?
   2. Contacting a User
7. Inspiration for Virtual

The Virtual Skin for D20

• Terminology Conversion Guide: Virtual-ised re-naming of standard D20 SRD terms. To be referenced when re-writing any part of the D20 SRD for Virtual.

• Rewrites and Rewriting
  • Rewrite Lists By Class
• Master Rewrite Datapad
  • Master Rewrite Datapad A-E
  • Master Rewrite Datapad F-J
  • Master Rewrite Datapad K-O
  • Master Rewrite Datapad P-T
  • Master Rewrite Datapad U-Z

Patches and Mods

A section for any new material for Virtual that falls outside the bounds of the Project.

• Patches: new heritages, classes, forms, skills, feats, equipment and rewrites, as well as official errata for Virtual.
• Mods: Changes to the core of Virtual, such as ports of other material to the setting or switching the core rule set.

Open Game License

Both standard and modified D20 System Reference Document content has been posted under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a and is Open Content.

If you find any Closed Content or Product Identity or any other copyrighted material posted to these pages, please inform IMAGinES immediately.