Punch Card (3.5e Equipment)
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Punch Card[edit]
This sturdy sheet is fashioned from multi-ply polymer weave and covered in a wear-preventing plastic coating. A punch card is adorned with a multitude of purposely placed miniscule indentations, which provide information for digital instruments to process. It is capable of permanent storage of roughly 820 kilobytes worth of data. A punch card may contain a set of pre-programmed instructions and can be slotted into the appropriate machine, such as a computer or a construct of the Bot subtype. Once inserted and activated, the computer or Bot will perform the instructions printed on the punch card to the letter, as though it had been successfully programmed to perform them. Essentially, a properly printed punch card will allow a person to operate a programmable machine without the need of the Program skill.
For a machine to read a punch card, it needs to be outfitted with a punch card reader.
A punch card can be made to hold additional subroutines for a Bot to perform, or be programmed with complex algorithms and action sequences that would require too much time or continuous effort to program on the fly by changing the Bot's inherent programming.
A punch card cannot be used in conjunction with a machine that lacks any form of digital operation.
A standard blank punch card is 4 by 8 inches, 1 millimetre thick, and is valued at 10 gp. Punch cards that carry programming are usually valued at 100 gp or higher, depending on the card's function. Some punch cards that carry highly sensitive or rare programming data are worth the weight of their writer in gold.
Writing a Punch Card[edit]
To write a punch card, the Program skill and a punch card reader with writing function are needed, as well as an advanced understanding of the hardware for which the punch card is written. Writing a punch card counts as altering the programming of a machine for the purpose of the required Program DC. Other than that, the difficulty of writing a punch card depends on its intended hardware.
- Punch cards for machines that have a singular function, such as keycard readers that open doors or change ambient lighting, are considered Simple machines and require a DC 15 Program check to write.
- Punch cards designed for machines that have standardized hardware, such as computers, are considered Average machines and require a DC 20 Program check to write.
- Punch cards designed for machines whose hardware is complex and/or specialized for its intended function, like many Bots and mechanical vehicles, are considered Complex machines and require a DC 30 Program check to write.
A punch card can never force a machine to perform actions that exceed its physical or hardware-based limitations, but it is possible for a punch card to amend, expand upon and improve a machine's core programming, such as to make it run faster or more efficiently. Punch cards that extend a machine's core programming beyond its base limitations modify the Program DC as though they were unknown machines.
Studying a full development manual for the machine in question for 8 hours confers a +5 competence bonus to the next Program check involving punch cards made for that type of machine.
Writing a punch card requires a number of minutes equal to 10 × the Program DC. Once written, it cannot be rewritten.
Uses of Punch Cards[edit]
Machines utilizing punch cards or similar tech or magitech can be found within every facet of a sufficiently civilized society. Punch cards can store complex programs and data of many different nature, like production recipes and process information, and even simple arcade style video-games. Autonomous factory robots can fashion intricate parts using punch card data as a basis. Certain high security doors may require punched keycards to open. Punch cards can hold algorithms to encrypt or decrypt sensitive data. Very long punch cards can even be wound onto a spool and used to store and replay beautiful music.
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