How to handle "Cyberspace"?

[Almarck]

So, while walking my dogs, I had the idea sending my players into cyberspace, in a manner similar to what happens in the Matrix's chairs of brain uploading, or Tron's digitizers but without the bodies disintegrating.

My main problems are, how should this be handled?

I kinda want to avoid making the whole thing too similar to "going to a different Plane"

[Karl Aegis]

You would think Cyberspace was just a demiplane. Just going to another plane works.

[Almarck]

Except that I have stated I don't want to make it too similar to planar travel or bodily going somewhere elsel. More specifically, I don't want them to be able to even think things like combat are the same: As in, physical attributes and abilities don't work as they normally should and you can't exactly use spells while plugged in either. Sorry, I should have clarified that.

I want to know if there are existing rulesets or if DMs have done before?

[Twilightwyrm]

I recall Heroes of Horror having a section on Dreamscapes and PCs being pulled into dream-states or adventures. While there is some funniness with the whole "Plane of Dreams" thing, they are still technically dreaming and not necessarily going there physically. This might be similar enough to work for your needs.

[Almarck]

I don't think I have access to that right now. What was it like?

[johnbragg]

I have an idea for an E6 "boss encounter/adventure" where the PCs cross over into the home turf of the local feylord, who goes by different rules of space and time. Namely, roll d6 to see how many 5' steps you can take this round. Maybe roll a d6 every once in a while to see if you change size categories--shrink on a 1, grow on a 6.

Or you could cheat and just run an encounter or two in a totally different system--GURPS, Mutants and Masterminds, World of Darkness, Star Wars.

[Coidzor]

You'd probably want to do something similar to dreamscapes then. Possibly with something like Lucid Dreaming to represent interacting with the fundamental nature of cyber-reality.

[Almarck]

Where's all this Dream stuff? I don't think I have source books on the topic. Mind explaining why you think it'd be good?

[Coidzor]

Where's all this Dream stuff? I don't think I have source books on the topic. Mind explaining why you think it'd be good?

Lucid Dreaming as a skill comes from the 3.0 book Manual of the Planes, but most of it should be usable with very little adjustment in a 3.5 game. It mostly just seems like the closest analogue to what you're wanting with going into another world without planeshifting that's been officially printed. At least per se, anyway.

The 3rd party but fairly respected Hyperconscious also deals with lucid dreaming to some extent, too, though I couldn't tell you how much of that is something that could be done to facilitate adventures in cyberspace.

Edit: You may also find this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?260803-Lucid-Dreaming-skill-rework-%283-5%29) interesting if you can overlook the broken tables.

[Almarck]

Yeah.... at this point, I might want to think up of some sort of homebrew system based off of my experience with how Cyberspace combat was handled in Shadowrun: Returns since no one really... handles it.

Dream stuff is cool, but I don't think anyone in the party is experienced in freeform things, nor is anyone "hacking" themed.

Ins short: everyone has vastly simplified character info with the only things carrying over are saves, BAB, and maybe some abilities if they're relevant...

Also, the game is PF. But even that doesn't have anything to my knowledge that covers cyberspace. I guess this was simply due to the fact that there's no interest in one.

[Milo v3]

Also, the game is PF. But even that doesn't have anything to my knowledge that covers cyberspace. I guess this was simply due to the fact that there's no interest in one.

I think it's more.... it's a fantasy setting by default, with some tiny teeny weenie bits of sci-fi, which means that rules for cyberspace would generally never ever come up. Rather than that there is no interest.

[Twilightwyrm]

I don't think I have access to that right now. What was it like?

There is actually an entire section on the various rules for the Dreamscape in Heroes of Horror, all the way from pg. 50-58, with various rules for spell-casting, wounds and the like, which would be too much to reproduce here. However, seeing as how the Dreamscapes described are actually fairly close to what you describe (I've played Shadowrun: Returns, so I'm familiar with its cyberspace), with the added benefit of making a lot more sense in a magitech, but internet computer, level of technology. Simply have some home brewed spells or magic items that allow them to enter the Dreamscape for whatever you want to do. While in a Dreamscape (as opposed to a normal dream), the character's minds have entered, but their bodies have not, so they use their normal statistics, but damage works a bit different. Take the book's first suggestion for this is to take the damage they sustained in the Dreamscape, divide it by their level, then take half in the form of Wisdom, and half in the form of Charisma, damage. This can be severe if they take a great deal of damage, but should be manageable. For magic, since the Dreamscape can render it unpredictable, make them roll as if in a wild magic area (as described in the DMG) when spellcasting (feel free to make the Oneiromancy feat available to represent greater training in spell-casting while in the Dreamscape). This should adequately replace cyberspace in the campaign, and has some interesting implications for a civilization that started to perfect this art might have functioned (using sleep to interact with each other in a similar manner to how we use cyberspace), and even perhaps have this dream sharing hold the key to how said civilization fell (if it did).

[Greenish]

…I had the idea sending my players into cyberspace…

My main problems are, how should this be handled?I don't think the relevant technology is as of yet advanced and common enough for you to get useful instructions on the subject from an internet forum.

[Ashtagon]

You're looking at one of:

d20 Cyberscape for the futuristic take on it.
Heroes of Horror / Manual of the Planes for the plane of dreams
Damnation Decade has some retrotech computer rules, although I'm not sure it has anything resembling a cyberspace.

[Brookshw]

I know you want to avoid anything too similar to going to another plane but a modified ethereal or shadow plane could be useful for consideration. Give things a cyber aura on the ethereal which can be picked up via see invisibility cybervision then interacted with, perhaps using the d20 modern rules. Another rule you might consider stealing would be the morphous nature and ability to exert control of limbo.

[defiantdan]

You could always use the astral plane. using the ninth level spell astral projection. Possibly an item or device that casts it for the pc's. It would matrix it up for you. pc's still have corporeal bodies but are helpless while they are projected.

[Flickerdart]

There's a mental combat thing in one of the 3rd party psionics supplements (Hyperconscious?) that might fit the bill.

[Almarck]

Thanks for all the help.

I'll likely have something cobbled together from all of the items you listed rather than rely one or two things alone.

And again, want to avoid having spells as a thing pertaining to this scenario

[atemu1234]

Apparently MotP has already been mentioned...