SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

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Sir Neil
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SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Sir Neil »

1. Is there some blindingly obvious reason I haven't found for you to not to be a hacker adept? With full VR hotsim, you get 3 attacks and +2 dice, but you can't act physically and can get totally killed by Black Ice. With Improved Reflexes, you get 4 attacks and the worst that can happen is Black Ice breaks your computer.

2. The picture on 207, of the baby robot helicopter blowing suckas away? Teach me how to get some of that.

I know the drone is 2k, the weapon mount is 2.5k, the LMG is 2k, and a matching targeting autosoft is 600. 7,100y so far.

A. In the combat section it keeps mentioning Response and Firewall, but those stats don't seem to be listed.

B. Is the drone affected by recoil?

C. If the LMG was a smartgun, would the robot get the bonus?

3. SR vampires walk around in sunlight and only get -4 dice, but lock them in grandma's cedar chest and they actually die?
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Username17 »

1. The hacking rules are problematic. They almost work, but the structural problems with them are pretty deep. The portions that don't work are frustratingly vague, so you can handwave them away. Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that they will be "clarified" in Unwired, causing the system to stop working altogether. The primary difficulties are (in no particular order):

  • 1. Agent Smith There is no practical limit on how many Agents you can have running around doing the burly brawl. There is likewise no limit on how much IC could be reasonably arrayed against you. Computing power is ubiquitous, and the only limits on how many Agents can run is how "many" processors you dedicate to this task. Specific limits will be introduced in Unwired, but you'll be able to buy your way out of those limits, so it's just like not having any limits at all.

    2. Script Kiddy In reality, there is no particular reason to "be" a Hacker. Every part of your dicepool comes from equipment, not "you". Even having skills is pretty pointless as those can be replaced by software (Skillsoft or Agent). So basically at the extreme end your dicepool for hacking tasks is Attibute (Program) + Skill (Program) + Equipment - you don't enter the equation at all. You could seriously have your kid sister hold a black box with a green button that said "Hack!" and it would work just as well. If you carry in a retransmitter, she doesn't even have to be there.

    3. Defender Chooses As written, there's really no reason why anyone should open themselves up to getting Matrix attacked. You have to set yourself up to have a vulnerability to Matrix attack. You can just... not do that. The presented architecture allows you to simply not allow Black IC to attack you. Worse, the same rules that alow you to slave devices like your belt buckle music player to your comlink (preventig enemy hackers from jumping into your PAN through the Device Rating 1 bullshit that can't defend itself) also allow corporations to do the same thing with a laser link to a sattelite. There's flat no reason why you should be able to hack an enemy installation without taking it apart with a crowbar and making hardware tests.


Problematic. You can handwave most of that away, but as I said, it'll get harder to do once the Unwired rules come out. For a real shorthand assessment you can say that Hackers use Logic + Skill and just drop Program Ratings altogether. Then drop Agents completely and throw down a limit where the gamemaster only throws down one IC icon at you at a time. And of course, you just have an agreement that everything is set up to be hacked for some reason, player character devices as well. No shutting off Wireless bullshit.

As to your A, B, and C questions, the answers are:
  • A Firewall and Response default to the Device Rating, but you can upgrade them at the prices listed on page p. 240 (Response) and p. 321 (Firewall).

    B Yes. But recoil mods are easy, especially for an LMG (check out that White Knight!). The rules don't really address the difficulties of putting guns onto flying things at all - seriously you might as well (I have some alternate recoil rules that make this less of a no-brainer.

    C Yes.


And no, I hve no idea why Vampires had their Severe Allergy to Sunlight taken away. Makes no sense to me. The only thing I can say is that a creature can't regenerate while in contact with an allergen. So if you cut their head off during daylight, vampires stay dead. :shrug:

I'm actually working on a deep Matrix overhaul to address those specific issues. It's going kind of slowly because I often am at school for 8 hours a day, and between study, sleep, and eating there isn't a whole lot of space for writing. But here's where I'm coming from:

---

The Ends of the Matrix
"Let's go talk to our Matrix expert and get him to do… whatever it is that he does."

Throughout the four editions of Shadowrun, no rule-set has been changed more dramatically nor inspired more complete house-rules than the Matrix section. And this is unsurprising, because the Matrix touches upon something which is somewhat real – computers – while at the same time living entirely in the realm of deeply speculative fiction.

But more so than that, the Matrix has always had a tremendously difficult problem with abstraction of action. That is, it is entirely possible for the game to model every single pull of the trigger on a gun, every invocation of a spell, every turn of a car – but it is not possible to model every machine language command that flashes by a hacker. Every time you blink your eyes, a quadrillion processes crank through to completion in the Matrix. Equations are solved, numbers added and lost, and even listing all of them that had past during a heart's beat would be longer than every book ever written. So actions in the Matrix have to be abstracted. And yet, no past or current edition has had a consistent degree of approximation, which leads to wrinkles in the game system.

At the beginning, a computer system that an NPC used was modeled as a separately "room" for each arbitrary part of the computer (I/O, Storage Memory, Graphics Card, whatever), while the computer that the PC used was modeled as a series of attributes which modified the "Decker's" matrix icon (Where I/O was a location in NPC computers, it was an attribute in PC computers). In 4th edition, all processor power is abstracted and programs run arbitrarily somewhere in networks. Except that Agents/IC are specific code that runs on specific hardware and then takes individual actions in the Matrix based on how many copies are running somewhere in the arbitrarily large computer system they are stored in.

What is presented here is not the only method to realize the Matrix. Indeed, there are literally an infinite number of ways you could imagine it. Like Astral space, the Matrix does not exist; but unlike Shadowrun's magic, the Matrix isn't even loosely based upon folklore. What is here is hopefully a manner of realizing the Matrix which is consistent, playable, and fun. After all, if the rules are playable and they agree with the presented fluff to the extent that unplanned events can be extrapolated from the rules – then we can get back to what's really important: playing the game.

But before we can get some answers, we are going to need to formulate our questions.

Why Crime?
"Why yes, Big Brother is watching. However Big Brother has ADHD, so I'm going to sit here drinking my soykaf like any of a billion wage slaves are doing right now. And then Big Brother will get bored. And distracted. And then I'm going to do… anything I want."

One of the core conceits of the Shadowrun game is that crime is possible, and that crime pays. Given the wealth of potential satellite oversight (just look at Google Earth in 2007 – imagine the law enforcement version in 2070), and the incredibly daunting task that is cracking through somewhat decent encryption, it is entirely reasonable to project a future where getting away with any crime at all requires some sort of elaborate social engineering to pull inside jobs that play off of secret limits of the anti-crime system. But this isn't Minority Report or any other Phildickian setup, this is Shadowrun. And in Shadowrun bad people shoot other people right in the face for money and get away with it to do it again.

So here are some quasi-plausible justifications for that:

A Revolution in Data Collection, a Crisis of Storage
"I'm sorry, I seem to have misplaced my 'give-a-damn'."

Throughout human history the creation of data has exceeded the capacity to store it. It starts in infancy where a babe simply doesn't remember every single thing she sees, and it continues on through the Age of Bronze where not every conversation or every play gets written down, and it continues today. It could very plausibly continue in the Shadowrun future and for the sake of playability we're assuming that it does. The cameras in the world exceed the number of people who could watch them, and they collectively generate more video footage every day than can be stored on all the world's storage media.

And that is amongst the things that makes crime possible. When you go to the bathroom, a computer is measuring the mass of your deposit. When you flee a crime scene you're being watched by every store front you pass. But likely as not, none of that information will actually be saved anywhere. Some of it may be, but it quite likely isn't organized enough to actually identify you as the perpetrator (of the crime or the leavings). More importantly, information getting deleted isn't really news. If 18½ minutes are missing or overwritten by elven pornography, that's not weird.

Furthermore remember that in the world of 2071, it is entirely possible that a "legitimate" information request from investigating authorities will simply be refused. There's nothing in it for a Wuxing or Aztechnology subsidiary to share their security footage with Evo security to assist in the investigation of a crime against Evo or one of its subsidiaries. Corporations, especially major corporations are in competition, but beyond that they actually are regularly committing crimes against one another. Even showing what footage Aztechnology has of an event would be tipping its hand to Evo and it isn't going to compromise itself that way under normal circumstances. Further, it is in the interests of Aztechnology to make investigation and enforcement as expensive a proposition as possible for Evo as this reduces the company's ability to compete with them in other areas. So even when data is successfully stored, there's no reason to believe that investigating authorities will ever be allowed to actually see that data – which when you think about it is a lot like that data being lost or simply not recorded in the first place.

A Cacophony of Echoes
"OK. Everyone who agrees that I'm Jennifer Woodyard, raise their hand."

Your SIN, your driver's license, your home owner's insurance, your medical records, and really every other thing about you are stored electronically in the Matrix. It's like your credit report today. And like your credit report (or wikipedia), pretty much anyone can put stuff into the data stream at any time. You can challenge the data in court and maybe get it changed, but by and large stuff just accumulates in the data stream. Because of the fact that things aren't always correct and some people are total tools, the system is equipped with failsafes to try to weed out incorrect data. Data which is repeated many times in many places (or in important or "trustworthy" places) is considered to have a high veracity. Data which shows up only a few times or in very sketchy places is treated as having a lower veracity. If data conflicts, the system automatically chooses to believe higher veracity information at the expense of lower veracity information.

An example of this in action might be someone getting your name wrong on a delivery of NERPS. Your name is something like Chris McGee, but on the invoice it says Chris Maggie. Now off in the Matrix somewhere there's a little piece of data that your name is in fact Chris Maggie. But fortunately for you, your UCAS driving license and your AzTech Tech diploma are both in your real name. So in the future when machines check your name, the right name will have a higher veracity and displace the wrong name. The Chris Maggie typographical error will only show up again after low intensity searches which stop after the first couple of hits. So the "Chris Maggie" spelling may continue to haunt you for the rest of your life, getting picked up by cheap companies that purchase sales information from NERPS distribution; gradually gaining veracity as it is passed from company to company and appearing in more and more places in the Matrix – but it probably won't.

This can be used by criminals (that's you). Because of the complete lack of a central authority of Truth©, you can actually create truths that happen to suit you. If you treat something as true long and loudly enough, everyone else will treat it the same way. While archaic considerations like "statute of limitations" are out the window, the fact is that if you can fool the world into believing that you've always lived in Nag Kampuchea for a while, the world will continue to believe it pretty much indefinitely. The world of 2071 has an extremely short attention span and you actually can reinvent yourself with sufficient effort.

Why Hackers?
"There are people who can sling a spell or swing a sword and I'm sure that on some level what they do is fine. But in my world, I'm the best you'll ever see."

A core conceit of Shadowrun has always been that a savvy matrix expert is an essential member of a Shadowrunner team. That means that the Hacker character's skills and attributes have to be important; it means that the Hacker's contribution to the team has to matter; it means that the Hacker is not easily replaced with a contact or a device that says TraceBuster on the side.

The Meat in the Machine: Power for Precision
"Can I run some of these programs on your sister? She's like a little porcelain doll."

How powerful are the computers in Shadowrun? Very powerful. But exactly how powerful has never really been explained. And honestly, it shouldn't be. Computing is very fast, very accurate, and very awesome. But for whatever reason, human brains are still employed as an important adjunct. This is itself not particularly surprising. The human brain is in total capable of over 100 trillion computer instructions every second. That's an amount which is, quite frankly, ridiculous. It's a very, very large amount of processor power, and although a tremendous amount of it is being "wasted" in subconscious thought about whether you'd enjoy a Blue Donut™ or whatever, it still has more total processing power than any device in Shadowrun. Computers aren't really ever more powerful than a human brain, they are more dedicated and more precise. A computer can get the same answer to a question over and over again without ever being wrong (or creative) and that right there is its strength and its weakness.

In Shadowrun history the Cyberterminal was created in 2029 and it is established that no existing computer system could possibly stand against someone using one. This isn't because the cyberterminal was a revolutionarily faster and more powerful computer capable of crushing other computers with its virtual biceps (though it was), it's because the cyberterminal was cybernetic – it literally plugged into the brain of the user. And it crushed other computers not because thinking instructions is so much faster than typing them (though it is), but because a cyberterminal actually uses part of the human's brain in its computer operations. That alone gives it a processing reserve that is well over one hundred thousand times what a super computer was capable of when Shadowrun was first written.

Shadowrun progressed through the existence of the cyberterminal to the cyberdeck: a portable computer which was nonetheless able to utilize the powers of the human brain. It was the standard in 2050 and for the next 15 years it remained on the cutting edge for Hackers. And that's where the history gets confusing. Because it's entirely possible that at some point the people in Shadowrun managed to create something portable that was in fact more powerful than a human brain. And at that point, the human really is just a vestigial appendage whose purpose is to press the Go button. But while that's admirably dystopic and fits into the overall cyberpunk genre fairly well, the game still centers on the player characters – who are still "just" individual humans. The moment they become obsolete, the game is over. Not just your particular campaign, but indeed the entire game of Shadowrun. So we're constrained to believe that in fact the human element is still vital to the operation of high end computing. That's fine, there can be many revolutions in computing power without actually pushing the one hundred trillion computer instructions per second threshold.

So when we get to the Commlink, the one thing we know didn't happen is that the Commlink did not replace the need for it to be connected to a serious metahuman brain in order to orchestrate enough processing power together to do real cybercombat. We know this did not happen because we are still playing the game.

  • Equipment Spotlight: The Math Subprocessor
    Many people have asked why one would bother with a math subprocessor as a cybernetic enhancement. After all, a handheld calculator has a stupidly fast and accurate look-up table for approximating trigonometric functions and you can jolly well just hook such a function up to your datajack and get the answers to any reasonable "math" question in less time than it takes to ask it.
    The answer is that a Math Subprocessor is not a calculator that feeds you answers. It's more like a nerve staple that forces part of your brain to perform mathematical analysis on demand. That's why it applies to things like signal jamming, it literally turns part of your brain into an incredibly powerful bio-computer slaved to the tasks you designate for it. In some ways it actually makes you less intelligent: you are seriously using less of your brain on a moment to moment basis. But when the chips are down and you need to extrapolate a wave function or predict the results of a three-body problem, the Math Subprocessor is your friend.


Modern Data Management: The I and the Storm
"The falling cherry blossoms symbolize both the beauty and the transience of life. The blossoms fall as men fall and remind us of our mortality. Also every one of them is a music player I've harnessed together into a giant parallel processing computing gestalt for the singular purpose of calculating how to make your life a little bit more transient."

The Wireless Matrix heralds a new paradigm of computer use. Not necessarily in computer power, but in utility. In the real world of 2007 parallel processing is a difficult problem; but by 2070 it is the norm.

With so much computing power all over everything it is a wonder that anything gets done. Indeed, quite often things don't get done simply because the instructions to do so are buried so deeply in lists of things to do that they just never get looked at.

  • Equipment Spotlight: the Toaster
    Computing in Shadowrun has reached a level of abstraction that is truly epic. The toaster on the shelf not only has a computer in it, but it has processor cycles to spare after calculating the proper toasting methods based on the thickness and consistency of your bread compared with your stated preferences regarding toast. Not just that it could be utilized as a calculator or day planner while not heating bagels – but that even while in use it could potentially be added to a network and contribute helpfully to the entire operation of a network. The implications of this are far reaching: most importantly it means that the actual amount of total processing power available to your network is both large and unknowable.
    Seriously, it's unknowable. This is a boon to both the Player of the Hacker (as it means that he doesn't have to keep track of exactly how much memory he has to play with), and to the Hacker himself (as it means that there's an unknowably large number of ways to sneak data and access into the networks that he is infiltrating).


Why Johnny Can't Hack: The Hacker and his Dicepools
"I'm sorry Ms. Walters, but your son is an idiot."

Hacking is a difficult enterprise. You are essentially using your own brain as a Matrix Node and then wrangling a horde of devices into some crazy topological nightmare of computing craziness on top of that to accomplish the ghastly difficult tasks of mathematics and signal management.

In general, a Hacker rolls Attribute + Skill for the resolution of any task. The skill being used will generally be Computer, Cybercombat, Data Search, Electronic Warfare, or Hacking. The Attribute being used will generally be Logic or Intuition. Resisting damage and other hostile effects from the Matrix is generally the providence of Willpower. Characters with low Logic and Intuition scores are bad at being utilized by computers. Characters with low Willpower scores find themselves susceptible to having their precious neurons overwritten by intrusive machines.

------------
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Fwib »

Equipment Spotlight: the Toaster
Howdy-doodly-do?
Did you think of this when you picked the toaster as an example of pervasive computing?
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Catharz »

Nice write-up, Frank. I like the 'why crime', dealing with ubiquitous surveillance is one of the parts of SR that's bugged me.

My current take on 'why hackers?' is pretty much the same. If we just pretend that an ultra-powerful neural net for generalized pattern recognition can't be effectively simulated by a Von Neumann machine, the human still has a place along with a computer.

The agent problem is no more because they lack the wetware to compete. IC is still deadly because to access the matrix you need free dataflow directly into the brain. AR-based hacking is right out.

<Cyberpunk fanboy flavor text>
Because the matrix itself is a pure data stream rather than something rational (like the internet as viewed through a browser or 'AR'), it's processed via direct 'injection' into the medulla and a few key sensory pathways (nasal, aural, and optical nerves are fed directly). As a result the hacker's brain is forced to make sense of the input. Like a current theory that dreams result from random 'house cleaning', the data is re-interpreted in a manner unique to the hacker. Sometimes extensive drug use is required to just reach the right level of craziness that it all 'clicks'. Matrix use it also addictive on it's own, so hackers tend to burn out.

Oh yeah, and hackers don't access the matrix via some ISP. They need that data routed through their brains, so they have to act as 'backbones' to some degree (although the SR matrix may be completely P2P anyway).
</Cyberpunk fanboy flavor text>
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Sir Neil »

I know you're busy, and I'd ask at dumpshock, but my tolerance for stupidity has gone way down since the government started paying me to kill people.

FrankTrollman at [unixtime wrote:1192775591[/unixtime]]The portions that don't work are frustratingly vague, so you can handwave them away. Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that they will be "clarified" in Unwired, causing the system to stop working altogether.


I will cleverly elude the problem by not getting that book. I do want Arsenal, though: I got this to replace Rifts and Robotech, and there's a shortage of war machines in the main book. Is Augmentation any good, and are there more monsters in Street Magic?

For a real shorthand assessment you can say that Hackers use Logic + Skill and just drop Program Ratings altogether.


That makes the most sense.

Firewall and Response default to the Device Rating, but you can upgrade them at the prices listed on page p. 240 (Response) and p. 321 (Firewall).


I didn't see a device rating for drones. Would it be equal to the Pilot score?

But recoil mods are easy, especially for an LMG (check out that White Knight!).


Holy cow, I checked those stats when I was creating a cyborg today. Short bursts every round forever and ever amen.

Why Crime?


That needs to be in the main book. Like, right now.

***
Since you convinced me to get it, I've been going over older posts. Why should a street samurai take Longarms, for sniper rifles?

Bioware costs: Wowser. Even in Santa Cruz, nuyen for a Biosam will be tight.

Adept Improved Sense: Is Ultrasound available?
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Username17 »

Did you think of this when you picked the toaster as an example of pervasive computing?


Actually no. The "spirit of toaster" has been a long running Shadowrun joke. I think it was started by S. Kenson in Awakenings, but it might go back farther than that. It shows up now and again. There's a reference in Street Magic I know, and it just seemed logical to put one in here as well.

I do want Arsenal, though: I got this to replace Rifts and Robotech, and there's a shortage of war machines in the main book. Is Augmentation any good, and are there more monsters in Street Magic?


Heh true. From what I've seen of Arsenal it looks fine. It was supposed to be out a long time ago, and it prety much seemed done. I don't know what is up with that. Augmentation is a quality product and I'm overall very pleased with how it came out. The Essence hole rules are incomprehensible and should get thrown out altogether - you just have one Essence Hole, not separate ones for various arbitrary categories. But that's a minor quibble.

Street Magic isn't much of a monster book. It's more like The Complete Arcane in that it is mostly filled with player options. There is a section for "magical threats" which make pretty decent villains. But the section is long on flavor and short on rules. And it has "Bloodzilla" which is one of the infinite power loops in the game (which in turn is completely unnecessary). But it does have 4 more spirits and a much expanded section on creating a tradition. I can reccommend the book.

Why should a street samurai take Longarms, for sniper rifles?


Since "recoil" is a function of how many bullets you fire and not how much actual recoil you are subjecting yourself to, there is game mechanically little incentive to not use very large hand cannons. Shotguns and Sniper Rifles are well rewarded, and come in Long Arms.

Bioware costs: Wowser. Even in Santa Cruz, nuyen for a Biosam will be tight.


Yep. Bioware costs big big money. Not unachievably large amounts of cash, but it's certainly something that you can work for over many games.

Adept Improved Sense: Is Ultrasound available?


Yes.

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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Catharz »

FrankTrollman at [unixtime wrote:1192891518[/unixtime]]
Adept Improved Sense: Is Ultrasound available?


Yes.



Image
?


Just get yourself one of these.
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Judging__Eagle »

Catharz, that's a really hot piece of kit.
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Sir Neil »

Sir_Neil at [unixtime wrote:1192843103[/unixtime]]I didn't see a device rating for drones. Would it be equal to the Pilot score?


For those following at home, device ratings can be found in the table on 214.

****
Shotguns don't work for me in this game. Flechette ammo, small magazines, and short range? Gotta agree with L.J.

L.J.: Motherfucker, please. Look.
[opens up his jacket revealing two gold guns]
L.J.: My shit is custom.


I'm more of a FN HAR guy, at least until Arsenal hits the shelves. Walther MA-2100 ftw, though.
****
"Is Ultrasound available?"

"Yes."


Yum.

****
I was avoiding getting additional rule books since I figured they'd inevitably send the system off the rails. Glad that's not the case. I'll probably grab Augmentation and Street Magic when I get back from Egypt.
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by cthulhu »

They are pretty good yeah :)
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Catharz »

Performing thread resurrection because I have an unrelated SR question...


Will having a cybernetic prosthesis always raise red flags if you're not poor? Is it somehow more acceptable if it's smaller or more hidden (i.e. a cyber foot rather than a cyber arm)?

I just got done reading through the nanotech section of Augmentation, and I'm thinking that having a removable cyberlimb with a nanohive would be really sweet. You'd gain the benefits of the hive without it showing up on security screens when that would be bad, and you could even replace it with something useful. The capacity cost is also laughable compared to the essence cost (.2 equivalent vs .75 minimum?), so it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. This could be combined with low-impact bioware, some very basic cyberware, and maybe some gene wrangling for a very good stealth setup.

The problem is, if security is paranoid enough maybe they'll start watching you as soon as your hand (or foot) shows up on their MAD.


Opinions?


[Edit] I just noticed that you can get a body transplant for only 25k. Holy shit! There's no essence cost! Why spend months getting your DNA scrambled when you can just buy a new body? [/Edit]
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Username17 »

Getting a new body would generally speaking involve you dying. If it didn't, it would entail you not having different DNA - just new fingerprints. Even grabbing a Type O body wouldn't be helpful because you're going to need your old neural tissue which is still going to be pumping detectable amounts of your original DNA into your system unless and until you get that genetic resequencing.

As to the Nanohive, it's supposed to cost Essence even if you get it primarily in a cyberlimb. It is supposed to have organ attachments as well as the main unit. I don't know how much though, because I didn't write that section and didn't catch the table entry until it was already in print. My impression is about half off on the Essence front, which is still a deal.

Why you couldn't just wear the device as an external attachment while you sleep is beyond me.

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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by cthulhu »

The nanohive is seriously scary. I was just trying to put one in a character and it's like 'the essence, it BURNS'
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Re: SR4 Help with Hacking, Drones, and Vampires

Post by Crissa »

Admittedly, Frank, it would still pass most biometrics and DNA scans. If you end up in the hospital they'll figure it out, but otherwise...

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