Item-Based Phones (Phone Templates)

This powerful feature transforms smartphones from an abstract character feature into tangible, physical items 🎒 in your game world. Instead of a phone being permanently tied to an actor, it can be tied to an item in their inventory. This opens up a world of narrative possibilities: phones can be found, stolen, given as quest rewards, or left behind as clues.

How to Access This Feature: This is managed directly through Foundry's Items sidebar, not a settings menu.

GM Setup: Creating a Phone Template

1. Create a New Item: In the Items sidebar of your Foundry world, create a new item. The type doesn't matter, but Loot or Consumable are good choices. Give it a name that identifies it as a phone, like "Standard Dataphone" or "Burner Phone." You can add a description and an icon as you would for any other item.
2. Set as Template: Open the item's sheet. In the top header of the item window, you will see a button labeled "Set as Phone Template" ✨. Click this button. The button's text will change to "Unset as Phone Template," confirming that it is now active.
3. Distribute the Item: You can now give this item to players.
   • Drag the template item from your Items sidebar directly onto a player's character sheet.
   • Place it in a loot container for players to find.
   • Drop it onto the game canvas as a token for a character to pick up.

How It Works in Practice

• Activation: The moment a player adds a "Phone Template" item to their inventory, the module automatically activates it. A brand-new, unique phone with its own phone number is generated and linked specifically to that instance of the item. The original template item in your sidebar remains untouched and can be reused infinitely.
• Transfer of Ownership (The Cool Part 🕵️‍♀️): Because the phone is the item, whoever possesses the item possesses the phone.
  • If a player drops the item, another player can pick it up and gain access to the phone, including its entire message history, contacts, and call logs.
  • If an NPC steals the item from a player, the NPC now has their phone.
  • If a player gives the item to an ally, they are handing over their phone.
  • The original owner immediately loses access to the phone as soon as the item leaves their inventory.

Narrative Ideas & Use Cases

• Plot Hooks: Players find a lost or discarded phone on a dead body, giving them access to the victim's last conversations and contacts to start an investigation.
• Quest Rewards: A corporation rewards the players with a high-end "Corp-Issued Dataphone" item that has special contacts pre-installed.
• Burner Phones (🔥): Create a cheap "Burner Phone" template. For a secret mission, you can give each player a burner phone item. Once the mission is over, they can destroy the items to erase the evidence.
• High-Stakes Infiltration: A player must pickpocket a phone item from a guard to gain access to their messages and bypass security.

⚠️ Important Notes:

• Template vs. Instance: The item in your Items sidebar is only a template. It is never "used up." Each time you drag it to an actor, you are creating a new, unique phone instance.
• Deleting vs. Dropping: Be aware of the difference. If a player drops the phone item, it can be picked up again. If a player deletes the item from their inventory, the phone and all its associated data are permanently destroyed.