The Ends v4.01

[Username17]

Question: The "Erased" Quality. It seems way too good, particularly with this version of the matrix where data isn't supposed to really ever be lost forever in almost all cases.

Should it be adjusted in some way, or just let it be super and then everyone takes it and no one says much about it?

The thought of micromanaging qualities from Runner's Companion fills me with terror and disgust. Many of those qualities are gratuitously over or under priced, or simply a bad idea outright.

Unless I someday go through an make a master qualities list or something, I really am just telling people to wing it. Similarly, the Vampire rule are completely unplayable, but I haven't actually written replacements either.

-Username17

[Lokathor]

...oh, damn. It's from Runner's Companion. I never knew that because it made it's way into SR4A.

I actually have been working on my own "master list of qualities", so... that'll be an easy one to drop.

Or, maybe it would just have it push the threshold for researching info on the character up by +1 or something (from 5 to 6; or from 4 to 5 once you have a "public awareness" of 3).

Either way, thanks much for pointing out that it's from Runner's Companion, and that I thus really don't need to worry about keeping it in the game at all.

[JesterZero]

So here's a question for anyone that knows...what exactly is the distinction between the Firewall and IC? I understand the limits that Firewalls have regarding what actions they can take, but how does that work in terms of game mechanics?

Just to keep things truly simple, if a hacker opens up a connection to a hostile Firewall, and the Firewall wants to run Backtrack on him, then who rolls what?

Normally that would be Logic + Data Search vs. Intuition + Hacking...but the Firewall has neither Logic nor Data Search. So Firewall vs. Intuition + Hacking, with the number of hits the Firewall can achieve capped by the rating of the Backtrack program?

That can't be right...Firewalls can't be doing the equivalent of defaulting on not get overrun on a constant basis...and I must be missing something, because there are separate costs for Firewalls and IC in the equipment section.

Thanks for the help.

[Lokathor]

If a system does not have an IC program running, then the Firewall itself cannot take actions at all. It cannot Who Is or Backtrack you. It's just like an armored jacket you put on. It stops bullets, but can't react in any way to anything anyone might do.

If a system does have an IC program running (the rating of which is capped by the Firewall of the system), it rolls it's rating as a dice pool when it runs a program (I assume with no defaulting penalties) and then it's hits are also capped by the rating of the program it has available.

Since the IC is probably rating 5 through 7, and the enemy hacker is probably rolling 8 or more dice, IC isn't actually that good. But it's never ever surprised because it's non-sentient, so it has that going for it. It also reacts to trouble with super fast VR speeds, cause it's all digital.

[JesterZero]

I see.

So in this situation, assume that we're talking about the nicest commlink that a player can start with...Response/Signal 5 and System/Firewall 6.

So for this example, IC is capped by Firewall (6) and Backtrack is capped by System (6).

So we're still talking about IC vs. Intuition + Hacking, for the purposes of your commlink trying to figure out the location of the guy hacking it.

My only concern is that if IC is always just rolling off one value, and hackers/technomancers are typically rolling off two, then IC is at a minor disadvantage vs. a starting character (probably to the tune of 6 vs. 8, or 6 vs. 9), but that gap is going to get blown wide open the moment that starting character starts seriously investing in their skillset.

To me, it just feels like IC is never scary. And in Shadowrun, IC is supposed to be feared, particularly black IC. I mean, yes, you're correct in that it is quick, and it's tireless, but basically the default behavior of any IC that is intended to provide a serious deterrant is going to be to call in an actual hacker.

Which just feels awfully a lot like the allegedly dangerous guy cracking his knuckles, pulling back his jacket to reveal the butt of a very large handgun, and in a deep gravelly voice that would make a subwoofer jealous announce...

I'm going to tell my mommy on you.

Please don't get me wrong. Dekuji moc to Frank for writing this, and to you for helping with the finer points...but is the intention really that IC falls somewhere between an unmanned drone and a watcher spirit in terms of a viable threat?

[Username17]

But is the intention really that IC falls somewhere between an unmanned drone and a watcher spirit in terms of a viable threat?

In a word: yes.

The big problem with IC in 4th edition is that it's just a program you can buy. If IC is as scary as a hacker, then non-hackers will be as scary as hackers.

There's room for some kind of super IC for Nexuses, but regular computers running IC pretty much have to be much weaker than Hackers, because those are items that non-hacker PCs own several copies of.

-Username17

[JesterZero]

In a word: yes.

The big problem with IC in 4th edition is that it's just a program you can buy. If IC is as scary as a hacker, then non-hackers will be as scary as hackers.

There's room for some kind of super IC for Nexuses, but regular computers running IC pretty much have to be much weaker than Hackers, because those are items that non-hacker PCs own several copies of.

-Username17

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. If I encounter any concrete issues or examples from a real game, I'll bubble them up here.

On a mostly-unrelated note, I amused myself to no end last night kicking around ideas for how signal-related etiquette would work in the sixth world. Forget all the "hobo army" brainhacking nonsense that Dumpshock got so needlessly worked up over...What do you do when the Sixth World version of Walmart and Best Buy set up shop next to each other?

I mean, it's a given that some sort of program is being run to put you in a less-frugal mood. That's the natural progression of the basic-by-comparison shenanigans that we already do in retail establishments today. And it makes sense that you also insulate the snot out of your establishment in order to prevent your competitor from benefiting, and to prevent clever people from using your over-exuberance to show you what nastiness can be done at Handshake range. So as a customer, there is an expectation of what the retail establishment can and cannot do. And that it won't rise past a certain threshold, and that it essentially ends at the door (for the most part).

Things like Jingle make all the sense in the world while you're in the store. In fact, it seems to me that consumers would essentially expect it. And there's a moment in one of the SR4A fluff stories where the equivalent of the Google Cam Car rolls down the street pumping out simsense advertisements at what must be signal 0...because people see it coming, and if they don't want to be disturbed, they step away. It's seen as a potential annoyance, but like all minor annoyances, failure to prevent it is considered to be the responsibility of the one affected, not the one perpetuating it. For a citizen to chase said car down the street with rage in his heart and murder in his eye because he's so offended that it violated the sanctity of his personal space with it's electrons would be seen as a violation of the doctrine of proportional response. And we would all go on our way and tolerate the car, and avoid that crazy guy.

On the other hand, if you equip the Google Car with signal 4 gear and pump the same ads, you take it to a whole new level. You are now offending everyone in a 1km radius...at the same time. And a lot of those people will have the means to do something nasty in a retaliatory fashion that is going to require you to buy a new Google Car. Because you were dumb enough to make yourself an obvious target on both the social and technical levels.

And one of the hallmarks of SR4 is a renewed focus on blending in, or getting punished for refusing to.

I just really like the elegance of it all. These rules describe a Shadowrun world that makes sense. It's dysfunctional, intrusive, offensive, and occasionally scary as hell...but that's Shadowrun.

[RiotGearEpsilon]

I just really like the elegance of it all. These rules describe a Shadowrun world that makes sense. It's dysfunctional, intrusive, offensive, and occasionally scary as hell...but that's Shadowrun.

I really like your writing in this post, and your summary of the world it describes. I'd love to see more if you ever feel like it.

[Lokathor]

Hey Frank my player has been asking about the Head Jammer, so let's talk about the Head Jammer for a moment.

It's a helmet, like a motorcycle helmet or something like that, and it's on your head, and it detects incoming signals and cancels them by using an inverse wave or something like that. Specifics don't matter, the point is that it reduces signals going into your head by the rating of the headjammer. They're 250NY/rating and Availability 6R.

[*]You can roll Logic + Electronic Warfare to add potency to the headjammer, increasing it's rating up to twice the base rating "for a while". How long? I'm guessing 1 minute per point of base rating, and for each minute after that you roll the number of extra minutes as a dice pool. If you get a hit, the headjammer burns out and needs to be repaired before it can be used again. It can also be set to automatically adjust itself back to safe tolerances at the appropriate time.

[*]Are your own PAN signals canceled by a Headjammer? Do you need a datajack and a fiber out to your commlink to really be able to use them at all (or an internal commlink maybe)? Does the headjammer know not to cancel a specific signal and so it doesn't? Or do you setup ECCM through your own jamming field ahead of time and so it's not a big problem?

[*]It sure seems like a HeadJammer would make you easy as fuck to notice with a Matrix Perception check. Jamming fields in general seem like the kind of thing that would be to the point of "Don't bother rolling, they see that with even a single hit" kind of thing. This includes WiFi Paint, Faraday Cages (in armor, cars, buildings, etc), and other things that block the free flow of signals.

[*]Can you get armor-integrated headjammers? Like the +2/+2 Helmet they have in the Full Body Armor, or the +1/+2 helmet that they offer for generic armor.

[*]The player asked "Why doesn't everyone ever have a headjammer? Also, why don't they just coat the inside of their appartment in WiFi Paint and block out signals that way? Seems cheaper than paying for a Matrix Deprivation tank". I made up something about "regulations and laws keep that all in check because it's bad for the public good", but he wasn't really confident with the idea that anyone would outlaw the prevention of mind control. Seems like the corps would have it voted out just to protect their own interests, and that that's part of the core concept of Shadowrun in the first place. Am I far off?

[Quantumboost]

Are your own PAN signals canceled by a Headjammer? Do you need a datajack and a fiber out to your commlink to really be able to use them at all (or an internal commlink maybe)? Does the headjammer know not to cancel a specific signal and so it doesn't? Or do you setup ECCM through your own jamming field ahead of time and so it's not a big problem?[/b]

Since it cancels signals going in or out, you'd either need to have a hardwired commlink or a commlink physically placed inside the headjammer so it can interface with trodenets. Or electronic warfare. At that point, you're reducing your own commlink's signal by whatever, so if you want to access the Matrix *at all* you need to either not wear a very effective headjammer, have good ECCM, or have a commlink with some pretty potent signal range.

You can get a fiberoptic hard line between the stuff inside the jammer and a commlink not inside the jammer, but that would seem to defeat the point - since then the bad incoming signals can for the most part go through the same path the good incoming signals do.

The player asked "Why doesn't everyone ever have a headjammer? Also, why don't they just coat the inside of their appartment in WiFi Paint and block out signals that way? Seems cheaper than paying for a Matrix Deprivation tank". I made up something about "regulations and laws keep that all in check because it's bad for the public good", but he wasn't really confident with the idea that anyone would outlaw the prevention of mind control. Seems like the corps would have it voted out just to protect their own interests, and that that's part of the core concept of Shadowrun in the first place. Am I far off?

Like an actual Faraday Suit, it makes you look like a big blank spot in the Matrix where a network should obviously be. With the corresponding reactions from the authorities.

Also, typical citizens who want to use the Matrix, don't want to shell out thousands of nuyen for a super transceiver on their basic commlink, and don't have mad ECCM skillz would probably not use a headjammer. A commlink with decent firewall and some extra biofeedback filtration get most of the basic "mess you up" signals canceled out without having to deal with all the signals they actually want canceled out.

There are similar problems when dealing with coating your apartment with WiFi paint as well. It makes your apartment look like a conspicuously blind spot all the time, even when you're there. It makes it more difficult to actually interact with other networks in your apartment, since Connections seem to be routed through the Matrix itself.

You could, if you want to temporarily cut out Matrix signals, take a box and coat it with high-rating WiFi blocking paint and wear a headjammer while you're in there. At that point, you've just made a personal matrix deprivation tank.

[Lokathor]

Since it cancels signals going in or out, you'd either need to have a hardwired commlink or a commlink physically placed inside the headjammer so it can interface with trodenets.

See this is the part that seems less sure. The Head Jammer seems to be reacting to signals coming in and then canceling them. It's not necessarily forced to cancel all signals like with WiFi Paint, because if you turn it off it cancels nothing at all. It seems as if it might be set to allow specific signals, like the signals of the PAN, in and out without trouble. If this is true this is also hackable, but such is the price of convenience.

As to the other bit, I understand what it all does, and you understand what it does, but since we just were talking about corps trying to mind control you with Jingle spams all the time only a few posts up: what is the justification for why everyone didn't coat everything in WiFi Paint ages ago?

[Quantumboost]

The Head Jammer seems to be reacting to signals coming in and then canceling them. It's not necessarily forced to cancel all signals like with WiFi Paint, because if you turn it off it cancels nothing at all. It seems as if it might be set to allow specific signals, like the signals of the PAN, in and out without trouble. If this is true this is also hackable, but such is the price of convenience.

"A Head Jammer reduces the signal rating of transmissions going into or out of the head." It doesn't increase your Firewall (as being in a Resonance Node does), and it doesn't provide more Signal Defense. There's no indication at all that there's a "is this signal one I like" check in between detection and canceling.

You can selectively jam a particular signal with a commlink, you can get a particular signal through jamming with ECCM, and you can cancel out "bad" signals and let "good" ones through with Firewalls and Biofeedback Filter programs and Signal Defense and Cybercombat Defense. Those are things you can do. A headjammer doesn't do any of those things by itself as written, it just reduces the Signal of everything going in or out.

As to the other bit, I understand what it all does, and you understand what it does, but since we just were talking about corps trying to mind control you with Jingle spams all the time only a few posts up: what is the justification for why everyone didn't coat everything in WiFi Paint ages ago?

Because coating everything in WiFi Paint means that the wireless Matrix doesn't *exist*. If you only do that to individual apartments, that means that the apartment is completely cut off from the rest of the world - you can't even send emails to anybody you know because you're in an intentionally-created Dead Zone. If you do that to everything, the low-signal retransmitters that make up the Matrix backbone can't get their signals through and the Matrix shuts down completely. Connections can't be established between systems that aren't actually in handshake range, Technomancers are unable to do much of anything, and the entire wireless world goes black.

The average Joe Schmoe in Shadowrun values being able to get info off the Matrix at all more than he values being incrementally more sure that StufferShack isn't spamming "Soy Burritos are tasty" into his head. Firewalls and Redundant Biofeedback Filters don't cut out his connection to Miracle Shooter and image search for elf porn.

I fully expect some people to have head jammers and secure rooms covered in WiFi paint. But like wards and glomoss, I don't expect everyone off the street to have them - it's for places which need to specifically be cut off from the Matrix, or a place owned by a neo-luddite who doesn't want anything to do with the Matrix in the first place.

[Lokathor]

Because coating everything in WiFi Paint means that the wireless Matrix doesn't *exist*.

Again, I know that and you know that, but consider it a 5th question. Why does the wireless Matrix exist at all? What advantage does it give to the populace to have it streaming through their brains all the time that outweighs the dangers of having it streaming through their brains all the time? Why did the world go wireless? Most importantly, why the hell was it somehow thought that "make it wireless" was an actual solution to the matrix crashes that they seem to have every decade or so.

If you do that to everything, the low-signal retransmitters that make up the Matrix backbone can't get their signals through and the Matrix shuts down completely. Connections can't be established between systems that aren't actually in handshake range, Technomancers are unable to do much of anything, and the entire wireless world goes black.

Incidentally, I don't see anything about how a Connection can ever be formed if you're not in handshake range even if both sides want the Connection to be formed. I also don't see anything that forces a Connection closed other than a dead zone or a skill check. That is, once the Connection is open you don't need to maintain Handshake range, but to form it in the first place it seems like you always need that Handshake range.

[Quantumboost]

Again, I know that and you know that, but consider it a 5th question. Why does the wireless Matrix exist at all?

O_o

"The wireless Matrix" is ubiquitous internet access. Having wireless everywhere is INCREDIBLY convenient.

With the wireless Matrix, a person can access the food synthesizer at home from wherever they are so that dinner is finished being prepared at the precise moment they arrive, based on real-time traffic analysis and statistical analysis of on-foot travel times. They can access full-simsense networked virtual games from the waiting room of the doctor's office on a moment's notice. These are the things the average person on the street sees in the Matrix.

As for the "dangers", as I already said, the answer to that is "get a firewall", and maybe "get some redundant biofeedback filters". That's the defense against the Matrix threats your typical 2070s citizen is going to come across. The benefits are huge, and the dangers are easily mitigated.

The paranoid may be right to be concerned about the forces in the Matrix. Most people aren't paranoid.

Most importantly, why the hell was it somehow thought that "make it wireless" was an actual solution to the matrix crashes that they seem to have every decade or so.

I... wasn't actually aware that "more not crashing" was a reason for the wirelessness. I thought it was "well, we have to rebuild *everything*, we may as well make everything wireless since it's so convenient". And there's only been two actual crashes, in 2029 and 2064. That's all. Two. One of which was done by a supervirus and resulted in the first Matrix and one of which was due to insane doomsday cultists with magic nukes. Admittedly, anyone who actually thought wireless would defend against doomsday magic nuke cultists would be insane.

Incidentally, I don't see anything about how a Connection can ever be formed if you're not in handshake range even if both sides want the Connection to be formed. I also don't see anything that forces a Connection closed other than a dead zone or a skill check. That is, once the Connection is open you don't need to maintain Handshake range, but to form it in the first place it seems like you always need that Handshake range.

Okay, now that I search for it, it seems you can't actually start a Connection outside Handshake range. My bad.

[Lokathor]

Ah, my mistake, I knew of the one in '64, and the super virus of 2029-2031. I thought that there was one more crash in the 50s.

But the benefits... they could all be had while also carefully segmenting off the world against unlimited wireless flow, and just making use of a mixed wired and wireless backbone to get signal where it needs to go.

Edit:
I suppose... In a world full of paranoia and fear, I'm not following why it hasn't caused people to be more secure in general than they are claimed to be.

[Surgo]

I don't think the world itself is full of paranoia and fear. That's certainly true among the runners and the guys in the know among the corps, but that's where it ends.

[Pixels]

Do Biofeedback Filters apply to Death Note? All of the other program/forms that are affected by them specifically say so.

Also, I couldn't find anything (at least on the first page) about what you use to resist Fading. I was assuming Resonance + Willpower, but I could just as easily see it being System + Willpower or some such.

[Username17]

Do Biofeedback Filters apply to Death Note? All of the other program/forms that are affected by them specifically say so.

Yeah... I got overly poetic with Death Note's description. It's biofeedback damage, so Biofeedback Filters act as armor, same as against Black Hammer.

Also, I couldn't find anything (at least on the first page) about what you use to resist Fading. I was assuming Resonance + Willpower, but I could just as easily see it being System + Willpower or some such.

Technomancer Streams do not have a corresponding Drain attribute. Everyone resists Fading with Willpower + Resonance.

-Username17

[Pixels]

Here's another one. Machine and Industry sprites have Innate Form (Pilot) as an optional power. Innate Form can only give a Complex Form that the compiling technomancer knows himself. I suppose I can't think of any reason a technomancer couldn't have a Pilot Complex Form - they could even have a Virtual Pet Complex Form if they really felt like it. But it seems quite odd to spend a bunch of BP on a Complex Form that is specific to a particular device and that you will never use yourself. Or were they supposed to be able to take piloting autosofts without the compiling technomancer having to learn them first?

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, I didn't spot any sort of resistance test on Merge. What stops a technomancer from irresistibly gaining control of a drone or a car by merging a sprite with it? I suppose a car can be protected with a Faraday Cage of sufficient rating (presuming sprites can't pull a trick from the spirit bag and take a shortcut through a Resonance Realm straight into the car), but having a drone with a Faraday Cage somewhat defeats the purpose.

I also noted that programs are limited by the system of the device they are running on - but I didn't see any equivalent statement for Complex Forms. Normally, the rating is your Resonance, but is there any reason a technomancer wouldn't use Threading on everything? In VR you get Response (for a technomancer, Intuition) free actions to throw around. No reason not to spend a few of them to Thread your Jedi Trick up to rating 10+, even though you are unlikely to get that many hits. And there is plenty of reason to Thread your Crash or Death Note. A rating 10+ Death Note would have frightening clout.

[Pixels]

Well, that killed the thread real fast. Let's try answering my own questions.

---

The technomancer really shouldn't have to take Piloting Complex Forms himself - instead of 'Innate Form(Pilot)' it should say something along the lines of 'Complex Form(Pilot)' or 'any Pilot complex form.'

---

Merge does need a resistance roll for unfriendly electronics. The fastest patch would be Rating x2 vs Firewall + Pilot (if any). Drones and cars would be the most resistant, orphan smartguns or other electronics would still be entirely vulnerable. As long as the device has a Firewall, it has a chance of resisting, even if it is rather low. If you wanted to make the Machine > Industry > Crack sprite at Merging, you could use Rating + Int for the attacking test instead.

Of course, if the technomancer spoofs an admin and orders the drone or car to accept the sprite, then that works too. In the end, the only sure defense against Merge is keeping the device in your PAN or keeping the sprite out entirely with a Faraday Cage or WiFi Paint - if you don't bother with that, then it's just going to be a sad day for you. Deal with it.

---

Last one is the most tangled. The whole Logic/System/Resonance thing kind of bothers me. If System DOES cap the rating of your Complex Form, then it becomes a significant barrier to advancing your character. Playing an Orc (or gods forbid, a Troll) becomes a very unappealing prospect indeed, as your natural/augmented Logic cap is low. Humans, Dwarfs, and Elves can start with Logic and Resonance at 6 for maximum effect, but if you want to increase the rating of your Complex Forms, you have to increase Submersion AND Resonance AND Logic. This costs gobs of BP (or karma), moreso because the only way to increase Logic beyond your natural cap is to spend an Essence on bioware and genetech.

And capping forms by System also does some weird things with sprites. The Archive, Corruption, Crack, and Flame sprite have System lower then their Rating, depressing the effectiveness of their Complex Forms. That is rather unpleasant.

What happens if Complex Forms are not capped by System? Then you can thread all the time. For most forms this doesn't increase the effect, but does allow you to get more hits. For 16 dice (6 Resonance + 4 skill + 6 sprite aid), that's a decent chance at an extra hit or two. For the more mathematically bent, it comes out to an extra 0.45 hits expected. That is certainly nice, but not gamebreaking.

On the other hand, it does make technomancer Crash/Death Note attacks notably more deadly, and allows them to juice up their Armor programs. This might be problematic if you don't like the idea of technomancers being able to crash or KO mooks with a single round of beaming death signals, but realistically they're still much worse at making heads explode than a competent gunslinger. And technomancers were already some of the most Icon damage resistant targets on the Matrix - if you aren't using Denial or Lag instead on them, you won't get too far whether or not the technomancer has an extra few dice to soak Crash.

The big problem with uncapped Complex Forms is that the hacker does kind of pale next to the technomancer. At creation hackers will generally be less competent at hacking, as technomancers can have sprites that aid, use Complex Forms on their own, and provide useful powers. Even decked out in 'ware (including the rather unreliable neocortical neural amplifiers), the hacker will only be able to equal a sprite-assisted technomancer's rolls. They do have a few edges: at creation they can pull an extra VR initiative pass out of a SimSense Booster, almost always have higher Response/System/Signal/Firewall, are much less sensitive to jamming, can fairly cheaply build themselves a system 8 comm after creation, and in a pinch can be designed to both hack and kick ass in meatspace combat. And as long as you haven't dumped Logic, anybody can become a medicore hacker with a few build points into skills and some judicious program copying from looted comms.

So it comes down to whether the edge of uncapped Complex Forms is unbalanced on the technomancer, given that hacking is their home field. It's hard to say without playtesting it, really.

[Lokathor]

Alright here's an easy question this time:
[*]How easy is Matrix Perception supposed to be? Specifically, does an Imagelink in your glasses count for giving you +1 to Matrix Perception? Does having AR Gloves count for another +1? Does Earbuds give you a third (and final) +1? Or do you need literal cyber-senses that burn into your Essence to get those +1 bonuses?

[Username17]

Alright here's an easy question this time:
[*]How easy is Matrix Perception supposed to be? Specifically, does an Imagelink in your glasses count for giving you +1 to Matrix Perception? Does having AR Gloves count for another +1? Does Earbuds give you a third (and final) +1? Or do you need literal cyber-senses that burn into your Essence to get those +1 bonuses?

You need actual cybersenses to get those bonuses.

Here's another one. Machine and Industry sprites have Innate Form (Pilot) as an optional power. Innate Form can only give a Complex Form that the compiling technomancer knows himself. I suppose I can't think of any reason a technomancer couldn't have a Pilot Complex Form - they could even have a Virtual Pet Complex Form if they really felt like it. But it seems quite odd to spend a bunch of BP on a Complex Form that is specific to a particular device and that you will never use yourself. Or were they supposed to be able to take piloting autosofts without the compiling technomancer having to learn them first?

The intention was for Pilot forms to be exempt from the normal restrictions of only being able to provide innate forms of CFs the technomancer knows.

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, I didn't spot any sort of resistance test on Merge. What stops a technomancer from irresistibly gaining control of a drone or a car by merging a sprite with it?

Merge does not have a test. You just have to open a connection ad then you can do a total takeover. It automatically fails if the device isn't orphaned, and if you can prevent a connection the power cannot be used.

-Username17

[Lokathor]

Merge does not have a test. You just have to open a connection and then you can do a total takeover. It automatically fails if the device isn't orphaned, and if you can prevent a connection the power cannot be used.

I take it then, from the fact that the Crack Sprite does have Back Door as a complex form, that Sprites don't automatically open connections on demand like Technomancers do? I ask because, as you probably recall, none of the Sprites that can Merge have Backdoor as a Complex Form (or an option for an additional Exploit Form), which means that sprites can't ever infect drones all on their own. They would have to join into your network, have you (the technomancer) open a connection, and then merge into the enemy drone. Additionally, neither of the Merge capable sprites have Data Masking, so they never ever have an Access ID, so your own drone can't even tell that they're supposed to be allowed in because they're you're your ally.

Seriously, what's up with Tesla Burst? That thing's fucking dangerous. It's not even that it's dangerous, it's that it can't really ever be traced back to the player, because all the stuff that might be tracing them ends up dying in the process.

I've yet to see a technomancer in serious play, but it just seems like sprites are really really powerful. And the fact that there's no limit on registering sprites means that there's not much reason to go around with less than 5 to 7 sprites all the time (depending on if you're an elf or not). Since several types of them can Antivirus, and it stacks up with Teamwork, your squad is probably going to be super armored against attacks. Or perhaps I'm just worrying about the difficulties of a Technomancer with 6 sentry sprites floating about him constantly. With maxed out signal defense and around 20 dice to soak any icon damage, it seems like the technomancer would pretty much be a beast at that point. Of course, I won't fiddle with them until giving them a fair chance. I suppose my question is, How are hackers expected to stand up to technomancers, if at all? I'm sure that by the mid 2070's the corps would have come up with some kind of basic plan. Other than "jammer the fuck out of everything", which does wonders, but isn't really practical.

[Username17]

I take it then, from the fact that the Crack Sprite does have Back Door as a complex form, that Sprites don't automatically open connections on demand like Technomancers do? I ask because, as you probably recall, none of the Sprites that can Merge have Backdoor as a Complex Form (or an option for an additional Exploit Form), which means that sprites can't ever infect drones all on their own. They would have to join into your network, have you (the technomancer) open a connection, and then merge into the enemy drone.

Yes.

Additionally, neither of the Merge capable sprites have Data Masking, so they never ever have an Access ID, so your own drone can't even tell that they're supposed to be allowed in because they're you're ally.

You could order them to accept a connection query. Click the "Yes" box, security settings be damned.

How are hackers expected to stand up to technomancers, if at all?

Shoot them. Also, jam them. Technomancers are very powerful, but they suck really hard when you pump up the matrix noise and they are still made out of meat.

-Username17

[Lokathor]

Well it seems to me that there's essentially zero reason for a Technomancer to ever actually take their body some place when they can just project there, unless you have to cross a significant sized dead zone to get where you're going. Particularly since your Sentry Sprite posse can be equipped with Clarity. It just seems significantly harder to counter those kooky virtuakinetics, but I guess that's kinda by design.

What are the odds that corps would have Technomancers working for them as security or in other roles? I remember reading someplace in the books that Technomancers are 1 in 100,000. Except, at that rate they'd have the same problem that mages do: no one would really give a fuck because they'd be too rare. Seattle (a fair sized 'plex) would have only have 30 of the buggers.

What happens to a Tehcnomancer who is projecting and has their Resonance reduced to 0 by jamming? They just go back into their body, or they're suppressed out of existence until the jamming goes down, potentially throwing them into a perma-coma if they run out of projection time? Something else?

But this all gives me and idea, what would you say to having something akin to Merge be an Echo? Technomancer projects and then crawls into their drone and goes about on a hack-a-thon. Safe from jamming but subject to meatspace rules.

(Also, while I have your attention, would you find a Metamagic that gives +1 Initiative and +1 Initiative Pass while Astrally Projected to be a reasonable sort of thing? There doesn't seem to be any way at all to get 4IP in astral space, so maybe that's supposed to just be a thing that doesn't happen or something, I dunno.)