Cryptopoly

An important asset to achieve this is the Cryptopoly a network of affiliated occult organisations with influence throughout all spheres of sleeper life. The conspiracies that make up this network each have a different name, but all are headed by an Illuminate who reports to a Silver Ladder caucus. A Silver Ladder is not limited to their own Allies, Contacts, Resources or Status, but can access any of the resources available in the Cryptopoly -- provided they share their assets in turn.

Note that Illuminates will help mages from any order provided they use a code word or secret sign to indicate they are "enlightened" Pentacle mages, and provided they don't ask for anything that the conspiracies rulers wouldn't allow (Silver Ladder, p.60). Mages could take Allies (Cryptopoly) to represent this. The ruling Ladder caucus is, of course, always informed.

Benefits

The Silver Ladder have learnt the benefits of division of labor. Rather than each mage spreading themselves thin and taking, say, Resources •• + Contacts •• + Allies (Police) •••, those in the Silver Ladder have learnt to specialise and are more likely to take a straight Allies (Police) •••• then take a free Allies (Cryptopoly) •••• allowing them access to the network (whilst also sharing their allies with the network).

The Silver Ladder have also learnt about delgation of responsibility. Rather than directly taking something like Resources ••••• themselves, they are far more likely to take Retainer ••••• and have their minion start a new Cryptopoly conspiracy (with it's own name and the retainer as Illuminate). The Illuminate then gets 10 dot to spend on Allies, Contacts, Resources, Status and their own less powerful Retainers, allowing the character control of more resources (see The Silver Ladder, p.60). These resources can also then be shared with the Cryptopoly.

Even better, the Silver Ladder have also learned the wisdom of shared costs. While other mages pool their resources for powerful Sanctums, Hallows, Libraries and the like, the Silver Ladder have also learnt how to share the cost of their Illuminate retainers (see The Silver Ladder, p.59). Characters can work together and contribute a few dots each to relatively cheaply add new retainers to the Cryptopoly, sacrificing direct control for broader reach.

Available Cryptopoly Resources

Please contact the VST of the relevant city to access resources.

• Each occult conspiracy (cell) within the Cryptopoly is known by it's name (e.g. "Sisterhood of the Triple Moon", "Bunker Hill Boys", "New Jersey's Spiritual Housing Pact".). It will also have an ideology and practial and estoeric goals.
• The conspiracy will be headed by one (or more) Illuminates, who could be PC's (if Awakened), or otherwise Sleepwalkers or high Wisdom characters. They usually have at least Occult ••••.
• The conspiracy will then be controlled by a local Silver Ladder caucus cabal, or even a powerful individual.

Example (from Silver Ladder):

Organisation	Merits	Description
Sisterhood of the Triple Moon	Resources •••• Contacts •• (Essex Country's local governments)	A neopagan conspiracy that believes the Hierarch of Boston is a god who is prophesised to raise his servants to divinity. Its practical goal is to purchase valuable real rural estate, especially around ley lines and supernatural phenomena. (Its esoteric goal is to guard strange places for the use of mages alone -- not necessarily revealed.)

Armidale

Organisation	Merits	Description

Brisbane

Organisation	Merits	Description
Threads of Destiny	Contacts ••• (Occult, Criminal, Hacker)	Network dedicated to observing and reporting anomolous events to a database which members believes feeds an AI singularity. While other networks are for action; the Threads of Destiny practical goals are focussed on information gathering.

Melbourne

Organisation	Merits	Description

Perth

Organisation	Merits	Description

Sydney

Organisation	Merits	Description

Summary

Summary of Cryptopoly influence across areas:

Resources
-

Allies Area	Allies	Contacts Area	Contacts	Status Area	Status
	-		-	Academic	-
Banks	-		-	banks	-
City Hall	-		-	City Hall	-
	-		-	Clerical Standing	-
	-	big business	-	Corporate Executive	-
	-	couriers	-		-
Criminals	-	(criminals)	•••	Criminal	-
	-		-	Diplomat	-
	-		-	Licensed Professional (Private Investigator)	-
	-		-	Licensed Professional (Lawyer)	-
	-		-	Licensed Professional (Building Contractor)	-
	-	hackers	•••		-
Hospital staff	-		-	Medical / hospital staff	-
	-	(occult)	•••	Occult	-
Police	-		-	Police	-
Unions	-		-	Union/Rotary	-
University Faculty	-		-	university faculty	-
(Construction Industry)	-		-		-

Addendum Rules

(Note that these are from the Nov 2012 addendum, so may change for the 2013 chronicle.)

• Cryptopoly [Silver Ladder]:
  • A PC Illuminate may designate any of his Merit-based NPCs as part of his Cryptopoly.
  • Allies: Cryptopoly may be used to access social merits that are part of the Cryptopoly up to the rating of the user’s Allies: Cryptopoly. This requires a Manipulation + Socialize + Allies (Cryptopoly) draw.
    • Accessing Allies within a Domain does not incur a penalty to the level of Allies. Doing so within a Region incurs a –1 penalty, within a nation a –2 penalty and between nations a -3 penalty.
    • If the merits sought are directly controlled by another PC, they may be accessed without a roll with the consent of the owning PC.
    • If the merits sought are directly controlled by another PC and consent is not given, they may only be accessed if the controlling PC is not actively using them at that time.
    • If more than one PC attempts to access the same particular merit, the most successes gain access.
  • A PC may take Allies: Cryptopoly without an XP cost. This must be recorded in the database at Low Approval.
    • To do so, a PC must have at least one relevant social merit at the same level as their levels in Allies: Cryptopoly.
    • If a character has taken Allies: Cryptopoly without an XP cost, all their relevant social merits up to the value of their Allies: Cryptopoly are accessible as if they were part of the Cryptopoly.
    • If a PC takes free levels in Allies: Cryptopoly, and another character (PC or NPC) seeks to access their social merits, then the PC does not automatically keep control of his social merit, but must contest the draw with Manipulation + Socialize + [the social merit contested].
  • Cryptopoly Merits held by NPCs not purchased with XP can also be accessed through use of Allies: Cryptopoly. It is High Approval to assign more than 20 points of social merits to an NPC-controlled Cryptopoly.