The Ends v4.01

General questions, debates, and rants about RPGs

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Trill
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Post by Trill »

Just wanted to make sure.


Jingle: Do I see it correctly that the Redundant Biofeedback Filter are not added to the test?

Veracity: How are memories spaced on that chart? Because Jingle implants a memory with Veracity of the net hits, but all of them are labelled with terms related to Matrix sites.
I'm guessing that something you just glanced from the corner of your eye and didn't pay much attention to is Veracity 1 (every conflicting memory has priority over it).
I'm also guessing that DEEP memories, which impacted and shaped your behavior, that mark important points in your life and which you probably will never forget are Veracity 10 (it has priority over every other memory and will always be chosen as correct when in a dispute).

But how are the rest of them placed? Because a quick calculation shows:
Highest natural dicepool for hackers (no extra Qualities, Only Attributes, Skills and Ware) are 18 dice (Genetic Optimization(LOG) to get it to 1/7(10), LOG 7(10) through Cerebral Booster, Cybercombat(Attack) 6(+2))
The average person will have 6 dice to defend themselves (WIL 3, FIRE 3, no Cybercombat skill)
The hacker will on average get 6 hits. The peon will get 2 hits. Thus a memory with Veracity 4 is implanted, which is
The Ends of the Matrix, Chapter Matrix Attributes wrote:4. Repeated News Stories
And I honestly have no fucking clue how "true" this will appear.
Last edited by Trill on Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Trill »

How would you disable a Bio-Monitor?
Ostraka could throw it out of the network, but that would make it stop sending.
Misplace could too, but it would also be obvious.
Can you use Impersonate and Fabricate to send the fake signals?
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Trill »

What happens if someone has an Epileptic Fit and you use the RAS Override Program on him?
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Lokathor »

It'd disable their muscles from communicating with their brain, halting the seizure. Probably used in hospitals a lot.
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Post by Trill »

But does it fully disable movement?
Or does it only suppress it, leaving the patient to (theoretically) move normally?
And how much of a threshold do you need to clear to stop it? 2 (as with MBW)?
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Stahlseele »

In SR3, there was a +8 TN to do ANYTHING PHYSICAL including just perception when RAS was active.
To put that into context, actual uncureable blindness only gave a +6 TN . . .
So, yes, in theory, you could do something . . in practice, you could TRY.
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Post by Trill »

Stahlseele, I'm not talking about using RAS override on a normal person.
I'm talking about using it on a person with an epileptic fit, someone whose brain (and thus his motor neurons) are working overtime.
The question is: Is the inhibition of the motor neurons (which is what the RAS override does) stronger than the activity due to the fit, or equal?
If it is stronger, it means that the patient can move less than normal since the fit is cancelled AND further suppressed.
If it is just equal then it means that conscious movement (as far as that is possible during an epileptic fit) would be as easy as normal.

And if theoretically you'd want to try to cancel it, how well would you have to roll on the Program activation test? I'm guessing 2 since that is the threshold for MBW


Basically what I'm asking: If an enemy uses Seize on someone, could you use RAS Override to stop the effects?
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Post by Lokathor »

I'd say that the Seize only keeps happening if it has 6+ Net Hits, otherwise the RAS Override wins.
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Post by Trill »

So RAS Override needs only one net hit to stop a Epileptic Fit?

Also: Just cancelled or even suppressed more than normal?
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Lokathor »

The Seizure program would continue to run on the Network that was generating it, but it wouldn't have an effect until the RAS Override effect went away. If RAS Override was ended before the Seizure was ended the seizing would start back up agian.
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Post by Trill »

What about natural seizures?
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Lokathor »

I dunno, roll 1d6 and if it's 1-5 it's totally overriden, otherwise you still jerk around some.

At some point you gotta make up your own rules pal :3
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Post by Trill »

That works
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Trill »

Can you tag people in AR?
As in
"You can't see the enemies, but I can. I mark them so that, while you can't see the enemy, you can still see the ARO/Tag/Equivalent I put up and know where to shoot/where they move"

Looking at the drone chapter I know that you can highlight enemies:
[quote="Ends of the Matrix, 'What Would Dalmatian Shoot?']Highlighting Targets
Even if you aren't directly controlling a drone, you can designate a target for it to move to or
fire upon as a Free Action. It's a separate Free Action to highlight a target for each Drone,
and the Drone acts on its own Initiative and uses its own Pilot + Targeting to make attack
rolls.[/quote]
But I don't know if that means "shoot in that direction" or "shoot at that particular target, and follow it if it moves"
I ruled it as the second (once a target is marked you know its position until you lose LOS), but I would like a second opinion
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Post by Quantumboost »

Trill wrote:Can you hack a cyberlimb? If yes, what would you have to hack, the commlink or the limb itself? What FIRE would a cyberlimb have? Once you've hacked it, what can you do with it?
If the cyberlimb isn't in a PAN, it's a lone device and you hack it just like any other lone device (EotM, "Hacking a lone device or empty network"). The cyberlimb's dedicated Firewall is equal to its Device Rating (EotM, "Operating Systems for Dedicated Systems"). Based on the Sample Devices table (SR4, p. 214) standard bodyware has DR 1, standard headware has DR 3, alphaware has DR 4, betaware DR 5, and deltaware DR 6.

If the cyberlimb is in a PAN, you either need to hack the network itself, or use Ostraka to make it a lone device (at which point you can hack it as above).

Once you've hacked it, you can add it to your network and take Command actions to tell it what to do. At that point, if you have a legit password or can make it think you're legit (via Master Control, f'rex) then it'll do those things. Lock up, punch/kick/pirouette its owner, shut down, set pain = yes, etc.
Trill wrote:Can you tag people in AR?
As in
"You can't see the enemies, but I can. I mark them so that, while you can't see the enemy, you can still see the ARO/Tag/Equivalent I put up and know where to shoot/where they move"
That ruling seems legit, you're basically acting as a spotter for an artillery piece/sniper, which is... not all that advanced as things go. If you tell a drone to shoot a dude, it'll keep trying to shoot that dude, not "the place that dude used to be but rather obviously isn't anymore". Using the simsense feed from your eyes rather than from its onboard sensors, or even better the target's actual location, shouldn't make that much of a difference.
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Post by Trill »

Just a quick question for better understanding:
The Internal Sim-Module and Internal SimRig, both transmit wireless, right? just using encrypted data, not braintalk?

In that case, can you jam them? What are their Signal stats? Does their connection depend on your Commlinks Signal?
Mord, on Cosmic Horror wrote:Today if I say to the man on the street, "Did you know that the world you live in is a fragile veneer of normality over an uncaring universe, that we could all die at any moment at the whim of beings unknown to us for reasons having nothing to do with ourselves, and that as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, nothing anyone ever did with their life has ever mattered?" his response, if any, will be "Yes, of course; now if you'll excuse me, I need to retweet Sonic the Hedgehog." What do you even do with that?
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Post by Quantumboost »

They'd use wireless to communicate with other devices yeah. Wired connections with the body, and presumably other cyberware like datajacks or internal commlinks. I'm unsure where skinlink falls but it feels like they ought to be able to connect that way.

I'd think you can jam them, you can jam out Trodes and whatnot so jamming intra-PAN connections should be plausible. Going with the ratings for Headware rather than Bodyware (even though SimRig is technically Bodyware) seems appropriate given they're complex electronics, so 3/4/5/6 Signal for standard/alpha/beta/delta-ware. If your Commlink doesn't have enough Signal to get to them from the Jamming or a wired connection, the connection would cut out same as if the implant's signal couldn't reach the Commlink.
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Post by Trill »

So what exactly are the stats of the RAS Taser?
In the book it's described as
Ends of the Matrix wrote:Equipment Spotlight: RAS Tasers
An interesting side effect of the mere existence of the RAS Override signal creates the ability
to incapacitate people at a distance with fair reliability. The RAS Taser is simply a Sim
Module that has been modified such that it merely generates a RAS Override, and does so
at a distance. This extremely simple device can be and is used in crowd control by police
and prisons. Those with strong wills and good firewalls can continue to stand and walk while
under its influence, but in many cases it "harmlessly" neutralizes dangerous and violent
individuals, so the cops love these things. It's used by kidnappers too, and they love them as
well.
Is it just a legal combination of Sim-Projector and the Contagious RAS Override program? (which would mean you still have to roll LOG+Cybercombat (Attack))
Or is it some device whose power is independent of the user's skills? (which would mean that it rolls a predetermined amount as LOG+Cybercombat, or that it has a predetermined number of hits you then need to beat to resist it)
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Post by Username17 »

You can make your own RAS Taser effect with a Log + Cybercombat attack, but the regular press-button version is just something you try to hit someone with using a normal firearms related attack roll. If you hit, the target rolls a WIL + Firewall (2) test, with failure making them effectively paralyzed as their voluntary motor function is completely overwritten.

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Post by Trill »

Would a Matrix Chaff Grenade be valuable?
Basically a grenade that for a short time creates a localized Noise Background. Fluff it as dozens of light tags making a cloud of micro-Jammers.
Advantages:
  • Precise. You can throw the grenade and the field will be where you hit.
  • Not shootable. While you can try to spread it with wind or attack it with area effects you can't just shoot and disable it in one hit.
  • High Power. I'm guessing Rating 5-7. Basically, no signal aside from extremely high ones has a chance to pass through.
  • Independent. The BC it creates is dependent on the grenade, not your skill.
Disadvantages:
  • Short lifetime. while it is powerful, it also can only keep this up for a short time until all tags have burned out their energy reserves. Probably 2 or 3 CTs at most
  • Small. The field covered is 3m. Every 2 meters further the BC falls by 3 points.
  • Non-Reusable. Obviously.
  • Independent. Unlike a Jammer you can't use your EW skill to improve the BC created.
Summarized:
Matrix Chaff Grenade (Rating 5-7)
The Matrix is predicated on many devices working together, not just sending data but also retransmitting it. By filling an area with pure signal producers you can hinder others from getting their own signals across.
The Chaff grenade works like a normal grenade. Upon hitting the ground it bursts open, releasing a cloud of simple tags consisting of a capacitor and an antenna. Within 3 meters of the point of detonation a Static Zone with a Rating equal to that of the grenade is created. Every 2m afterwards the rating decreases by 3. While the cloud can't be shot it can be affected by air currents. Due to the high energy output the tag cloud stops working after 3 Combat Turns.
Cost: Rating 5 Grenades cost 250n¥, Rating 6 cost 350n¥, Rating 7 cost 500n¥.
Last edited by Trill on Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Coldstone »

Aloha all. it has been awhile, but between work, re-reading things, and otherwise getting my brain to re-adapt into Ends, I'm back to ask some particular questions as I smooth out my understanding. ^^

I've managed to answer several of my own questions along the way, but some new ones developed in the process.

Technomancers

Simply put, they're sort of like a permanently on commlink and they make their own generic attributes. So...

1) Frank has said that B based programs should still work on them, but it was stated elsewhere that RAS override had no effect. Is that true, or a case of conflicting statements left in?

1.2) By the way it's explained, Technomancer brains use 'different brainwaves' from mundanes, the easiest way I've seen that to mean is that they are never considered orphan brains, but apart from that, you treat them as an occupied device in all other cases (minus the RAS part). The fluff seems to imply that a Technomancer 'entering VR' is not the same as the device process, but is effectively similar in what it lets you do - So would that mean the Sensory Deprivation would also fail since it functions off a similar output? I presume that Ostraka can't separate the biological commlink from a technomancer (as that is them), but it is still valid on any other devices they add to their network.

2) If Complex Forms match rating to Resonance, are they not limited by System in their bio-commlink? Since you learn the complex forms as 'spells', can they be threaded beyond their resonance? Or is it a case that resonance sets their start value, but if system happens to be higher, it sets their 'upper limit' and response affects how much you can thread in the first place (it's a a series of little questions on this one, sorry).

3) This was sort of asked before, but it never got a clear answer as far as I can tell: If a Technomancer (let's assume they have an average of 3 in all attributes) links a device with a higher firewall or system rating (or one of both), does their bio-commlink take priority because it's a technomancer network, or would they actually be boosted by the higher generic ratings and benefit from it?

4) Technomancers can turn down their signal, but can they actually turn off the bio-commlink? I presume no, but just checking. Main reason I ask because in SR4, technically a sleeping technomancer stays 'online' but they can set themselves into a receiver only mode to be more discreet. Since their bio-commlink is tied into stun damage, does the commlink portion stay 'online' if they're physical track is filled (by black hammer, for example), or will it go off in all cases of being unconscious?

4.1) Whether on purpose or when they 'wake back up' can Technomancers reboot?

5) Can ECCM, whether it's complex form or otherwise, help reduce the resonance drain to technomancers? Does it otherwise stack or interact with some of the other ways of working against background count?

6) Technomancers (and sprites) appear to always be considered connected to devices within range, but how literal is that connection? The section explains how IC interacts with it, but they don't really explain other hackers: If their icon isn't visible on the device, does that mean a hacker won't have a chance to be aware at all unless they're out in some low-count area where noticing a hidden icon is more likely (imagine trying to spot a technomancer in the middle of downtown casually)?

Sorry, complicated question: If the Technomancer is connected but does nothing, how would a hacker 'see' them to be aware they're technically connected? If the technomancer does perform an action (and thus gets attention), is that link valid that the opposing hacker can also do connection-based combat back, or do they have to force a connection onto the technomancer to do their own?

6.1) Can a technomancer deliberately sever a connection made by their nature from a device to protect themselves from connection-based combat? does the connection stick around even if the Technomancer moves if they would otherwise still 'maintain handshake distance' to the matrix, or does it fade away if the Technomancer never makes use of it in the first place?

7) How does the 'Reset' complex form affect Technomancers, if at all? it basically erases things that happened and modifies icon damage. Icon damage I can see not reversing per se, but a Technomancer wouldn't suddenly forget stuff that had just happened, right?

8) Did we ever confirm that sprites auto-connect to things like technomancers, or had to resort to backdoor/assistance from a technomancer/hacker? If it's the first one, does that basically mean teh sprites that do have backdoor can use that feature to hack holes into things and tell you how to get in later (for non-hackers, anyways)? I'm trying to figure out what uses backdoor would be to a sprite that auto-connects.

8.1) Damn I'm asking too many questions now. @_@ Can you actually force a technomancer off something with terminate connection, or does it lock them right back on afterwards?

Matrix related

1) If you jump into an anthroform drone, with actual 'hand' hands' that could pick up a weapon and otherwise use it like a metahuman does, would that still involve gunnery, or be more a case of implementing other skills?

2) Under normal circumstances, when two networks/devices are joined, if they both have IC, the greater of the two takes priority but what if they were connected without their consent? Suppose someone connected two networks you were being 'chased through' but the IC of one network doesn't actually want the other network attached (marked as an intruder) do the two IC's then fight for control, or does the 'greater of the two' take priority and consume the other while the connection is there? If the IC chasing the other person is the one consumed, would the second IC care about the instructions the other was following?

Or does that fall into the 'Just don't do it' clause about the headaches this can induce? I can see it going that way, but likewise, a hacker with an IC lackey might Connect himself into a network he's infiltrating, and he certainly wouldn't want his IC to get overridden by the IC on the server if it's meant to be helping him, so it seems like there should be some answer for this.

3) If you do 'crash' a commlink, all you have to do is use the reboot action to make it start up a new one, yes? or do you have to do the 'repair' thingy that resets the icon damage before you can reboot it? I presume that action is meant to be a non-program-based way of repairing a device if you don't have or don't want to buy the medic or restore program? (It occurs to me that if the device is already fragged, you theoretically can't do the repair thingy, unless that's interpreted as turning it back on and going through restore options).

...i think that's all the questions for now. ^^; I apparently thought up more as I started typing. My thanks to any who can answer these.
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Post by Coldstone »

semi double post, but giving a direct reply towards the chaff grenade.

That reminds me of the grenade fro Metal Gear Solid. the EMP one that is already available has the chance to fry electronics, so this one could be useful for keeping them intact if you needed to try and get data off them. It might be better to give them a flat rating and make them similar to the EMP though. Also, does this block your own signal, or does it have a settable frequency you can put into your filters so you can still use yours while hindering the enemy?
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Post by Trill »

Coldstone wrote:1) Frank has said that B based programs should still work on them, but it was stated elsewhere that RAS override had no effect. Is that true, or a case of conflicting statements left in?
Conflicting Statements. I'd say that since their RAS should still be there, they should still be susceptible to it.
3) This was sort of asked before, but it never got a clear answer as far as I can tell: If a Technomancer (let's assume they have an average of 3 in all attributes) links a device with a higher firewall or system rating (or one of both), does their bio-commlink take priority because it's a technomancer network, or would they actually be boosted by the higher generic ratings and benefit from it?
their ratings are Generic
4) Technomancers can turn down their signal, but can they actually turn off the bio-commlink? I presume no, but just checking. Main reason I ask because in SR4, technically a sleeping technomancer stays 'online' but they can set themselves into a receiver only mode to be more discreet. Since their bio-commlink is tied into stun damage, does the commlink portion stay 'online' if they're physical track is filled (by black hammer, for example), or will it go off in all cases of being unconscious?
No, they can't turn it off willingly, but they can lower the signal. While it turning off when they go unconscious would probably be easy to justify, I don't think it's good from a fluff or crunch perspective. Fluff wise it would mean that a sleeping TM gets bombarded by spam, which should wake him up again. Crunch wise it means that filling up the stun track means no more matrix armor.
4.1) Whether on purpose or when they 'wake back up' can Technomancers reboot?
Why should they?
5) Can ECCM, whether it's complex form or otherwise, help reduce the resonance drain to technomancers? Does it otherwise stack or interact with some of the other ways of working against background count?
What does ECCM have to do with Resonance Drain (or in actual terms Fading)?
6) Technomancers (and sprites) appear to always be considered connected to devices within range, but how literal is that connection? The section explains how IC interacts with it, but they don't really explain other hackers: If their icon isn't visible on the device, does that mean a hacker won't have a chance to be aware at all unless they're out in some low-count area where noticing a hidden icon is more likely (imagine trying to spot a technomancer in the middle of downtown casually)?

Sorry, complicated question: If the Technomancer is connected but does nothing, how would a hacker 'see' them to be aware they're technically connected? If the technomancer does perform an action (and thus gets attention), is that link valid that the opposing hacker can also do connection-based combat back, or do they have to force a connection onto the technomancer to do their own?
You don't have to be connected to someone to see their icons. As long as they are (connected to the matrix/reaching you with their signals) and (not hiding/hiding poorly) you can see them.
And amounts of surrounding icons don't affect matrix perception (unless they are spam, in which case you might lose your connection to the matrix).
Also: TMs are not connected to everything, but they may affect things as if they were connected to them.
EXAMPLE:
Tommy TM (Signal 3) and Harry Hacker (Signal 2) face off against each other.
Tommy and Harry are 200m away from each other, so Harry is in Signal Range of Tommy, but Tommy not in Signal Range of Harry.
Tommy now can affect Harry with All Programs, since he has effectively Connection range, which may supplant all other ranges.
Tommy uses Crash (Range C) on Harry, doing Icon Damage. Since Harry can see Tommy, he tries to reduce his Signal to 0. But since it isn't an actual connection, Tommy doesn't give a wet fart about Harry's Signal Rating.
6.1) Can a technomancer deliberately sever a connection made by their nature from a device to protect themselves from connection-based combat? does the connection stick around even if the Technomancer moves if they would otherwise still 'maintain handshake distance' to the matrix, or does it fade away if the Technomancer never makes use of it in the first place?
Since there is no actual connection, they can't attack him anyway. And the only thing that matters is whether the TM's signal can reach the others.
7) How does the 'Reset' complex form affect Technomancers, if at all? it basically erases things that happened and modifies icon damage. Icon damage I can see not reversing per se, but a Technomancer wouldn't suddenly forget stuff that had just happened, right?
I'd rule it that they don't forget stuff, but lose damage and stored data. Like you wouldn't forget what's written in a letter, but may lose it.
8) Did we ever confirm that sprites auto-connect to things like technomancers, or had to resort to backdoor/assistance from a technomancer/hacker? If it's the first one, does that basically mean teh sprites that do have backdoor can use that feature to hack holes into things and tell you how to get in later (for non-hackers, anyways)? I'm trying to figure out what uses backdoor would be to a sprite that auto-connects.
Conflicting information. I'd say remove Backdoor from the sprites that have it. Alternatively let them create Actual Connections with it, which people can use to connect to things. The sprite connects to the mainframe, you connect to the sprite, you close the distance.
8.1) Damn I'm asking too many questions now. @_@ Can you actually force a technomancer off something with terminate connection, or does it lock them right back on afterwards?
If they use their weirdness to modify things? no, since they aren't connected to you.

Matrix related
1) If you jump into an anthroform drone, with actual 'hand' hands' that could pick up a weapon and otherwise use it like a metahuman does, would that still involve gunnery, or be more a case of implementing other skills?
If it's actual hands I'd say use the weapon skill.
2) Under normal circumstances, when two networks/devices are joined, if they both have IC, the greater of the two takes priority but what if they were connected without their consent? Suppose someone connected two networks you were being 'chased through' but the IC of one network doesn't actually want the other network attached (marked as an intruder) do the two IC's then fight for control, or does the 'greater of the two' take priority and consume the other while the connection is there? If the IC chasing the other person is the one consumed, would the second IC care about the instructions the other was following?

Or does that fall into the 'Just don't do it' clause about the headaches this can induce? I can see it going that way, but likewise, a hacker with an IC lackey might Connect himself into a network he's infiltrating, and he certainly wouldn't want his IC to get overridden by the IC on the server if it's meant to be helping him, so it seems like there should be some answer for this.
Well, I'd first ask how you connected the two networks, and why? If the two IC present don't cooperate they fight. So if you ran from Server A with IC1 to Server B with IC2 they would fight and you would be free to do what you want. If you brought your own IC it would fight against the server IC. But honestly, why would you even connect the servers if not to make the IC fight?
3) If you do 'crash' a commlink, all you have to do is use the reboot action to make it start up a new one, yes? or do you have to do the 'repair' thingy that resets the icon damage before you can reboot it? I presume that action is meant to be a non-program-based way of repairing a device if you don't have or don't want to buy the medic or restore program? (It occurs to me that if the device is already fragged, you theoretically can't do the repair thingy, unless that's interpreted as turning it back on and going through restore options).
Conflicting information. I'd say you can boot it back up (which means each round your FIRE and SYS get up by 1) or restore it to a previous state (which is a RESP+SYS(10, 1CT) test). Depending on your stats, either might be better. So with a RESP 6, FIRE 5, SYS 6 commlink you would be better off restoring it, while a RESP 2, FIRE 5, SYS 4 commlink is quicker to just reboot. It also depends on whether you want at least some defense (reboot) or if you want all at once, but be vulnerable in the mean time (restore)
That reminds me of the grenade fro Metal Gear Solid.
That's the inspiration.
It might be better to give them a flat rating and make them similar to the EMP though.
Well, each grenade has a static rating, you are allowed to choose the strength you need. They are basically there to prevent any usage of programs. SWAT teams breaches the door of a hacker compound, throws a Chaff Grenade, won't be attacked by programs and ensures that no data escapes the room.
does this block your own signal, or does it have a settable frequency you can put into your filters so you can still use yours while hindering the enemy?
It blocks all signals, including your own. The tradeoff between them and Jammers is basically
Jammer:Weak, but can distinguish between Friendly communication and enemy communication.
Chaff: Strong, but indiscriminate.
Coldstone
NPC
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:25 am

Post by Coldstone »

wrote:
3) This was sort of asked before, but it never got a clear answer as far as I can tell: If a Technomancer (let's assume they have an average of 3 in all attributes) links a device with a higher firewall or system rating (or one of both), does their bio-commlink take priority because it's a technomancer network, or would they actually be boosted by the higher generic ratings and benefit from it?
their ratings are Generic

Frank gave a similar answer once around that question, but I don't think it was an actual answer. ^^; By saying 'Their ratings are generic' are you confirming ans saying 'yes, the devices with the higher ratings would contribute' or did you misunderstand the question? ^^;

4.1) Whether on purpose or when they 'wake back up' can Technomancers reboot?
Why should they?
This is one of the sudden inspiration questions that popped up, so I didn't get to check back to try and find own answer directly (takes awhile to review things). There may be times when a non-techno hacker would reboot their commlink, so in the event that there was a point where it could happen for a technomancer, can they? It may be the situation would never come up, in which case it is moot, but figured I would ask to see if anyone had an answer that would show if it did matter or not.
5) Can ECCM, whether it's complex form or otherwise, help reduce the resonance drain to technomancers? Does it otherwise stack or interact with some of the other ways of working against background count?
What does ECCM have to do with Resonance Drain (or in actual terms Fading)?
This one may be me failing to use proper terminology, so I shall use a more direct example: Someone sets up a an Area Jammer and creates a R3 background count. Normally this would cause a technomancer's Resonance score to go down 3 points while affected by it (and for the non-techno hackers, make it harder to do matrix stuff). ECCM allows you to counter this I believe, so the question is if the Technomancer would benefit from it in reducing the penalty to his resonance score as well, or only reduce the penalties to matrix actions?

6) Technomancers (and sprites) appear to always be considered connected to devices within range, but how literal is that connection? The section explains how IC interacts with it, but they don't really explain other hackers: If their icon isn't visible on the device, does that mean a hacker won't have a chance to be aware at all unless they're out in some low-count area where noticing a hidden icon is more likely (imagine trying to spot a technomancer in the middle of downtown casually)?

Sorry, complicated question: If the Technomancer is connected but does nothing, how would a hacker 'see' them to be aware they're technically connected? If the technomancer does perform an action (and thus gets attention), is that link valid that the opposing hacker can also do connection-based combat back, or do they have to force a connection onto the technomancer to do their own?
You don't have to be connected to someone to see their icons. As long as they are (connected to the matrix/reaching you with their signals) and (not hiding/hiding poorly) you can see them.
And amounts of surrounding icons don't affect matrix perception (unless they are spam, in which case you might lose your connection to the matrix).
Also: TMs are not connected to everything, but they may affect things as if they were connected to them.
EXAMPLE:
Tommy TM (Signal 3) and Harry Hacker (Signal 2) face off against each other.
Tommy and Harry are 200m away from each other, so Harry is in Signal Range of Tommy, but Tommy not in Signal Range of Harry.
Tommy now can affect Harry with All Programs, since he has effectively Connection range, which may supplant all other ranges.
Tommy uses Crash (Range C) on Harry, doing Icon Damage. Since Harry can see Tommy, he tries to reduce his Signal to 0. But since it isn't an actual connection, Tommy doesn't give a wet fart about Harry's Signal Rating.
This makes sense in my head. Thank ye for the example and answer. ^^

Matrix related

Well, I'd first ask how you connected the two networks, and why? If the two IC present don't cooperate they fight. So if you ran from Server A with IC1 to Server B with IC2 they would fight and you would be free to do what you want. If you brought your own IC it would fight against the server IC. But honestly, why would you even connect the servers if not to make the IC fight?
That is a good point. I may have thought too hard on that question and didn't consider how that would happen. That, or I was looking for scenarios of things a person might try to do that were unusual.
Trill
Knight
Posts: 398
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 11:47 am

Post by Trill »

Coldstone wrote:Frank gave a similar answer once around that question, but I don't think it was an actual answer. ^^; By saying 'Their ratings are generic' are you confirming ans saying 'yes, the devices with the higher ratings would contribute' or did you misunderstand the question? ^^;
A TM does not get a benefit out of using a commlink.
This is one of the sudden inspiration questions that popped up, so I didn't get to check back to try and find own answer directly (takes awhile to review things). There may be times when a non-techno hacker would reboot their commlink, so in the event that there was a point where it could happen for a technomancer, can they? It may be the situation would never come up, in which case it is moot, but figured I would ask to see if anyone had an answer that would show if it did matter or not.
Well, I can only see a handful of reasons someone would reboot their commlink:
  • They want to remove Icon Track damage. Won't be useful for TMs though.
  • They want to remove unwanted Programs (such as those gotten through Denial). Using a Matrix Defense test and removing them seems far easier though.
  • They want to break off a connection. For anyone it's usually better to do this through going out of Handshake range (by e.g. reducing their Signal to 0). TMs also don't really need to make connections.
This one may be me failing to use proper terminology, so I shall use a more direct example: Someone sets up a an Area Jammer and creates a R3 background count. Normally this would cause a technomancer's Resonance score to go down 3 points while affected by it (and for the non-techno hackers, make it harder to do matrix stuff). ECCM allows you to counter this I believe, so the question is if the Technomancer would benefit from it in reducing the penalty to his resonance score as well, or only reduce the penalties to matrix actions?
Ah, you mean the reduction of their Resonance! Yeah, ECCM should help (though keep in mind that your dicepool for this is also reduced, so getting a friendly Hacker close, connecting to them and letting them use it on you can work wonders). It should stack with the Clarity (for Static zones) and/or Filter (for Spam zones) Powers your sprites have.
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