Operation Inoculation

## Summary

Within this convention, the Technocracy was directly responsible for providing the weapons humanity needed to survive the Fall and turn the tables on the supernatural threat.

## Details

The Technocratic Union. What happens when rigid conservatism meets the limitless possibilities of being able to alter reality at will.

For hundreds of years, the Union conducted its self-appointed mission of protecting humanity from the chaos of demons and monsters, 'reality deviants' and Order 47 violators as they are known in modern times. Yet in its hubris, the Union hobbled its efforts by thinking it could simultaneously protect the masses while keeping them blissfully ignorant of the war for reality being waged all around.

And when the Fall happened, it broke the rigid spine of the Union and very nearly destroyed it. Suddenly, the Union could no longer shield humanity from reality, and all its well-planned contingencies immediately went up in smoke. Entire conventions imploded as society fell apart: Iteration X was crippled as worldwide computer manufacturing and networking collapsed. The Syndicate lost control as global commerce reverted to barter. The Progenitors and Void Engineers were nearly wiped out as they tried to directly and openly engage the reality deviants that suddenly appeared everywhere. The only thing that saved the Union from total annihilation was the willingness of the Inner Circle, led by Top Men in the New World Order, to abandon the paternalistic policies of protection and ignorance. They realized the Union, by itself, couldn't save humanity. Thus began **Operation Inoculation**: the direct arming of the masses, so that humanity could save itself. For the first time, the Union let go of the reins.

And it worked.

With the Fall throwing the gates of possibility wide open, humanity was willing to believe almost anything, and suddenly fantastic technologies that were considered science fiction a mere decade ago began appearing in the field. Surgical neuromuscular enhancements. Aerodynes. The rebirth of a far stronger global information network in the neural-cybernetic immersion of the Matrix. Innovation and adoption proceeded at lightning speed and, with the legalization of Order 47, the tide quickly turned in the human-supernatural war.

Within a few more years, as a new social order settled into place, the Union gradually dusted itself off and got organized again. The Matrix granted immense new power to Iteration X and the Syndicate. Progenitors began collecting, cataloging, and disseminating knowledge of supernatural physiology as they worked to advance O47. The NWO got to work placing agents within the hearts of the new power structures. The Void Engineers... well, they were hit the hardest during the Fall, and are still reorganizing. Much of their knowledge was lost in their otherworldly conflicts. Politically, many within the Union still feel the Engineers had dropped the ball when the Fall occurred without any prior warning, and there's little support from other conventions to rebuild the Engineers.

Humanity has grown up and can never be put back into its cradle, and the Union, like every parent, has learned that it needs to guide and teach its child, instead of control it. But old habits die hard.

## RP Hooks & Game Effects

* Humanity knows what the monsters are, what it's up against, and is on constant alert. Mortals are terrified of the supernatural and paranoia has become a way of life, constantly reinforced by the news, entertainment media, and Bright school systems. Because of this, assume everyone knows when a power is being used against them, even if caught unawares. Every mind control effect (Disciplines, Gifts, Magick, etc.) can be resisted, by default, with a willpower vs difficulty 8 check, with each success cancelling one of the attack's successes. (If the rules allow another method of resistance, the player may choose which one to use.)

* Milspec-quality cyberware is composed of a primium alloy, derived from HIT technology. Every dot of humanity lost from milspec-quality cyberware grants an equivalent amount of primium anti-magick dice used to soak direct magickal attacks. (This only applies to direct magickal attacks: mind control, using entropy to discover weak spots, rub the bones, rip the man-body, prime-charged bullets, etc. A fireball or magickally-created but otherwise normal bullet are not magickal in and of themselves once summoned, and are soaked normally with stamina and armor.) Any dice left over after taking primium into account may be resisted/soaked as normal, as applicable.

* Paradox is less paradoxical. Since the Fall, people still don't want to believe, but believe they do. Whenever paradox is gained, reduce the amount gained by 1 point.