Algorithm 049 Structural Resonance Ping

From: Item 512 of the Arcane Engram Codex

Description: A Tier 1 divination and utility spell favored by scavengers and Spark-Wrights. It sends out a localized wave of kinetic mana that bounces off solid objects. The returning echo is translated by the codex, highlighting physical weak points in walls, locating hidden cavities, or identifying micro-fractures in metal infrastructure within a 30-foot radius.

Roleplay: This spell requires a quiet, focused “Ritual” application. The avatar places the open codex flat against the surface they wish to scan (a wall, a machine, or the ground). They tap the brass spine rhythmically, sending a low-frequency hum into the crystal. The avatar closes their physical eyes and opens their Mind’s Eye. The physical world fades to black, and the returning kinetic echoes paint the environment in bright, glowing wireframes. Weak points in the structure pulse with a harsh, red warning light, allowing the avatar to plan a safe demolition or find a hidden safe.

Lore of Algorithm 049

In the vertically dense megacity-structures of Saṃsāra, the “Old World” is not beneath the ground, but trapped behind the very walls of the current one. Generations of unplanned urban sprawl, rapid industrial retrofitting, and “Steam-Quakes” have left the infrastructure as a labyrinth of hollow voids and unstable foundations.

Algorithm 049 was not birthed in a mage’s tower, but in the grime-slicked lower levels by the “Pipe-Crawlers”—scavengers who survived by finding forgotten storage lockers and avoiding catastrophic tunnel collapses. They needed a way to “see” through solid iron and stone without the destructive force of a sledgehammer. By repurposing a standard sonar-echolocation matrix and tuning it to the “resonance” of physical matter, the Spark-Wrights created a ritual that treats the world like a blueprint. It is the spell that turned the scavenger into an architect and the thief into a ghost.

The Use of the Resonance Ping

Algorithm 049 is the ultimate utility “Key” for a Tier 1 avatar. It is a non-combat spell designed for information gathering, tactical planning, and treasure hunting. Its primary function is to strip away the mystery of a physical environment.

The “Ping” does not detect living beings (biological tissue absorbs the resonance rather than reflecting it); instead, it maps the static world. It reveals where a wall is thinnest, where a load-bearing pillar is about to buckle, or where a “dead space” exists behind a brick facade. For an avatar, this spell is used to avoid traps, find secret doors, or identify exactly where to place a single explosive (or a Steam-Rupture Lance) to bring an entire ceiling down on an enemy.

Assigned Values and Mechanics

Category	Specific Assignment
Spell Name	Algorithm 049: Structural Resonance Ping
Tier Limit	Tier 1
Frequency	Once per day (The crystal requires a cooldown from high-frequency vibration)
Mana Cost	5 Mana Points (Low cost, high focus)
Requirements	Held Arcane Engram-Codex (Item 512), Physical contact with a surface, “Quiet” environment.
Range	30-Foot Radius (Sphere)
Effect	Reveals hollow spaces, secret doors, structural HP, and weak points. Grants Advantage/Asset to checks made to demolish or repair structures.
Skills Used	Perception (to interpret the wireframe), Investigation or Engineering (to exploit weak points).

Export to Sheets

Roleplay and Tactics

Tactical Applications

The Perfect Ambush: Before entering a room, place the Codex against the door or adjacent wall. Identify exactly where the enemies are standing relative to “weak” sections of the ceiling or floor. You can then trigger a collapse or fire a piercing spell through a “thin” spot in the wall.
Heist Utility: While searching a merchant’s office or a noble’s manor, the Ping instantly highlights the “Red Pulse” of a hidden safe or a hollow floorboard. It eliminates the need for hours of physical searching.
Hazard Avoidance: In crumbling ruins, use the Ping to map “Resilience 0” floors. This prevents the party from falling through rotted wood or unstable metal grates.

Immersive Roleplay

The “Sensory Deprivation”: When the avatar closes their eyes, describe the transition. The sound of the party talking or steam hissing fades into a rhythmic, underwater thrum. The physical world doesn’t just disappear; it is replaced by a “ghost-world” of neon-violet lines.
The “Tapping” Ritual: The roleplayer should describe the specific rhythm used on the brass spine. It’s not a random knocking, but a precise, mathematical beat—tap-tap… tap-tap-tap—that feels like a heartbeat for the building.
Interpreting the “Red Pulse”: Don’t just say “I find a door.” Describe seeing a jagged, flickering red vein running through a support beam, or a perfectly rectangular void floating in the middle of a solid stone wall that pulses like a beckoning light.
The “Mind’s Eye” Disconnect: Upon ending the spell, the avatar should experience a moment of “spatial lag.” The real world feels heavy, dull, and opaque compared to the clean, transparent wireframe world they just left. They might need a moment to steady themselves against a wall as their physical eyes adjust.

Activation Perception of Algorithm 049: Structural Resonance Ping

When an avatar initiates the tapping ritual and sinks into the localized kinetic wave of Algorithm 049, the sensory shift is profound. It requires a deliberate severing of immediate, physical awareness in favor of architectural communion.

Visual Perception (The Mind’s Eye)

What is Perceived: Sudden physical blindness replaced by an expanding, neon-violet geometric wireframe.
Description: As the physical eyes close, the world drops into absolute black. The rhythmic tap on the codex triggers a burst of light in the Mind’s Eye—a sweeping, 30-foot sphere that paints every solid surface as a glowing, translucent blueprint. Structural weak points and cavities throb with a harsh, rhythmic red warning light.
Positives: Absolute, unhindered clarity of the static environment. The avatar can “see” perfectly through solid stone, steel, and darkness, instantly identifying hidden rooms or fatal structural flaws.
Negatives: The spell renders the caster completely blind to the dynamic, physical world. Biological entities, moving enemies, and incoming projectiles do not reflect the kinetic wave, making the caster highly vulnerable to ambush while scanning.

Auditory Perception

What is Perceived: Rhythmic metallic tapping shifting into an oceanic, deep-bass thrum.
Description: The sharp, waking-world sound of brass tapping against stone or steel quickly warps. As the spell takes hold, the world sounds as though it has been submerged in deep water. The returning kinetic echoes manifest as heavy, low-frequency sonar pings or the slow, grinding heartbeat of the building itself.
Positives: The pitch and resonance of the thrum intuitively inform the caster about the material they are scanning—a high chime for glass or thin metal, a dull thud for thick earth or lead.
Negatives: The heavy, localized bass frequency physically rings in the ears, completely drowning out the faint sounds of creeping footsteps, breathing, or distant alarms in the real world.

Tactile & Olfactory Perception

What is Perceived: High-frequency micro-vibrations and the scent of disturbed, ancient air.
Description: The hand pressed against the wall and the codex acts as the grounding rod for the spell. The caster feels an intense, buzzing vibration travel from the stone, through their fingertips, and up to their elbow. Simultaneously, the kinetic wave disrupts stagnant air at a molecular level, releasing the localized smell of dry rot, rusted iron, or pulverized brick into the caster’s nose.
Positives: The physical buzzing perfectly syncs with the returning echoes, giving the avatar flawless tactile feedback on exactly how thick or hollow a wall is without even needing to look at the wireframe.
Negatives: The intense vibration often leaves the casting hand temporarily numb, tingling, or plagued by “pins and needles” for several minutes after the spell ends.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions (ESPs)

Density and Mass Proprioception

What is Perceived: An internalized, physical sensation of environmental “weight” and “hollowness.”
Description: The avatar’s spatial awareness violently expands to encompass the 30-foot radius. They do not just see the walls; they feel their mass. A solid iron support pillar feels like a heavy, comforting anchor sitting squarely in their chest. Conversely, a massive hidden cavern or a deep pit feels like a sudden, breathless drop in atmospheric pressure or the sensation of a lung suddenly emptying.
Positives: This grants instantaneous, subconscious navigation of complex structures. The caster intuitively knows which way to step to find solid ground without having to consciously analyze the visual wireframe.
Negatives: The sudden, rapid shift in perceived environmental pressure often induces severe vertigo. Discovering a massive, unexpected void beneath one’s feet can trigger a spike of visceral agoraphobia or a feeling of falling.

Kinetic-Decay Resonance (The “Fracture Sense”)

What is Perceived: An empathic, physical apprehension of structural failure.
Description: When the Ping’s wave washes over a severe structural weak point—the areas that pulse red in the Mind’s Eye—the caster experiences a phantom, sympathetic tension. It feels exactly like a tightly wound guitar string threatening to snap right next to their ear, or a dull, aching pressure building up inside their own bones.
Positives: It makes it absolutely impossible to accidentally ignore a lethal cave-in hazard or a perfectly rigged pressure-plate trap; the physical discomfort acts as a flawless alarm system.
Negatives: This empathic connection to decaying matter can cause a wave of genuine, irrational panic. Prolonged use in highly unstable environments (like a collapsing mine) can leave the caster feeling physically exhausted and aching, as if they themselves were holding the ceiling up.

Tapping of 49 and Ghost-Bones of Iron Cave

It is scratched upon the belly of the great dead furnace. This is the truth-memory from the Time of the Falling Roofs. In the deep bottom of the world, where the sun is only a story for children, the walkers of the dirty pipes [scavengers] lived short lives. The world was made of heavy iron and thick stone, but the world was a liar.

The walkers would step on a floor that looked like good metal, but it was the Hungry Floor [rusted/rotten metal], and they would fall into the dark forever. They would hit a wall with the heavy hammer to find the shiny-boxes [safes], but the wall was holding the sky of the cave [load-bearing], and the sky would crush them into flat meat. To be a walker in the deep bottom was to play a guessing game with the angry stones.

There was a walker named She-Who-Hears-The-Dust. She was very tired of her friends becoming the flat meat. One dark cycle, she watched the flying-rats-with-leather-wings [bats] in the high tunnels. The flying-rats had no eyes, but they did not crash into the iron trees. They clicked their mouths. The click went into the dark, and the dark pushed the click back.

She-Who-Hears-The-Dust spoke to her think-box: “The flying-rat speaks to the empty air, and the air answers. I must make my yellow-metal-book [codex] speak to the hard stone, so the stone will tell me its secrets.”

She went to her quiet-corner. She took the clear stones of the yellow book and changed the math-shapes. She wanted the math of the flying-rat.

She tried the counting of forty-seven. She pressed the book to the wall and pushed the magic. The wall screamed like a dying pig and cracked in two pieces, dropping a heavy rock on her foot. She tried the counting of forty-eight. The book made a noise so loud her ears leaked the red water [blood], and she could not hear the wind for a whole turning of the moon.

Then, she found the counting of forty-nine. She did not use the loud magic. She used the soft magic of the water-drop.

The next cycle, her group of walkers found the Great Room of the Forgotten King. It was full of old shiny-boxes. But the room was sick. The pillars were leaning. The floor was coughing dust. The leader of the walkers raised his heavy hammer to break a wall.

“Stop the hammer!” cried She-Who-Hears-The-Dust. “If you hit the sick bones of this room, the sky will fall.”

She walked to the wall. She placed her yellow-metal-book flat against the cold stone. She did not chant the loud words. Instead, she took her finger and tapped the spine of the book. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. The rhythm of a slow, sleeping heart.

She closed her water-eyes [physical eyes]. She pushed the magic into the book.

Suddenly, the blackness behind her eyes broke. The room was no longer made of dirt and rust. It was a ghost-world made of glowing purple strings [wireframes]. She could see through the hard things. She looked at the floor. The purple strings were strong by the edges, but in the middle, they were thin and broken. That was the Hungry Floor.

She looked at the walls. In the belly of the thickest wall, the purple strings made a perfect square of nothing. Inside the square was the heavy emptiness. It was the hidden shiny-box.

She looked at the pillars. One pillar was flashing with an angry, sick-blood light [red warning pulse]. The ghost-world was shouting at her: Do not touch this bone, it is holding the whole body!

She opened her water-eyes. The purple ghost-world vanished, and the dirty room returned. She felt a buzzing in her arm like a thousand angry bees, but her think-box knew the truth of the room. She drew a line on the safe floor with chalk. She marked the wall where the shiny-box was hiding. She marked the sick pillar with the sign of death.

The walkers followed her chalk. They did not fall. They did not wake the angry roof. They took the shiny-box and went home rich.

After that, the walkers threw away their heavy hammers. They learned the counting of forty-nine. They became the ghost-seers. They learned to tap the stone and close their eyes, walking safely through the sick bones of the deep bottom forever.

Moral of the Story: To see the true strength of a hard thing, you must stop looking with your soft eyes, and instead learn to listen to the shape of its emptiness.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Algorithm 049: Resonant Cavity Mapper

Treated as a piece of specialized Weird Science or a complex mathematical formula used by industrial engineers. It is an information-gathering tool that leaves the user highly vulnerable.

Cost: 2 Magic Points; 1 Sanity point.
Casting Time: 1d4 Rounds (requires physical contact and rhythmic tapping).
Game Mechanics: Upon a successful Science (Engineering) or Hard Spot Hidden roll, the investigator’s mind maps the structural integrity of the surrounding 10 meters. The investigator automatically detects any hidden compartments, hollow walls, or severe structural weaknesses. Furthermore, they gain a Bonus Die on any subsequent Mechanical Repair or Navigate rolls made within that specific structure.
Complication: While the mapping is active (for the duration of the scan), the investigator’s physical vision is entirely shut down. They suffer a Penalty Die to all Dodge, Fighting, or immediate perception rolls if attacked or interrupted, as their brain is flooded with raw geometric data instead of real-world vision.

Blades in the Dark

Spark-Wright’s Resonance Ping

A highly specialized Spark-craft modification favored by Leeches and Smugglers to map the twisting, undocumented architecture of Duskvol’s older districts.

Type: Spark-craft Gadget Function / Ritual
Stress Cost: 1 Stress
Game Mechanics: When you use this ability to Study a building or structure by pressing your codex against the wall, you gain +1d or Great Effect (your choice) to gather information about hidden vaults, architectural traps, or structural weaknesses.
Specific Rule: If you use the information gained from the Ping to plan a route, breach a wall, or set an explosive, your crew gets +1d to the Engagement roll for a related plan (Stealth or Assault).
Narrative Complication: Using the Ping renders you completely blind to the ghost field and the physical world. If you are discovered or attacked while “tapped in,” you automatically start in a Desperate position.

Dungeons & Dragons (2024 Edition)

Algorithm 049: Structural Resonance Ping

1st-Level Divination (Artificer, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1 Action (Can be cast as a Ritual)
Range: Self (30-foot radius sphere)
Components: S, M (The Arcane Engram-Codex, which you must tap rhythmically against a solid surface)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You touch a solid surface and close your eyes, sending a wave of kinetic magic through the connected architecture. For the duration, you gain a specialized form of tremorsense out to a range of 30 feet. However, this sense only detects inanimate, connected architecture; it does not detect creatures, constructs, or loose objects.

Within this radius, you automatically know the location of secret doors, hidden cavities, and structural traps (like collapsing floors or rigged ceilings). You also identify any weak points in the architecture, granting you Advantage on any ability checks made to safely dismantle traps, bypass locks, or break through walls in that area.

Condition: While concentrating on this spell, you are considered to have the Blinded condition regarding anything that is not part of the physical architecture (creatures, incoming attacks, etc.).

Knave (2nd Edition)

Algorithm 049: The Echoing Stone

A highly sought-after utility spell stored on an etched quartz slide, considered essential gear for delvers exploring unstable, ancient ruins.

Casting: Intelligence check (to interpret the returning echoes).
Duration: 1 Turn (10 minutes) or until you break contact with the wall.
Game Mechanics: By pressing the item against a dungeon wall and tapping it, you map a 30-foot radius in your mind’s eye. You automatically succeed on checks to find secret doors or hidden compartments within this radius. You also learn the exact thickness of walls and the location of any severe structural instabilities.
Restriction: You can only cast this once per day.
Complication: The spell requires your absolute focus. You cannot move from your space while it is active, and any attacks made against you while you are interpreting the ping have Advantage, as you cannot see the attackers coming.

Fate

Algorithm 049: Structural Resonance Ping

Type: Magical Stunt / Extra
Cost: Once per session (or requires a Fate Point to activate a second time).
Description: By rhythmically tapping a codex against a surface, the avatar maps the internal architecture of a 30-foot radius in their mind’s eye.
Game Mechanics: When activated, you automatically succeed in Creating an Advantage to establish the Aspect “Architectural Wireframe” with two free invokes. These invokes can be used on rolls involving Burglary, Crafts, or Notice when attempting to find hidden compartments, bypass structural traps, or demolish weak points.
Specific Rule (The Blind Drawback): While the “Architectural Wireframe” Aspect is active and being sustained, the GM gains a free invocation to Compel the avatar’s temporary blindness to the physical, dynamic world, resulting in automatic failure on Notice rolls against living ambushes or the inability to defend against incoming attacks.

Numenera & Cypher System

Algorithm 049: Resonant Cavity Mapper

Level: 3 (Divination / Utility)
Kind: Esotery (Enlisted via Item 512)
Cost: 2 Intellect (and Once per Day restriction)
Duration: Up to 10 minutes (Concentration)
Game Mechanics: You place your hands and codex against a solid surface, shutting your eyes to read the kinetic echoes. You gain two Assets on any task related to finding hidden doors, identifying structural weaknesses, or understanding the layout of the immediate facility within short range.
Specific Rule (Sensory Override): Because the ping floods your mind with static architectural data, biological entities and moving objects do not register. While concentrating on this esotery, the difficulty of all Speed defense tasks and initiatives is hindered by two steps.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Algorithm 049: Structural Resonance Ping (Spell 1)

Traits: Uncommon, Divination, Exploration
Cast: Two Actions (Somatic, Verbal – Tapping Rhythm)
Range: 30-foot emanation; Targets: Connected architecture
Duration: Sustained up to 1 minute
Frequency: Once per day.
Game Mechanics: You close your eyes and map the static world. You gain a +2 status bonus to Perception checks to Seek secret doors, hidden compartments, and structural hazards (like collapsing ceilings or pit traps) within the emanation. If you spend an action to actively Seek while sustaining, you automatically discover any non-magical hidden cavities with a DC equal to or lower than your spell DC.
Specific Rule (Architectural Trance): You gain a unique form of Tremorsense (Imprecise) 30 ft, but it explicitly only detects inanimate, connected structural features. For the duration of the spell, you gain the Blinded condition in regard to creatures, hazards in motion, and objects not connected to the structure.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Algorithm 049: Resonance Ping

Power: Detect/Conceal Arcana (Heavily Trapped as Detect Structure)
Rank: Novice
Power Points: Special (Once per Day via Item Focus)
Range: Smarts (radius)
Duration: 5 (Sustained)
Game Mechanics: Upon a successful Spellcasting or Weird Science skill roll, the caster visualizes a glowing wireframe of the area. The caster ignores up to 4 points of penalties on Notice rolls to find hidden doors, traps, or structural weak points. On a raise, the caster automatically knows the exact thickness and material composition of the walls around them.
Specific Rule (Sensory Deprivation): This is not a visual power, but an internalized kinetic map. While the power is active, the caster gains the Vulnerable state to melee and ranged attacks from creatures, as they must keep their eyes closed and rely solely on the static echoes of the room.

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Algorithm 049: MCT “Echo-Loc” Structural Analyzer

In the sprawl, this is classified as an Active, Physical Detection spell. Shadowrunners and corporate demolition teams use it to map the chaotic, overlapping architecture of the barrens or locate hidden corporate black-sites behind fake walls.

Type: Physical Detection
Range: Touch (Radius)
Duration: Sustained
Drain Value: 3
Frequency: Once per Day
Game Mechanics: The caster touches a wall or floor and makes a Spellcasting + Magic Test. The net hits determine the clarity and range of the structural map (base radius of Magic x 5 meters). The caster automatically detects the exact layout of static architecture, including hidden safes, secret passages, and load-bearing weak points.
Specific Rule: Utilizing this map grants the caster and any allies they direct a +2 Tactical Advantage on Engineering and Demolitions tests within the scanned area.
Syntax Note: The sensory override of the physical ping is total. While sustaining the spell, the caster is functionally blind to the meat space, suffering a -4 dice pool penalty to all visual Perception and combat Defense tests against moving, biological targets.

Starfinder (2nd Edition Playtest)

Algorithm 049: Seismic Mapping Ping

A hybrid tech-magic divination matrix essential for spelunkers exploring dead alien ruins or engineers attempting to repair heavily damaged starship bulkheads.

Traits: Divination, Magical, Tech
Cast: 2 Actions (Interact)
Range: Touch (30-foot emanation)
Duration: Sustained up to 1 minute
Frequency: Once per Day
Game Mechanics: You press your codex against a surface and initiate a kinetic pulse. For the duration, you gain a +2 status bonus to Perception checks to locate secret doors, concealed compartments, and structural flaws. You also gain a +2 status bonus to Engineering checks to disable mechanical traps or bypass structural obstacles within the emanation.
Specific Rule (Sensory Override): The spell provides a wireframe view of static, connected architecture only. While sustaining this spell, you are considered Blinded and Flat-Footed to creatures, energy beams, and moving vehicles.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Algorithm 049: TL 13 Acoustic Density Scanner

Operating less as a spell and more as a highly advanced, brute-force sensory application stored on the indestructible quartz drive. It uses micro-seismic thumps to read the density of starship hulls or subterranean bunker walls.

Tech Level: 13
Skill Requirement: Sensors or Electronics (Computers)
Range: 10 meters
Frequency: Once per Day (Requires an extensive cooldown period to prevent fracturing the internal quartz matrix)
Game Mechanics: Activating the scan requires a Routine (6+) Sensors check, taking 1D6 rounds of concentration. On a success, the user’s display paints a perfect 3D topological map of all bulkheads, hidden smuggling compartments, and structural fatigue within 10 meters.
Specific Rule: The user gains a +2 DM to Mechanics or Engineering checks when attempting to breach walls, repair hull damage, or locate hidden items in the scanned area.
Syntax Note: The user is completely engrossed in the auditory and visual data feed. They suffer a -2 DM to all Recon checks to notice ambushes, and attacks made against them while scanning gain a +1 DM to hit.

Warhammer (Age of Sigmar: Soulbound)

Algorithm 049: Ironweld Seismic-Auspex

A specialized Chamonite ritual often utilized by Collegiate Arcane mages accompanying Ironweld engineers. It is vital for navigating the treacherous, trap-filled tunnels of the Skaven or identifying the weak points in Chaos strongholds.

Complexity: 4
Duration: Sustained
Frequency: Once per Day
Game Mechanics: You place your hands against the stone and make a Mind (Awareness) test. Success creates a perfect mental map of the immediate Zone’s architecture. You automatically detect hidden compartments, secret doors, and structural weaknesses.
Specific Rule: The knowledge gleaned from the Auspex allows you and your allies to strike at the structure’s flaws. Anyone attacking the environment or attempting to dismantle a trap in the Zone gains +1d6 to their test.
Syntax Note: The ritual demands total sensory dedication to the vibrations of the Realm of Metal. While sustaining this spell, you suffer the Blinded condition regarding enemies and incoming attacks, and your Defense is reduced by one step.